Jabber Me

Google has gone live with their new chat service. If you have a Gmail account, then you've got IM. If you've got Google IM, here is why you want to use it:

• It is open. It is based on the standard Jabber protocol, not some proprietary hack that needs to be reverse engineered for multi-platform support. You have total freedom as to which program to use. Use the one that Google provides or bring your own. My Gaim IM client is totally compatible. I just needed to setup a new account. Configuration directions are here.
• Communications are secure. Just enable TLS security in your IM client. In Gaim, it's under "more options" on the account setup panel. Plus, Gaim turns it on by default.

If I IM with you on some other network, I hope you'll consider moving to the open and secure Jabber server provided by Google. My screen name is chip550.