http://www.idkfa.com/v3 idkfa: syndicated http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=5880 Still bitter: http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/01/18/263485395/still-texting-omg-thats-already-so-old-school kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Mon, 20 Jan 2014 00:34:39 -0900 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=5880 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=5139 Ah, yes. The eventuality of Vine videos. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 29 May 2013 14:03:10 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=5139 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=5138 Maybe, we'll just resort to the simple elegance of grunting again. It'll be our own version of the post-literate age. No chat protocols necessary. Just guttural noises and pointing. conrad@idkfa.com (conrad) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 29 May 2013 11:42:15 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=5138 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=5137 Right? That they are alienating their user base that wants to use Finch to connect to their service so that they can masquerade their chat sessions as terminal windows is unforgivable. :D kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Tue, 28 May 2013 15:46:16 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=5137 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=5136 I enabled the trial of this Google Hangout madness a few days ago. I'm not sure what Google is trying to accomplish exactly, but if it's driving their technically competent users to other services, they are succeeding. mIRC, ICQ, AIM, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger were all a part of my life at one point, but I shed them for Google Talk. Now that they're trying to ruin IM, perhaps it's time to shop around yet again. conrad@idkfa.com (conrad) Indiscernible from Magic Sun, 26 May 2013 02:25:41 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=5136 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=5134 In somewhat related news: http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/05/20/2315216/google-drops-xmpp-support This depresses me a bit. Two parts at the loss of the adoption of open standards, one part at Google killing something I've used in the past, and one part making something that worked well work worse. My IM chat logs have been disabled since the 15th. A project I once worked on (but was eventually discarded) was having Gmail chat clients be able to reach network personnel to ask questions or to report issues. It worked incredibly well inside the office, and given the sometimes unwieldy nature of email (and lack of any "instant" delivery mechanism), it would have been pretty damn convenient. However, Google's chat feature will now join MSN Messenger, ICQ, Skype, and Apple iMessage in the pantheon of proprietary, closed communication mediums. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Fri, 24 May 2013 12:20:19 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=5134 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=4430 Obviously, your wrong. Nigga made a prograaam, shiiiiiiiiiiit. Scrotor@idkfa.com (Scrotor) Indiscernible from Magic Tue, 10 Jul 2012 02:19:24 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=4430 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=4429 I feel like this is relevant here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/19050/ kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Tue, 10 Jul 2012 01:42:05 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=4429 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=4428 If I may wax poetic for a moment: “If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery There's a thin line between inspiring others and unsuccessfully evangelizing. Also a thin line between persistent reminders and forcing an issue. Take for example my Excel woes, which I've all but given up on, that horse being dead enough. I've resolved that there is some intrinsically intuitive element to Excel that make it everyone's choice toolmaking environment. (shrugs). More power to it. The designers created a lingua franca for small-to-mid-range quantities of mathematical calculations. The point at which I get cranky is when people insist that Excel be used despite Excel itself getting in the way of solving a problem. I feel like the logical hop people make from using the system calculator to Excel should be met with the same hop towards using a more robust (albeit more complicated) tool. I can tell people that. Lots of times. I can smile, look up and to the right at nothing for a beat, and then look back self-righteously. But it offers nothing by way of teaching them to love the sea. There's another element to the "Josh-type" thing, aside from just the Josh-type things being programming related. At the time when my coworker brought this up, it was a question of maintenance and involvement. "If this breaks, Josh, how do we fix it? Do we have to call you?" -"No, you can do X." -"What if we want to change it?" -"You can change the code." -"We don't want to change the code." -"Then you call me." When I make a tool to solve a problem, the tool itself becomes another moving part of the machine that can fail. Of course, I build things to the best of my ability so that they don't fail, kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Tue, 10 Jul 2012 01:28:41 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=4428 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=4423 I don't think being more forceful is going to help in this case. For the quote "Is this something normal, or is this one of your 'Josh'-type things?", I know I've said something very similar but with different words. Mainly by saying, "does this require programming?" - and Josh has always been persistent in his push for use of programming ("Josh, I understand your dice program is faster... but I really want to roll dice.") For many problems, there are elegant solutions that are simply waiting to be found, especially in the technical fields. However, most of us do not have time in our daily lives or work environments to find these solutions, as they typically take much longer than just doing it in whatever inefficient means that are being used. Honestly, there are "Josh-type things", but I don't think it's an insult - I think it is simply a different way of looking at things (typically involving software customization or code generation) and that they often require a set of skills that people don't have, because few of us know how to code (especially at the level that Josh does, since it is his profession). Most people that I've worked with find having to learn something new at the whim of someone else to be annoying, however irrational that feeling might be. Honestly, I think it is more about persistence in showing the benefits, and not forcing people to adopt a system they don't understand or will have to put effort into using. Scrotor@idkfa.com (Scrotor) Indiscernible from Magic Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:05:10 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=4423 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=4420 This is kinda something I run up against all the time here at work. Not so much me really, but my manager. Science is probably no different than anything else in that we get stuck with routine, not matter how inefficient, and love it because it is both comfortable and familiar and after some time we can even excel to the point of feeling pride in the process. When someone comes along and challenges our inefficiency with something new and faster and better, we will defend our choices just so we don't have to change our habits. My boss is the kind of guy who is always looking for and trying to implement new methods of doing things, it rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Partly because people don't like to change, but mostly because people get mad trying to defend their ways and more so when they don't really have a good defense. I am guilty of this, but I also try to accept new things. If you are the kind of guy who wants to tinker and improve it is imperative that you are also the kind of guy who can sell and force your ideas. Its not that your ideas are the weird Josh ways of doing things, it's that you are a quiet guy who doesn't bully people into believing your ideas. This gives people the easy out, allowing them to maintain the status quo without feeling all that bad about it. So its not that you are doing wrong so much as you are probably running up against the limits of your personality type when it comes to interacting with others and trying to sell your ideas. This is probably the source of your frustration. MrFood@idkfa.com (MrFood) Indiscernible from Magic Mon, 09 Jul 2012 14:05:43 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=4420 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=4412 SPDCA: It is really, really hard for me to let go of ideas. Particularly when I convince myself they are good ones, and when I'm continually reminded that things could be better. Why is this not a thing? Does it not have a cool enough name? Is it not flashy enough? Does it not promote elitism among Apple product owners? Did you ever ask what happens when you do a Group MMS with iMessage and include somebody with an Android? (rubs eyes) I don't think I'm concerned as much about the answers, or the idea itself, as much as it is my inability to sell something like this. In fact, I've had a number of things like this come up where I have a novel, effective, and (arguably) superior technological solution to a problem everyone has. And... something just doesn't stick. Not to say that people don't understand, or aren't listening. I mean stick as how in the marketing world they might call something "sticky," that is, an idea or emotion that seems to stick with people. I'm not much on marketing. And yes, I'm not much of a salesperson, but I'd like to think I'm not yet so far gone down my technological rabbit-hole that I can't communicate something to someone else, particularly when that idea is exciting or interesting in and of itself. About the worst thing someone said to me in recent memory was at work, when someone asked of what I was proposing, "Is this something normal, or is this one of your 'Josh'-type things?" implying that there was a distinct separation between a "normal" solution to a problem, and how I would have approached the problem. Admittedly, I have a different approach to technological things, given my background, but they are almost never unfounded. The implication of this person's question was that for the things I make... they no longer represented something "normal" or at least normally accessible outside of my own little kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Thu, 05 Jul 2012 02:54:35 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=4412 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3522 Hahahah, yes. This is the demographic we need to target (30 to 40 year old, childrenless women). You could become a daddy more times over than you can count on two hands, eeeeeeeeeeeasy. Scrotor@idkfa.com (Scrotor) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:40:29 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3522 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3521 I thought about "Every living thing dies alone," but that seemed a little grim. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:37:02 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3521 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3520 The only way that would be better is if "Someone to love me" was typed into the input box. conrad@idkfa.com (conrad) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:11:34 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3520 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3519 [...] kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:07:17 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3519 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3518 Do you know any programmers who are interested in a venture capital project?... I can provide caffeine and foodstuffs for fuel. You might have to provide the advisement about how to best target our market, though. If nothing else, I think we have a cougar demographic taht is currently waiting to be satiated. conrad@idkfa.com (conrad) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:00:27 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3518 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3515 Haha, there it is! Breedr. Let's make this happen. Scrotor@idkfa.com (Scrotor) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:28:12 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3515 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3510 Thank goodness the corporations that operate there appear to have priority data connections. Otherwise, how would we get our Facebook and Google Reader fixes? conrad@idkfa.com (conrad) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 07 Sep 2011 02:24:51 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3510 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3509 If ChatRoulette taught the internet any lessons at all, it's that heterosexual males will turn anything remotely sexy into a testosterone covered sausage fest (and not the fun kind, I might add). I'd venture a guess that a "breeder" version of Grindr would have similar results - more demand than supply. Or, alternatively, you could always try CraigsList; however, that sounds a bit like reverting back to the family reunion as a good place to pick up dates. Or trolling trailer parks in an IROC-Z Camaro. conrad@idkfa.com (conrad) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 07 Sep 2011 02:23:43 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3509 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3508 Agreed...texting, Gchat, and interoffice IM are the only things that keep me sane during my 2 weeks in the North Slope Pen. akarmybrat@idkfa.com (akarmybrat) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 07 Sep 2011 02:22:51 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3508 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3507 In that case, texting then would be a reasonable alternative. Sitting in one's cubicle in mid-town Anchorage? You have more options. (Also, I'll venture the poor performance of "teh tubes" up there has a lot to do with already limited pipe. I've heard of nothing but complaints about people unable to get their data (porn) at a reasonable rate because the connection was so oversaturated (with other people's porn). Imaginably, AT&T and GCI probably have mostly-dedicated connections, maybe even prioritized data traffic for their cellular data traffic... but if GCI's works any better, I'll venture it's because they have fewer customers. Can't speak to actual numbers, unfortunately. I do know that the majority of the traffic handled up there isn't via terrestrial landlines, relying on satellites instead. It's all about handling left turns.) I had to look up "katy bar the door." Twitter works well... if you don't plan on exchanging any important information. And there is also the convention surrounding it: you don't expect immediate delivery, or reasonably quick responses. It is yelling into the void. Sometimes somebody yells back the exact same thing with "RT" in front of it. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 07 Sep 2011 02:02:21 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3507 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3506 Is there a heterosexual version of Grindr? The concept of this app is so frightening and fascinating. Scrotor@idkfa.com (Scrotor) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:50:53 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3506 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3504 There are some cases, say in the gawdawful frozen tundra that is north of the Brooks Range, where I frequently have signal with no data, as it is evidently impossible to get "teh tubes" to run past the Arctic Circle. There, texting is essential to staying in touch with anything resembling a civilzation. Well, that or to switch over to GCI, which has data. Nevermind. Capitalism only cares about competition until you have enough money to BUY the competition. Then it's katy-bar-the-door (see: AT&T and T-Mobile). I feel like Twitter was an ill conceived attempt to merge email with texting and lost the convenient features of both, but somehow manages to capture our diminished attention spans long enough to entertain us while we wait in elevators and to order drinks at dinner. Finally, I wouldn't have any personal experience here, but I believe Grindr requires you pay to use push notifications. Otherwise, that shit will consume your battery like I consume red velvet cupcakes (or, perhaps, ping that server like I pinged someone's mom last night. Take your pick). conrad@idkfa.com (conrad) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:07:59 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3504 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3503 I'll grant you that: texting will work on minimal signal, and in the absence of a proper data network ("3G," etc.). However, lack of "data coverage" but having "signal strength" doesn't make sense: if you have access to the signal, and you're subscribed for a data plan, and you have access to the 3G network, you have "data coverage." Whether the bandwidth available to you and your big city friends is anything remotely like our meager offerings on this edge of the world, well, who knows. The majority use case for smart phones is in populated areas with relatively high bandwidth. And that use case would be much cheaper for consumers if they would be educated on the use of a separate and functionally improved message passing system. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but in capitalism, isn't competition supposed to be better? And I think that if people thought to consider the value in having contents of texts available outside of your (easily lost, frequently broken, battery powered) mobile devices, they would consider it a valuable feature. Saying "if people wanted that they'd just email" is just wrong: email is a different context of message passing altogether, almost completely devoid of the concept of "instant" communication. Texting offers features that email doesn't, same as IM offers features that texting doesn't. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:25:04 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3503 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3501 My primary concern was that your IM-to-text plan wouldn't work where coverage is lacking. If I'm somewhere that has no data network but does have signal then your setup is at a considerable disadvantage. I don't know about you, but it seems pretty often that I find that I have limited or no data coverage but reasonable signal strength, especially in this backwater village you call a town. Crazy apps that run down battery life- Grindr (OH GOD WHAT HAVE I BECOME). If it is any indication, battery may be a concern. Also, incredible profit margins for texting doesn't make it less justifyable; if anything, it makes it more justifiable, because in a capitalist system making more money is better. I'll grant you the no-access from any other platform argument, but you can say the same about phones, which is sort of the point. If people wanted a way to access their texts from other sources, they wouldn't text, they would email. Wilber@idkfa.com (Wilber) Indiscernible from Magic Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:23:05 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3501 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3498 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZn4ojM7dC4#t=65s kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:03:49 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3498 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3497 The iPhone app was eventually approved through the iTunes store, thank goodness. It will handle free text messages, both inbound and outbound, in a way that is nearly exactly the way the native "Messages" app works. If you're in an area with poor data coverage in Anchorage (read: my kitchen), the Google Voice app is nearly unusable. You are also perfectly correct when you say it's a pain to explain having two phone numbers. It is even more painful to try to thoughtfully explain how to use each number without sounding like a pretentious ass. Finally, you're right again on the text filtering. The call filtering is second to none, as far as I have experience. The text filtering doesn't exist, as far as I have found. Thanks for the warm welcome. conrad@idkfa.com (conrad) Indiscernible from Magic Sat, 03 Sep 2011 23:07:43 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3497 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3496 (nods) I've been using Voice for a while as well, but only in the capacity of having it transcribe my voicemails (or fail to do so). When I first set it up, I had only a non-jailbroken phone on AT&T's service, which precluded me from using it for anything but a call forwarding service. Having my phone dial out from my Google Voice number wasn't possible, if I remember correctly (as the application was blocked), and I was reticent about using the service's calling feature if I wasn't in an area that was data-capable. The same would be for sending/receiving texts. There's also that if I were to "receive" texts-proper using the Voice number, there would still be inbound texts that would be counted towards my monthly limit. Also, it would have been a pain in the ass to explain why I had two phone numbers. Such is why I never went the "full-featured" route, though I would have loved to have an audio record of all of my phone calls. Thinking further, either I'm not aware of some component of texting, but there is no way to maintain a blocked/unblocked list for texts. I have yet to see a system that prevents unsolicited texts, and also have those texts received not count for a monthly limit. Something IM has going for it, at least. Welcome to idkfa. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Sat, 03 Sep 2011 20:59:49 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3496 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3495 There's a hybrid solution to this problem that allows you to retain the use of text messaging UI on your phone, use your data plan to transmit the texts, and view/store/transmit/receive them online at a "real" computer. However, it requires an additional phone number be disseminated to your cohorts and you sign an additional component of your life over to teh Google. http://www.google.com/voice I'm not sure if it currently requires an invite or not. Ultimately, though, it appears to meet all the previously discussed criteria, if access to the service itself can be obtained. I've had an account since their Grand Central days, and other than a bit of lag with the iPhone app, it seems to behave quite well and function as advertised. conrad@idkfa.com (conrad) Indiscernible from Magic Sat, 03 Sep 2011 18:47:56 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3495 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3494 And another thing. We've come to accept that we can access Google, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Netflix, Hulu, now Words with Friends, and any number of social, gaming, or entertainment applications from numerous devices, be it your phone, your computer, your game console, your home theater system, your TV. Why is it that you can't "access" your texts from outside your phone? Or receive texts on more than one device? Or write texts with something other than a touch keyboard or 9-key pad? Texting violates the concept of ubiquitous computing. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Fri, 02 Sep 2011 22:24:20 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3494 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3493 Most users I've come across that use the texting of their phones also have a data plan. Case in point: every iPhone user that is forced to pay for a data plan simply because they own an iPhone. Additionally, most users under-utilize their data plans (particularly those grandfathered under the old "unlimited" data plans), such that the minimal extra data as a result of XMPP messages being passed to your phone would be negligible given your total data capacity (even assuming that the "always on" application would have to poll for messages from the server inefficiently, which it wouldn't). Second, I'm not sure you understand push notifications. Maybe I'm not sure I understand push notifications. But my logic follows thusly: for a year or so, I had an iPhone 3G, which theoretically could not "background" its applications, or have apps that were running constantly other than those that were built-in or somehow tied to underlying system processes. And yet, I was able to receive push notifications for applications that weren't running (see: Words with Friends). The notifications were "pushed" to my phone on behalf of the servers behind the applications I had installed, in much the same if not the exact way that a text message is received by one's phone by way of control messages from the connected tower. That means that push notifications do not require running applications, no more so than text messages require you to be constantly polling the towers to ask "Do I have any new messages?" The messages are delivered on an as-needed basis, and are re-transmitted or re-issued in the event of network failure or having your phone turned off. The only reason anybody recommends disabling push notifications is because it requires connecting to something more sophisticated than the Edge network, and HSPA ("3G") inherently takes more battery life than the Edge protocols. I don't kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:31:16 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3493 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3492 So, don't let me rain on your parade here, but there seem to be a few glaring flaws here. First, this option requires a data connection to work, and while this isn't a concern in most cities, AT&T seems just shitty enough in Anchorage that it would be an issue. Second, a chat client that is always on with push notifications seems like it would run down your battery in an instant. At least similar apps seem to do as much to my iPhone, and I can only imagine a setup like you're talking about would be even worse. Text messaging seems to have very little impact on battery life. Thirdly, we have plenty of ways to update statuses. I mean, hello Facebook. Twitter is even an answer to your testing problem, because you can direct message, enable push notifications, etc. Or, um, email? I mean, this hardly seems like a problem to be solved. Lastly, I've been thinking about your objection to texting and it doesn't quite hold water with me. I understand the ridiculousness of charging for something that costs a company nothing, but this has been a viable business plan for years. Although the infrastructure wasn't originally built for texts, the fact that it can now be used for it means that the cost you pay to text is covering those original startup costs (and ongoing maintenance costs), regardless of how much it really costs the company to provide that service. A toll on a private road, for instance, is fair because it pays for the original investment and the continued upkeep, even though it doesn't cost the operator any more to have more cars on that road. Wilber@idkfa.com (Wilber) Indiscernible from Magic Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:04:55 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3492 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3490 In a journey of infinite undiscovery and breaking things on my phone, I've found that the native Talk/Gchat application on Android doesn't support multiple accounts signed in (and in fact, doesn't support even changing the one account without serious issues). I found another application, and I'm running. If you feel like you want to IM me (for free, rather than paying for a text), talking to me at j.to.the.rho AT gmail.com. I'll have to confirm your request first. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:53:47 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3490 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3488 It'd be a matter of creating another account on one of the services Beejive can connect to (ie, another Gmail/Gtalk account). kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:07:10 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3488 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3486 i'm in. My phone's IM client, BeejiveIM, is compatible with most chat clients; i don't know if it can create-your-own like you mentioned. kitacek@idkfa.com (kitacek) Indiscernible from Magic Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:03:54 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3486 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3485 SPDCA: An alternative to texting. I think I've mentioned before my opinions on texting. Long and short: it's an ingenious way for cell phone companies to essentially charge for nothing. From a technical standpoint, the profit margin on texting, given the almost negligible effect texting has on existing infrastructure, is incredible, particularly when it comes to overage fees. Having recently been disappointed in AT&T's announcement for their future move to stop selling "limited texting" plans (instead either pay-per-text or unlimited plans, and nothing in between), I wanted to talk about an alternative. Instant Messaging (IM) is almost as old as the Internet itself. Starting as bulletin boards, moving through forums, and then services like ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, MSN, etc., most of our/my generation has had some experience with a chat window. The services were built with the intent that two people would each be sitting at a computer, with a keyboard, and a relatively persistent connection to the Internet. The systems and protocols themselves work surprisingly well, even supporting things like file transfers, video chat, screen sharing, even sometimes blending telephony into the mix (see: Skype). There even exists a protocol whose purpose is to allow you to create your own IM protocol, making the formalization of old IM protocols (AIM, ICQ) and the creation of new ones (Gtalk) relatively easy. The problem is that the IM services have become somewhat unpopular, largely due to the onset of texting. The cell phone is the form factor that the original IM designers dreamed of: an always on, always connected device that could fit in your pocket, notify you of new events, and allow you to send and receive messages. And what's more: cell phone companies have convinced the public that it's necessary to pay for such a service, when instant messaging gives you the equivalent functionality, with the potential to exceed that of texting kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 31 Aug 2011 22:10:36 -0800 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=3485&msg_id=3485