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Have you ever wondered what those teenagers are saying when they type acronyms like LOL, WTH, etc? Community member Lamarr Wilson created this video to showcase a website that will help you figure out what the heck (WTH) your kid is trying to say.

Teen Chat Decoder is a free service that helps you make sense of the gobbledy-gook that is rampant in text messages and IMs from teenagers. Heck, I even know many adults who type this way! If you’re constantly confused when reading these types of messages, then this site is going to help you.

To use the service, you only need to start typing the acronym in the white box and then wait for the database to return results. For example, if you type in LOL, you’ll see that it is a way of saying they are currently Laughing Out Loud. The service will also give you other results that are similar (or which use portions of that same acronym).

Lamarr will be doing a video for us every Monday, talking about things relating to technology and social media. He’s entertaining as heck, so keep your eyes peeled for his contributions.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/s6aGONMkRew"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/s6aGONMkRew" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/">Chris</a> | <a href="http://live.pirillo.com/">Live Tech Support</a> | <a href="http://media.pirillo.com/">Video Help</a> | <a href="http://feeds.pirillo.com/ChrisPirilloShow">Add to iTunes</a>

How to Understand Teenagers

I’m not the first (and I certainly won’t be the last) person to claim that DRM sucks. But DRM doesn’t stand for “Digital Rights Management.” No, it’s really an acronym for “Dramatic Resource Mangler.” Here’s the problem I’m now running into: I’ve currently got a subscription to Napster, a trial account with Rhapsody, and another trial account with MTV’s URGE. That’s three separate subscriptions I’ve got floating across all my systems. Now, I’ve already downloaded Pearl Jam’s new album through Napster. I can’t listen to it in either Rhapsody or URGE. I’ve paid for it already! So, let’s say I turn off Napster and switch to URGE. I’d have to download the album again. What’s more, Windows Media Player / Windows Explorer doesn’t tell me where the album came from – I have to guess. I have to play (by trial and error) to see which albums are supported by which service. THIS IS MADNESS! Why can’t the individual file detect which service I’m paying for and then adjust itself accordingly? Why must I maintain three DRM’ed versions of the same song?

Screw Napster. Screw Rhapsody. Screw URGE. I’ll pay for one of ‘em and then find the album in a non-DRM’ed WMA or MP3 format elsewhere. I’m trying to play by the rules here, folks. I’m trying to give them my money. They’re not making this easier – they’re making it infinitely more difficult. DRM can kiss my ass.

Why DRM Sucks