by Jay Hathaway on September 22, 2009 at 02:30 PM

12seconds.tv is extending its bite-sized video service - 12 seconds per video, as the name implies - into the mobile universe, with a nice-looking video messaging app for the iPhone. 12mail [app store link] lets you send short video messages to your contacts, which it can pull from your Facebook or Twitter accounts, if you like. Recording a new video (if you have an iPhone 3GS) and sending a saved ...
by Jason Clarke on September 17, 2009 at 09:00 AM

One of the more frustrating things I found when moving from Windows to a Mac in a business environment was receiving email messages that contained other messages as attachments. This is a fairly common thing for Outlook users to do, and it doesn't usually cause problems because Outlook can happily open those messages. It's not very good email etiquette and you should avoided doing it if possible ...
by Lee Mathews on November 5, 2008 at 11:00 AM

While there are certainly some good ways to put MsgBoxToy to use - say, prompting users to save their work or take a computing break - it's also a lot of fun to create dialog boxes simply to mess with your co-workers. The program's interface is incredibly simple: choose a title, enter up to four lines of text, and enter button labels. You can also select the type of icon to display: stop, alert, ...
by Jay Hathaway on November 3, 2008 at 09:00 AM

If you've ever been in the situation of trying to make plans with a group of people who are all communicating via different methods (SMS, IM, email), then you know how much of a pain it is to keep track of what everyone is doing. Notifu tries to make it easier, with a web app that can send messages to your friends via email, IM or text message, and let you know when they've received them. On ...
by Danny Mendez on July 14, 2008 at 10:30 AM

Earlier this week, a Homer Simpson impersonator began instant messaging fans with a link to an "internet-only exclusive Simpsons episode." This -- like many things spawned in the dark corners of 'net -- turned out to be a PC virus. But how did this impostor gain Homer's identity? It turns out Mr. Simpson has a legitimate, real-world e-mail address: chunkylover53@aol.com, which appeared in the ...
by Danny Mendez on December 18, 2007 at 08:00 AM

It's a problem we've all faced before: We venture away from web based email programs to try those cool-looking desktop email clients everyone's raving about. After getting through the hassle of making sure everything syncs properly, one of the problems many seem to face is duplicate messages. Well, open source Thunderbird users don't stand around letting problems be; They face them with ...
by Chris Gilmer on November 20, 2007 at 04:00 PM

Quick, name the most annoying thing about your Facebook profile? The status message! Trying to contort your status to fit the "is" from updates using the proper English language often proves extremely challenging. How many times have you ignored the "is" altogether and just inserted whatever you wanted, whether it made sense or not? Fear not, Facebook has listened to their users. Over 164,000 ...
by Chris Gilmer on October 30, 2007 at 02:00 PM

Text messages are normally easy to send, but what about when you're driving or occupied and want to get something complex across? Pinger is a service that lets users call into a service and leave a voicemail to a contact, that will in turn send a text message instead of a ring. Recipients then press a button and listen to your voice message and can reply or forward the message. It's a quick ...
by Chris Gilmer on October 18, 2007 at 04:00 PM

Meebo, the web-based instant messaging application that runs across all major IM networks has released a Firefox add-on giving users a browser sidebar for easy chatting. The Meebo Firefox add-on makes it much easier to chat with friends while browsing online. No more switching from application to application or from the Meebo homepage to the page browsing. The sidebar gives users a visual ...
by Chris Gilmer on August 14, 2007 at 12:00 PM

Does Twitter really need competition? I suppose it's healthy, but why not try a new type of model that gets people pumped about your service? Twitter has a good thing going on, their text updating service is easy to use, effective, and it was first to market. Pownce, although a Twitter-esk clone, does provide a few exciting features like that ability to send files besides just text updates. This ...
by Chris Gilmer on July 12, 2007 at 05:30 PM

Google has now made it possible to send updates to Calendars using SMS. The request to do so came in on the Google tip lines. People wanted a way in which to send text messages to add events, or a way to find out which events they had coming up. The SMS updates work by sending a text message to 'GVENT' (48368) , with some details about the event, (ie. Starbucks meeting at 2pm). The GVENT will them ...
by Chris Gilmer on April 19, 2007 at 04:00 PM

CuBee takes the clutter out of your email inbox. It's a rich content email and messaging system which allows users to send out emails containing large files like video, pictures, animation, and notes.To add a little bit of Web 2.0 cuteness, messages can be sent inside a digital envelope with an emoticon to express feelings. CuBee is integrated into ZCubes, a website where users can seamlessly ...
by Chris Gilmer on March 1, 2007 at 12:00 PM

Twitter, built by Obvious Corp., is a great way to constantly update people on what you are doing, think simplified blog. Short messages (under 140 characters) are posted by IM or web interface. One cool thing about Twitter, is that you can update your Twitter feed using your Google Talk account. Simply add twitter@twitter.com to your contact list in Google Talk, and send it a short message. ...
by Ryan Carter on November 5, 2006 at 08:25 AM

RAZZ is a simple way to record and post web audio to your blog, MySpace, or other social networking site. Creating a RAZZ is a way to make a short sound clip (up to a minute long) and put it on your site. RAZZ wants to be the audio for your blog like many of the photo, video, or slideshow sharing sites. Audio has in fact been largely ignored, but is it really the next phase in the socio-digital ...
by David Chartier on July 26, 2006 at 12:20 PM

Ever wish you could call your Backpack account and leave a voicemail? Me neither, but now that someone thought of the idea and cranked out voiceNote for Backpack (beta, of course) - I can't wait to start dialing! To sign up, you simply have to enter your name, email, Backpack URL, the email address of the Backpack page you want these voice messages sent to and up to three phone numbers from which ...