PeopleSoft to Use AOL IM

(originally posted at bigbadgeek.com)

PeopleSoft harnesses AOL IM

At first I was shocked that they hadn't chosen Jabber - especially after taking a look at the big-name companies that did. However, I think this makes more sense if looked at from a marketing/legal standpoint than a technological one.

AOL's IM brand is far-and-away more used and recognized than any other service. On the other hand, being extensible in nature, Jabber allows for AIM-transport components at the server level. Of course, that could become a legal hassle for enterprise clients, as transports are usually written by reverse-engineering a proprietary protocol. Sigh.

It would be nice to get my hands on some AOL Enterprise IM software, just to figure out the leeway given to AOL's enterprise clients.

Bots, Bots, Everywhere

(originally posted at bigbadgeek.com)

It started back in the day of the old #blade channel (efnet) for the online art group Blade Nation. The bot was called, I think, y0da-1. You could talk to the bot and it'd make fun of you.

Lately, bots seem to be getting a whole lot more functionality thanks to API's and XML-RPC and the like. Over in #virus on irc.lucifer.com there's the LogLady - Twin Peaks inspired - who, when voiced, records everything anyone says into a database that's searchable on the web. The channel also has googlebot, which was written in Python and uses the Google API to send queries and format responses.

But lately, spurred on by my quest to master Jabber and become a part of the social software community, I've been hanging out in #joiito on irc.freenode.net. There, lives the open source Python bot: Jibot. That's right, check the link and bask in the glory of what this bot can do. Then head on over and read Kevin Marks' entry on Social Botware, which does a damn good job of describing the channel's dynamic and how the bot has fit into it and ultimately helped shape it.

And if you're asking yourself why I'm awake and blogging so early, it's to vicariously attend the Supernova conference on decentralization.

AOL Will Blog

(originally posted at bigbadgeek.com)

Oh yes, AOL Will Blog.

Forget for a moment about their lack of IM interoperability. Forget the way they've mismanaged the WinAmp and Netscape products. Apparently, they're gonna do blogging right. Nevermind that people have been posting to blog-like pages via IRC and Jabber for ages...

AOL users can use their homestead pages, Apple iChat users can post to .Mac, win-win-win. Would be nice if they use the Blogger API with XML-RPC for users to choose their own site to post to... on the other hand, it's another chance for a large company to lock-in users.

It'll be interesting. I'm eagerly awaiting screenshots.