Archive for July, 2008

Friday TechTip for July 18, 2008: Multi-IM Clients and Services

Published on July 18, 2008 in Local Client, Web Service and TechTips. 0 Comments

Hi all, happy Friday and 5 weeks before the start of the fall semester! Today’s tip is inspired by a question from by one of our colleagues. He was curious about which multi-service instant messaging clients are considered to be the best. It’s very common for people nowadays to have IM accounts with AOL (AIM), Yahoo Messenger, Windows Messenger, Google Talk, etc. and also have friends that only use one service exclusively. This creates the need to have multiple pieces of software open in order to keep up with all of your friends and co-workers. Below are my recommendations to get around this problem and keep up with everyone you IM with in one place. Please note that you’ll have to have pre-existing accounts with each service you want to use before trying the applications below.

Meebo – (all operating systems, all browsers) Many of us in the library use Meebo on a daily basis for our Reference IM service (add BoatwrightInfo to your buddy list). Meebo is “portable” in that it’s a browser-based application. To access your IM accounts, just got to http://meebo.com. From there you can login to one of your existing services, OR if you want to have all of them available to you in one browser window you need to create a Meebo account and add all of your services. Once finished you’ll have access to all of your buddy lists in one place and can talk with your all of friends regardless of the service they’re using. Note that in order to provide free service, Meebo includes minimal advertising in the browser page which can easily be hidden.

Pidgin – Pidgin is an open source Windows application that you can download from http://pidgin.im. While installing, it will prompt you to add your accounts, and once completed you’ll be able to see all of your “buddies” and can simultaneously send messages to multiple services, just like Meebo.

Adium – Adium (http://adiumx.com) is Pidgin’s equivalent for the Macintosh and really quacks. ;-)

Hope this helps to simplify your computing experience a little, have a good weekend!

Friday TechTip for July 11, 2008: PocketMod

Published on July 11, 2008 in Organization, Web Service and TechTips. 0 Comments

Happy Friday (and iPhone Day) everyone! Today’s tip is a digital/analog hybrid. Do you find yourself caught in the grey area of managing your calendar in Outlook, but prefer pen and paper for your to-do lists and notes? Do you find interacting with a digital device cumbersome and annoying? Then PocketMod is the tool for you!

PocketMod lets you build a booklet and load it with various tools like daily/weekly/monthly calendars, multiple to-do lists, reference charts, emergency contact information, shopping lists, and so on. The customization options seem limitless! Here are the steps to create your own PocketMod:

Go to http://www.pocketmod.com
Click “Create a PocketMod” on the right side of the screen
Choose all of the options and where you want them to appear (hint: click the item first, it will then appear and you can drag it onto the page where you want it to appear)
Finally, print your PocketMod and fold it according to the instructions. There’s also an instruction video on the home page.

What you’ve just created is small and compact, easily fits in your pocket, wallet, or organizer and can be filed away later so you can have a record of your activities and completed objectives. Good luck and make sure you fold along straight lines!