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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dayuhan who wrote (83415)	7/5/2000 12:26:35 PM
From: Daniel Schuh	Respond to of 108807

And now for something completely different, perhaps of local interest to you, Steven. Manila's Talk of the Town Is Text Messaging nytimes.com Muslim insurgents battling Philippine troops in the south have a new weapon. When the shelling and gunfire let up, they send a barrage of scathing insults to Manila's forces by cell phone. "There is a text war among the MILF and our forces," said Brig. Gen. Eliseo Rio Jr., referring to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the larger of two rebel groups fighting for an independent state. "Our soldiers are texting insults to the MILF. And the MILF are sending the insults back." "Texting"? Yes, texting -- as in exchanging short typed messages over a cell phone. All over the Philippines, a verb has been born, and Filipinos use it whether they are speaking English or Tagalog. Sending e-mail on mobile phones, has also taken off in richer parts of the world: Europe, especially in Scandinavia, and in Japan and other East Asian countries, particularly among teen-agers. But in the Philippines, where incomes are far lower, it is even more popular. And it has spawned an entire subculture, complete with its own vocabulary, etiquette and tactical uses. It has become particularly popular here, in large part because text messaging is cheap while traditional telephone service is spotty and Internet access by computer is expensive. "It's evolved into something similar to chatting on the Internet," said Majidi John Bola, a 32-year-old company manager, as he sat poking away at his mobile phone at a Starbucks in Manila's business district. The difference is that while chat-room denizens sit in contemplative isolation, glued to computer screens, in the Philippines the "texters" are right out in the throng. Malls are infested with shoppers who appear to be navigating by cellular compass. Groups of diners sit ignoring one another, staring down at their phones as if fumbling with rosaries. Commuters, jaywalkers, even mourners -- everyone in the Philippines seems to be texting over the phone. Most use English, since messages usually can be typed more quickly than in Tagalog. . . . Cool. No comment on that last bit. Cheers, Dan.