Posts Tagged ‘Communication’

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“The Font of Youth” © 2010 Lynn Rebuck

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

FontofYouthCellphones     Last week a 13-year old girl won $50,000 in a national texting championship in New York City. To win the top prize she tapped out a verse of “Old MacDonald” on her cell phone in only sixty seconds besting several other teen girls in the competition. I’m guessing that the next thing she did was text her friends to tell them she won. How difficult is it to type “E-I-E-I-O” over and over? Thanks to having keys tinier than Tic Tacs on my cell phone I unintentionally tap out those lyrics every time I send a text message.
          Like it or not, texting is increasingly becoming the preferred method of communication for teens. We parents were encouraged as youth to let our fingers do the walking. With an estimated 20,000 text messages being sent per second by kids under age 18, our offspring’s fingers are clearly doing the talking.
          I have a phone with a QWERTY keyboard, which is the traditional set-up with individual keys positioned as they are on a computer keyboard. It helps somewhat. I think I am the only person that texts with a lisp. I still make lots of mistexts.
          Since text messaging condenses words, omits most vowels, and uses unique shorthand, it can be difficult to decipher. What we need is a Rosetta stone for text messages. For instance, see if you can figure out this well-known message:“4 scr & 7 yrs a/g, r dads brot 4th on dis cntnt nu ntn.” Do you recognize it as

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Talking with High-Tech Teens ©2010 Lynn Rebuck

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

Showing mobile phones' screenAnyone who has raised teens or been around a teen for more than a few minutes knows this universal truth—teens truly speak a different language. And today it’s harder than ever to get their attention. 

How do you communicate with a kid who is simultaneously text messaging on a cellphone, playing Guitar Hero, and battling on World of Warcraft?

Teens today are (more…)

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Something to Tweet About © 2009 Lynn Rebuck

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Something to Tweet About © 2009 Lynn Rebuck
I have good news, but first I must explain.
Since reluctantly showing my face on Facebook, and then inviting followers on Twitter, I have been continually challenged with what to post to periodically update my friends/followers.
Although I am seldom at a loss for words, I get writer’s block when [...]

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