Any Takers?

Hi all, I was curious if I could get a show of hands (or a reply post would do nice) for all those interested in using instant messaging. Go ahead and post how you think we might benefit from using some type of shared protocol. I personally do not feel it's neccessary to have to email someone (or search calnet's LDAP directory for a phone number) everytime I'd like to know if someone is in their office. Nature has become an emessage server; storing/transmitting not just email. In addtion, most people IMAP to their nature accounts, leaving a surplus of messages on the Nature server. My suggestion for those interested would be to get gmail accounts (many of us already do) and use Google Talk. Google Talk uses an open, xml standard known as Jabber/XMPP, which unlike AOL and MSN is decentralized (probably more secure and extensible to boot). Google Talk also uses VoIP, which translates to "make long distance calls via the internet". And of course, you can configure iChat (Mac users) or GAIM (Linux freaks) to connect to the Google Talk network, so no one should feel left out. abe h: mariahoney@gmail.com