tecznotes

Textmessage.cc ("free text messaging service") seems like a cool idea, but has three fatal flaws:

1. "Phone Number: __ (NO Dashes -· Example: 6239121233". I don't know what's living on the server, but allowing any input and scraping out the non-numbers is an 8-character regular expression in Perl. Why do sites insist on enforcing easily-scrubbed input formats like this? Not as maddening as my other web-form pet-peeve: phone number entry fields broken up into three INPUT's (area, prefix, etc.) and "enhanced" with Javascript to bounce you forward as you type. My tab key works fine, thank you.
2. "Please choose the receivers cell phone service provider". My phone never asks me to do this when I'm sending SMS from my handset, why should I do it here? I don't even know what providers many of my friends use, nor should I have to.
3. Received messages contain "textmessage.cc" signature. Not really a fatal flaw, but still mildly annoying.

I still haven't found a reliable way to send SMS from my computer without knowing provider gateway e-mail addresses in advance, and these seems to periodically change for some providers.