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Morse Code Faster Than SMS
mentalflossboy writes "Engadget is reporting that Morse Code is actually faster than text messaging. According to the article, 93 year old Gordon Hill transmitted a message faster than 13 year old Brittany Devlin, despite Devlin's 'liberal use of texting slang.' And the fabulous quote they were they sending: 'Hey, girlfriend, you can text all your best pals to tell them where you are going and what you are wearing.'"
Newsflash:
Voice is faster then either Text Messaging or Morse Code, it's already included with your phone plan, and it doesn't make you look like an idiot.
94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
What hath Woz wrought?
Get a first post?
....
beeeeep beep beep beeeeep
Life isn't like a box of chocolates. It's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.
Electronics companies, go on making the hardware. But let us screw around with the software. If you remember a little something called "the internet" you'll realize that there are a hell of a lot of good ideas out there (as well as a hell of a lot of really dumb ones, but let's not talk about that).
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
A phone with only dot and dash buttons!
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
But is Morse proficiency still required for amatuer radio licensing?
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
I'm a touch typist and what I think just goes to my hands. It's actually harder (and takes longer) for me to type "u" to mean "you" than it does to type "you" because I have to throw my brain into idiot mode and override my normal typing skills to get idiot-speak onto the screen.
After I learn morse code I'll have exactly zero friends to morse with, sort of like my current contact list.
93 year old Gordon Hill transmitted a message faster than 13 year old Brittany
Parkinson's disease helps...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
I can't write TXT messages for my life. It takes me a 1/2 hour because I'm a spaz and can barely operate my phone :P
I feel jipped. I can't find what the 93-yr old was wearing ANYWHERE in tfarticle.
Aside from that, this doesnt suprise me, as the bottleneck was not the tech itself, but the input methods. And having 3 or 4 letters per key is NOT efficient.
** "It's not my job to stand between the people talking to me, and the ones listening to me." -- Pego the Jerk
"Sup g/f? U can txt all ur homies 2 tell dem wats da haps and wut u waring"
"This food is problematic."
So, a 93 year old morse code veteran beat a 13 year old novice-at-typing child? Wow...good story!
In other, seemingly unrelated news: Big marbles are larger than small ones.
-.. ..- .... .-.-.-
(Damn Slashdot's filters. Telling me to use less junk characters. Morse code isn't junk! It's top quality characters!)
What's your damage, Heather?
Starting from scratch, one can reach over 20 words per minute solid copy in a matter of months, with only, say, an hour of regular training every day. 20 wpm isn't considered particularly fast amongst morse code operator: the EHSC for example requires its members to copy 60 wpm for 30 minutes. While this is at the extreme end of the spectrum, 20 wpm is attainable by anybody with a little patience and time.
Go here and try it out yourself, over the internet. You'll see 20 wpm is waaay faster than any SMS messaging.
Also, text messaging is *extremely* convenient at certain times.
it seems that while SMS is shorter:2 #833555#844336#96668#88#777#3666444664#11#94433777 33#88777#4666444664#2663#96668#88#777#933277744466 41
;)
hey gf u can txt ur best pals 2 tel them wot u r doing, where ur going and wot u r wearing
SMS-TAP:443399#4333#222266#8998#88777#7223377778#
Compared to:
Hey, girlfriend, you can text all your best pals to tell them where you are going and what you are wearing. (translate that there - lameness filter
Morsecode is simply much more simpler to enter - only 3 different possible entrypoints opposed to 10-11 for SMS...
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Has anyone else ever tried to tell someone that the beeping that their Nokia phone makes when they receive a text message is Morse code for SMS? I have yet to meet a single person who's known that. I swear, Morse code is a dying language that will soon go the way of languages such as Latin and Aramaic - famous, scholarly, the old guys like it, but no one else gives a crap.
On some Nokia phones a ring signal for messages is the morse code for SMS, that is:
... -- ...
The radio operator I knew said that one killer feature for him would be if the phone instead of that could play the whole message in morse code when it came - no need to pick up the phone to see it, you could just hear the message (and obviously annoy everybody else).
This wasn't morse code against sms. This was the older generation (93 year old) against the younger generation (13 year old). And the younger generation sucks. Although I'm sure that even at the same age, a person using morse code can beat a person using sms.
....and Gordon Hill dropped dead from exhaustion right after he was done :)
BTW, if you think that's a nasty comment, you really don't get the 'quote'
-- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
...many mobile phones already come with Morse support. Just dial the person you want. Most phones already have the Morse protocol activated at this point so you can launch right into it. To send someone a dot say "DIT" into the microphone. To send a dash say "DAH". Remember to put short spaces between your words. For example if you're having an emergency you can say DIT-DIT-DIT DAH-DAH-DAH DIT-DIT-DIT. With a little practice you'll find that this is much faster than texting, something you'll appreciate if you are ever in a real emergency.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
At his success, Gordon started dancing around and waving the apparatus screaming, "This is what god hath wrought, bitch." he then proceeded to throw the telegraph at the insolent child but was taken down by spectators.
I find T9 predictive input input a real help, much quicker than even the folks that use "u", "m8" and other abbreviations.
Still annoys me when people (really had to concentrate and not type "ppl" then) try to use SMS to see if I want to go for a beer tho... I always end up calling 'em, it's far cheaper and quicker. Texts seem so impersonal sometimes too...
Absolutley, I know a Ham that is "down" to 60 wpm with morse code after peaking 100+ while serving with the Navy. I've seen this guy decode and he's faster and more accurate then the computers we had doing the same thing.
Now I just need to go get a slow 5 wpm to upgrade my license.
It's also good for flirting with the opposite sex, but then again, this is /.
> Texting is better when I'm in a situation where I
> don't want others to know what I'm talking about.
Real men speak Klingon for this purpose.
> Texting is better when I need to tell someone
> something but I don't want to have to have a full
> conversation with them.
So call them, say it, and hang up. If it's important, they'll call back and use up their minutes.
> I love using Google text (46645) when I'm
> looking for something like a restaraunt
Real men aren't afraid of asking for directions.
> Texting saves minutes.
Sounds like you need to work on your words per minute. Some people speak very slowly at as little as 15 wpm. With a little practice you can work up to 175 wpm. Not only will that save you valuable minutes (although real men buy unlimited calling plans), but it works as an excellent device for winning arguments. Just imagine, being able to say ten words for each one your opponent utters! He'll never be able to come up with a counter argument before you completely devastate him with an astounding verbal barrage and move through seven topics before he gathers enough wits to reply to the first one. If he tries, just sneer and invoke the three-second rule.
Did I mention that women are really impressed by verbal prowess? Typing up these voluminous Slashdot comments is gonna pay off today!
I think so. C'mon, think about it. This guy has ben doing Morse code since before you were born. What gives you the slightest hint that you could punch out a message faster with your thumbs? Have you ever seen these guys work? Suffice it to say... Yes, I am telling you he could code faster than you with your thumb keyboard. [Be Free.]
[Trojan.]
-pulls AC aside
Look man, people are talking. I know you like your phone and everything, but... It's kind of a bit dated. It's been 29 years, it's time for you and your giant bag phone part ways. I know it will be tough, but we can get you a man purse to put your new one in. Then people will stop talking about you behind your back.
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
"Well Duhh!", she replies
"No Duhh Duhh Dit Dit Duhh Duhhh"
<thump>
Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
http://www.freshports.org/converters/p5-Convert-Mo rse/
Perl module to convert to and from morse. Now for that 'open' phone that could run perl...
Don't pick up the pho*(@)$*@&@!@ NO CARRIER
http://www.pckeyboard.com/images/SMTREXLARGE.gif
http://scphillips.com/cgi-bin/morse.cgi
-Palal
Be sure to drink your Ovaltine?
When I got out of the bar tonight (where there is no reception), my phone picked up a text message from a friend who's place was on the way home from me, so I was able to pop in and say hi, then watch a movie with her. I was also able to quickly read the message and drop the phone back into my pocket in the street. Had I got an answer phone message, I would had to hold the phone up to my ear, making me a prime target for thiefs, especially as I was wandering alone late on a Friday night in this city that my nick aludes to. Otherwise, I would have just gone straight home and watched a little tv on my own. I'd say that was a result.
The night out was arranged by email, and I got notified of a slight last minute change of plans via a group text. For someone who actually has a social life, text and other gadgets are really useful. I'm a bloke, I don't chat on the phone, nor do I chat on text. Like almost every other man in the western world I use these things to arrange real-life meetings!
Yes, there are stupid people out there spending money on type-0 midi files, backgrounds and other such crap. But these same folk also spend money on silly things like MSN backgrounds, stupid rubber wrist bands and lots of other bullshit. Why blame the technology?
As for speed, well with the qwerty keyboard and predictive text, my speed would definitely be on a par with the morse guy. As someone who doesn't touchtype on a computer, I can rattle messages off just fast as I could on a regular keyboard. Granted, using a numeric keypad is lame for text entry, shit you could get crappy "organizers" (name & number) in the late eighties that used the same mechanism. But for the geek, there are some really useful and productive phones out there. I've got VNC and SSH on this, do the math.
The trick is that it's easier to transmit the code with a modern keyer - easier than typing, probably. Your hand is completely relaxed, and you only use the thumb and the index finger. The keyer does most of the work - but you must hear what it does, and change the position of the paddle as needed. You do it, in fact, predictively - and it is extremely easy after some practice (a few contests will do it for life :-)
Compared to that, cell phone keyboards are awful. I completely and totally refuse to participate in texting, unless it's unavoidable.
I'm in New Zealand and I don't use my phone much, so it suits me to be on a prepay plan. From what I understand, NZ has one of the most expensive mobile phone industries in the world. (Perhaps it's lack of competition, since there's only Vodafone and Telecom competing.)
Text is nearly always cheaper here than voice, especially on prepay plans. At least on my plan, though, there's something similar to a prisoner's dilemma going on with it.
On off-peak rates, for instance, I have an option of calling someone for a minute (49 cents minimum), or sending a text message (20 cents). In the latter case, it's more likely that I'll send a couple, but it's still only 40 cents so I save money. Meanwhile, the person with whom I'm corresponding will reply with at least one, possibly two.
Therefore in nearly any thumb-killing text conversation that's worth perhaps a 30 second phone call at best, Vodafone is likely to make between 60 and 80 cents, yet neither person pays for the cost of an entire 1 minute call.
Maybe one day I'll have more money to squander and get a better plan, but I'd just as soon throw away my phone. It's helpful to have around sometimes so that people can get hold of me however.
Who the hell numbers their trains with six digits?!
+++OK ATH