The Null Device

2005/10/13

Open-source messaging client Gaim is about to get a raft of new features, bringing it into the 21st century. Main Gaim developer Sean Egan has been hired by Google, and part of his job is integrating Google Talk (and thus voice functionality) into Gaim; as part of this, the gaim-vv branch will be merged back into Gaim proper, also giving video/webcam support. Other changes in Gaim 2.0, expected in two months' time or so, will include less broken file transfers and a bunch of new IM protocols, one of which will be "Apple's Bonjour" (by which they presumably mean serverless chat with people on a nearby network).

Instant messaging on Linux is about to get somewhat less sucky (though, with any luck, they'll leave out the full-screen Flash spamming capability MSN is getting). And, with any luck, the changes will end up in Gaim-based clients for other platforms, such as Adium for OSX.

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London's ill-starred Underground took another battering today with the Northern Line being shut down indefinitely. Apparently drivers walked off the job after emergency brakes failed for the fifth time, and, despite the private operators' implorations to get back to work and pretend that everything's OK, have remained on strike. More details here, and technical details from a Tube driver here.

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