Instant messaging & chatroomz on the internet & text messaging on wireless fonez have become very common methodz uv communication over the last few yirz. Its like a mix uv spoken & written language with the main disadvantagez uv both ! Way slower than speech ( at best, 1/10 for full keyboard , 1/30 for 0-9 alfa-numeric keypad ) yet deprived uv the time to consider, edit & refraze az in email or a paper corespondence. Sumhow its still bekum very popular. Ask anywun why they like it so much & more likely than not, they will be unable to say why or think uv any advantage . Maybe its the voiceless anonymity that allowz the average Jane or Joe to be anybody they want on the internet . Or the fact that its virtually free to IM somebody who iz online, no matter how far away they are. But what about the wireless devices? You are generally 'talking' with someone you know and the service iz billed by the minit, so wherez the advantage? Danged if I can figure it out! Wutever the reazonz, its here & lotsa peeps like it.

A major aspect uv it, especially with text messaging, iz trying to get your message across with less typing. Minimizing the number uv wordz & abbr thm az mch az posbl iz the essential strategy. It works ok for most common wordz, but failz for new namez or uncommon wordz. Another problem iz the lack uv any standard. Trying to puzzle thru sumbodyz rendition uv a simple sentence can take longer than it took to type it. Its Like trying to decode a string uv vanity licence plates!

SLAKRZ NQALF TQ XU RESKYQ !

Az you can see on the Nooalf Pictures page, the Nooalf system haz an automatic ascii equivelent (the little black letter next to the big blue wun). If you type az if you are using a Nooalf font, but you really arent, the rezult will be Nooalf ascii, a fonetic system in wich most uv the letterz are CAPITAL (to provide the most distinct symbol group), with the remaining 8 accessed by hitting the shift key to temporarily revert back to lower case.

Switching frum upper to lower case takes time. Although its only a fraction uv a second on a computer keyboard, it addz up. And on many fone keypadz it can be a major hassle-O-tron. This iz wut slakrz nqalf iz all about; eliminating the shift.

You are probably thinking "How iz it possible?! JO, you must be krazy! It can not be done since there arent enuf letterz in the traditional alfabet for all the soundz we have! Somebody get a gun & shoot him, for certianly he haz contracted rabiez!"

Dont shoot yet! Altho I dont directly deny being rabid, there iz lojik to this madness.

Here'z how it works:

Type az if you're typing real Nooalf, except leave the keyboard in lower case & ignore the shift.
8 letterz, a e i o u s j x, will each reprezent either uv the 2 soundz that the key makes with the shift. Not a big problem to read, since the vast majority uv the text will be wordz you know. And if you really do need to know how to pronounce a particular word, regular Nooalf ascii can be used!

xis iz slakrz nqalf. yq kan tip it wix u ful kebord ubowt 20% fastr xan propr inglis sins it uliminats ol xe ekstru letrz . it olso haz u spas advantij ovr nqalf ascii. now yq wil be abl tq yamr fastr xan evr sins yq wont spend haf xu tim tiping " hu? " & wating for u refraz uv xu last eksesivle ubreveatid sentens!

im hape tq ansr ene kwescnz . enkurijing koments & owtrajd diutribz or olso welkum .
klik on xe envulop & stort hamrring xoz kez !

( LaST UPDAT FeB 2, 2007 )