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This post is about a $0.99 app on the Apple App Store. With this app (ImmediateSend) you can send messages or iMessages without closing the application you were using when you received the message. As many iOS users know, when you receive a message, you need to navigate to your Messages App and type the message. With this new app, a pop up appears, and you can answer all of your important messages a lot faster. This relates to Portable Computing because in this day and age it is very important to get things done as fast as you can. This app is very handy and can be very useful if you are using another app and do not feel like hitting the home button. I feel that it is worth paying $0.99. 

This article is about the iPhone app "Black SMS."This app will enable you to send private messages to your recipient without having to worry about someone else being able to see it.  When you download the Black SMS app, you attach a password to your message and then type whatever you'd like into the app. Once the message is complete, hit Send and the app will automatically open your SMS app. Paste the message and the recipient (and everyone else) will only see a black text bubble. secret and encrypted black text bubble, that is. The person on the receiving end then copies the black bubble and unlocks the message by pasting it into Black SMS with the password. The only downside of this app is you can't encrypt pictures with it.

Some people have experienced an issue with Google Voice. They have claimed that when they send SMS messages through the service, their messages are sent from random numbers. Some have received other people's personal messages and this can threaten privacy. Although many have been warned that they should never send personal text messages for security reasons, many ignore it. This issue with Google Voice can cause confusion for the people sending and receiving the texts since the sender does not have the option to send their messages to someone they know and the receiver receives a mysterious texts from a number that they cannot identify. Others might also receive multiple texts from random numbers which may irritate the person rather than confuse. Since texting is a very popular form of communication. those who use Google Voice may have to use other methods to communicate if the problem if affecting them too much and will have to wait until the issue is solved. Though this affects only a fraction of those who use Google Voice, this is bothersome. 

This article is about having too many emails, messages, etc. on your gmail, this prevents you from having space to receive or to send messages to other people. You will need more storage for you to receive more emails. But its not just emails that take up space. Its also your junk, and your spams. There are a couple of solutions for this. You can delete the emails that are not important to you anymore. You can also buy storage, so that you can have more space on your gmail. And you can also Archive your gmails to Google Drive. This would be the most helpful way of doing it. A group of people thought of the idea of making a script that archives old gmails to Google Drive. They also made a website called jellybend.com that shows you a tutorial video and useful scripts that work on Gmail and goggle apps. By archiving your emails, you can free up your inbox space, allowing you to receive and send emails to other people. Even though those emails arent relevant to you anymore, it might be useful to someone else. To do this: you have to make a copy of a Google Spreadsheet that has the script built-in. It makes a special label in Gmail. You add things to that label, then you return to the spreadsheet, click a button and those messages are archived to Google Drive.

A WARNING TO ALL TWITTER USERS! A Twitter phishing scam is spreading via direct messages. The DM will say "There is a rumor/blog going around about you (LINK) might want to read it." Do NOT click on this link. If you do, every single one of your followers will be spammed with the same message, and your account WILL be compromised, and you WILL be hacked. If you click on this link, whether by accident or because you don't listen, change your password immediately and often. Delete messages you never sent, and look out for links like the one you were spammed with. Revoke access to any suspicious applications. Follow the step-by-step guide provided by Twitter on what to do if you click on it. DON'T CLICK ON THIS MESSAGE!

This article is about a man in Tokyo who sent many mass killing threats to a comic book event and many schools. Each threat would be followed by a riddle. The man hacked computers and sent messages to newspapers and broadcasters saying that details of a computer virus used to send the threats were strapped to a cat living on an island near Tokyo. Police found the cat and with it found a message that said that no more messages will be sent. Police analyzed the memory card and footage taken by security cameras and suspect that Katayama -a resident of Tokyo- was responsible for the hacking campaign. This article is a prime example of the dangers of computing and shows that the security of our computers is still not perfect and can be breached. I see this man's act as a childish call for attention and believe that this man should grow up and "get a life" as some would say. I don't understand how a grown man could have the heart to threaten the lives of many innocent children; I hope that there is retribution for such an offense.

I found this article interesting because of what Facebook is saying. They are saying that teens don't think Facebook is popular anymore to that age group so with the purchase of WhatsApp, teens will be able to enjoy Facebook again. WhatsApp is this hugely popular cross-platform messaging app that allows users to chat with individuals or groups, as well as sending files and pictures back and forth. The cost for this purchase was $4 billion dollars and $12 billion in Facebook shares. I believe this is a good purchase because this will increase Facebook's popularity even more than what it already is

Facebook has just bought the messaging app Whatsapp for a $16 billion. Whatsapp is a messaging app where people with different phones that having different operating systems such as android, iphone, windows and blackberry, can chat. I personally think Facebook buying this app was a really bad idea. I use this app frequently to talk to friends and family and when Facebook took control of the app on Saturday, it was terrible. The servers crashed and were down for most of the day and I was hardly able to use it. Whatsapp should of stayed as its own company and never should of made a deal with Facebook.

Google is improving the security of their email application. Gmail is switching to https, and is looking at a more private future for its users. Sending messages over a secure https connection ensures no one can come in contact with a message. This now has become the default in all gmail practices. It is no longer an option like in 2010. In addition, emails sent will be encrypted, along with communication. This is the news that I actually liked hearing from google, most of the time it's them trying to steal our identities through google search and targeting ads towards us w/out permission.

till not convinced that BlackBerry Messenger for Android is real and possibly showing up next week at BlackBerry DevCon? Let us whet your appetite with a few more images.

Last week a source at Research In Motion (RIM) reached out to us with some images of what they claimed to be BBM for Android.  Said source read the comments on that post and decided to come back with a few more images to explain some of what you were seeing.  These new pictures show off threaded messaging as well as the ability to customize your fonts.  According to what the anonymous source tells us, you'll also be able to change the size as you want for easy reading. All of the accounts shown in the images are test accounts, so don't be thrown by that part.

First off, I do not agree with this article. This article talks about the ever changing English language of texting. As some of us do this, when you send a text message you might send a super long 'hey' like this: "heeeeeeeeyyyyyyy". What is wrong with that you may ask? Well in the article the author, Sam Biddle, says we are doing it constantly, ruining the English language. I quote "Have a little discipline." Sam Biddle thinks that we are purposely texting the way we are in a way to make ourselves look foolish, but I can assure you we are not. When texting "heeeeeyyy" gives our text messages more emotion, and allows us as humans to express our feelings more than by just sounding like a robot. What sounds more human like: "heeeeeey, wanna go to Wendys or something?" or this: "Hello, want to go to a resturant?". Exactly, the first one does. This way of texting helps show our emotion. For example if you are really excited to talk to someone you might add in the few extra Es to show that. Now, just because we talk this way doesnt mean our life with always be like that. On a resume you must be 'robotic' and formal, so you will use proper terminology.

This article talks about a new samsung galaxy player. This player looks very similar to android smartphone but has latest media player. This can send messages and calls through bluetooth as well as receiving them. This player would be very useful for those who want to avoid paying for another phone and adding to monthly bills. you just have to be connected to bluetooth to receive and send calls or messages. This player is cheaper than the IpodTouch but has tons of useful features that includes, clean sound, camera, whole collections of apps. This relates to our course because our course focus on the technology and this player represents the improvement in technology and changes in generation of players and how they improved and changed. 

Smartwatches are like the gateway to the future. With Samsung's first version of "Gear", customers were able to wear an Android powered watch which is able to hook up to your phone and provide you various services like to take quick pictures, text or call a contact using the voice control software and even access your media through the features installed in it. This time however in the new release of "Gear 2", instead of using Android, Samsung has decided to power the smartwatch on Tizen servers, making a clear message of wanting to be more independent of Android and ultimately Google. As Samsung has previously always been linked with Android, switching to Tizen is like a big change. Even though customers with untrained eyes may never see the difference between Gear (Android) and Gear 2 (Tizen) - myself included, having Tizen as an alternative to Android might be good for the company because now they are more in control of their future actions. Whether or not the software is different, the Gear 2 seems like a very useful piece of technology for someone who is in a rush and needs to take or leave quick messages. It is also efficient and not easy to lose because you are wearing it. With just a flick of the wrist, Samsung's smartwatch allows one to do many activities in a small amount of time.

Chrome has developed a new way of filtering emails for users. Points are awarded to those who can quickly delete messages and reply. Every messaged received comes with a timer and points are given based on how fast you can delete or reply to it, and how concise your reply is. A brilliant idea for anyone who rarely checks their emails, along with those who do so frequently.

Ford vehicles got a major upgrade! The vehicle will read you text messages while you drive and you are able to reply back. This was done so that drivers will reduce texting while driving. It will make things THAT much safer. Hopefully people will take advantage of this upgrade and car accidents will be reduced to a certain amount.

In this article we learn about a new site where it will destruct your email once the recipient has read it. This is used for safety purposes. However I would not use this. I find it isn't very useful when you have to refer back to the email for information. This is a good idea for people who are concerned about others reading their private emails and might not have enough space in their inboxes.  

Instead of not only going against the law, but also running the risk of serious injury, Ford vehicles will now read you any texts you receive while you're driving. this is part of Ford's voice-activated technology, called Sync, and is installed in all 2012 vehicles except for the Ranger. BMW has also input a similar feature into their cars. This is a good idea for just about everyone who drives, especially people who are on their phones a lot, and once other vehicle manufacturers begin to put these in their cars as well everyone can stay safer on the road while still getting the job done.

To any X Factor fans out there: Twitter is now allowing viewers to vote for performers by direct messages. Starting November 2, X Factor will be the first reality competition to do this. You must be following @TheXFactorUSA and DM your votes to them. Note that regular tweets with @TheXFactorUSA mentioned will not count - they must be DMs. A limit of 50 has been set for voting on Twitter, though, whereas the classic forms of calling, SMS, and SMS in-app are still unlimited. This stretches the boundaries of TV and social networking, and makes it easier for people to vote and connect with others.

This article is about an emergency communication system which can be used during disasters with users spreading information and looking for on-the-ground updates. Twitter hopes to start this in Japan. This tool lets users search Twitter for a postal code and see accounts of people tweeting about any disasters in that area. Eventually Twitter says it could be expanded to other countries. Twitter although, isn't the first network to set up disaster services-earlier this year, facebook introduced a ''Disaster Message Board'' that lets users mark themselves safe during an emergency. I think that this is a good idea because most people around the world are now on twitter, so if there are any disasters occurring in that country, everyone can find out about it before it comes to their area.

The above article (by Cyrus Favriar) details various interesting facts about the concentration of cellphone subscriptions on the planet - over 6 billion. At first the idea of 85% of the global population having access to a mobile phone seems outrageous, but 6 billion subscriptions does not necessarily mean 6 billion individual mobile phone owners. Many people living in third world countries will have multiple phones in order to take advantage of cheap calls within the carrier to and from a specific other party. Another interesting fact detailed in the article is that over 1/3 of the world's cellphone subscriptions is attributed to China and India, with over 2 billion subscriptions combined. A study from Gartner predicts that 1 billion smartphones will ship worldwide in 2014, and data from Canalys showed that more smartphones were sold in 2011 than personal computers. Between July 2011 and June 2012, Americans used 1.1 billion GB (> 10 000 TB) of mobile data, and over the last year Americans collectively spent 2.321 trillion minutes on the phone and have sent 2.273 trillion text messages. So, why should we be interested in all of these arbitrary facts? We understand that as smartphone prices become exponentially less expensive and other parts of the world gain access to data services, mobile broadband continues to grow at a rapid pace. There is a global trend from fixed-broadband to mobile-broadband subscriptions, simply because it is more cost-effective. As global bandwidth increases we can supposedly pump an infinite amount of data to billions of customers around the world. This relates to eLifestyle because it shows that although we talk about poverty and oppression around the world, one thing unites us: technology. This relates to Economics because of the decreasing cost of smartphones and the accessibility of cheap subscriptions becoming more prominent. This relates to the ICS20 class because as most of us own mobile phones and have mobile plans with various car

*Disclaimer: Article above contains profane/vulgar language This article details the findings of the blog 'Jezebel', who compiled a series of racist, anti-Obama tweets following the U.S election, and 'Floating Sheep' who trended those tweets and imposed them over a map of the United States. Using the knowledge of geo-coded tweets and the Twitter search bar, Floating Sheep was able to trend racist anti-Obama tweets from November 1-7. They used an 'LQ' algorithm which compared a state's ratio of racist to normal tweets to the entire country's ratio of racist to normal tweets. States with an LQ score of 1 were on par with the country, while those 1 had more racist tweets on average. After trending the reassuringly low 395 tweets, the study found (unsurprisingly) that higher LQ scores came from South-Eastern states, with Alabama at 8.1 and Mississipi at 7.4. This relates to Privacy and Security because Floating Sheep used geo-coding to find out where the cruel tweets originated from. This relates to eLifestyle because the internet harbours some of the most ignorant/hateful people who make callous remarks without realizing everything that you do can be and often is tracked. This relates to ICS20 because we promote a positive online environment and we frown upon things like racism and vulgar language; the very opposite of what these people mentioned in the article are portraying. If there is a silver lining to this study, it is that in this technological era, we are able to publicize ignorance and judge/analyze those who advocate awful messages.