SamePlace : How to add Yahoo MSN AIM ICQ contacts

A lot of people have been wondering how to talk to their friends on Yahoo, MSN, AIM or ICQ networks on SamePlace.

The answer is Jabber Transports.

Here is a screencast that shows how you can add your friends from all these services using open Jabber transports.

A list of transports that were open to use as of : 26 Dec 2007 23:00 hrs CEST is as follows :

AIM Transports
# aim.zweilicht.org.org
# aim.jabber.freenet.de
# aim.jabber.me.uk

GaduGadu Transports
# gg.jabber.autocom.pl (GaduGadu)

ICQ Transports
# icq.zweilicht.org.org
# icq.gajim.org
# icq.jabber.me.uk
# icq.jabber.freenet.de
# icq.funkyjoh.de
# icq.headcounter.org
# icq.jabber.cd.chalmers.se

MSN Transports
# msn.jabber.cd.chalmers.se
# msn.jabber.me.uk
# msn.headcounter.org
# msn.gajim.org
# msn.jabber.freenet.de
# msn.zweilicht.org.org

Yahoo Transports
# yahoo.jabber.freenet.de
# yahoo.geeklife.ru

Please remember that SamePlace does not manage these transports, merely uses them. Transports may go up and down and vary in their service. In that case, all you have to do is shift to a new one.

If you're willing to contribute your transports or servers to the SamePlace community, please add it in the wiki.

How to converse with experts and engage in well, engaging discussions

Everyone has browsed across websites and forums that all too often are riddled with trolls and spammers. Lets face it, despite all the information out there on the internet, it is hard to wade through the trash to communicate with people who run important official websites , code useful specialist software or are acclaimed thinkers, futurists and so on. (Personally, I was impressed at finding the person who manages the database of all human genes from the NCBI on one of the groups)

I've discovered that many of these people , websites and such use mailing lists on UseNet. Usenet (a contraction of user network) is a global, decentralized, distributed Internet discussion system .Several people don't know that the standard email clients they use (Outlook, Thunderbird and so on) can already read news. Perhaps the loss of popularity of UseNet is due to the lack of access to news servers, which seemed to go out of fashion after 2001, and perhaps because most existing news servers are locked down. Users are required to use their own email address [SMTP server] to post. As such, it is more secure in the sense that the user is trackable. Here is how to get access to a News server :

The Open News Network (http://www.open-news-network.org/english.html) offers free news server access after verifying your email address.
You can register there and obtain access to thousands of groups listed under UseNet. Their list can be browsed at http://open-news-network.org/grouplist/


Some Pointers :

1. Try to avoid using your regular work address while posting on UseNet. Registering at a free POP or IMAP email service such as Gmail, HotPOP and so on lets you get a free email address with which you can post on UseNet

2. Groups on USENET range in a variety of topics, and you can decide which groups to "subscribe" to. Be sure to post your thoughts and questions in a appropriate group. UseNet users are generally not appreciative of misplaced posts as they tend to keep the discussion serious and useful, and reading posts that are where they shouldn't be is just a waste of their time.

3. If you run a news server, give a thought to making it open, perhaps to a limited number of people. Do so only via an established organization such as the OpenNewsNetwork which is password protected etc and will handle user administration (at least partly) for you.

4. Instructions for using your favourite email program to read news can be found on the Internet if you Google it. Here's one for configuring Outlook Express : http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

5. Do not download anything illegal. Making UseNet a medium for illegal downloads only hurts the service.

6. Enjoy the trove of useful and right-from-the-source information that you will receive on UseNet from the proper groups.

Auld Lang Syne

Bagpipes - the. most. majestic. sound. ever.

Green Day

A classic that I woke up to, today morning...

The YouTube of MP3s

With the recent hooplah over downloaded MP3s being illegal and such, it sounds too good to be true. It didn't seem likely that any respectable company who didn't want to get sued by the RIAA and their minions, would try to launch a website that did for MP3s what YouTube did for songs.

Well thank god for alternative business models.

Imeem is just such a website - they will host MP3s LEGALLY, as long as the uploader had those MP3s. In a world of constantly connected computers, this means, I don't have to download anything at all. I can make a playlist on Imeem and listen to my favourite sound tracks ala YouTube without fear of litigation or a guilty conscious.

How does it work, you ask ? Imeem has made agreements with major recording studios (Universal etc. ) that allows people to upload MP3s to Imeem. The recording studios, in turn get a percentage of the revenue from ads displayed on Imeem. The copyright holders gets paid, people hear music, Imeem becomes popular - everyone is happy!

Take a look at it. IMeems music database runs into the millions already. I am sure it will be entertaining.

The Migration

I've spent the last hour trying to figure out a way to migrate my posts from the Wordpress blog to Blogger. After a few months with Wordpress, I am wondering why I ever left Blogger. Wordpress is a more advanced hosting platform , no doubt - but the free service they have is dismal. I am not an avid enough blogger to justify paying them Euro 10 per month to get all the frills.

Various patched together routines in Python to convert Wordpress' unique XML data structure to something that is Blogger compatible have failed. It seems there is no problem with the routines, but rather the fact, that the free service on Wordpress makes it extremely difficult to migrate elsewhere.

They don't give a proper URL where the posts can be leached from. And they export into an XML files that has a data structure that can only be read by another Wordpress installtion. I'm livid now. I should have stuck with instinct - Google products are usually the easiest to deal with.

Signing off now...