communication

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Why One Mom Drew the Line at Skype
Why One Mom Drew the Line
at Skype
COMMENTARY
Jun 28, 2009 2:05 PM CDT

Why One Mom Drew the Line at Skype

Technology that brings us together can pull us apart, she writes

(Newser) - Today’s world of cellphones, tweets, and texts makes it possible to stay constantly in touch—but where do we draw the line between contact and privacy, connection and independence? When it comes to family intimacy over distance, that question comes into sharp relief, Peggy Orenstein reflects in the New ...

Plants Warn Each Other: Study
 Plants Warn Each Other: Study 
Jun 22, 2009 7:11 AM CDT

Plants Warn Each Other: Study

(Newser) - They can't quite tweet, but plants have sophisticated means of communication nonetheless, reports the Telegraph . A new study suggests they use complex chemical signals to discuss both predators and pollinators. In one test, sagebrush shrubs whose neighbors had their leaves clipped, as if by grasshoppers, appeared to grow more...

Int'l Pirate Patrols Spar With Language Barriers

Diverse crews learn to communicate

(Newser) - The international fleet patrolling for pirates off the coast of Somalia is on guard against an oceanic traffic jam, too, the Military Times reports. One US admiral likened the problem to young soccer players swarming the ball, saying communications were necessary for an efficient response. There are three separate international...

Skype Plans Voicemail-to-Text Service

Users will fork over 25 cents per message

(Newser) - Internet-telephone firm Skype will offer a service that converts voice messages into texts in any one of four languages, the company plans to announce today. But at 25 cents per text message—and with long voicemails running up to three texts—users’ costs could add up. And if a poor...

Free Market Rings Up 4B Cell Phones Worldwide
Free Market Rings Up 4B
Cell Phones Worldwide
ANALYSIS
Mar 3, 2009 2:37 AM CST

Free Market Rings Up 4B Cell Phones Worldwide

6 in 10 connected, thanks to private biz

(Newser) - The global explosion in cell phone use is a timely reminder of what free markets can achieve, David A. Gross writes in the Christian Science Monitor. There are now more than 4 billion mobile connections worldwide, two-thirds of them in developing countries, according to a new UN report. This leap...

Let's Stop Talking In Slogans
 Let's Stop Talking In Slogans 
GLOSSIES
Dec 7, 2008 12:44 PM CST

Let's Stop Talking In Slogans

Using language to communicate hampered by psychology of advertising

(Newser) - We live in a world of snappy slogans, but that may not be the best way to communicate, write Dan Heath and Chip Heath in Fast Company. "People need a reason to prefer Crest over Colgate," but those same people—that's us—shouldn't talk like toothpaste salesmen. "...

Change He Can Believe: No More BlackBerry

High sensitivity makes presidential e-mailing unlikely

(Newser) - As president, Barack Obama will likely have to make the ultimate sacrifice: giving up his beloved BlackBerry. Obama and the device were literally attached at the hip during the campaign, and email was his main link to everything from political memos to White Sox updates, the New York Times reports....

UK Aims to Mine Facebook in Fight on Crime, Terror

Criminals use chat features on social, game sites to hide conversations: authorities

(Newser) - With social-networking, gaming, and video sites offering stealth chatting that criminals and terrorists exploit, the British government is moving to require such websites to collect and provide user data to authorities. Accessing chat contents would still require a specific warrant, but demographic information could help find pedophiles, kidnappers, drug traffickers,...

Palin's Winks Unlikely to Nudge Undecided
Palin's Winks
Unlikely
to Nudge Undecided
ANALYSIS
Oct 14, 2008 2:34 AM CDT

Palin's Winks Unlikely to Nudge Undecided

Controversy in the blink of an eye

(Newser) - In Latin America, it's an unmistakable come-on. In much of Asia, it's offensive. In a vice-presidential debate, the meaning of a wink is sparking plenty of controversy, writes Faye Fiore in the Los Angeles Times. Sarah Palin winks more often than any politician experts can remember, and it has "...

Patients Could Polish Their Bedside Manner, Docs Say

Lousy rapport impairs treatment, survey finds

(Newser) - Odds are you're annoying your doctor, according to a Canadian study that asked nearly 300 physicians about their daily frustrations. As the Globe and Mail reports, many had difficulty establishing rapports with patients, who routinely resisted or flouted their advice —which can lead to patient safety problems. “When...

Gmail Goes Dark for 2 Hours; Email Addicts Freak

Google blames outage on internal error

(Newser) - Google's Gmail was largely inaccessible for 2 hours yesterday, as both the company and compulsive email checkers struggled to figure out what went wrong, the Los Angeles Times reports. The blackout was followed by a flurry of anxious web-chatter on the subject of the much relied-upon email service. The company...

Service Lets Callers Dodge Conversation

Slydial users can sneak a message straight onto voicemail

(Newser) - A new phone service is a hit with people who want to make a phone call without actually talking to anybody, the New York Times reports. Slydial allows users to skip directly to leaving a message on voicemail without the recipient realizing they have an incoming call. Users say the...

Aspiring Spies Get New Toys
 Aspiring Spies Get New Toys 
product review
Jul 31, 2008 4:57 PM CDT

Aspiring Spies Get New Toys

Two new headsets are really secret-agent style communicators in disguise

(Newser) - Two new Bluetooth headsets are meant as cellphone accessories, "the type that make white-collar executives on city streets look like the muttering deranged," but David Pogue has found a much cooler use, he writes in the New York Times. SoundID’s SM100 and Callpod’s Dragon V2 easily...

Like Lincoln and JFK, Obama Is on a New Channel
Like Lincoln and JFK, Obama Is on a New Channel
ANALYSIS
May 17, 2008 4:12 PM CDT

Like Lincoln and JFK, Obama Is on a New Channel

But 'fickle' Internet could 'stall his agenda as president'

(Newser) - Lincoln, FDR, JFK... Obama? So runs the line of US leaders who have ruled by harnessing new communication technologies. Obama's mastery of the Web echoes Lincoln's use of newspapers, FDR's use of radio and JFK's use of television. Obama vows to put the Oval Office online if he wins, but...

Aussies Blubbering About Decoding Whale Speak

Scientists put meaning to clicks & squeals

(Newser) - Australian scientists believe they've begun to decode the meaning behind whale sounds after extensive study of humpbacks off the nation's coast. They identified at least 34 types of whale calls, including a male purring sound associated with female wooing, high-frequency cries during disagreements, and a "wop" sound often exchanged...

No-Email Days Slow Inbox-mania
No-Email Days Slow Inbox-mania
Oct 20, 2007 6:48 AM CDT

No-Email Days Slow Inbox-mania

no-email days; are computers next?

(Newser) - For those of us who haven't spoken face-to-face with the guy two cubicles down in months, the BBC reports a growing trend of no-email days. Shutting down the inbox, which some workers are found to check 30-40 times hourly, is seen as a way to improve communication and decrease interruptions....

Yahoo Adds Phone Text Messaging to Email

And, OMG, it's free

(Newser) - Sending phone text messages soon won’t require a phone, thanks to an upgrade in Yahoo’s already leading email service, which will provide the new feature for free. The new system will integrate email, text messages and instant messaging, reports USA Today. Customers "don't want to bounce around...

Is the Writing on the Wall for Letter Writing?

Teens call snail mail passé, but etiquette expert defends the pen

(Newser) - A quarter of teens call snail mail the most passé way to convey in 2007. But the great-granddaughter of an etiquette doyenne wants to rescue letters before the 'Net makes them extinct. She says ink on paper still carries “more weight” than email, not to mention leaving a permanent...

Skype Blames Crash on Windows
Skype Blames Crash on Windows
Aug 20, 2007 12:49 PM CDT

Skype Blames Crash on Windows

Millions of updates, reboots fried VOIP service, company says

(Newser) - Skype's mysterious failure last week was caused by a routine Windows update, the company says. Millions of users downloaded the new software, rebooted their computers, and tried to log into Skype at the same time, crashing the net phone service, PC World reports. It's still unclear why previous Windows updates...

Get Ready for the Googlephone
Get Ready
for the Googlephone
Aug 3, 2007 3:17 AM CDT

Get Ready for the Googlephone

Company showing prototypes in bid to break into cell phone ad market

(Newser) - Google is spending hundreds of millions of dollars secretly developing a cell phone which offers Google search technology and other services, reports the London Independent. Prototype phones have been shown to several wireless carriers. The company is poised to bid on wireless spectrum licenses in the upcoming federal auction, which...

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