Hatrack River Forum: Can someone explain this chat business?

This is topic Can someone explain this chat business? in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

OK, I feel totally out of the loop. Big surprise. Is the chat everyone goes on the Parachat thing that is on this site?

Confused.

Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :

Nope. AIM chat. Get AIM.

Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :

Okay, who leaked to Elizabeth???

(I mean, except for Jamie just now. Leaky McLeakerton.)

[ May 09, 2004, 06:02 PM: Message edited by: Ralphie ]

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

But, but, even when I had AIM, which I think I even might still have somewhere on this confusing, non-Macintosh computer, I could not figure out the AIM chat business, or when people were chatting.

A conspiracy, obviously. Thank you, Ralphster. Now I know for sure!

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

I mean Ralphstress.

Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :

Just Spanky will do, thanks.

(You add your own name as a contact on your buddy list, you right click on your name, you choose "send chat invitation" [or something] and when it asks you to choose the name of the chatroom, you type in "Hatrack Chat".)

(That will be five dollars, please. Cash only.)

Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :

--I--

Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :

I bookmarked the chat so I don't have to bother bringing up seperate screens. [Taunt]

[ May 09, 2004, 07:54 PM: Message edited by: MEC ]

Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :

what if you forgot your password?

[Blushing]

fallow

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

What if your husband secretly deletes the program??!!?? Why, I oughtta...

Actually, I am trying to cut down ToC(Time on Computer). If I get into Chat, I am done for. I think my husband knows this. Ha ha.

Posted by Psycho Triad (Member # 3331) on :

Its a cult. Stay away from chat. [Razz]

AIM chatroom : Hatrack Chat.

We're not all evil. I think.

Posted by slacker (Member # 2559) on :

quote:
on this confusing, non-Macintosh computer

I LOVE this line! It's appropriate for so many people.

Anyways, we usually hang out in Hatrack Chat on AIM, and lurk in Hatrack Underground.

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

OK, I am going to try to get it again today, and if it disappears, I will put it back again. My husband does not like AIM because he says it is Spyware. Is this true?

Posted by slacker (Member # 2559) on :

Your husband is basically right. The later versions of Aim (and possibly AOL itself) contain Spyware. The bit of spyware is called WildTangent. You also have the privilage of being served ads constantly.

Personally, I use Trillian and Gaim to chat online. The added bonus of both is that you can use them to chat on different mediums (AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber, IRC) without having to run different programs.

Gaim is free, while Trillian has both a free and paid for version. Gaim & Trillian Pro don't have ads, while I can't remember if the free version of Trillian does or not.

Gaim
Trillian

[ May 10, 2004, 06:42 AM: Message edited by: slacker ]

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

My experience: Trillian bugged the heck out of me; I love Gaim. So I suggest trying Gaim first. [Big Grin]

Posted by slacker (Member # 2559) on :

My experience: Gaim is (generally) more stable for me, but it has several major flaws (to me) that drive me nuts:

- Can't change incoming text to make it more readable (this means you and your 50 million fonts Myr!)
- When resizing windows, buttons will either overlap or will just disappear (resizing fixes this).
- Unable to dock windows
- No range of themes (at least without reinstalling)

I wish they'd add some features to take care of this, but until then, I've got my Trillian. [Big Grin]

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

OK, you guys, thanks!

I'm GAIM for this!

(sorry, had to be done. Blame Bob Scopatz for abandoning the Pun Addicts again)

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

Slacker,
I went to GAIM, and got wicked confused. I did not know which thing to download.

Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :

If you're using Windows, you click the file gaim-0.77.exe and then whichever city is closest to you.

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

Oh. (Duh.) Thanks.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

quote:
Gaim is (generally) more stable for me, but it has several major flaws (to me) that drive me nuts:

- Can't change incoming text to make it more readable (this means you and your 50 million fonts Myr!)

Huh? I have fonts and colors turned off. Very restful. [Wink]

The button thing IS occasionally annoying. I don't like docking and I'm quite happy with a single choice of theme.

Posted by slacker (Member # 2559) on :

I tried to turn them off too, but ran into the problem of the dinky text (which was really hard to read in chat). Maybe I'll try to reinstall it and see if that makes a difference.

Mainly I like the ability to dock when I'm on my laptop, as the desktop space on it comes at a premium. On my desktop, I could really care less (21" screen @ 1600x1200 res.)

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

Ah. I'm on a desktop, with a large monitor.