[wordup] SMS for better and verse

[Adam Shand]

Via: The Eristocracy <Eristocracy at merrymeet.com>

[Editor's note: Two articles on novel uses of SMS. -- jdcc]

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1643000/1643230.stm

Thursday, 8 November, 2001, 09:05 GMT
Text me a poem

Poetry has the power to soothe a furrowed brow

By BBC News Online technology correspondent Mark Ward

Nothing symbolises progress so much as the mobile phone.

This portable gadget that lets people reach you almost everywhere
underscores the fact that we live in a world that never sleeps, and that
you are on always on call.

But now the mobile is becoming the bearer of gentler tidings, a soother of
furrowed brows and perhaps an antidote to some of the stress it engenders.

Now you can enjoy a moment of pause and reflection in your hectic schedule
by signing up to a service that will send you a text message containing a
short, whimsical poem every working day.

Only reflect

The poem-me service has been jointly developed by published poet Fredrik
Lloyd and producer Dahlan Lassalle.

Rose petals filled with ounces of snow bend meekly. Saints sold for less
beauty

Fredrik LloydThe idea to start the poem-me.com service came to Mr Lassalle
when Mr Lloyd spontaneously sent him a poem via the short message service
available on most mobile phones.

Mr Lassalle said the pair had been friends for more than 30 years, and he
had always been a fan of his friend's work, but the SMS poem had
particular power because it arrived at a very busy time and forced him to
stop and reflect for a moment.

"I find a number of his poems particularly thought-provoking, others
create a small smile," he said. "But all of them create a moment of
repose."

Many busy people would welcome a chance to pause and think of something
other than work, said Mr Lassalle.

Works to order

Mobile phone text messages are hugely popular. In the UK alone, over a
billion are now sent every month.

Fields fell apart, separated by the shallow breathing of a damaged fence

Fredrik LloydMany of Mr Lloyd's works are single line poems, thoughts or
epigrams that can easily be shoe-horned into the cramped SMS format.
Single SMS messages can be a maximum of 160 characters long.

Mr Lassalle said the poet was used to producing works to order and had no
problems creating enough poems to keep subscribers amused and entranced.

A subscription for one month's worth of SMS poems costs £4, while a three
month supply can be bought for £10.

Mr Lassalle said the service had been launched in late October and had so
far garnered 50 subscribers, but he said he expected it to take a while to
build up a following.

Stressed workers in need of a dose of repose can subscribe via the
poem-me.com website.

Via: "Kristen Tsolis" <kristen at pobox.com>

When I was on the plane coming back from the East Coast the other day, I
came across an article in 'On Magazine' (a magazine that I'd never seen
before I espied it on the plane).

'found an article in it that I thought would tickle your sensibilities if
you haven't seen it yet:

'Til SMS do you part

Unhappily married Muslims beware: you could be a beep away from a divorce.
Religious leaders in Australia, the UAE and Qatar recently approved the
use of short message service (SMS)--short text messages sent to a pager or
cell phone--as a first step toward splitsville. (Islamic law requires a
spouse to express the wish to divorce three times before the legal wheels
can start spinning.) Though it's far from sealing the deal, dialing in the
declaration can spare the initiator an encounter with an estranged mate.
The law requires authentication, however, that the sender was in fact the
fed-up spouse and not a divorce lawyer looking to drum up business.

(no word on the authentication process : ) -K