My Various Random Ramblings

Google talk is now my favorite instant messaging system, with one major caveat: no one else uses it. So my new mission is to convert people. The first feature is ease of use. My mom even did not need to be taught how to use it. Second, it now has a great voicemail feature that will allow you to leave a voicemail with any email address, with no requirement of being able to open an attachment. Finally, there is the new feature of it showing all users exactly what music you are listening to at that time.

Recently, Google has linked Google Talk in your Gmail with AIM. This means that you can now log into your AIM account from Gmail.

I use Gmail for all of my email, and consider it the easiest and best free solution for your email. Using Gmail, you can even keep your old email address. You never have to worry about losing your address book or any of your emails again, as they are all on Google’s server. If you use multiple computers, your mail stays synced up between all of them. And it has a good antispam filter.(Link is a bot trap)

I now have an account on all three mini blogging services. First
off, all 3 are basically extremely easy ways to communicate with your
friends. For example, I may post “Anyone out there know how to use
XYZ?” or “I am currently working on ABC”. The idea is that these short
messages are pushed out to your friends to read. If anyone has used
Facebook, they are the same idea as Facebook status, but can be updated
from anywhere, and is much better in my opinion. But that still does
not answer which one is better.

Ease of Use:
Twitter wins this one hands down. Not only does it have a simple
interface, but it has an API, and can be updated via plain, old IM.
Jaiku comes next, as to use IM to update, you have to use a 3rd party
interface such as IMified. Pownce, the youngest of the bunch and still
in Alpha, has no API and requires use of their website or Adobe AIR
client.

Features:
Twitter comes in last, with only basic one way messeging support. Jaiku
comes in first due to its ability to import any RSS feed, plus do
everything Pownce does so far.

Network:
If you are looking to see which service has the most people who update
often, the award would go to Twitter primarily due to its IM interface.
Pownce comes in last since it is invite only still.

Overall:
In my opinion, Twitter still wins purely on the fact that it will let
you update and send out updates via IM. Pownce comes in second due to
its nice looking website and desktop program. Jaiku comes in last since
I cannot get updates on my desktop and being primarily designed for
cell phone use. To sum it up:
Twitter > Pownce > Jaiku

I have limited invites for Pownce, so if you want it, post in the comments and I will invite the first poster who should thus invite the next guy down the line. Jaiku and Twitter can both be signed up for on their respective sites. Feel free to add me on any and all of them. My twitter is kurtisnelson and my Jaiku is kurtn My Jaiku is a simulcast of my Twitter. My Pownce is kurtn and will not be updated very often until they release an API.

Read and post comments |
Send to a friend

We still have spots left! If you want to be a contestant in a full-scale reality show, just send in your application. I helped personally plan this show, and it is not easy, but it will be tons of fun. Below is the trailer from last summer’s show. All of the episodes can be seen on Google Video by doing a search for Road Rules Elevate. Get the Form for this year’s show!

Road Rules Elevate Trailer

I have done it! I got Mac OS X running nicely on my PC, except that my PCI based DWL-520 Wireless card does not work.