Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with talk

Meebo and Google Talk

simolean — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:03:07 -0800

I use Meebo and Google talk is one of my accounts on Meebo. Does Meebo automatically add my contacts (assuming they use Google talk) to my Meebo list? In other words, I logged on to my Meebo acct today and found someone I recently exchanged emails with (using Gmail) in my Meebo account. I never chatted with that person via Google chat. I use this specific account with coworkers, so I don't want to delete this account. Do I just delete that person?

Thanks!

Weasels are not all bad!

sio42 — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:52:05 -0800

Will taking a logic class really help me in talking about things like socieconomic issues that are often emotionally charged? For instance, I was recently discussing an article I had read about the disparity of grade school education between poor urban areas and more affluent suburban areas. One of the terms used was "income inequality", which is a term used to describe the difference in income between the poorest and wealthiest. I was told this was a "weasel word" - that inequality was a weasel word!!!

I was a bit flabbergasted. It's kind of obvious when two things aren't equal. In this instance, the difference between tax bases of schools meant that some schools had recess, art, well-paid teachers, new textbooks, and computers. And others have bathrooms that don't work, bad lunches, overcrowded classrooms etc.

I was then asked if it wasn't the responsiblity of the parents to make sure their children were educated. Everything I said that related to socioeconomic realities was disregarded as not based in reality.

These aren't idiotic people I'm dealing with. Some of them aren't necessarily conservative. But sometimes having conversations about "issues of the day", so to speak, is mind-boggling.

Is there a way to frame socioeconomic issues that doesn't come across as emotional and filled with "weasel words"?

Help me be a good speech-giver tomorrow. Ready -- Go!

inatizzy — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:06:09 -0800

Public Speaking Filter: I've been asked to speak in front of a very large group at a public rally tomorrow. I'm excited, but I've never done this before. Help! I just learned that I'll be getting up in front of about 1000 people tomorrow to speak for about 5 minutes. My subject matter is all set, but I can really use help with acquiring that "certain something" that makes great speakers so comfortable to watch. They have a sort of command of the room that just makes you want to listen, you know? I know what it feels like to be an audience member in that situation, and that's the experience I'd like to provide for my audience, but I don't know what it feels like to be the speaker! Specifically, what are they doing? What are they thinking? What sort of preparation did they do?

I'm sure that I'm going to be nervous when I get up there, so I'm going to do my best to not talk too fast and to not have a jittery voice. But I think I can do even better if I know what things I can try to do (or not do) to make my speech come across in an easy, comfortable and confident way.

For what it's worth, I'll be talking about the importance of getting involved and volunteering for a specific cause. I spent my summer volunteering for it but there's still a lot left to do, so I'll be speaking from experience and talking about the importance of their continued efforts.

(And, I understand that I can't make an overnight transformation, but this is a rare opportunity and I want to be the best I can be! I hope it'll help to quell my nerves a little, too. ;)

Thank you in advance for your advice.

How can I tell someone they're dressed inappropriately at work?

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:35:13 -0800

An intern at work is dressing very inappropriately. Is there any way I can tell her nicely to tone it down? I'm a male attorney at a law firm. We have a law clerk who's been with us since January and is a 2nd year law student. Since the beginning, she wears tops that plung down her neckline and put her breasts on display. I'm not a prude and I think a little cleavage is fun for everyone. But, this girl is taking it a bit far.

Since she's started working with us, she's always wortn tops that show a lot more cleavage than is work appropriate. It's gotten to where when I have a research assignment for her, I have to concentrate on her face rather than her breasts. The other associates (especially the females) have been making very disparaging comments about her lately, and I feel bad for her.

I wish I could go to the managing partner, but he's a perv and would probably prefer it if the clerk came in topless every day.

Is there a diplomatic way I can speak to this clerk and let her know that her attire isn't work appropriate?

Help me meet people in Seattle

Black_Umbrella — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:17:12 -0800

Where to meet people in Seattle before i start work? I just moved to Seattle. I am right on the boarder of capital hill / first hill. So far i have only met people that are involved in couchsurfing which i am part of. I dont start work until the 22nd so i have a lot of time to kill. Also, I am only looking for platonic friends here, so no speed dating type suggestions.

I already volunteered for a time slot during the seattle international beer festival, but that is a month away...

I dont see a seattle mefi meet up soon so that rules that out.

I love indie music /concerts, but that is not the easiest way to meet people considering people go with friends and its loud and dark.

On that note if anyone has suggestions for things i should see or do while still a "tourist" that would be cool too.

Which TED Talk was this?

tasty — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:18:30 -0800

I'm trying to re-find a TED talk where the presented made many references to the time "3am". This was from a couple of years ago. Does anyone remember which talk this was?

How do I streamline my phone service so people can get me?

Thrillhouse — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 06:33:02 -0800

Help me streamline my phone needs. How can Google Talk help me in real life? Okay, my questions is more of a "What can this do for me" than a "How can I make this work."

Here's my problem- and I'm sure its the same problem a LOT of people have: My cell phone works like CRAP at home (I have a house in the Boston suburbs). People call and end up leaving a message on my cell, even though its right there in my pocket. I have a home phone but most people call the cell first and the home phone is more for the type of people who don't call cell phones like my parents or my kids school. We use it exclusively when we're home to call out, though.

What I would like is some means of getting cell phone calls at home, whether it be through Google Voice or some other method. I'm an at-home parent so if I'm not at home I'm out with the kids- no work number. People don't call my wife on her cell phone so this is more MY problem than hers.

What can I do to make this work? Google Voice seems interesting but I can't seem to wrap my head around how it all works. Plus, I'd prefer not to have to give out ANOTHER number, ya know?

Any guidance would be GREATLY appreciated.

Oh, and I'm on Verizon for home and cell but will likely be switching cell to AT&T this summer when the new iPhone comes out.

Best conversation-fodder movies

harwons — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 23:06:54 -0800

What are your favorite conversation-fodder movies? At a social function, what movies would best spark and maintain the conversation?

For example, Memento is a fascinating movie, but I'm not sure it's suitable for even an intellectual conversation, outside of a film class, because it's just too complex to talk about unless you have it right there, or very fresh in your mind. Shawshank redemption is again great, but I see conversations about it as rather short.

On the other hand, these movies I think will do:

Social issues:
Bowling for Columbine
John Q
Lord of War
Runaway Jury
Sicko
Thank You For Smoking
The Constant Gardener
Who Killed the Electric Car?

Philosophy / thought experiment:
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Minority Report
The Butterfly Effect
The Matrix
The Truman Show

Relationships:
Before Sunrise
Before Sunset
The Bridges of Madison County

Thanks for reading and I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Mom, Dad, I have something to tell you.

the agents of KAOS — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:22:08 -0800

[How] Should I tell my parents, now I'm a healthy adult, about my longstanding depression? I have probably been depressed since I was a preteen. I mostly hid it, passed everything off as 'teenage moods', got sent to a counsellor after a half-hearted suicide attempt and got better at acting ok. I'm now 23, and I've been on medication for about a year, since being diagnosed by my GP with major depression, and I think I am doing well now. For the first time in years, I haven't been cutting or thinking about suicide, I feel happy. But I've never told anyone I know that I have been depressed, or am being treated for it. I have been out of home and independant (in another state) for about six years, and I'm pretty sure my parents have no idea - they were worried about me as a teen, but I think I seemed to grow out of it. (To clarify: they were good parents, I was just better at hiding everything).

I feel like they probably would want to know. I have arranged to have an operation while visiting them soon (so I can stay with them and be looked after while recuperating), and my mother was filling in admissions forms for me, and asked if I'm on any medication. I lied and said no. I think I should be able to tell them, but I hate the idea of making them feel like they did something wrong while I was a kid, or that they need to worry about me, especially as I am about to move away internationally for a new job.

Does anyone have experience with this from either side? How can I approach it? Would they really want to know? How about other people I know, friends and siblings and potential significant others? How likely is it that they've basically figured it out anyway, from noticing the decorative scars down my inner arms?

I wonder if I can buy a gag in the company colours...

Solomon — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:56:05 -0800

Please help me find the most tactful way to deal with a coworker who never shuts up. Long ranty details follow. I'll preface this by saying that usually, in this situation, I'd simply say something to the colleague in question, but that's already been tried.

Short version: A has some problems. She seems to think that the rest of us at my place of work (about 5 of us are regular staff, with some Saturday people as well) want to hear all about them. We don't. We really really don't. What can we say/do to make her shut up and stop treating us all like her therapist?

MUCH longer explanation: She comes from a strongly religious household, has a very controlling mother, has very few social skills (despite working in retail for the past 10 years) and has recently moved in with a boy. Her mother has quite predictably gone mad about this, especially since A has now formed a sexual* relationship with this guy.

*(They haven't actually had sex yet. She's hung some handcuffs on his bedroom door, but the most they've done is hold hands. Oh, and he kisses her on the cheek as he goes out to work.)

I've learned now not to say "alright?" when I see her at the start of my shift, because she will launch into a ten minute (as in actual ten minutes, not "feels like" ten minutes) harangue about the text messages her mother sent her last night, how many marshmallows her new beau put on her hot chocolate before bed last night and how stressed out she is about her brother's wedding.
I've learned not to make eye contact with her when it can possibly be avoided. I've learned not to ask her for help with customers, because she'll jabber on for a while about some random nonsense instead of helping either myself or the customer.
I've learned not to say "alright?" because I am not interested. At all. In the slightest. I was serving a customer at the till once, when she came to chat. When I moved onto the next customer, A moved around to the other side of the till and spoke to the back of the monitor for 15 minutes. At no point during this fifteen minute period did I acknowledge her in any way. She still kept talking.

What can I do to get her to stop talking to me? And by extension, what can all of us do to stop her talking to us about it?

I've tried offering advice. I've tried steering the conversation in a different direction. I've tried walking away but she follows me. I've spoken to our mutual supervisor about it, who spoke to A about the situation. A went missing for an hour and was found crying in the toilets. I'm running out of options here.

Lest anyone think I'm being callous, I am sympathetic. She's 26, having her first relationship ever with a guy she moved in with 2 months previously, and her mother does seem a little bonkers. I get that there is a lot of stuff going on in her life, and that she might feel overwhelmed about it. However, I am not close to this girl. I go to work to do a job and get paid. Greasing the wheel with a little social interaction is fine. Being turned into an emotional bucket for this girl's problems is not.

What can I do/say to this girl that wont cause a scene but will get her to shut the F up about her issues? Please give me some advice, because the Christmas meal is in a couple of weeks, and nobody wants to go, because A has put her name down on the list. This is a shame, because the rest of us get on quite well. It's just A.

I don't care what is wrong with her (if anything). I am not her friend, nor her gorram babysitter either. I also don't care about her problems. I just want her to go away so I can do my job in peace and quiet.

(Think this is too much info about something that you're not really interested in? Welcome to my world, 5 days a week. Pleas help me make it stop.)

What's the best way to react to a socially awkward situation?

gregb1007 — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:51:01 -0800

What's the best way to react to a socially awkward situation? What I mean to talk about here is those kind of conversations with people you know just a bit that turn sour.

Sort of as in neither side says anything mean, but both people don't understand what the other person is trying to get at and get very finicky and frustrated as a result. And then silence and awkwardness follows.

The funny thing about such a situation is that though it really is no big deal and nothing particularly negative has happened, there's still a major feeling of a bad vibe. There's also the sense that because this conversation has gotten off to a bad start, future occasions will be impacted with the same awkwardness and/or perhaps a strategy of avoidance. (There's already an instictive avoidance that is grabbing hold of me)

Sorry for the long-windedness, but what's the best way to sort of deal with this situation?

Talking addict Filter : Help me avoid being "that girl" who talks nonsense

Jireel — Sat, 03 May 2008 13:22:51 -0800

TalkingFilter : How to talk less ?. This goes to all the ones who have considered themselves extravert (verbally extravert, not necessarily always surrounded with large groups) at a certain point, then realized it was more than exhausting : How did it happen ? if it was related to personal issues, was there any key event/epiphany that changed this habbit so hard to quit ? I've been conviced of the benefits from such a change for years, which still doesn't naturally takes place, despite being of a rather introvert nature by essence (loves reading, spends hours writing, loves hanging out one on one, usually isn't having a ball in large crowds). Yet it always comes back once a conversation has started : the urge to say more, to give more details, to go faster than normal (NB it isn't either about slander, since most of the info displayed is of personal nature, absurdingly enough, things that are the bare truth, i.e that aren't necessarily flatering, though not disturbingly intimate)

For the record, 22 yr old female, currently in therapy, gradschool student, already aware of the many down-to-earth reasons for the change (better self esteem, healthier relationships, less mixed messages sent to opposite sex, increased feeling of safety in rough times, more freedom in many other aspects...).

Thanks for your advices and anything relevant to the topic.

Education Blogs.

Memo — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:26:11 -0800

I'm preparing an exposition (a talk) for a class about blogs in general and their use in education. What should I include on it? Resources and research about the topic would be very helpful. I'm going to begin with a small summary of the origins of the term blog, the evolution that it went through and the different kinds of them that exist at the present. All the time emphasizing the fact that anyone can write about anything on the web.

After that, I want to start talking about how blogs can be used and how they are being used for education purposes. Edublogs and the like. And, while I'm concentrating in what the situation is in my country (Chile), I would like to mention what happens everywhere else. Clever applications of this resource, or even common ones, how they have been integrated into a class curriculum, etc.
Really, any info related to the topic will be helpful.

Thanks!

How can I keep a long talk interesting?

so_necessary — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 19:58:33 -0800

I've been invited to speak at an event - for an entire hour. How can I keep the audience awake? I have a ton of flexibility on what exactly it is I talk about (although it will have to relate at least tangentially to The Music Industry) but I need to make it work in a 45 to 60 minute format.

My usual schtick is to do a "big" presentation fast - a kind of blitzkrieg of patter that leaves the audience chewing it over after I'm done. The obvious approach is to expand the scope of the talk even further, but then again, even TED knows to keep the greatest thinkers of our time to a 20 minute limit. Also, there are other challenges - like, it's harder for the audience to remember and grok an hour of talk than 15 minutes worth, and while pace might make a presentation exciting in shortform, over an hour it would probably get overwhelming and hypnotic.

It feels like it will affect the entire process (how I prepare, remember, and rehearse; how I deal with an possible bad vibe early on knowing I have 55 minutes to go rather than 10, and so on) so any help is welcome - what's worked for you, good examples of sustained one-person stage presence I could study, and so on.

Subquestion: I don't *particularly* have a central thesis (unlike, say, this talk on corruption) but I could develop one. Do you think it's a must have in terms of bringing structure and momentum to it?

The Art Of Conversation

kaizen — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 09:35:30 -0800

How can I cultivate / find deeper conversations with people? In university it was always easy to find people ready to talk about philosophy, politics, psychology, etc. But now, as I have gotten older and supplanted myself into the corporate world, the art of conversation seems to have been lost. It would appear that most people are resigned to talking about kids, jobs, and pop culture. Am I just in the wrong social circles or does this type of small talk permeate our culture? I long to attend a French salon or dinner party whose primary purpose is the art of conversation. Where can I find groups of people who like engaging, face-to-face conversation? How can I steer people away from talking about what they saw on CNN and towards something with a little more substance?

Help me do a knock-out research presentation and be a great session moderator!

acridrabbit — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:05:36 -0800

Help me make my first professional research presentation at a national conference! I'm doing an oral (podium) presentation next week at a national conference. My session is at 8:30am on a Wednesday morning. I've never attended this meeting before, but it’s the annual conference for people in my health-related field. Thousands of people are registered for the conference, but I have no idea how many people will actually be at my session. I'm not only making a presentation, I'm also the moderator for the session, which means I'm introducing the other four presenters. Each of us gets 20 minutes to show our slides and talk about our research.

I have a PowerPoint presentation, but it’s mostly photos and charts (almost no text). My plan is to speak from an outline on note cards. The general outline of the presentation follows the format of a scientific manuscript – Background, Methods, Results, Discussion.

I tend to get stage fright, but I’ve got a prescription for propranolol to help with the anxiety-related symptoms.

My questions are: 1) do you have any suggestions for good, low-key jokes I can make? Something about the early hour, perhaps? 2) What are some ideas for nice, general, somewhat witty introductory remarks for my fellow presenters? 3) Got any general tips for making a 20-minute research presentation to a professional audience?

Character at a time chatting?

dmd — Mon, 21 May 2007 13:29:05 -0800

What happened to character-by-character chat? I miss the intimacy, subtle nuances of meaning, and most of all the ability to interrupt one another and complete one another's sentences that was inherent in old-school unix 'talk'. How can I replicate this nowadays? Rejected answers: (1) iChat on a local (BonJour) network. I want something I can talk to people in other locations with, not someone sitting next to me. Plus, iChat sends a few words at a time, not a character at a time, which ruins the effect of intimacy. (2) Actually installing and using talk/ytalk. I'd like to do this with someone who'd probably balk at installing new software, much less dealing with unix. So, web/ajax based solutions greatly preferred.

How can I export my Google Talk "Chats" from Gmail?

hoverboards don't work on water — Tue, 08 May 2007 04:52:56 -0800

How can I export my Google Talk "Chats" from Gmail? They look like emails within Gmail, and some are even in my inbox, but they don't get downloaded via POP3 along with everything else, which is how I'd like to export them. So I'm ideally looking for a smoother method than a one-off hack, although that would be better than nothing.

How can I extend GTalk's idle time?

Leech — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:14:48 -0800

How can I extend the Google Talk's idle time status change? Hi,

I want to extend or remove from the Google Talk client the idle time to avoid other people see if I'm on front of the PC or not.

I'm talking about the official Google Talk client.

Thanks.

When function keys go bad

pullayup — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 09:52:10 -0800

Is it possible to totally or selectively disable keyboard shortcuts in Google Talk? A hyperactive F11 key likes to initiate unwanted voice calls. Irritating!

How can I stop dominating the conversation?

mynameismandab — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 00:05:06 -0800

Talking Too Much: Help me stop. All my life I've been told I talk too much. As a result, people tend to perceive me as being self-important, uninterested in listening to other people, and generally annoying. I honestly don't see myself as any of those things.

I Do talk alot; it's usually because
(1) I know alot about a subject and would like to contribute to the conversation,
(2) I have a lot of questions and/or feel the need to explain myself, and
(3) I am unable to think inside my head, only out loud.

I have tried to inhibit my questions/comments/thoughts, but I only find myself forgetting what I was going to say or feeling like I'm trying to be someone I'm not.

I also like people to contribute lots of information/comments and don't mind when other people think aloud, but I don't meet many people who feel the same way about me. What can I do?

How to have Sex Talk with multiple-diagnosed teen boy

eridanis — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 06:32:30 -0800

Situation: 16.5 year old son, ripe with hormones. Also ADD & PDD-NOS, as well as depressed, which make him impulsive, resistant to authority, and Not So Good at social cues. He's sending sexually explicit text messages to a girl, who's apparently willing to go right along. Even if we we permissive [I am, his bio parents aren't] he's not ready for it. How do we talk to him? This ain't your typical family sex chat. Family dynamics are a tad messed up. Dad is depressed, maybe has Apergers [not so good at social cues himself]. Dad also -never- discusses sex.
Mom is lesbian and I'm her partner. Dad often ends up yelling at Son, Son gets resistant back cuz Dad's not in treatment and in denial, and it gets worse from there. I get to step in after Dad flames out. And o, did I mention this is a Major abuse flashback Hot Button for Mom? And she and I think Son is gay [lots of signs, gay friends agree] but fighting it.

thanks in advance,

Comments on "The John Batchelor Show"?

hwestiii — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 12:25:23 -0800

Has anyone out there heard "The John Batchelor Show" on the radio, and if so can they characterize it in terms of content and quality? I'm rereading a book of his from the 80's called "American Falls", (a Civil War era spy novel, essentially, though I don't think that capsule description does it justice), and I did a Google search to see what he's been up to in the 10 years since I last read a review of a new work of his.

It turns out that he's been hosting a talk radio show out of NYC devoted to current international affairs, or " offering insightful commentary on such issues as the war on terrorism, the presidency, the national and global economies, and defending our civilization" as the copy on his web site states.

Looking into this a little more deeply, I see that his show is broadcast on conventional radio only on the east and west coasts, which doesn't do me much good in Chicago, but he is also on XM Satellite radio.

I'm wondering if anyone out there is familiar with his show and can attest to its quality and content. Though I'm personally a little left of center, I'm not so much interested in left vs. right ideological leanings as I am a high "light" reading on the "light - heat" continuum. Put another way, I'd rather listen to NPR than Fox News, but I'd probably also rather listen to William F. Buckley than Al Franken, and I'm wondering how his show would fare in those terms.

If you are familiar with this show, do you think it is worthwhile listening, and if so, why?

Favorite ways to say "hello" and "bye"

Sharcho — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 09:00:04 -0800

What are some of your favorite ways to say "hello" and "bye"? (to greet friends that you already know, I'm not looking for pick-up lines)

Avoiding interview-style questions

Sharcho — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 17:18:40 -0800

When meeting new people, how do you avoid the interview-style boring questions? (How old are you? Where did you grow up? Do you work or study? ...) What techniques do you use to avoid answering these questions without appearing antisocial?
What do you do when you're out of things to say, and have the urge to ask these questions?
How do you convert the conversation to something more creative?

It's not that I have anything to hide, but I hate repeating the same conversations every time, and I don't think it's a good way of getting to know someone new.