Android Service - Cant seem to find an example
<p>I have scoured the web, I can't seem to figure out how to make an Android service actually DO anything.  I have found lots of examples of how to create a basic one, but none of the examples seem to show how to call the service from an activity, and have the service do something.  </p>

<p>For example, I would like to have a service running that will send a TCP text message to a server when requested.  I can make the service, and have it run, but how the heck do I have the Activity make the call that passes a string to the method in the service that will send the TCP message?</p>

<p>This seems like it should be somewhat easy, but I just can't figure out, or find an example, of how to do it.  Maybe I am not understanding what a service should be used for?  I definitely want it running for a long period of time, no gui needed, and "service" requests to send TCP messages....hum...</p>
