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Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on March 18, 2009 at 1:06pm

Original post on CCM list follows...

Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:26:37 -0500
From: Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer
Subject: Map for the Mar27th Green Mass

http://tinyurl.com/d6m74m

This is my proposed 27.7 mile ride for March 27th with a slightly green theme. I highly recommend those of you who are interested to play with the map to make it a better ride. Remember when you are done editing the gMap click the "Link" button at the top right hand corner then copy and paste the link they provide you into the "Enter a long URL to make tiny:" form at http://tinyurl.com/ .


NOW A RIDE LIKE THIS WILL REQUIRE ORGANIZATION!

A few of you may know that I am working on revamping the ancient coding of a SMS gateway system named the TxtMob. But each success leads to further disappointment. So I began to look into alternative methods of text message group messaging and ran into Tatango. It's a txtmob like system with a common short five digit SMS code and the ability to integrate into a few social networking sites. It's actually really great. There are only two down sides.

1) There are ads at the end of each txt so the character limit is shorted to accommodate.
2) It's not owned by me so I don't know what exactly is done with that data.
If and when I get the txtmob running I will archive messages only for as long as the server needs to process them. This way there can be no data mining or if records were for some reason subpoenaed I could hand them over a big blank document.

In my opinion. If we don't do anything idiotic with Tatango it's not a big deal. The very fact that they have a 5 digit CSC is particularly sweet since anyone can join and message the CCM group by just using their phone.
SO! If you guys are okay with using Tatango in the mean time to organize rides here are the instructions below.


TATANGO SETUP INSTRUCTIONS!

Create a Tatango account here, http://tatango.com/login

Join the CCM's Group at the Public Profile:
http://tatango.com/profile/11155-ExNTUwL
OR if you are already a member by phone: text JOIN11155E to 68398 to instantly join the group.


How do I text message my entire group from my mobile phone?

Send your message to a group by type # AND YOUR MESSAGE to the five digit number 68398(NUDYU).

Remember to use the # symbol before the body of the message. If you are a member of more than one group Tatango will send a message back asking you to confirm where the message will go.

Not so hard really.

Cordially in your face-
but still cordially,

Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on March 18, 2009 at 1:18pm

So, given these aboves, the big reason I'm starting this thread is because there are multiple solutions, and the software designer in me says hours planning saves week fixing.
1. I had been thinking of re-opening the WNBRC Upoc texting group on CCM days for shared CCM use. Might as well, the two rides overlap so much.
2. There is ALREADY a CCM group on Upoc, established years ago, but I'd suspect it's orphaned. Still might work fine though anyway. If not, a new group on Upoc is also an option. They've served me adequately for years.
3. Spencer (above) has created a new group on TaTango, but it appends ads he says.
4. Other options entirely, such as chat clients, or twitter channel subscriptions (does that exist?).

So... thoughts?

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Permalink Reply by vxla on March 18, 2009 at 3:08pm

The UPOC group on CCM isn't orphaned; I'm the creator of it and if anyone wants to admin it or whatever, lemme know. By the way, "CCM" as an identifier on UPOC didn't work because there's some other Christian something-rather group using it.

UPOC has been around for quite a while, and it's the most stable of the one-to-many SMS service providers out there.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on March 18, 2009 at 4:59pm

YAY!!! I'm so glad to hear this. Exactly what I was hoping to draw out. I'm sure I tried to confirm months ago, but maybe we missed each other. I joined that ChiCM group a while back, looks like others recently did as well. To reiterate for interested parties, "Upoc" text messaging group for Chicago Critical Mass: http://www.upoc.com/group.jsp?group=chicm


If I remember right, I met with Upoc creator(s) years ago. Was based in Skokie? I may be way off.

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