Photo by The Lightworks
Not long ago, my friends considered my texting habit part of my curious but slightly cool geek cred. (I use the term “geek” loosely; my husband works for Twitter where that term has a much higher barrier to entry. But I digress.) Now, texting is an accepted communication channel among non-techies. Friends who still wonder about blogs routinely text their kids after school.
But, while firing a quick text may now be second-nature, you may not know about several nifty things you can do with your regular, old cell phone — no data plan required.
1. Send private notes to yourself with Twitter’s direct message feature
I
tend to remember random details at inopportune moments when I can do
little about it. “I can’t forget to send Mimi’s birthday card!” while
at the gym. “Luke needs his permission slip turned in tomorrow!” while
waiting at the gas station. I used to leave myself answering machine
messages, but now, if I don’t have my calendar handy, I simply send a
direct message to myself using Twitter. There are more elegant and
efficient solutions, such as using an iPhone with built-in calendaring,
or calling Jott, or texting to a to-do app such as Remember the Milk, but, hey, this is quick, free, and it works for me.
Howto:
I created a private Twitter account just for this purpose, then
followed that account from my regular Twitter account (@parenthacks). I
can now text myself messages that only I see.
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