Make Your Own Google Bot

Chat bots can be fun or useful, but until now, deploying and maintaining a chat bot for Google Talk was difficult. Google has announced a new XMPP API that makes it easier to build your own chat bots with the Google App Engine.

The XMPP support lets you create apps that exchange messages with users on any XMPP system, including of course Google Talk, but any Jabber network. Where it gets really interesting is the built-in XMPP support for the fast-approaching Google Wave, which will be rolling out to a larger beta group at the end of September. This means that you’ll be able to use the XMPP API to build bots that interact with your Waves.

For all the details, read the API release notes.

50 Ways to use Skype at School

Skype is a terrific, free program for voice chat (and text or video chat, for that matter). I’ve used Skype to stay in touch with my son as he travels overseas in the Navy (Skype-to-Skype calls are free!) and to stay connected with my granddaughter on the other side of the country.

TeachingDegree.org has come up with 50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom. Their list has helpful advice for teachers, parents and students. If you are an educator, be sure to check it out.

drop.io adds real-time chat

drop.io promises simple, secure, real-time file sharing and collaboration. It’s easy to setup a drop.io “box” — you don’t even need to register. Once you’ve setup a drop.io space, you can send files, share and retrieve files from that space using almost any method imaginable. Web uploads/downloads, mobile devices, fax, email, Twitter and now, IM. Read more

Chat Lingo

Instant messaging and chat communications are often more informal than email, and you’ll see people using acronyms to quickly express emotion or just to communicate a lot of information with less effort. They can be intimidating and confusing to the newbie, so keep that in mind when chatting with someone new.

The List

To make the journey easier, we’ve compiled a list of the acronyms we’re aware of. If you run across one you don’t know, you might find it here. But if you run across one that’s not on our list yet, send us your acronyms!

?  - huh?; what?
143  - love ya!
2  - to; too
4  - for
86  - to desert; to leave

afaik  - as far as I know
afk  - away from the keyboard
aka - also known as
a/s/l  - age/sex/location
awy  - away

b  - be
b4  - before
b/c  - because
bb  - buh-bye
bbiaf  - be back in a few 

Special thanks to our contributors: 

babybear, IccleBlueAngel, bastard guy, Anna, Sathallrin, Craigenheimer, digitalant, Billy Brock, Geeker, Andrew Sowders, melissa275, Tim H, Cassie T, Carolyn A, Bartaloafa, Kate, m A n D y, GrimReaper, Ashley, GamecockDS31, Samie Baby, veggiegirl22, sweettart0927, knight4him85,  Brianne, Frutzle, pnguyen_74, shruthi99, x03nicole22x, rennagata92 and adrien.

Office Hours: Saturday and Sunday

The office will be open this weekend! I’m opening office hours Saturday from 1-3pm, and Sunday from 2-4pm (Pacific time zone).

What in the world am I talking about? You can join me in our BigBlueBall chat room to say hello, ask a question, or find out what’s coming at BigBlueBall. I’ll be in there while I’m working on the site, so stop in and say hello!

If you have your own IRC client, you can connect to irc.bigblueball.com and join the #bigblueball channel.

Not sure what the heck IRC is? No problem. Just click here to open a new window with our java-based chat room. It takes you to the same place.

See you online!

Instant Messaging

What is Instant Messaging (IM)?

Instant messaging allows you to detect when your friends are online and send them short messages in real-time. People just like you and I are finding instant messaging a great way to keep in touch with friends, family and business associates. In fact, Jupiter Media Metrix has declared that instant messaging is the fastest-growing segment of the Internet, estimating that by 2003, 90% of the online population will use IM.

Today, millions of people use instant messaging sending billions of messages every day. There are many IM networks available, and the most popular IM programs are free to download and use. The catch is that many of these IM networks are configured as walled gardens. You cannot send a message from one network to another. Fortunately, there are exceptions, and this is improving year-by-year, but still largely true today. 

BigBlueBall doesn’t favor any particular instant messenger, providing an excellent reference for someone looking for pratical, objective advice on the different IM programs. 

New to Instant Messaging?

If you’re new to instant messaging (or just want to introduce your grandma to the concept), start with Choosing an Instant Messenger. The general rule to keep in mind is that you need to use an instant messenger that lets you communicate with your peers. Unless you can convince them to switch, you will need a program that can “talk” with their IM network. 

Additional Resources

For detailed information on instant messaging, there are a number of resources available at BigBlueBall. We have a listing with the latest versions of the most popular IM programs, discussion forums with expert answers to your IM questions, and overviews of many IM programs.