The aim of the research was to explore the relationship between the use of SMS communication by adolescents and their perceived feelings of loneliness. The SMS seems to be the new communication medium for young people as they are most comfortable with and enthusiastic about this technology and its applications. The adolescent stage is characterised by the building of own social networks, the definition of boundaries between themselves and parents, self-presentation constructed on a social stage in relation to others and characterised by the development of romantic attachments, feelings of anxiety, self-esteem development and maintenance which may result in feelings of isolation and loneliness. Loneliness can be defined as an emotional and cognitive reaction to having fewer and less satisfying relationships than one desires. This includes the absence or self-perceived absence of satisfying social relationships and the unpleasant experience that occurs when a person's network of social relations is deficient in some important way. The motivation for this research was to get insight into the relationship between the use of SMS communication and loneliness in the South African context. An internet search on the 13th February 2006 indicated that no research has yet been done on the relationship between the use of the SMS and loneliness of adolescents in South Africa. An availability sample was used. One hundred and seventeen Grade 11 and 12 learners from two schools in the North West Province participated in the research project. An explanatory cross-sectional survey design with features of qualitative data analysis was used in this investigation. Three methods were used to obtain data, namely the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3), Satisfaction with Life Scale as well as a self-compiled questionnaire. After scoring the UCLA scale the researcher determined which of the participants had the highest level of loneliness and the lowest level of loneliness. Two groups were chosen, each consisting or 15 learners, according to the highest and lowest scores on the loneliness scale respectively. These two groups represented the top and bottom 14% of the sample. The data obtained from the self-compiled questionnaire and Satisfaction with Life scale were qualitatively compared. Analysis of the data indicated that there might be a relationship between the experience of loneliness and the following: gender; number of siblings; involvement in romantic relationships; amount of money spent on bill (financial constraints); quantity of SMS messages sent and received; need to stay in contact with friends over the weekend; reasons for sending SMS messages; feelings regarding sending or receiving SMS messages; feelings regarding no response to SMS messages; feeling with regard to not receiving SMS messages from a friend for a long time; initiating of friendships via cellphone and the SMS rather than face-to-face communication. Suggestions for future research projects were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007

Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The aim of the research was to explore the relationship between the use of SMS communication by adolescents and their perceived feelings of loneliness. The SMS seems to be the new communication medium for young people as they are most comfortable with and enthusiastic about this technology and its applications. The adolescent stage is characterised by the building of own social networks, the definition of boundaries between themselves and parents, self-presentation constructed on a social stage in relation to others and characterised by the development of romantic attachments, feelings of anxiety, self-esteem development and maintenance which may result in feelings of isolation and loneliness. Loneliness can be defined as an emotional and cognitive reaction to having fewer and less satisfying relationships than one desires. This includes the absence or self-perceived absence of satisfying social relationships and the unpleasant experience that occurs when a person's network of social relations is deficient in some important way. The motivation for this research was to get insight into the relationship between the use of SMS communication and loneliness in the South African context. An internet search on the 13th February 2006 indicated that no research has yet been done on the relationship between the use of the SMS and loneliness of adolescents in South Africa. An availability sample was used. One hundred and seventeen Grade 11 and 12 learners from two schools in the North West Province participated in the research project. An explanatory cross-sectional survey design with features of qualitative data analysis was used in this investigation. Three methods were used to obtain data, namely the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3), Satisfaction with Life Scale as well as a self-compiled questionnaire. After scoring the UCLA scale the researcher determined which of the participants had the highest level of loneliness and the lowest level of loneliness. Two groups were chosen, each consisting or 15 learners, according to the highest and lowest scores on the loneliness scale respectively. These two groups represented the top and bottom 14% of the sample. The data obtained from the self-compiled questionnaire and Satisfaction with Life scale were qualitatively compared. Analysis of the data indicated that there might be a relationship between the experience of loneliness and the following: gender; number of siblings; involvement in romantic relationships; amount of money spent on bill (financial constraints); quantity of SMS messages sent and received; need to stay in contact with friends over the weekend; reasons for sending SMS messages; feelings regarding sending or receiving SMS messages; feelings regarding no response to SMS messages; feeling with regard to not receiving SMS messages from a friend for a long time; initiating of friendships via cellphone and the SMS rather than face-to-face communication. Suggestions for future research projects were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007

Health applications are usually complicated and low end devices do not benefit from them. The focus of this thesis is on expandable health services platform for low end cell phones. Large number of mobile phones in the world are incapable using web or modern operating systems and pre-installed SMS application is the preferred communication medium. Moreover, SMS does not require a stable connection so text-based health information can still be available even during natural disasters. Although our platform is accessible through communication forms other than SMS. We propose a scalable platform for light weight health applications, providing novel and proactive client communication. Using cloud we assure the scalability, elasticity and reliability of the server side. Our multi-layered architecture provides separation of concerns and decoupling of communication and business logic. Furthermore, plug-ins can expand and customize functionalities.

The thesis studies the literacy practices of a group of young people in Närpes in southern Ostrobothnia, Finland with focus on SMS (Short Message Service), both in Standard Swedish and in dialect, but for the most part written in dialect. The aim of the investigation is to describe this writing as a social marker (young people against adults) and its function as an identity act. In addition the study investigates the orthographic norms and conventions that the young people use in their writing. The material consists of 520 SMS and such material as was collected through inquiries and interviews. In Närpes, as in many other Finland Swedish dialect areas, the dialect has got widened areas of usage and is well established and accepted in more domains than before. It is used in the new media and is thereby also gaining larger scope in public space. This also applies to writing SMS in dialect. The theoretical points of departure are taken from sociolinguistics and literacy research. A central concept is the new writing, i.e. writing in electronic media such as e.g. SMS and e-mail, which are somewhere between speech and writing. This has given speech and writing new forms with new preconditions, forms that the new media have “triggered” forth and that the language is adapting itself to. In the first investigative chapter (Ch. 3) eleven literacy practices divided into five groups are analysed: I electronic literacy practices (SMS, e-mail, chat), II hand-written slips of paper (reminder slips, purchase lists, slips to parents and friends respectively), III picture postcards and letters, IV diaries and V school assignments. The informants participate with one exception, group V, in all literacy practices in dialect to a greater or lesser extent. The second investigative chapter (Ch. 4) accounts for the dialect features, diphthongs and consonant combinations that were concretely investigated in the SMS material. The young people’s writing in dialect is functional and shows that the dialect is an important identity marker. The lack of shared conventions for spelling is not conceived of as a problem but allows everyone to create their own conventions, which in its turn has resulted in the tolerance level for variations in orthography being high. One group think that they write as it sounds, while another think that they do not follow any rules. The dialect is reserved for everyday matters, while Standard Swedish is used in more formal writing situations. The literacy practice may be the same, but the choice of language variety varies with the aim, content and length.

This Graduation Theses dissertate about a creation of a drawing documentation at the professional CAE EPLAN Electric P8 system. One original solution of a remote control and of motor-generator monitoring with a mobile phone, short SMS-aided in this case, was used as an example of the drawing documentation. As has allready been noted in previous Bachelor Thesis, this application can be use not only for a remote control of a motor-generator, but this solution is suitable for other electric devices too, which are out of reach of an attendance for example. In our case a generator with 6kVA power is concerned with rated output voltage 230Vac and rated current 25A. The system of a remote control has the advantage that it is created from standard components (electric instruments, a PLC – programmable automat, a GSM modem, an operating panel and the respective program in the PLC).