Jamie's Random Musings on Video IM
Having spent a good part of the last year struggling with a variety of video chat and IM programs, I have decided to write a few things down and see what other people have to say about them.
Wednesday 21 May 2008, 4:20 PM
New Directions - Ubuntu
After my recent adventures with Vista, I decided to try a new direction. I've been considering trying Ubuntu on my "test" laptop, the Fujitsu-Siemens S2110 (AMD Turion 64). The recent release of 8.04 seemed a good opportunity to take the plunge. Since I always do this sort of thing by swapping disks, and I have a disk for that laptop which I had previously loaded with Vista Home Premium (and given up on, even before I got the S6510), I could reclaim that disk for Ubuntu and my XP Pro disk would remain intact.
I downloaded the Ubuntu CD image, burned it to a disk, swapped the hard drives and booted the CD. Less than an hour later the installation was finished, and it was up and running. I have tried this several times before, most recently with SuSE Linux, and this one the first time that it seemed to have gotten all of the major laptop devices and configurations figured out properly. I'm impressed.
I have been working with Unix systems, in considerable depth, since 1982, so I am no rookie. I'm trying this out now, looking into it in more detail, seeing what works and what doesn't, and how useful it really is. I'll post more about the adventures as I go.
Tuesday 20 May 2008, 1:20 PM
Two Pre-Release Browsers - Firefox 3.0RC1 and Opera 9.5 beta 2
The two web browsers that I use both have pre-release versions available right now. I have downloaded and installed both of them on my test system, so that I could see what is new, different or interesting in each.
I'll start with the lesser-known (but my favorite) browser, Opera. The biggest change that I see, and like, in 9.5 is what they call "quick find". The move to combine the browser address bar and web search has been underway for some time; what Opera has done now is extend that to include searching the content of web pages you have previously visited for keywords you type in the address bar. This is one of those things that as soon as I read about it, I thought "wow, I could have used that so many times in the past!" All you have to do is remember one word from a web page, and Opera will find the page for you. As you type in the address bar, a drop-down list shows you what Opera has found, and it is interesting to watch how it evolves. If you are typing something that matches a web page URL (say, "Intel"), one (or more) lines of the drop-down will simply be the matching web addresses. If what you are typing matches some text from a page you have visited, the drop-down will include the web address of the page followed by the line of text matching what you are typing, so you get some context for the match. Last, of course, Opera will also offer to send what you are typing to whatever your default search engine happens to be. Oh, and you can override the default search engine by simply entering a single letter at the beginning of the line (g searchtext for Google, y searchtext for Yahoo and so on). It all works very smoothly, and is incredibly useful.
Add this to "Speed Dial", the other unique feature of Opera which was actually added with version 9.20 or so, and it's easy to see why this has become my preferred web browser again. If you haven't tried Opera, or at least haven't tried it recently, take a look at it.
The other browser pre-release is Firefox 3.0 RC1. News of this has been all over the web for weeks now, of course, so there is not a lot that I need to say about it. As has been said many times, it is noticeably faster than Firefox 2.x. They have made the cosmetics even nicer, with larger icons and such, and they have combined and simplified some of the navigation icons. One thing that I particularly like is the combined forward-backward drop-down list; instead of having separate drop-downs to jump back multiple pages or forward multiple pages, there is a single "recent pages" button, which will show you the complete list of pages, both forward and back, and your current position in that list; you can then just click on one to jump to it again. They have also made some nice improvements in the address bar drop-down; in addition to showing URLs which match whatever you might type, they also show the page title, and they highlight whatever part(s) match your input.
Of course, there are a lot more changes and improvements in both of these browsers. They are both significant improvements over their current versions, and I can hardly wait for the final releases, so I can move them onto my main system. As for Microsoft Internet Explorer, all I can say is, if you are still using that, you are probably working much too hard, and you are certainly missing out on a much more pleasant experience with either of these two alternatives.
jw 20/5/2008
Sunday 18 May 2008, 8:15 PM
Skype "Community" Achieves its Goal - Driving Away Users
I've just had a look at the Skype "Community" (revised User Forums), for the first time quite a while. I haven't been there because I can't stomach the new format; I find it to be difficult to read, difficult to follow, and generally unpleasant. As I have mentioned before, judging from the drop in the volume of posts, they have succeeded in their purpose in "redesigning" the Forums, it has driven Skype users looking for help away in droves. I would estimate the volume since the conversion at about 10% of what it was previously. There is one Skype user who runs a "Skype Numerology" blog, where he posts a variety of propaganda, but of course he is not likely to investigate or post anything this negative about Skype... too bad, it would be interesting information.
I did stumble across a Forum titled "Using these Forums", where there were a number of user comments posted, and one reply from Skype. Here is a summary (repeats deleted):
1. Skype: Welcome to the new Community
2. Skype Founder: Congratulations, I like it
3. Skype Staff: We worked hard on it, and it's great.
4. Skype User: I don't like it
5. Skype Super User: I don't like it.
6. Skype Super User: I don't like it.
7. Skype User: I don't like it.
8. Skype User: I don't like it.
9. Skype User (former Super User); I don't like it
10. Skype Staff: Thanks for the comments, but we're going to do as we please, so get used to it.
11. Skype User: I don't like it.
12. Skype User: I've been using Forums for 16 years, and I hate it.
13. Skype User: I don't like it.
14. Skype Moderator(!): I can't find things from the old Forums, it's too complicated, I don't like it.
Well, let's see. Out of 14 different people, 11 didn't like it; the Skype founder, a Skype Staff member and a Skype Admin where thrilled with it and proud of it. If I had produced something that received UNIVERSAL DISAPPROVAL, not one positive comment from a user, a Super User or a Moderator, I don't think I would be either thrilled or proud.
But as I said, it apparently achieved their purpose. Skype users, who already have no Customer Support or Technical Support, now find that the "Community" is so inscrutable as to be unusable for getting support as well.
Friday 16 May 2008, 8:29 AM
Gizmo Adds Business Enhancements and More IM Networks
Gizmo5 (formerly The Gizmo Project) has been my preferred program for IM text chat and audio calls (including PSTN calls worldwide) for quite some time now. The chat interface is clean and easy to read, and it has an excellent history facility, so I can easily look back at something we were talking about several days or weeks ago. Gizmo has now made two additions which make it even better, one for business users and the other for social users.
The first is their new Gizmo5 Business account. This is a sort of an "umbrella" account, under which many individual Gizmo5 user accounts can be grouped. It is then possible to make a single payment for call-out credit to the business account, and distribute that credit to the employee accounts on an unlimited "as-needed" basis, or in limited amounts. In addition, call-in numbers can be purchased by the business account, and then freely assigned to any of the employee accounts. There is an administrative interface for the whole thing, of course, which provides information and controls for the employee accounts and the company account. Gizmo5 also interfaces with IP PBX software, such as Asterisk, Callweaver and the likes. All in all this should be very good news for businesses.
The second addition is integrating even more external IM networks to the Gizmo5 chat console. They were already the leader in this, and it just keeps getting better. As I have mentioned before, I already have my MSN and Yahoo accounts under Gizmo5, and its really nice to have only one program running instead of three. Their list of networks is now:
- MSN Live
- AIM
- Yahoo
- MySpace
- Jabber (includes Google Talk)
- QQ
- iChat
- ICQ
- Gadu Gadu
That's quite a list - the only thing of significance that is missing is Skype, and how I would love for them to be able to do that, so I could chat with the few remaining Skype contacts that I have without having to load the infernal Skype program.
There's another thing Gizmo has been working on, and improving, that I haven't mentioned for a while - off-line message delivery. If you try to send a text message to someone, and they are off-line (or even just "away"), if that person has a cell phone number and/or an email address registered with their account, you will be presented with a menu of options to deliver the message by SMS or email (as available), in addition to Gizmo just holding the message and delivering it by IM when it is possible. This is a nice touch, and makes for an easy way to try to contact someone quickly, even if they aren't currently active on Gizmo5. Of course, the cost of sending a message by SMS is charged to your Gizmo5 account balance; their SMS rates are very good.
On top of all this, Gizmo5 runs on an incredible array of platforms - Windows (2000, XP and Vista), MacOS, Linux, Nokia Tablets (N770, N800, N810), and a huge number of mobile phones - not just "smartphones" either, it runs just fine on my ordinary Nokia 6234!
The bottom line is, these guys are good - when it comes to IM text chat, audio calls and PSTN out/in calls, they are unbeatable. They put their heart and soul into this, and it shows. They work hard, and as a result Gizmo5 is continually improving. i like it, and I use it.
jw 16/5/2006
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 3:10 PM
New IM Application "Nimbuzz"
As my interest is primarily in video chat / IM programs, I generally don't pay much attention to announcements of products without video. However, the announcement for "Nimbuzz" caught my eye, and sounded rather interesting, so I've downloaded it to my PC and my Nokia 6234, and given it a try.
In a nutshell, Nimbuzz is an audio and text IM program, with file and picture transfer capability, which claims to unify your contacts from a variety of "Communities" in a single place. It currently supports import of contacts from:
- AIM
- Google Talk
- Hyves
- ICQ
- Jabber
- MSN
- Skype
- Yahoo
This seems very similar to the Gizmo Project, with a few more communities added, a few less features (for example SMS and email delivery of messages), and a lot less refined and polished.
The thing that caught my eye about it was that Skype was included in the communities it supported. I would really like to find a client that would allow me to chat with the few Skype contacts I have left, without having to load the buggy Skype program itself. So I downloaded and installed the PC version... and discovered that Skype wasn't in the community registration list. Hmmm. A little checking of the help and forums, and I found that the PC version doesn't include Skype support, only the mobile version does. This actually seems to be typical of Nibuzz, the mobile version seems much more complete and robust than the PC version.
Next I downloaded and installed the mobile version in my Nokia 6234 cell phone. Again, it seemed very similar to Gizmo5. Everything went smoothly, and this time I was able to add my Skype login info. Then the fun started - type Skype garbage. Nimbuzz said that my Skype contacts would appear in my contact list "in a few seconds", but after several minutes, they still didn't show up. They eventually did come up, after quite a long time, but I have no idea whether it was Nimbuzz that was being slow, of if it was the typical Skype contact update slowness. I sent a text message to one of my Skype contacts, and got a reply back - hooray! at least that works! Of course, through all of this the Skype that I had running on my test laptop here was showing that contact as being offline, but I am well used to Skype presence being so unreliable as to be useless. Next I added my MSN Live id, and the contacts from there came over almost immediately, as they should.
Although the mobile version of Nimbuzz seems significantly better than the PC version, it is important to remember that it will use the data connection on your handset, and if you don't have a fixed-cost data contract, that can add up fast. I am likely to be using it, at least for a while, to stay in touch with my Skype contacts (I'll try pretty much anything to avoid running Skype). There are a couple of more important things that I have to find out about it yet:
- it is also capable of making voice calls from the mobile handset. I believe that those calls also go over the data channel, but I want to be sure about that. Nimbuzz says that you can call any of your contacts for the price of a local call - hmmm, does that really mean a local voice call, so it is going over a voice connection, or do they really mean a local data connection?
- what is the overall data use of Nimbuzz for orindary start up and monitoring text chat activity? I know that Gizmo has put a lot of effort into minimizing data traffic, specifically so that it doesn't get too expensive for users who don't have a fixed price data contract. Nimbuzz says in several places that they recommend such a contract, does this imply that their typical data use is much higher?
In summary, Nimbuzz looks like an interesting addition to the field, but I think they have a long way to go before I would consider using it instead of Gizmo5. The only clear advantage that I see is having access to more communities, and I know that the people at Gizmo are working hard to add more all the time as well.
jw 14/5/2008
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