instant messenger

I don't know about you, but sometimes I get lost when I'm forced to log in and tab through my multiple email accounts and instant messenger clients — all while trying to keep up on my Myspace and Facebook pages (not to mention Twitter that's a full time job in itself) throughout the day. What can I say, I'm addicted to staying connected!

So imagine my utter relief when I found Digsby — a life saving application that gathers up all those different accounts, and keeps them neatly in one convenient spot. No more expose-ing to find the right open window, browser tabbing, or multiple chat alerts to sift through. To find out why I heart Digsby right now, just read more

Do you know many guys who are socially awkward in person, but once they're in front of a computer they transform into confident ladies' men? Well for Roger Hobbs, a total nerd away from the computer, the Internet became his alter ego. This past weekend, the New York Times showcased the story of Roger, from the trials and tribulations of his Love 2.0 experiences, to the power of online conversation in allowing him to "escape his loser identity and become the super-cool cyber Casanova he thought he deserved to be."

With technology giving him the confidence boost he needed, Roger felt that he had mastered his love life, and knew the secret recipe for getting girls to like him — online that is. As soon as he got a girl's IM name, the words and seduction poured out on the screen.

He says: "Nothing was too challenging. I first seduced my best friend’s girlfriend and, when they broke up, I seduced his new girlfriend. I had a girlfriend in New York and one in Philadelphia. I had a girl I met on a train and a girl I met in a nightclub. I had a Republican and a Democrat, an artist and an engineer, a Christian and an atheist."

Have you heard of this happening very often? Are these the same guys who think it's OK to break up via email?

Source

I got a cheap laugh out of the instructional How to Behave in an Internet Forum video last week, but soon realized there's never been any real etiquette on this wild Internet.

I've put together a list of tips for acceptable instant messenger behavior that addresses some of my biggest pet peeves. This one goes out to all you iChat, AIM, Yahoo messenger and Gchat regulars.

• Start with a "Hello" or some sort of greeting: I am on iChat all day long for work and readily available to anyone who IMs me, but I still think you should say "hey!" to someone before you start asking them a question. Call me old fashioned, but it's like starting an email with "Can you please do this for me" instead of a nice greeting.

There are more rules, trust me! Just read more

My heart beats a little faster every day as we near May 30, the day the Sex and the City movie comes out. To that end, I've been posting the geekiest SATC clips to prepare, including everything from the motherboard failure to Carrie's Googling misadventures!

Our fearless and fiercely intelligent women proved they can tackle anything in the show, especially technology — but even a Mac girl like Carrie Bradshaw was mystified from time to time when she dove into a new geeky task. It's crazy to see now, but Carrie was pretty freaked out by email and IM when she first got it (even though this was in 2001!). Watch her ridiculous reaction to Aidan coming online. . .

I tend to use about four different Instant Messenger clients, and let me tell you, it can be a real pain when I need to find an address or URL a friend has sent me in one of our chats. To combat this problem, IM History is a new site that lets you save and sync your IM conversations for multiple instant messengers in one place. This free, useful application lets you access all your chat history from home, work, or your phone. It's safe, secure, and best of all, it looks good, too!
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