Someone definitely took this whole emoticons thing too far (but who am I to judge…) -
Bajca is a new “Smile Keypad” for people who cannot do without “emoticons”. With a simple USB connection Bajca connects to the computer, adding 16 emotional keys each one representing a different smile or emotion.
But this is not all.
Bajca lets you take out any of its buttons and… wear ‘em !
In other words - you can wear your own emotion jewelry .
If I could wear any of SweetIM’s emoticons I would have chosen this one:
Thought you should know that due to the growing popularity of the current public Beta version of Windows Live Messenger 9 (also known as Version 2009 Wave 3) we’ve been working on the compatibility of SweetIM with it.
We didn’t want to say anything about this earlier cause we had no idea how long it’ll take us to develop it, but I can now tell you that this version is already being tested, and if nothing goes wrong - we’ll release it by mid next week !
Thank you all for being so patient waiting for it to come.
The new release will be available for download on our website, and I’ll keep you posted about it here.
Don’t know how many of you know, but one of the ways to keep you folks updated with the latest news about SweetIM is our Newsletter. The newsletter includes updates about new versions, new features, and new content we’ve released or about to release… Those of you who didn’t sign up for it yet - can easily do so on our website.
To sign up, just go to www.sweetim.com and look for the “Get updates on SweetIM” title and the “Sign up” button.
For those of you who already signed up, and for the ones that are about to do so, I just wanted to let you know that now that we have released SweetGames, we’ll be sending two kinds of newsletters:
1. General news and updates about SweetIM.
2. News and updates about SweetGames.
General updates will be received by “SweetIM” and from the following address: SweetIM@SweetIM.com
Updates about SweetGames will be recived by “SweetGames” and from the following address: SweetGames@email.oberonmedia.net
So just make sure both of the addresses are not on your block-list.
It took us a few days of work, but it was worth it - the new Hotmail bug was fixed !
For those of you who use Hotmail and couldn’t insert our emoticons into new emails since Microsoft released the new version of Hotmail - you can now use it once again !
Sometimes instant messenger conversation seems to me like a complete gibberish !
Expressions replaced by emoticons or winks, whole sentences replaced by shortcuts, and new words all together creating a new lingo that makes you feel like you’re totally lost in translation.
See if you can guess what’s written here:
Have no clue ?
Believe it or not this is a whole story. Check out Rives telling it in 3 minutes:
According to Microsoft, the new Hotmail comes complete with a slew of improvements, including a new look, a new contact list, a new calendar, a new way to attach files, and a new spell checker.
So far so good, but yesterday when I tried inserting one of our emoticons through our IE toolbar to an email message - it didn’t work !
It turns out many of our users who tried the new Hotmail encountered the problem as well…
The good news is that our developers have already started working on the problem, and they estimate that in a couple of weeks it’ll be fixed !
In addition - so far it looks like it’s working on FireFox. So good news for all of you FF users out there…
Gary Small, a neuroscientist at UCLA in California who specializes in brain function, has found through studies that Internet searching and text messaging has made brains more adept at filtering information and making snap decisions.
But while technology can accelerate learning and boost creativity it can have drawbacks as it can create Internet addicts whose only friends are virtual and has sparked a dramatic rise in Attention Deficit Disorder diagnoses.
He said a study of 24 adults as they used the Web found that experienced Internet users showed double the activity in areas of the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning as Internet beginners.
Small said the tech-savvy generation, whom he calls “digital natives,” are always scanning for the next bit of new information which can create stress and even damage neural networks. “There is also the big problem of neglecting human contact skills and losing the ability to read emotional expressions and body language,” he said.
Small, however, argues that the people who will come out on top in the next generation will be those with a mixture of technological and social skills. “We’re seeing an evolutionary change. The people in the next generation who are really going to have the edge are the ones who master the technological skills and also face-to-face skills,“. “They will know when the best response to an email or Instant Message is to talk rather than sit and continue to email.“
Hmm… I wonder what would Small have to say about the people using SweetIM…
