AIM

[Nethilia De Lobo]

Neil Ward wrote:

> Hmmm.  I've never heard of AIM.  In fact, I'm
hopeless with these 
> messenger things.  I had ICQ once, but it got messed
up good and 
> proper when I picked up a virus.  I've  just
uninstalled Yahoo 
> Messenger because it wasn't working properly, so I'm
now 
> uncontactable (not that anyone other than allegedly
scantily-clad 
> ladies ever dreams of sending me a message anyway,
but it feels 
good 
> to be on standby).
> 
> The point of this aimless rambling is to wonder
which of these 
> internet messenger things is best to use and whether
it's possible 
to 
> get away with not having more than one or having
none at all.
> 
> I'm happy to hear advice offlist, if you can work
out what I just 
> asked.  
> 
> Neil

I personally use AIM, cause it's fairly easy to use
and you can personalize your font and colors. Sure
it's part of AOL, but it's fairly nice. There's a way
to make private chats (just make really unusual names,
me and my friends almost never have random people in
our chats) and with different fonts and colors it's
very easy to tell who's who. I've been Navy Comic Sans
MS for about as long as I've had AIM. Of course,
there's a limit on the number of people in a
chat..about 23. Also they seem to have a device on the
newest version that randomizes the colors of the names
of people in chats, which is frustrating when you get
things like neon yellow. I still have an older
version, so I don't have that. 

I had ICQ once, it gave me trouble and while I've yet
to uninstall it, I never open it. They have chats
where you can boot out unwanted people, but it has to
be the person who started the chat. And There's no
font colors/variations, unless it's changed. They have
file transfers, but so does AIM. 

MSN would mean I would have to get a hotmail address
XP. I've never used it, so I can't tell you what's
good or bad about it. 

And Yahoo messenger tends to be a mess. I had it once
to alert me of incoming e-mails, but it illegal oped
and took out my desktop a lot. 

It's kinda down to the lesser of the evils. 


>I though I was the only one who wondered about this. 
>I figured Yahoo 
>messenger was best because we know that everyone here
>must be 
>registered with Yahoo.  But there may be technical
>reasons for 
>choosing something else.

I have Yahoo e-mail(s), website(s), and webrings. But
I can't stand the way thier messenger is. 

>I also get very jumpy about this whole 'will you be
>my friend' 
>business - what if they say no?  what if they *want*
>to say no but 
>don't feel able?

Most people on my list are people I've either known
for a good 2+ years, or people who give their name out
freely and then when I IM them, I make sure to
identify myself in the first message. My list is open
so that anyone around the world can IM me even if not
listed, but I only add them to my buddy list when they
say it's okay. 

>It must be possible to get away with not having one
>at all - I 
>actually manage to survive for several hours or even
>days at a time 
>with my computer turned *off*, let alone linked into
>the Collective.

How can you manange??? *has a cable connection and so
almost never shuts off her computer, except when she
is going to be out of town, and has two names so that
she doesn't sign off her main name when she's away on
campus* 

--Neth, certified internet junkie


=====
--Nethilia de Lobo--
79% obsessed with Harry Potter
Wand: Dragon Heartstring, Ash, 7 inches
**Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus.**

http://www.geocities.com/spenecial
Spenecial.com. Two girls. One Website. Total Chaos.

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