Keeping in touch with the kid

Text'ing the kid when you don't have a cell phone.

This isn't original, but I just received it from a business forum:

When a phone call is too intrusive and e-mail is too slow, or you don't have access to a cell phone (battery dead, no minutes, etc) nothing beats a text message. Google just rolled out a new feature that lets you send text messages straight from Gmail to a contact's phone.

To enable this option, open Gmail, click on Settings, then go to the Labs tab. Scroll down until you see "Text Messaging (SMS) in Chat" and select Enable and Save Changes.

For the moment, "Gmail SMS" works only with cell phones that have U.S. phone numbers. To get started, type a phone number into the search box in Gmail's chat window on the left, then select "Send SMS." You can also select the contact you want to SMS first and then add their phone number.

This isn't just a one-way operation: You can actually "chat" via SMS this way. Your message arrives on the recipient's phone; replies get routed back to your Gmail chat window. Definitely a handy tool for home-bound parents, as texting from a keyboard is a lot quicker and easier than texting from a phone.

1,000 uses around the home:

WIMC? ( Where is my car?)
GBHTI! (get back here this instant!)
IBNCYWTJK... (I better not catch you with that Jones kid...)

but I digress...

I realize this isn't horse related, but emergencies happen.

Hope this comes in handy some day.

Jeff(dot)Kurtz
Mountain Laurel PC

original post: http://blogs.bnet.com/businesstips/?p=2204