Chris Pirillo » im

How to Talk to Strangers Online

Chris — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:32:17 +0000

How to Talk to Strangers Online is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Growing up, my parents warned me to never talk to strangers. It’s really never smart to talk to random strangers. However, I’m going to tell you about a service that will connect you with a stranger, and provide hours of entertainment. Be forewarned – some of the conversations you have may be “blue” in nature!

Omegle connects you with random people that you would otherwise never have met. You click one button, and tell it to start a chat. Off you go! Omegle is a brand-new service for meeting new friends. When you use Omegle, we pick another user at random and let you have a one-on-one chat with each other. Even though the chats are totally random, you should never divulge personal information!

Anything can and will happen. So, if you are bored and want some random, wacky fun – check out Omegle!

Keep in mind that the best (and safest) place of all to meet strangers is on Geeks! You can meet others who are just like you, share videos and pictures, create blogs and forum posts – and more!

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Windows Freeware

Chris — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:16:08 +0000

Windows Freeware is a post from Chris Pirillo

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ComputerNerd called in to ask what IM client I used when I “used to use Windows”. I had to remind him I haven’t switched away from anything. I still use Windows every day. In short, I use Miranda on Windows. Miranda IM is an open-source multi protocol instant messenger client for Microsoft Windows. It’s smaller, faster, easier! My first IM client was Trillian, but I got tired of it after awhile, because I felt it was running too slow. Miranda is fast on Windows, let me tell you. I really love this program. It’s sleek. It’s configurable.

If I am on the road, I tend to use Meebo. If it ran as a desktop widget, I’d be thrilled to death. meebo.com is a website for instant messaging from absolutely anywhere. Whether you’re at home, on campus, at work, or traveling foreign lands, hop over to meebo.com on any computer to access all of your buddies (on AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, Google Talk, ICQ and Jabber) and chat with them, no downloads or installs required, for free!

I know a lot of people use Pidgin. Pidgin is free software. It is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2. This means you are free to use it and to modify it, but if you distribute your modifications you must distribute the modified source code as well. It supports a wide variety of IM clients, making it quite popular.

However, I choose my IM client based on what works the best for me. At this point, it’s Miranda FTW.

The caller also asked me about andLinux. andLinux is a complete Ubuntu Linux system running seamlessly in Windows 2000 based systems (2000, XP, 2003, Vista; 32-bit versions only). This project was started for Dynamism for the GP2X community, but its userbase far exceeds its original design.

I just think anyone who can run more than one Operating System should be doing so. I do… every day. In this day and age, you shouldn’t be arguing over which OS is better, or which OS you should choose. You should be exploring what is out there, and running as many as you possibly can.

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Trillian Astra Instant Messaging Alpha Preview

Chris — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 04:08:06 +0000

Trillian Astra Instant Messaging Alpha Preview is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Have your meeting online, with GoToMeeting. You can get a free 45-day trial at GoToMeeting.com/ChrisPirillo.

During the GoToMeeting, racedude showed us the Alpha version of the new Trillian Astra. There are some very cool new features and enhancements.

Trillian Astra is a free program that integrates all your instant messaging applications into one program. It cuts out the need to have several different programs running all at once. Not only does Trillian Astra integrate your instant messengers, it also provides instant access from anywhere, and allows you to showcase the real “you”… via a dynamically updated instant profile.

So what’s new in Trillian? For starters, the skin and colors are completely different. The look and feel of the application itself is just unlike any previous version. There are many themes and color schemes to choose from, and now they can be changed inside of the program without having to restart it!

The contact list is much more organized and detailed. You can easily manage your contacts and widgets using the easy interface, instead of having to use a wizard like the old versions.

The message window has dramatic changes to it. There is a drawing mode, pause during file transfer capability, instant knowledge bar, and much more.

Lastly (but NOT least), the overall performance has improved. Between loading multiple plugins, parsing and initializing XML-driven skins, and establishing connections to your IM accounts, the time it takes to fully load Trillian has a tendency to decay over time. We’ve improved performance across the board when loading Trillian to eliminate the needless “wait time” between launching the application and actually using it.

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The Difference Between The Internet And The World Wide Web

Chris — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:45:56 +0000

The Difference Between The Internet And The World Wide Web is a post from Chris Pirillo

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – Think of the Internet as an umbrella. Underneath that umbrella, you will find online gaming, email, IMs, FTPs to share files, and P2P programs that share even more files and Web sites. The World Wide Web is everything that you can see or access from within a Web browser. Therefore, while the Internet is not the same as the World Wide Web, the WWW is definitely a part of the Internet.

Waaayyy back in 1992 when I first got online, things were much different than they are today. The first browser I ever used was Lynx. That allowed me to browse the Internet in text. The first graphical Web experience I had was either using O/S 2 from IBM or Mosaic, which later became Netscape. That first experience was full of stolen .GIFs, and a lot of centered, blue, underlined text. Those underlined text words were, of course, hyperlinks. The pretty blue color turned purple after you had clicked it at least once.

The World Wide Web is a series of hyperlinks. For instance, chris.pirillo.com is one of my Web sites. On there, I may have a link to you. And on your page, you may have links to others. They have links to even more people and places! Soon, we have this giant mish mash of connecting links. Welcome to the World Wide Web!

A Web site is comprised of Web pages, and a Web site resides on the World Wide Web. The Internet, then, is not the same as the WWW, but the WWW is definitely a part of the Internet.

In a poll of our current chatters at live.pirillo.com, 58% listed Web browsing as their favorite Internet activity. 18% chose IMing, 14% chose online gaming, and only 11% listed email as their favorite thing to do online. What is your favorite? What do you think will be the next generation of the Internet? We’re always interested in your feedback and comments.

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Miranda vs. Trillian

Chris — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 07:32:33 +0000

Miranda vs. Trillian is a post from Chris Pirillo

As reported tonight, I’ve switched from Trillian to Miranda (for several reasons). It’s been a pretty good experience so far, save a couple of random crashes. Here’s what I love about Miranda:

Active development community cranking out updates frequently
Slick interaction with popular and minor IM protocols
Polished skins are readily available through the directory
Fast startup and shutdown, relatively small memory footprint
My buddy list is transparent (read: no background)
I can see what IM clients and versions all my buddies are using
There’s a decent “Find Updates” plugin available
It’s a nice upgrade from Trillian 2.x’s feature set
Individual message windows can contain useful info
It’s open source – bonus!

Things I dislike about Miranda:

It took a full day to configure to my liking
Options are all over the map (in a disorganized config hierarchy)
no full support for Skype (read: Skype must still be open)
Skins aren’t applied program-wide (very frustrating)
I can’t undo a specific font change I made
You can’t set a universal buddy icon easily
User experience lacks the polish of Trillian’s
Some cryptic error dialogs
It was designed with geeks in mind
I’ve been having problems with MSN connectivity
Random crashes with no easy way of recovering open convos
I can’t access more than one account on any single network
It doesn’t auto-organize incoming IMs by preset protocol groups

I’ll stick with Miranda for the time being. If Trillian 4.x can lick the performance issues that dog 3.x, I’ll go back to it. No word on when the new version will be unleashed, though.

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

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VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

Before you shop next time, see if we have a coupon first.