messager

Anyone who has ever yanked their hair at a maddening error message will appreciate the concept behind bug.gd, a Web app devoted to linking up error messages and user-contributed workarounds.

While the site has given the general public a head start by linking to Microsoft articles explaining common Microsoft error messages, bug.gd's role in providing distraught users with the right solution is a partial illusion. The database will grow most through user contributions. Bug.gd's team assumes that most users will figure out a workaround within two days.

If that's you, it means you enter … Read more

MySpace and Skype are set to announce on Wednesday that the eBay-owned telephony client will be providing voice chat services for the News Corp.-owned social network's instant messaging client, MySpaceIM. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

Through this deal, MySpace users will be able to link their profiles to Skype accounts, and will be able to place voice chat calls through the MySpaceIM client or the Skype client to both Skype and MySpace members--but if your MySpace profile is set to "private," you will be exempt from calls from people who aren't on … Read more

Macworld reports that Trillian is heading to the Mac, after being doomed to a Windows existence for many years. I'm not sure how welcome it is since Adium already fills that role (multi-protocol chat client) for OS X, but if it can give Adium a little competition, all the better.

It's still in the early stage of development, but I'll give it a spin when it comes out, and let you know whether it's worth a download.

This morning Web-SMS service Joopz is launching a new Outlook plug-in that turns your desktop e-mail client into a one-stop SMS hub. Once tied into your Joopz account, you can send and receive text messages like you would e-mail. The tool also syncs up with your Outlook contacts, to let you send notes to anybody with a phone number.

The service is flouting the new plug-in as a handy way to keep in touch with friends, but for business users who use SMS to communicate with their colleagues while out on the road, this could be a handy, finger-saving tool … Read more

Is Twitter going to turn your mundane messages about salads, cats, and Arcade Fire concerts into revenue dollars? Signs are pointing to yes, as oddball messages appended to Twitter's microblog "tweets" indicate that the company is dabbling in text message ads. Some other folks around the tech blog world are picking up on this, and they seem to be in agreement.

Like so many things, it all started in Gotham--and, in the interest of full disclosure, it involves yours truly. On Monday morning there was a bit of New York tech-scene chit-chat over Twitter, as local entrepreneur … Read more

Social-networking site Bebo announced on Thursday that it has struck a deal with AIM, AOL's instant-messaging arm. Through this partnership, users of either service can now easily invite friends to the other.

More specifically, Bebo users who have provided the site with their AIM usernames will now see an AIM icon displayed on their profiles so that other members can click on it to IM them directly through Bebo's interface. There's also a new "AIM Friend Finder" in Bebo so that members can invite the denizens of their AIM buddy lists to join Bebo, as … Read more

If you're a Trillian Astra alpha tester, the newest build launched this weekend now has a clean and simple profile building tool. You can add a slew of Web services to your personal profile for others to see, including Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Last.fm, and even your LinkedIn account. There are 13 in all, along with quick links to add your blog or personal Web site. The result is effectively a pretty looking link dump to all your online personas and services that others will see when they look at your profile. More importantly, however, it's the beginning … Read more

A Virginia appeals court has upheld a defendant's rape conviction based in part on an AOL instant message.

The Virginia Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that instant messages were properly used as evidence against Myron J. Turman, who was convicted of raping his friend, a woman called S.J. in court documents. Her real name is not listed.

The incident took place on the evening of October 5, 2002, when S.J. arrived home in Fairfax County around 3 a.m. from a nightclub in Washington, D.C. Turman met her in the parking lot and followed her … Read more

There are many pundits who herald Apple for its "convergence strategy:" iTunes is on more than 300 million computers, Apple TV has been launched, and the iPhone has emerged as the most talked about new consumer electronic device in history and is expected to fuel the launch of more all-in-one gadgets from competing consumer electronic makers. Convergence is -- once again -- all the rage.

But what does convergence exactly mean? Let's try a very simplified overview. First of all, there is the media convergence between the worlds of telecoms, TV, Internet, and computing, including fixed-mobile convergence, … Read more