Online Buddies, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, MS Messenger, Yadda, Yadda Yadda...

Factual Questions
1

When I first toddled into the SDMB, I wasn’t really an internet “junkie.” I mean, I used the net, a lot, but it didn’t really impact my life.

Then, once I started coming here, I began to see the 'net as more of a community. This is a side note, but that didn’t really come together for me until Wally passed.

Wow.

That expericent taught me a thing or two about how powerful online relationships can be between people.

Anyway (Manny, I promise there is a general question coming soon!), since I was making friends and influencing people, I started leaving AIM on all the time so that I could chat with my new pal, Satan. That was nice. Then, I noticed that some users’ profiles contained Yahoo! Handles, so I downloaded that also. Now I see more and more people sharing their ICQ Numbers. I even spent a day or two fooling with a program called Sprocket that nobody else ever used.

So, here is my question: Does a single program exist that lets me communicate with people using all of these types of Instant Communication? If not, why not? Hell, I might pay for something like that!

Would it be hard to create? It doesn’t seem like it. So, nu? Anyone know of one? Anyone want to write one?

(PS - If not, could you all at least use the same Username as you do here, so we can remember who the hell everyone is?)

[sub](PPS - Yay, me! I broke 600![/sub])

2

Good question actually, and it’s probably lawyers rather than technology standing in the way. I don’t recall the details but there was a brouhaha between two of the messaging services, AOL and MS I think, because one didn’t want the other using its proprietary technology and/or customer list. Anyone else have a better memory than I do?

3

MSN’s Messenger Service was designed to work directly off of your AIM Buddy List in addition to its own Buddy List. As soon as MSN put their’s out, AOL released an updated version of AIM, one of the updates being an exclusion of MSN-MS.

I guess they’re a tad possessive about their products… I wonder why that’d be…?

4

The funny thing is that even though AOL owns ICQ now, I can’t talk to someone on AIM using ICQ. They don’t even want to share among themselves.

5

Since people are talking about ICQ and I don’t want to start a new topic devoted to what’s probably a stupid question, please help out an ICQ newbie. What are these icons next to the names on my list? Why is there a wee house next to one name, and a wee red balloon next to another? I looked at ICQ’s website for an answer, but none was forthcoming. Can I have an icon, too?

6

Kyla,

The house indicates that the person had a homepage in his info sheet, and the balloon means the person is or will be having his birthday.

7

SPOOFE,

I’m intrigued.

You sure this won’t work anymore?

I can’t believe that I am the first to think of this!

8

See:
http://www.jabbercentral.org/
and
http://www.jabber.org/

It supports a whole heck of a lot of messengers, and allows you to use them in IRC, even.

9

I use one instant messenger. ICQ … it has never let me down, everyone has it, it is not currently owned by Bill, and I love it !!!

If you don’t have it … you stink and I do not love you.

10

Kyberneticist,

OK - I followed your link and I love it!

For those of you who are interested, Jabber is a client/server app that works similarly to AOL-IM or ICQ or Yahoo! IM.

But, you can use a single application to communicate over all of those channels!

I knew I wasn’t the first person to think of it!

All you do is download the free client, then tell it your information for each of the other services. You tell it what your Yahoo! ID is, what your AOL-IM name is, what your ICQ number is, etc…

Then you can fill your buddy list with all the people you used to chat with using all those other programs and now you can chat with them all from one app.

Cool, no?

PS - Lazarus7 - the point is that I can continue to use ICQ, I just don’t have to give up my AOL-IM buddies to do it!