You may be aware that Google announced it is entering the IM arena with Google Talk, built upon Jabber.

 

I came across two very interesting opinion pieces on the whole thing, detailing what Google is doing right and wrong, and how the other guys will likely respond.

 

http://www.livejournal.com/users/nugget/97081.html

 

http://www.drunkenblog.com/drunkenblog-archives/000637.html

 

A good point is raised. Originally, email was network-centric until people wisely adopted SMTP universally. Why don't we do the same with IM networks? People could still push their client for client-centric features rather than a unique network. As it is, I use GAIM anyways to connect to multiple networks at once. I would consider going to MSN, AIM or Yahoo Messenger if it allowed me to IM everyone at once and provided unique features. However, to talk to everyone I must eschew their clients for a more universal one, which isn't really universal so much as a client that patches other networks together loosely.

 

Jabber is an attempt at industry standards for peer-to-peer IM servers. Google is not fully embracing Jabber, but half-builds on the promise of Jabber. It is a step in the right direction, but still a stilted one.

Good info there, Ender; I'm still digesting it.

 

Yay

Could this somehow effect our Vampire game?

Yes.

 

 

 

Vampires listen in on IM conversations.