Friday, July 18, 2008

I still have no cell phone, BUT...


I have found a new way to get at least half the access to text messaging cell phones, as well as sending digital photographs to a cell phone, from my computer. I bet this accessibility has been around for quite some time, but I am still proud of myself, anyway.
Also I have written to crow about being able to get an idea from where a telephone number originated, which is not as easy as it used to be thanks to the proliferation of cell phones.

Send a text message to cell phone
Type in the number, type out the message, select which cell network it is (can look up if need be) and send. The cell person gets the message, although has no way to reply unless you say who you are or tell a phone number or email as part of the text. Somewhat crude, but works and is free.

http://www.cellphonemessagesender.com/

Send a photograph to a Verizon, Sprint or AT&T cell phone
Also free for the person on the computer, and works the same way, but with the added bonus of being able to leave your email addy along with the pic you send, so the recipient can reply directly if their cell service lets them send email, or just call you if they recognize the email addy you use.

http://www.pixdrop.com/
Where the hell is that phone number from??
Time was, you could look at a phone number prefix, the first three of the seven numbers (or exchange as sometimes called) and tell where it was from, whether or not it was long distance, etc. For example, where I live in area code 205, you knew prefixes 338 and 884 meant Pell City number, 699 is Leeds, 640 is Moody, 594 is Ashville, 979 and 822 are Hoover, 933 is the Southside of Birmingham, 967 is Mountain Brook, 467 is Springville, 655 is Trussville, and on, and on and on.
But with so many new numbers being added so fast, at about the same time as caller ID became the norm, all of the sudden the old sense of knowing at least a little something about a strange phone number was lost. But I found a way to make sense of them once again!
Here, you first click on the area code of the number you want to find out about. They are arrayed by number, AND by state/province/territory (covers the U.S., Canada, U.S. territories and the Caribbean) so it's not hassle finding the one you want.
Once you have the right area code, it's just a matter of typing in the prefix, and there you have it...the geographic area associated with the prefix.