SMS sender charged with inciting violence

A Sydney man has been charged with sending text messages to incite violence just a week after race riots at a beachside suburb.
The 33-year-old, whose name was not released, is the first to be charged with such an offense, and could spend up to three years in jail if convicted, Australia's Special Broadcasting Corp. reported Thursday.
Police allege the man repeatedly forwarded two text messages calling for people to meet at two Sydney beaches Dec. 18, a week after a gathering of 5,000 people at Cronulla beach turned violent.
The man was charged with using a service to menace, harass or cause offense, as well as one count of printing, publishing to incite or urging the commission of a crime. He was released on bail and is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 1.
Police say they expect to make similar arrests in coming days as they trace the source of several further text messages that circulated across the country in the days following the Dec. 11 riot, in which white Australians attacked people of Middle Eastern appearance.

Frontline SMS

Despite a huge increase in interest in SMS technology within the non-governmental organisation sector, many find the technology out of reach due to a combination of lack of expertise, a lack of direction, and cost. Designed with the needs of the non-profit sector in mind, FrontlineSMS is a text messaging solution that allow ONGs to create and manage all of their SMS-related contact groups; send and receive messages via special on-screen consoles; engage with contact groups - run surveys, competitions etc. via the Survey Manager; run their own text-based information service, export data to Excel. The system handles flash messages and long messages up to 320 characters in length and provides incoming and outgoing message history for each contact

British Airways to phase in SMS marketing

British Airways is looking to use SMS for marketing and customer services in the future, reports Digital Bulletin.
"In the short term, BA's passenger disruption notifications, cargo logistics and staff communication will adopt the SMS technology. However, BA has big plans for the medium, which will act as an instantaneous way to keep its customers updated about services and flights".

via Textually

Batch Of Panadol Recalled by SMS

An SMS message that has been doing the rounds in Saudi Arabia claiming that the batch number 050292 of Panadol Extra which was reportedly smuggled into the kingdom will harm the kidneys and liver has been confirmed by the Ministry of Health.
"The Pharmacists in the country’s Eastern Province are as yet unaware of the recall order, and the local press reports claim that as many as 10,000 of the boxes containing the medicine are in circulation."

[via Medindia.com]