SCOTT MOTTE
Staff Writer
A typical college student makes plenty of cell phone calls, instant messages and e-mails to friends and family. But when was the last time you called friends to say, “It’s amazing! My phone has no wires!” or asked them what “LOL” means while instant messaging or talked about how e-mail has changed the way you communicate? The truth is that although cell phones, instant messaging and e-mail may have been novel in the late ’90s, they are now routine.
Unfortunately, this also means that they have become mundane and even boring. But fortunately, they don’t have to be.
Three free services — Socialight, Meebo and Slawesome — can make communication as exciting as it was in the old days.
Socialight is taking a new approach to using a cell phone. The company is building a “location-based messaging system that allows you to share messages about places with others,” according to its Web site. In essence, it is a collection of friendly notes for your friends, family and whoever else is interested. For instance, as your friend walks by a favorite restaurant of yours, he or she will receive the personalized text message you left for him or her.
It works through what Socialight calls “sticky shadows.” Using the software downloaded to a cell phone, sticky shadows act like sticky notes. Users attach a message to them, and the message sticks to the designated location through a global positioning system. Camera phones also allow images to be added to these messages.
Log on to www.socialight.com and start adding location-based messages via a Google map, or download Socialite’s cell-phone software and add sticky shadows to various locations in person.
Socialight’s cell-phone software only supports Java and GPS-enabled phones with providers such as Sprint/Nextel and Boost, though, and friends won’t find your sticky shadows unless they are also registered with Socialight and have downloaded its software to their phones.
If you prefer to type instead of talk, instant messaging is probably your thing.
Unfortunately, chat software is a dime a dozen. What if there was a one-stop place to go? Meebo (www.meebo.com) combines accounts on MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, GTalk and Jabber into one inclusive format. It’s a browser-based client, meaning it can be accessed from any computer. There’s no downloading required.
To use it, log on to www.meebo.com. Type in a username and password for each of the chat clients you have membership to, and sign on. All friends and contacts are at the right hand of the screen, organized into an easy-to-read buddy list.
Meebo is a third-party service, however, and by logging on, you are giving them passwords and usernames. The company states that it does not store or track any user information, but for those who are very concerned about privacy, Meebo might not be the right choice.
E-mail is easy and convenient, but it can sometimes be difficult to get a point across. Enter Slawesome. Slawesome (www.slawesome.com) allows users to record and send audio e-mails, essentially offering the clarification power of voice coupled with the convenience of e-mail.
Slawesome records your voice using Macromedia Flash technology and stores the recording on a unique page of its site. When you send e-mail, the recipient receives an e-mail from Slawesome (provided their e-mail service does not consider it to be spam) with your name and e-mail address, that contains the link to the voice message. The recipient clicks on the link and hears the voice e-mail.
A voicemail essentially does the same thing, but a 2 a.m. phone call is rarely well-received. A voice e-mail, however, arrives at the recipient’s convenience.
Log on to www.slawesome.com and create an account. Compose a message and type in the e-mail address of the recipient, then choose a subject for the e-mail and record the message.
Socialight, Meebo and Slawesome add a touch of novelty and fun to those old forms of communication we call the cell phone, instant messaging and e-mail. Together, they just might bring back the excitement we had a short time ago for all three.
11-17-2005
