"FYI, 13yo skool grl is nu US txt mssg chmpN" ! asa ca, ... Roll Over, Einstein !

Cine si-ar fi imaginat ca, dupa ce ani de-a rindul s-a criticat vehement tehnologia care a creat adictii "automotrice" in rindul copiilor, s-a criticat distrugerea limbajului, accelerarea agramatismului si a inculturii in rindul tineretului ...,

vom ajunge sa citim despre organizarea unor astfel de evenimente, care in curind vor egala, ba chiar vor depasi popularitatea si prestigiul clasicelor competitii de "Spelling Bees" ... Nu te mai doare capul, e drept, in schimb te dor degetele :

"And while competitive text messaging may not have quite gained Olympic status, the hundreds of mostly teenagers who took part in the US championships in New York Saturday could think of little but the 25,000-dollar prize money.

Some 250 challengers shunned the warmest day of the year for a dark ballroom where they battled it out for a chance to take on the reigning West Coast champion, 21-year-old Eli Tirosh, for the title of US Texting Champion.

Contestants had to stand with their hands behind their backs until a bell sounded and a message appeared on an overhead screen. The winner was judged on whoever's message -- checked for exact punctuation -- reached the judges first.

The text tests ranged from "faster than a speeding bullet..." and "what we do in life echoes in eternity" to the less poetic "OMG, nd 2 talk asap," which for those over 30 means "Oh my God, need to talk as soon as possible."

The 250 competitors were quickly whittled down to eight semi finalists, one of whom, Anne Finn, 24, of Allegany, New York, said the pressure was too much. "It was so nerve wracking. My hands started to shake. I couldn't get my apostrophe," she said.

In the end, 13-year-old Morgan Pozgar faced off against Michael "Cheeser" Nguyen in the east coast final, with Pozgar slipping past her challenger to face west coast champion Tirosh, a law student from Los Angeles. "I just wasn't fast enough," said Nguyen, a 23-year-old engineer from Pennsylvania. Asked how it felt to take second place, he was clearly disappointed: "I just got beaten by a teenage girl, but you know."

Pozgar, who says she wants to work in fashion when she's older, had no hesitation about how to spend her prize money -- 10,000 dollars for the east coast championship and a further 15,000 dollars for the national award. She said she was going to hit the stores in New York City.
Her mother Shannon, who had driven five hours into New York from Pennsylvania on Saturday morning for the event, said she would let Morgan spend some of the money but was eyeing the rest for her college fund..."

by James Hossack, Sun Apr 22, NEW YORK (AFP) more details ...