Light at the end of the tunnel for mobile rage

Nice to see I'm not alone in my mobile rage with Jeezidunno giving Gapingvoid's cartoons a run for their money...

No run of the mill mobile usage

Now this blogger has returned to two wheels for the daily commute, I was expecting to leave the annoyances of inconsiderate mobile phone users behind me. However, a recent experience has shown me that this form of communication is truly ubiquitous.

Anxious to run off the excesses of the festive season, I joined the thousands enrolling in the guilt-powered new year gym renaissance. As I pounded away on the treadmill, I was treated the peculiar phenomenon of the Crazy Frog ringtone (if you don't know what that is, consider yourself blessed) as a mobile went off in my vicinity.

Suprisingly, it belonged to the jogger next to me, who, without breaking stride, answered her phone and starting mumbling panting banalities into her phone, issuing the immortal line: 'HELLO, I'M ON THE TREADMILL'.

Is nowhere sacred?

Blackberry your head in the sand

Blackberrys have replaced the mobile phones of a few years ago, as the ostentatious communications item of the day. It has become a peculiar status symbol to sit in a café or meeting, furiously tapping away to clients and friends.

I witnessed this phenomenon on a recent stag do, where two of the merchant banking fraternity spent all day long 'Blackberrying' (surely there's a verb for this by now?) in bars in what seemed to be a vain attempt to impress the local beauties. However, given the lack of technology in the host country, an enquiry to said beauties revealed that they assumed they were fiddling with pocket calculators (seriously). Well, quite.

With echoes of mobile phone usage in the classroom, Silicon.com reveals that Blackberrys (or any other electronic devices) are being banned from use in the House of Commons - a development no doubt linked to Alistair Cambell's 4-letter Blackberry faux pas to the BBC.

Readers will of course be able to tell that this is a green-eyed monster of a post and that Jason Benali's alter-ego wishes he was important enough to qualify for a company one.

Mobile Bingo!

As a regular commuter on the trains into London, one of my pet hates is inconsiderate mobile phone users. Last night, I was the victim of a mobile sandwich as I sat sullenly trying to block out the loud, inane drivel from either side.

The only thing that kept me from mobile rage (surely the buzzword of 2005?) was creating an idea to help such beleagered commuters such as myself - mobile bingo.

To play, you write out a bingo-style card with classic phrases, such as:

- 'I'm on the train'
- 'I'm going into a tunnel'
- 'Can you hear me?'
- Double usage of 'Hello'
- A bizarre personal revelation, e.g. 'I've got this itch'
- An argument
- "I can't talk now" but keep going for more than five minutes
(Add your own in the comments section)

When you've ticked off a row, simply stand and shout 'MOBILE BINGO!' to the carriage. Even better, give out cards at the start of the journey, so you can play with your fellow commuters.

However, help may be at hand for those not able to play. On a recent visit to the airport, I noticed noise cancelling headphones in Dixons and indeed a quick Gooogle revealed detailed instructions on how to build your own (all you need is a degree in electronic engineering).

Joy of txt never dies

The days of deleting romantic/angry txts from your loved ones (past or present) could be in the past with news of a service from Nokia, called Lifeblog, that will archive and organise messages sent to/from your mobile. The messages can even be uploaded to PCs for storage on the web, just to prove that people really will put anything on the web.

Aside from the question of whether the humble txt is worth preserving for eternity, this is part of the growing blogging trend of recording every detail of our short lives using the power of the technology.

No doubt Max Clifford is preparing a Rebecca Loos(e) 'My Becks Txt hell' microsite as I type.

Tube alerts to your mobile - one small problem there, guys...

News today from Revolution that Orange will provide frustrated commuters with text alerts on travel delays, so you can plan your way out of tube hell by knowing about where 'there-may-be-trouble-ahead'.

This all sounds wonderful, but unfortunately when you most need this service you are stuck underground going nowhere on the circle line and can't get a signal on your phone. Oh dear...