Seen our new short URL? That’s right! It’s customized now!

It’s taken us a few days to settle on just the right short URL, and now that we’ve got it all set up, seeing our short URLs customized is giving us that warm fuzzy feeling!

We would like to share with you the steps we did just in case you are interested in setting up your own.

Steps it took to get there:

1. Choose the short URL that fits your brand and brand name:

Take a look at your brand name and start from the end. Optionally, remove vowels. Here’s a link to a list of all domain name extensions to get you started. Our best fit was ‘.hn’, which is the domain extension of Honduras. Exotic, right?

Note that not all domain registrars offer all domain extensions, so make sure you choose a domain registrar that is accredited to sell domains with the extension you choose. Also, if the extension you choose is not ‘.com’ or ‘.net’, it might take the domain registrar up to 24 hours to complete registration.

2. Your short URL in hand and back to your URL shortener:

Services such as bit.ly and aw.sm give you the possibility to set your own custom short URL. We’re using bit.ly pro BETA, which allows using custom short URLS, and it’s free.

Note that URL shorteners usually specificy two steps to complete before you’re all set. If you’re not much into networking, get someone to help you set up the following:

3. Set up a DNS A Record:

This is done via your short URL domain registrar to point to an IP (format: xxx.xxx.xxx.xx) so that your URL shortener (in our case, bit.ly) can track the clicks. The URL shortener provides you with the IP.

4. Add the few lines of code they provide you with to your actual website (in our case, telephone.com) so as to prove website ownership.

And that’s it, you’re done! Seeing your short URL customized is well worth the effort!

Isn’t Honduras beautiful?

UPDATE

After recent updates from the local mobile operators, this seems to no longer be an issue for most mobile numbers! Accordingly, Mobile Number Identification and Message Delivery Report function as usual for most of your recipients. However, mobile operators are still working on getting this solved for all mobile numbers.

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It appears that local mobile operators in Lebanon will be implementing changes on their network for the coming days, in order to overcome certain issues they have been facing. But not to worry! Yours truly have already put in place the necessary measures in order to avoid unstable message delivery to Lebanon over that period of time.

Unfortunately, for these measures to work flawlessly, our Mobile Number Identification and Message Delivery Report features won’t be available for recipients with numbers from one of the local mobile operators. As such, your recipients will receive the messages with a generic ‘+12128675309’ number as the originator of the message (‘from’ field), and your mobile number will be appended to the beginning of the SMS body.

Input the URL address of the blog and the words (e.g. telecom) included in the updates you receive SMS alerts for.  Input a name for the feed and click on ‘add’.

You can also customize your alerting system by choosing the number of SMS alerts per day and setting further preferences. Click on the edit icon.

Set your preferences, and click on ‘save’.

RSS Settings:

At the bottom of the page, the RSS settings will let you set preferences for all of your alerting system, such as the time frame within which you would like to receive your alerts.

1. Input the RSS feed and the words (e.g. telecom) included in the updates you want to receive SMS alerts for. Click on ‘add’.

You can also customize your alerting system by choosing the number of SMS alerts per day and further preferences. Click on the edit icon.

Set your preferences, and click on ‘save’.

RSS Settings:

At the bottom of the page, the RSS settings will let you set preferences for all of your alerting system, such as the time frame within which you would like to receive your alerts.

1. Input the hashtag, mention, or expression you want the tweet you receive by SMS to contain. Enter a name for the feed.

If you want to further filter the SMS tweets you receive, click on ‘more options’.

2. Click on ‘add’ to add the new feed to your subscriptions.

You can also customize your alerting system by choosing the number of SMS alerts per day and further preferences. Click on the edit icon.

Set your preferences, and click on ‘save’.

Fan of soccer? So are we!

Did you know you could receive ALL team news and game updates via SMS right on your mobile device?

We’ve gathered all RSS feeds from your favorite resources. Here’s a list of all 32 teams participating in the World Cup 2010 and the feeds to add to your SMS Alerts:

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Latest FIFA World Cup News: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/rss.xml

Latest Goal.com World Cup News: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/news/?id=67&fmt=rss

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Algeria

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43843/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=1299&fmt=rss

Argentina

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43922/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=208&fmt=rss

Australia

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43976/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=532&fmt=rss

Brazil

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43924/index.html

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=209&fmt=rss

Cameroon

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43849/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=463&fmt=rss

Chile

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43925/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=219&fmt=rss

Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43854/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=770&fmt=rss

Denmark

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43941/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=15&fmt=rss

England

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43942/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=16&fmt=rss

France

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43946/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=17&fmt=rss

Germany

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43948/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=18&fmt=rss

Ghana

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43860/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=657&fmt=rss

Greece

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43949/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=21&fmt=rss

Honduras

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43909/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=1115&fmt=rss

Italy

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43954/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=13&fmt=rss

Japan

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43819/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=311&fmt=rss

Korea DPR (North Korea)

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43821/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=526&fmt=rss

Korea Republic (South Korea)

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43822/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=303&fmt=rss

Mexico

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43911/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=217&fmt=rss

Netherlands

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43960/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=19&fmt=rss

New Zealand

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43978/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=806&fmt=rss

Nigeria

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43876/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=777&fmt=rss

Paraguay

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43928/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=214&fmt=rss

Portugal

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43963/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=23&fmt=rss

Serbia

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=1902465/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=444&fmt=rss

Slovakia

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=44002/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=414&fmt=rss

Slovenia

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43968/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=433&fmt=rss

South Africa

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43883/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=658&fmt=rss

Spain

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43969/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=22&fmt=rss

Switzerland

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43971/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=28&fmt=rss

Uruguay

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43930/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=210&fmt=rss

USA

FIFA: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43921/news/rss.xml

Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/feeds/team-news?id=248&fmt=rss

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To set up SMS Alerts for the World Cup, or updates about your favorite team(s):

1. Go to ‘SMS Alerts’

2. Add the URL of your team of choice or the FIFA latest news (listed above) as follows:

3. Set your RSS preferences as follows:

Click on the pen icon to edit, choose the maximum number of SMSes you wish to receive per day, and click on ‘save’.

And you’re done!

May the best team win!

We were very glad to participate GeekFestBeirut 2.0, which took place on Saturday May 29th at Art Lounge. We really enjoyed working alongside the Maniachi team, and would like to extend a big thank you to all those of you who attended.

The event involved many presentations, including a presentation by very zestful college students taking a course entitled ‘Media, Culture, and Technology’, and another by a member of our Telephone.com Team!

This year, GeekFest took on a mission; all proceeds from tshirt sales, as well as donations, went to an impressive online campaign with a very noble cause, ‘Un Coeur pour Philippe’, literally translating into ‘A Heart for Philippe’.

Check out the Maniachi’s post about GeekFest Beirut!

Here are a few pictures we would like to share with you:

Credits go to @footnem (Fady Nammour) for the wonderful pictures that follow:

by @footnem

by @footnem

by @footnem

by @footnem

by @footnem

by @footnem

by @footnem

by @footnem

by @footnem

by @footnem

by @footnem

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We just got back from #GeekFestBeirut, and we thought we’d upload a few pictures for everyone to see!

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We are getting ready for GeekFestBeirut tomorrow, we’re very glad to be participating and working along with the Maniachi team. In the meantime, we’ve prepared a live tweet coverage page! You can start checking telephone.com/geekfest from now for any #geekfestbeirut tweets.

Speaking of tweets, this is the video that we’ll be showing at the GeekFest!

We have a few tweaks to do but here’s what it’s like so far:

The Twestival gathered individuals from various backgrounds and cities in the region, all for the cause of education, through donations to the ‘World Concern’ humanitarian organization.

The schedule was composed of a very interesting presentation on the history of Twitter in general and in the region, and a humorous take on the do’s and don’ts of Twitter, as well as a tombola offering super interesting giveaways.

One of the very memorable moments of this event is the extremely generous donation made by @aramex (by @fadig in person!) to the fundraising event, enabling us to raise even more money for a cause so close the heart.

Here are a few pictures we brought back with us:

@danyawad, @eleenakorban, @sam_lb, @migheille, @azzi, @monajem, @mayazankoul, @larazankoul, @funkyozzi

@sdarine

@aymanitani

A message from the Queen of Jordan (@QueenRania) recorded specially for the Twestival

#TwestivalAB's hero of the day, @fadig of @aramex!

@mayazankoul's artwork won by @jessdheere from @SMEXBeirut

@Plus961, @khaledmhakim, @toniyammine

@sdarine, @christinkik, @naeema, @danyawad, @krikorianM

@plus961, @sadekhm

@sam_lb, @mayazankoul, @stephanienehme

@larazankoul donating some of her artwork, @sdarine, @aymanitani

@mayazankoul, @sdarine, @lucyhanna, @naeema, @larazankoul, @aymanitani, @toniyammine

The Telephone.com Team is glad to announce that you can now recharge your Telephone.com wallet via cashU.
cashU is a leading global prepaid Internet shopping card provider, and we are proud to bring you yet another secure service for recharging.

To recharge your Telephone.com wallet using cashU:
1. log in to your account, click on ‘settings’
2. click on ‘recharge wallet’, choose the amount you want to recharge with
3. select ‘cashU’, and click on ‘go’

4. click on ‘Pay with CashU’

5. you will be taken to cashU’s payment page to complete your purchase. Fill in the required info.

6. the following page will open. Notice that you can also print the order information

7. on the Telephone.com page, click on ‘done’

To find out what is the nearest cashU reseller to you, please visit the following link: http://www.cashu.com/site/findReseller

You can learn more about cashU by visiting: http://www.cashu.com/site/aboutUs