Don’t Shoot ‘Message-er’ [v136]

JUNE 2010

DON’T SHOOT THE ‘MESSAGE-ER’
A few people have mentioned that these monthly “Thoughts” tend to be a bit “long-winded” (and I know they were trying to be ‘nice’ to me)—so I responded that I never claimed to be a writer, and more important than that, they had a whole month to read it! (probably not the most ‘understanding’ answer I could have given).

So, I thought I would try something different this month, and use a very recent ‘method’ of communicating—the “SMS,” or commonly known as the “text message” (or even more recently, the “tweet”)—a 140-character snippet of information that tries to ‘boil down’ a thought to its essence. So, here goes (without all the “lingo” you might not know yet)…

@MarkBesh: People have been ‘sending messages’ to each other for thousands of years—to exchange thoughts and ideas with each other.

@MarkBesh: Historically, we’ve used conversations; smoke signals; drums; ‘letters’; ‘books’; Braille; Morse Code; telegraph; phones; radio; tv; e-mails; blogs; and now “SMS”

@MarkBesh: Only the invention of the printing press would even compare with “text messaging” (TM) for the ‘reach’ it has for worldwide communications.

@MarkBesh: But, TM is the greatest breakthrough of them all because of its ‘instantaneous’ nature—anywhere, anytime (even if the person doesn’t respond).

@MarkBesh: An astonishing 4 billion people now ‘text’, with over 4 billion TM’s being exchanged each day—and doubling each year!

@MarkBesh: World record: Deepak Sharma of Ludhiana, India sent 182,698 TM’s in one month (an average of 6,090 per day!—that’s 253 per hour!)

@MarkBesh: [ I guess my daughter Arielle’s 300 TM’s per day, and my son Tyler’s 200 per day aren’t that bad—well…  ;^D ].

@MarkBesh: Comparatively, there are about 5B phones calls made each day, and over 200B e-mails sent each day (80% of it spam) [2009-Radicati Group]

@MarkBesh: In 2009, over 60% of the world’s citizens had a mobile phone—and that is estimated to be 80% by 2014 [ITU World Telecommunications]

@MarkBesh: The TM phenomenon is changing the world like no other communication method—and is a harbinger of the future.

@MarkBesh: In Vienna, Austria, most people now get a TM 10 minutes before their parking meter will expire, with an option to extend the minutes.

@MarkBesh: The Red Cross uses Twitter to exchange moment-by-moment information during disasters and emergencies.

@MarkBesh: During the Haiti earthquake, victims beneath the rubble TM’d rescuers about their location, while the world used TM to send financial help.

@MarkBesh: Last year, during the Iranian riots, the US State Departmt requested Twitter reschedule a planned 90-minute maint. outage so protesters could continue tweeting.

@MarkBesh: Another way people are communicating is via “social networking” sites—like Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, QZone, Orkut, Habbo, and others.

@MarkBesh: Facebook, with over 400M users, would be the third largest ‘country’ behind China and India!—and is expected to overtake them by 2015 [Erik Qualman, “Socialnomics”].

@MarkBesh: Erik Qualman says that social media is a “fundamental shift in the way we communicate”— http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng

@MarkBesh: Social networking has exploded because people are longing for ways to connect—for ways to establish meaningful and nurturing relationships.

@MarkBesh: A century ago the average person’s ‘social network’ consisted of 10-30 people—those they saw regularly, and knew on a “first name” basis.

@MarkBesh: Today, most ‘active’ people have a ‘social network’ of 10’s of hundreds—or even thousands—but rarely see them face-to-face.

@MarkBesh: Is one ‘better’ than the other? Can you ‘balance’ them? Can you really ‘know’ someone virtually? Can you develop real ‘trust’?

@MarkBesh: Online networking caution: Be careful to protect you privacy—some people are always looking to ‘scam’ the innocent, and unsophisticated.

@MarkBesh: A leading UK neuroscientist believes too much social networking activity will “infantilize” the development of young brains.

@MarkBesh: Lady Susan Greenfield claims that it can lead to “short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathize, and attention-deficit disorders.”

@MarkBesh: Well, I know of ‘Someone’ that you can ‘trust’ implicitly, that will ‘protect’ your privacy, and will help you gain ‘real wisdom’—the God of the Bible.

@MarkBesh: He has ‘packaged’ His ‘MESSAGE’ into a ‘book’ for us—a kind of a ‘social networking site’ to ‘meet’ with Him.

@MarkBesh: As the Bible is His ‘message’ to us, PRAYER is how we ‘connect’ with Him—in your own words—with no special ‘petitions’ or ‘mantras’.

@MarkBesh: Just ‘talk’ to God like you would a dear friend—and tell Him you want to learn more about Him, find out what He’s like, and what He wants to do for you.

@MarkBesh: He has PROMISED TO ANSWER you! [Proverbs 3:1-6; Psalm 91:14; Joshua 1:8; 2 Chronicles 1:11-12].
[Excerpts from: Radicati Group; ITU World Telecommunications; Dr. David Jeremiah]

To read a little something about what God has to say to you ‘thru’ the BIBLE, then visit the following link:
http://www.4vis.com/sfm/sfm_pres/sp_q12_d3_1of10.html

TNT…
(“Till Next Time”)

Mark

FYI: The average for the last few month’s ‘main’ thoughts (Mar/Apr/May 2010) was 10,354 characters (1,847 words)—so that’s only 345 characters per day—a little more than 2 “Tweets”!   ;^D

P.S. Just one article in a Fast Company, INC, or Car and Driver magazine is normally 8,000-12,000 characters (1,200-2,100 words), and an average-sized ‘comparo’ article in an online ‘rag’ like “Winding Road” (one of which my racing buddy friend and automotive writer, Rex Roy, writes for) is about 1,600 words, or 10,000 characters. [ Note: For those wanting to buy their car-fanatic spouse something for Father’s Day, read Rex’s article on the best Christmas gifts they got at Winding Road:
http://www.windingroad.com/articles/lists/list-what-we-got-for-christmasand-really-liked/ ].

P.P.S. Or just buy him a new iPad!—maybe this one:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/15/worlds-first-diamond-ipad-tries-to-deliver-that-magical-experie/
[ Can I be your Dad this year?  ;^D ]

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*** SEND ME YOUR THOUGHTS about this month’s message ‘method’

[I’m thinking it lacked a bit of ‘pizzazz’ without the use of many ‘modifiers’, and doesn’t have any ‘depth’—it just didn’t have that “Je ne sais quoi”  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6dpooV4tlQ–Can anyone say “Abba”?]

(French version: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xd8d3t_hera-bjork-je-ne-sais-quoi-french-v_music )

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LIFE’S DEEP THOUGHTS (v136) for JUNE 2010

(Note: If you have a ‘neat’ story or some thoughts about an issue or current event that you would like me to try to respond to, I would be glad to give it a try…so, send them to me at: mbesh@comcast.net)

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“NET LINGO”
A list of Internet acronyms and text message “jargon”

[Note: “C” and “S” are used interchangeably for “See”—and “U” and “Y” are used interchangeably for “You”].

“Top 50” Most Popular Examples:

2moro – Tomorrow
2nite – Tonight
BRB – Be Right Back
BTW – By The Way
B4N – Bye For Now
BCNU – Be Seeing You
BFF – Best Friends Forever
CYA – Cover Your Ass -or- See Ya
DBEYR – Don’t Believe Everything You Read
DILLIGAS – Do I Look Like I Give A Sh**
FUD – Fear, Uncertainty, and Disinformation
FWIW – For What It’s Worth
GR8 – Great
ILY – I Love You
IMHO – In My Humble Opinion
IRL – In Real Life
ISO – In Search Of
J/K – Just Kidding
L8R – Later
LMAO – Laughing My Ass Off
LOL – Laughing Out Loud -or- Lots of Love
LYLAS – Love You Like A Sister
MHOTY – My Hat’s Off To You
NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard
NP – No Problem -or- Nosy Parents
NUB – New person to a site or game
OIC – Oh, I See
OMG – Oh My God
OT – Off Topic
POV – Point Of View
RBTL – Read Between The Lines
ROTFLMAO – Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Ass Off
RT – Real Time
THX or TX or THKS – Thanks
SH – Sh** Happens
SITD – Still In The Dark
SOL – Sh** Out of Luck
STBY – Sucks To Be You
SWAK – Sealed (or Sent) With A Kiss
TFH – Thread From Hell
RTM or RTFM – Read The Manual -or- Read The F***ing Manual
TLC – Tender Loving Care
TMI – Too Much Information
TTYL – Talk To You Later -or- Type To You Later
TYVM – Thank You Very Much
VBG – Very Big Grin
WEG – Wicked Evil Grin
WTF – What The F***
WYWH – Wish You Were Here
XOXO – Hugs and Kisses

Many more here:
http://www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php

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“LINGO 2 WORD”
Translate text messages from “lingo” to plain English, or from plain English to “lingo.”

Use this ‘translator’ to make your e-mails and text messages more “exciting”:
http://www.lingo2word.com/translate.php

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DEEP THOUGHT:

“Don’t shoot the piano player; he’s doing the best he can.”
[ In a Wild West saloon in 1860 ]

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Hope you enjoyed some of these insights—share them with your friends and colleagues—so we can have a larger ‘pool’ to receive from, and more to share with!  Also, remember to include your name as the “source,” if some of this wisdom is of your doing—I would like to give credit where credit is due!

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” [Proverbs 3:1-6].

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name” [Psalm 91:14].

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” [Joshua 1:8].

“God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have” [2 Chronicles 1:11-12].

Mark

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