Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with chat

A Gmail/Google/GTalk chat alternative

amar — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:10:13 -0800

It's an old cry now - to get out of Google's claws. Mail, calendar and everything. However, I always find one thing missing. Chat is never talked about. As a matter of fact this one is the difficult most. You need to have added all those chat contacts and they in turn have had to added you(approved) you back, unlike email where you just need to fine an email and the receiver gets it unless you were specifically blocked. So, let's discuss how to release our chatting app/service free from the claws of Google/Facebook/Skype &c and still be able to: 1. Be able to chat with Gmail contacts, Facebook(if possible) contacts and all others who(at least) are using the same protocols (AIM does it so I guess it can be done).

2. Have my transcripts saved the way it's done in GTalk - name, email, time stamp(each message sent in a chat)

3. (optional) Have video and audio call

4. This can be a service (paid/free) or self hosted

5. Supported by chat client(s)

6. Old stuff like chat transcripts and contacts can move with the account in case host etc are changed other than domain (I am not sure about this point and how it works, maybe someone with technical know how of XMPP or so will say it better)

7. Add if something is left out.

Cripple Facetime and Skype 'Cuz Vid-Chatting Makes Me Anxious

Quisp Lover — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:06:41 -0800

I have an extreme aversion to video chatting. I'm not looking to AskMeFi to fix that. I'm just looking for help in: 1. setting my iPhone 4 so I'm not invitable to FaceTime (it's too easy to accidentally hit the "accept/answer" button), optimally while maintaining the ability to invite others (in case of some sort of emergency need), and 2. figuring out how to make audio-only Skype calls (incoming and outgoing) using my iPhone's SKype or Skype-WI-FI app. Clarification on #2 - I call lots of foreign countries, so I don't want to call via phone-via-Skype (hope that's clear!).

Changes in Google Hangout Chat Window

guster4lovers — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 10:18:48 -0800

I want to know why in Google Hangout it no longer says "Theirname is typing..." when the other person in the hangout is typing in the chat window (or "Theirname has entered text" when they've written something but haven't sent it). It's gone, and I miss it and want an explanation so I can move on with my life. It's the equivalent of how iMessage gives you the ellipses bubble when the other person is typing. And I love me some ellipses bubble action...and now it seems that I'm sadly dependent on it.

So why does it no longer tell me when my hangout buddy is typing to me?!

This may be a waste of an ask, but it's been bothering me and I can't find an answer anywhere out there as to why it's disappeared without a warning and without a trace in the last week.

Please hope me.

Encrypted chat between mobile devices?

running order squabble fest — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:13:50 -0800

The best and simplest way to communicate between a smallish number of (known) people, on a few different devices, with encryption? Pretty much what it says - I'm generally fine with security-through-obscurity, but there are a couple of people I am having discussions with currently which I may want to start encrypting outside regular corporate channels. Most of those discussions (nothing HIPAA-sensitive or likely to interest national security agencies!) will continue to take place over IM, I suspect, using iOS and Android devices, between people at different levels of technical comfort.

So, assuming that everyone who is likely to be talking already knows each other and can coordinate their usage, and that we don't need to conceal the fact that we are talking, only what we are talking _about_, what are the best systems for secure chat? The objections to Silent Circle in the thread about its launch (non-open code, primarily, at least at launch) have got me thinking - presumably OTR encryption over XMPP is the way people usually do this?

Mac screen sharing via Messages

skidoom — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:32:34 -0800

Three friends are using Messages on MacBooks running Mountain Lion. Friends A and B are both able to use video chat and screen sharing with Friend C. Yet Friends A and B are unable to use video chat and screen sharing with each other (the video chat/screen share menu items are grayed out.) What gives?

IRC script to alert based on text in chat

passtehbrainz — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 09:43:23 -0800

IRC script that will play an audible alert when specific text is mentioned in chatroom Basicly, if someone says 'fire in the hole!', I would get either an audible beep. If it could send a growl notification that would be handy, but at least and audible alert. I can use whatever irc client the script will work with. mIRC, HexChat, X-Chat, etc.

Thanks!

Online communication tool for small team

allison00 — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 11:49:02 -0800

What is a good online communication tool for a small group? We are a team of 5 who all work in the same city but at different locations. We currently use MSN Messenger but need something else that will allow us to read the conversations that occurred when we were offline. We also need searching ability of the chat log. We would like to be able to include images/files in our chats but that is not a requirement. It needs to be free.

Roleplaying websites?

solarion — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:37:41 -0800

Decent MUDs/MUSHs?MUCKs/Freeform text roleplaying sites/places? So I'm looking to compile a list of textual roleplay sites for a couple of reasons; but knowing what's good and what's not is a bit tricky, and the whole thing's rather obscure nowadays.

Any kind of site (long term plots/freeform/adult/whatever) works as long as it's not completely a forum thing; at least some real time interaction would be nice.

What's the meaning of life?

st starseed — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 14:01:11 -0800

What's your favorite web place for open-ended questions about almost anything? I'm basically looking for a great, engaged, smart community - like Metafilter - but with the ability to ask and answer more open-ended questions and to engage posters in conversations.

Can we chat about it?

Rabarberofficer — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 04:49:12 -0800

Need a chat/forum-solution for a limited time. Since I've been out of the loop for some time I look to you, mighty Mefites, to hear you personal choises and recommendations. For an activity I need to set up a chat/forum-solution on our website. And (horray!) we actually have some money to put forward to it.

Do you have a recommendations, based on the following requirements?

1. Open for anyone to ask questions. (No login required.)
2. Threaded questions (so that follow up questions can be asked in the same thread as the main question).
3. Several admins to answer the questions.
4. Admins have to be alerted when a follow up question is asked in a thread.
5. The admins will be fairly novices when it comes to chat/forums - so easier is better.
6. If possible we're looking for a off-site hosted solutions - but we need to be able to pull the info out and use for educational purposes after the discussions are ended.
7. Number of users: We don't really expect loads and loads of visitors, so there's no risk of the solution beeing pummeled.

The chat/forum will be integrated (or linked) to from our existing cms-solution.

So looking forward to hear your recommendations to help us move forward on this!

Bots typing away with nothing to say.

solarion — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 02:22:40 -0800

What exactly is going on with people I don't know showing up as "X is typing" on one of my instant messengers, but never actually saying anything? Is this some sort of oblique scam? So I have a multiclient chat called Pidgin, which has an interesting function known as Psychic Mode - it detects when somebody's typing to you before they've said the initial message, and opens the chat window then.

Now, I've recently had a window open in this way with a user I am completely unfamiliar with. I have messaged them back a number of times (as this has happened a few times) to no reply; they just keep the "X is typing" dialog up, like they're continuously typing.

The medium in question is Yahoo, on the multiclient.

There were a couple of ones that did this, though I blocked all but one. Two examples of the usernames, in case it means anything: apoloniaguadeloupe and markettacastellana.

It wouldn't seem to be a scamming thing; for most people, that sort of thing would never show up. So what exactly is going on here?

Meebo Replacement

shew — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 06:04:23 -0800

Meebo replacement? I'm devastated that Meebo is going away and need a replacement.

Requirements:

1) Web-based
2) Client apps for iPhone/iPad
3) Chat history (server side) - Major bonus points if I can import my meebo chat logs
4) Integrate with gTalk, MSN, Facebook, Yahoo at a minimum

How to make native small talk

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 06:37:43 -0800

Hi! I'm learning Spanish at the moment, using podcasts and LiveMocha, mostly. I try to speak it as much as possible when doing the LiveMocha exercises, listening to the podcast conversations, etc, but I realise that what's missing is real live conversation with others. Now, I know that LiveMocha offers this. And I want to make use of it, only.. I don't really know what to say. :) I'm already not too big on small talk and I've a fear that the conversation we would be having would be way too basic for any of the two parties to be interesting at all. I mean, if I can't bring myself to harp on about what my parents do for a living and how big/small my city is, how can I expect the other person to want to listen to this?

So my question is: how do you get around that? Or actually I guess it really comes down to a broader issue of not being too great with small talk or talking to strangers, and how to improve that...

Chatfilter, but only sort of

spinturtle — Mon, 28 May 2012 14:22:00 -0800

Need help finding a new chat solution for a far-flung group. Our core group of friends is spread across the US and Canada. Part of what keeps us so close is the private chat room we've had for the last 10 years or so. Sadly, the current owner of this is shutting it down, and we need to find a new place to hang out. I've been tasked with finding the solution. To head off the inevitable question, no we can't take over the existing site, for multiple reasons that I don't want to go into. Currently we're using phpMyChat 0.14.5, hosted on a back alley page of the owner's primary site. Are newer versions of phpMyChat going to have similar features? And how do I get one? Needs/requirements inside... Things we need as a group:
- Static site. This needs to be a permanent room, that any member can go to at any time via a specific url, not a 'create a room and invite your friends to chat now!' one-time shot. Since we're all over the place, and all have busy lives, the ability to pop in whenever is very, very high. This leads to...
- History. Current setup lets us 'read back' up to 30 hours of content, so that we can communicate back and forth, even if we're not all in at the same time. 'oh, Suzy said she's going to run a marathon today. Way to go, Suzy, we'll be thinking of you!'
- multiple colors (preferably that 'stick'). It's much easier to follow a conversation if each person is in a different color.
- PRIVACY. This needs to be a private, invite-only setup, with usernames and passwords.
- Online utility, not an app. Members should be able to access via url, without installing any software or apps. Needs to work for PC and Mac, on most standard web browsers.
- Pictures - the ability to share an occasional picture would be nice, but not critical.

Things I need as the new owner:
- Invite power. Need the ability to set up users initially by assigning them a username and temporary password, which they would be able to change at their first login. On the current system, the owner assigned both the username and password, and you couldn't change your password. These seems weird to me.
- EASY. Ability to easily send an invite to a new member. Current setup, supposedly it's very difficult to create a new user, so there were rarely new additions. (I don't know if this was actually true, or just a weird quirk of current owner as a control tactic. whatever).
- Point and click admin. Need the admin side of this (sending invites, setting up members/resetting passwords, whatever), to be super easy. I am not a technical creature. I need a turnkey operation - I'd like for whoever sets this up to hand me the url and basic instructions, and I'd be able to start sending invites right away.
- Hosting? Again, I'm not technical, so I don't know if this is what I need, or the right terminology. Currently I own a domain that redirects to my wordpress blog, but that's about it. I have no problem (and would actually prefer, probably) with getting a fresh new url for this venture.
- Cost. While I'm not independently wealthy, I do have a few dollars to throw at this problem. Would like to pay one point of contact a reasonable rate for the new url, setting up the chat, telling me how it works, and then I'm assuming a monthly hosting fee?
- Speed. Would like to have this all set up by Friday (6/1) latest.

A forum for secrets, sex and shite

BadMiker — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 05:31:24 -0800

What's the best way to set up a chat forum for a party? How can I set up a chat forum for a friends party?

I would like to have a forum running which everyone can log in to from iphone/android/etc, generate an avatar and start a conversations with one other person. There's not a problem with people abandoning avatars and starting a new one.

During conversations, I'd like participants to be able to invite the other party to share something / accept a gift. The proposer would already have selected this from a pre-defined list but the receiver wouldnt know what it was until they had accepted. The outcome of this would be recorded; rejection or a record of what was given.

Ideally the 'scores' for each avatar could be shown on the home page or a central display at the party.

That's about it really. I imagine there would be three types of gift;
-a 'wooden spoon' ("XXX gives you a poo wrapped in newspaper"),
-flirtatious ("XXX wants to share ingenious sex with you"),
-or revealing ("XXX wants to share this secret; "/text/". What is yours?")

Is there any software package which could run this out of the box? Or, ideally, is there any online 'forum host/tool' which I could subscribe to and set up something like this?

As you can probably tell; I am a total noob here. I also dont have a huge amount of time to code anything etc. Simplicity rules...

Know of any webcam chat sites for gay teens that are NOT chatroulette / cam4 style?

audio — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:07:51 -0800

Know of any webcam chat sites for gay teens that are NOT chatroulette / cam4 style? I work home allot on my computer so I don't have much interaction with people of my age group. I often go on stickam.com and hangout on cam in the gay group. I've met allot of cool lifelong friends there. Since I've been a member about 4 years, I feel like I've met most of the regulars and kind of want to branch out so I can meet new people.

Are there any other similar type sites out there?

Thanks

Living with yourself after doing a horrible and selfish thing

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:49:47 -0800

I need help in moving on with my life after telling a lie. Many lies. That hurt someone very badly. I did a very bad thing. Please don't berate me for doing this thing, I already know it was an awful thing to do, and I'm aware that I hurt people in the process of doing this.

I did this horrible thing because I am suffering from depression, social anxiety and low self esteem. Those are the reasons why I did it, but not excuses, I know. This whole situation really woke me up to the fact that I have some psychological and mental issues that I need to get help for. I am seeing a psychiatrist and a therapist ongoing, and I am on meds.

This question also involves talk of a chat site. I am aware that I need to get out "in the real world"... I am trying to do this to the best of my ability. I am exercising and trying to be more active and attend meetups. I don't mean to sound flippant or casual about any of this. I really do understand that I did an appalling and dishonest thing.

The bad thing I did is this: I put up fake pictures and assumed a fake name and age on a chat site. I made some casual friends by doing this, and I made one extremely close friend. I fell for him completely, and he fell for me, but he fell for my fake pictures and fake persona. We talked for hours every day online and on the phone, for around 5 months. His personality clicked so well with mine, and mine with his. He told me secrets and things he has only told a few people. I made promises to him and we talked about the future. He invited me to go see him, and I said yes and even booked airline tickets to visit his home town. (He had air miles, so we used them to book the tickets.) I did this in full knowledge that I would not be getting on that plane, but I wanted to carry out this "fantasy" as long as I could. I waited until the very last second to tell him what I did, he even went to the airport to pick me up as I was sending him messages that I would not be on the plane.

I finally told him the truth that night, and he was understandably freaked out and hurt. He was in state of shock, and fluctuated between not wanting to talk to me ever again, and sending me texts and calling me every 20 minutes because he was confused and saddened by the whole thing. I think he was still in a state of denial about the whole situation, and he still wanted to meet me (we live about 2.5 hours apart). So we did meet, and hung out for a few days. The meeting went ok, and we remain in touch. Though he was hurt by what I did, he empathized with why I did it, and his forgiveness helped me realize that I need to just be honest about myself and I will find that I am an ok person, and that honesty really is the best policy no matter what.

I want to live honestly now. I am trying so hard to face my problems instead of running away from them and hiding from them under fake pictures and lies. I have a few questions about how to do this...

- Do I have to tell this to people in the future? Close friends? Future boyfriends? Family? What is my responsibility about being honest about my past to them?

- I am chatting with someone on the same website, under my REAL person. I am not pretending and I am being uber-honest. We click well as friends. The problem is, I talked to him under my fake persona once or twice previously. Do I have an obligation to come clean to him about what I did?

- How do I go on living with the knowledge of what I did? I really hurt the person I was involved with, I mean really hurt him. I also disappointed a lot of people who found out about what I did. I had low self esteem before I did this, it was the reason I did it... and now the knowledge that many people look down upon me for this is breaking my heart. It's like I dug myself deeper into this depressed self-hatred hole by doing this dishonest thing. I know I can take this situation and learn from it, and grow from it, and not repeat the same things I did. Can anyone give me hints to do this?

- What obligation do I have to this person I had the fake relationship with? He obviously would never view me in the same light that he did before, yet he still claims he wants to be friends. I however still have romantic feelings for him, and it is hard for me to talk to him. I am still half-living in that fantasy I had before, and him treating me like a friend versus him treating me like a person he cares deeply for romantically is killing me. Do I need to still talk to him? Part of me would feel better if I cut off contact with him all together. But the last thing I want to do is cause more drama in his life. Also I think it might be healthier if we stopped talking. Friendships that start off on lies are not the best thing. Is there a way to salvage this? Do I just put the ball in his court and let him make the decisions?

- I really feel like a bad person now. I feel unlovable and unloved. I know this is partially depression talking and partially guilt over what I did. How can I come to terms with the fact that I did this bad thing, but that I as a person can still have a good heart and still be an honest and caring individual? I want to change who I am, but I am stuck in this cycle of self hatred. Again I am in therapy and on meds, so please don't suggest that. I just want to hear what you all have to tell me right here, right now, from your life experiences.

throwaway email: livingafteralie@gmail.com

Thank you.

Is it possible to resolve a connection issue between our chat server and mobile devices?

never used baby shoes — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:27:00 -0800

We're having issues between our online chat service and clients using mobile devices. I would like some advice/opinions from some tech savvy folks on if there is a possible solution. The organization I work for the is the 24 hour crisis telephone line service in our community. Last year, we took the step of adding online chat as an additional means for people to access our services.

Overall, we've been very happy with the company we work with to provide us with the interface and other tools to make the chat work, and their system is integrated with our data collection and reporting. However, in the last little while, we've been having a problem that appears to work as follows:

-client accesses our chat services using a mobile device (iPad would seem to be the common example);
-some of the responses from our end during the chat session are never received by the client on the mobile device. We can see that from our end - the messages we type change from being in italics to normal text once the message has gone through; in the cases I am talking about, what we have typed always remains in italics. The problem seems to worsen the longer it takes for us to compose and send a reply.
-In conversation with our provider of the service, they have basically said that mobile wireless networks do exhibit this problem, because the web browser on the device does not always maintain a consistent connection with the server where the chat is being hosted. Unreliable network connections on the client side are what the issue appears to be, as we don't have this problem with anyone on any other type of device.

I don't doubt their answer; in fact, it makes sense to me. However, I'm a social worker who has somehow become the in-house IT guy, and I can't always be sure if a) I have the right information and b) if there might be an idea or solution we could implement from our side. We have created some messaging for our staff and volunteers to use when they see they are in chat with a user using a mobile device (and encourage them to use the phone as well), but I know I will continue to be asked about this issue and what we are doing to solve it.

Because of my organization's role in the community, it's obviously important to us to make sure we've tried everything we can to address this. If I have to tell everyone here that there is no good resolution, then that's ok, but I want to feel like I've explored all alternatives from our side around this issue.

So have it, hive mind! Let me know your thoughts and ideas on the possibilities of resolving this issue.

What is the most efficient way to screenshot something and link to it in Gchat?

critzer — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:19:30 -0800

What is the most efficient way to screenshot something and link to it in Gchat? Lately I've been Gchatting a lot with an old friend. Sometimes I'll copy an image path URL and paste into the chat window to make a point.

But a lot of times, I'll need to Shift + Ctrl + Command +4 to grab a specific piece of a screen. This is a pain because the process is: screenshot, then open Photoshop, then paste into new document, then export, then drag from Finder into Drop.ly and then copy the link. (With iChat you can paste a screenshot with no problem, but not Gchat, unfortunately...)

Are there faster ways I could be doing this?

Help me find an erotic chat room.

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:38:08 -0800

Can anybody recommend an erotic chat room(s)? I'm a woman in my 30s that enjoys (strictly chat) roleplaying, and explicit sex talk. I've been on the Literotica chat site which is great but I'm curious to see what else is out there or if there is anything better. Any recommendations? I'm looking for a mature, friendly community. Thanks

Video chat US/China?

skbw — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:51:24 -0800

What is the best US/China video chat option? There are a few relevant older questions, but things change so fast that I thought to get the latest word. This is for personal, not business, use. Thank you!

Do we want to use Ustream for streaming video and taking questions?

callmejay — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:19:19 -0800

I am working with a non-profit organization who wants to stream video of talks with the ability to take questions live, via chat or some equivalent. Do we want to use something like Ustream? What else do we need to know? I am not sure on numbers, but there would potentially be at least a few hundred viewers. I have never used Ustream or anything like it, but after reading some previous question, this option seems preferable to commercial webinar-type software. Does that seem correct? Would we need something more than a basic, free account? Are there any gotchas or potential difficulties or limitations we should know about?

Hi, how are you?

masters2010 — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:14:26 -0800

What do you say to friends or acquaintances when passing each other while walking in opposite directions? As a college student I walk by a number of friends or acquaintances every day as I travel around campus. Often these exchanges pretty much solely entail, "Hey, what's up, how are you? Good, thanks, how are you? Good."

I can't take it anymore, but I'm not quite sure what I could say to mix things up a bit / provide a bit of joy to their lives in such a short interaction as we're walking in opposite directions.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks!

Are there ways to remove facebook VOICE chat from my computer?

omaralareefi — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 21:17:42 -0800

Are there ways to remove facebook VOICE chat from my computer? I tried every thing from uninstalling and with professional uninstaller (such as revo) programs and it is still there. I also remove it in add on in IE9, and extensions in firefox and chrome browsers and still there. I went to uninstaller and it is not there also for extensions too weird.
I want to remove in hard way.
Thanks

Sending Canned Video Via Skype

Quisp Lover — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:00:43 -0800

I'm about to video Skype for the first time, using my macbook pro's built-in isight camera. The person I'm Skyping with has never met me, but has a whacky sense of humor, so I thought it might be amusing to start out by feeding in a few seconds of stock video of a hunky male stripper (cutting it off, and replacing it with my geeky real self, long before it gets lewd). Is there any way to do this?