iPhone Instant Messaging

Dave Bateman — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 03:03:05 +0000

Over the past couple of years something happened to the way I manage projects. In the past, the main form of communication was email. While email still plays an important part, I find instant messaging playing a larger role each day. While it can never replace email, it succeeds where email fails. For example, I was on a call with a customer the other day and they asked a question that only the lead on the project could answer. I was able to shoot a quick instant message to the lead and have the answer for the customer while we were still on the call. Another great use is when you are on a conference call and want to tell a co-worker something that you don’t want all of the participants to hear.

All this is great and most likely not news to anyone reading this blog. Instant messaging has become a great tool for me. However, lately I have found myself away from my office a lot which has meant I wasn’t able to use instant messaging as much as I would like to. Due to the type of server I use for instant messaging, I need to use a secure messaging client. I had tried a few iPhone apps, but none of them were able to connect to my server. Then I discovered Meebo.

Meebo is a web based service that lets you access all of your IM accounts from one interface. It’s been around for a while, but I never really had a use for it. But when I found out they had an iPhone app, I decided to check it out again. Once I created a Meebo account and configured IM accounts within it, I was ready to try the iPhone app. It worked right out of the gate and has been a very reliable app. It includes push notification and runs in the background so you are notified when you get an IM no matter what you are doing on the phone.

I have come to find this app very useful and the price is right up my alley – free. If you have been looking for a low cost, reliable IM client for the iPhone, check out this one.

Too Many Acronyms – Website of the Week

Dave Bateman — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:47:27 +0000

There are simply too may TLAs nowadays. What’s a TLA you ask? Three Letter Acronym, of course! Get it? It’s kind of funny because TLA is a three letter acronym. OK, never mind the nerd humor. The point is that in the tech world acronyms are tossed around like confetti on New Years Eve. Sometimes just for fun I will count the number of acronyms I hear during a meeting. People seem to think if they know what an acronym means then everyone else does. And now with texting and Instant Messaging (IM) it has only gotten worse. It seems like the text lingo is slipping into everyday conversations. Next time you are talking to your friend, you know the one that texts so much their cell provider has asked them to switch companies, listen closely and odds are you will hear one or two “BTW” or “JK.”

So how is anyone expected to keep all of these acronyms straight? Well, I cheat. I use a website called Acronymfinder. It maintains a searchable database of millions of acronyms. Since an acronym can often have many different definitions, (check out TLA and you will see what I mean) this web site ranks and categorizes them, which makes finding the correct definition a lot easier.

For text/IM lingo, I use a site called Netlingo. It contains a searchable database of pretty much any acronym you will run across in a text or IM. It’s actually kind of fun to make up an acronym and see if it comes back with anything. Just today I found out that PAL stands for Parents Are Listening.

With all of these terms and jargon filling up our days, I sure could go for an AFZ – that stands for Acronym Free Zone, if you didn’t know. TTYL!

Can you hear me now? Tales from a Cisco voice instructor » IM

iPhone Instant Messaging

Too Many Acronyms – Website of the Week