Category: Personal

In case you hadn’t seen, Google Talk has been released, a free multiplatform instant messaging system (akin to MSN Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM. There’d been rumours that it’d be coming for months and months: not least thanks to Google paying for several of their summer job students to help code Gaim, a free, open source, multiplatform, multiprotocol instant messanger client.

Google Talk is different from the other major networks out there in several ways:

• It’s based on Jabber, an open standard for decentralised instant messaging. This means that anybody can – and is invited to – write a program that can connect to it. With MSN Messenger, for example, if you want to use it on Linux, you have to use a program which “hacks in” to the MSN protocol – Microsoft don’t endorse this: but with Google Talk, anybody is allowed and indeed encouraged to connect using any tool they like.
• It also means that it’s decentralised: unlike most major networks, which only let you talk to people on the same network, it’s Jabber back-end means that you can use Google Talk to talk to Jabber users on any other server. This provides redundancy, reduces the risk of vendor lock-in, and maintains the open-ness of the standard. Sadly, this doesn’t seem to have been realised, yet, and Google Talk users can, so far, only talk to other Google Talk users.
• Jabber can also be extended to communicate with other IM networks. I don’t know if Google intend to provide this functionality, but other Jabber servers already do, letting you talk to MSN, ICQ, AIM, IRC, and Yahoo! users, to name but a few, using just one account (your Jabber account).
• Oh yeah, and Jabber, like all the best IM networks, lets you leave offline messages for people to pick up when they come online, which is a godsend if you’re trying to carry on a conversation with somebody who’s just gone offline and is likely to come back online soon, so an e-mail seems overkill.
• Not to mention the fact that the Google Talk client is pretty slick. No ads, voice-chat as standard, and a low memory footprint.

You can download Google Talk and give it a go yourself: your user name is your GMail account (need one – get an invite from ByteTest.com, or leave me a comment and I’ll invite you). Or you can use any other Jabber client (such as the fantastic Gaim, to connect – your user name is your GMail account, server is “gmail.com”, and “connect server” is “talk.google.com”.

Hopefully Google will open up Google Talk to be able to talk to other Jabber users, and eventually, other networks, soon. In the meantime, have a play with this most fantastic new messaging service. See you on there.

As you probably know, Bryn and Liz are taking a week’s holiday in Ireland. Bryn just sent me an MMS with the following picture attached:

So; Bryn finds himself ‘exhausted’ after just a day with Liz. Least said the better. Hope his car survives the trip.

10 rules for arguing in an effective, pleasant, and productive way. Thoughts of Dan. Disagreement and comments welcome.

1. Stating your opinions without backing them up is a very effective way of communicating your feelings, but is not very productive in advancing a debate. Explain why you think what you think.

2. Don’t assume that the other person understands the fundamentals you’re building on. Don’t assume the other person understands what you’re saying. Make sure the other person feels comfortable asking you questions: don’t shout at them for not knowing elementary things, and likewise, don’t put up with them complaining about your lack of knowledge – how can they sell an idea to you that you don’t understand. Assumption is bad.

3. If you disagree with a premise, challenge it before further constructs are built upon it. If your premises are challenged, be ready to explain them rationally, and be ready to be wrong. That’s okay.

4. There is no harm in being wrong. Apologise for your mistake, and do not berate others for their mistakes either. Sweep anybody’s mistakes under the carpet and forget about them: move on to the next point.

5. Louder is not equivilent to more correct. Sometimes the best ideas come from the quietest people. Sometimes they don’t. Either way, you can’t hear them if you’re shouting.

6. Personal quips are best left aside. All stereotypes run the risk of causing problems, whether these are about the intelligence or knowledge of the debators, their right to know or make decisions upon information, or the relevance or importants of topics being covered. Again, be ready to be challenged on anything, and treat such challenges with respect.

7. In the event of a conflict of understanding, be ready to accept the blame upon yourself. A misunderstanding always takes two people, but tempers can be kept low and order maintained if you swallow your pride and, instead of saying “You must have misunderstood me,” say, “Sorry, I mustn’t have made that very clear.” Showing off and dominance are not productive.

8. If you need more time to formulate your argument, explain yourself, do further research, or just to stop for the time being and take a break, that’s fine. If others ask the same of you, allow them as long as they need. A break helps everybody’s mind work, and while time can be precious, so is the ability to compose oneself.

9. The last word is not the best. Don’t fight to get the last word in, mutter something under your breath, or otherwise make yourself feel better by putting others down – it’s rude, selfish, and counter-productive. If you’re wrong, you’re wrong: move on to the next point. If you need more time, that’s fine, and you’ll be able to forgive the others’ for their rudeness by knowing that you are nice enough not to be so rude to them. Backstabbing is the fastest way to upsetting the balance of calm in a debate.

10. By respecting these rules, being polite, explaining yourself well, and being tolerant of others’ needs, you’ll be able to express yourself effectively and without degenerating into yelling and personal digs. But don’t expect others to do the same: not everybody finds it easy to keep a cool head in a hot debate. You’ll need to make up for them by remaining rational, re-iterating their points in your own words to ensure that everybody (even you) has understood them, and dealing with them fairly and pleasantly.

Be told.

Andy is putting together the logistics for the Pagan Wanderer Lu gig in Manchester this weekend, so here are the instructions for Team Aber. Please contact me if anything here seems wrong or needs clarifying!

Team Aber’s PWL Plan

Team Aber currently consists of:

• “Wheels” Claire
• “Steals” Dan
• Paul “The Hat”
• Matt “The Hat Copycat”
• And special guest member Sundeep (TBC)

The team will gather at The Flat at by 10am on Saturday for the drive Up North. We may or may not be going via Crewe to pick up Sundeep, depending on whether or not she’s coming, before we move on. We’ll either be going directly to Manchester (if we’re picking up Sundeep) or to Preston first (unlikely, unless we make really good time). Claire will be spending a little while rehearsing and other poncy musician stuff with Andy, so the rest of us will find some nice pub and have a sly pint while they do that. We’ll later be joined by Team Preston (my mum and her boyfriend) before we go to the gig.

After the gig, Claire (who won’t have been drinking, nudge nudge) will drive the 4.5 (avr.) of us back to Preston, where we’ll either be camping in my dad’s converted attic (preferable: reasonable amount of space and two spare beds – but I haven’t yet got in touch with him to confirm this as he’s been in Africa) or my mum’s house (less preferable: less space, filled with animals). If you’re in Team Aber and are allergic to dogs, cats, or chickens, let me know now in case we end up at my mum’s house! Bring a sleeping bag if you have one: we’re likely to be able to get a pile of bedding and whatnot but there’s still the distinct possibility that at least two people will be sleeping on the floor.

We’ll be travelling back South on Sunday (via Crewe, if Sundeep’s with us, otherwise via Chester Tesco – in accordance with the prophecy). If anybody in Team Aber has any appointments or comittments on Sunday, let me know, so we can ensure we’re back in time for you to make them.

How’s that?