Google has launched its own IM and Voip service and it is free! Wait scratch that, it is not just free but without annoying ads! Like it’s Gmail service, google-talk is still in beta but if you already have Gmail then you can use that to sign-in on Google-Talk.

Google-talk is based on the Jabber framework so you can use other IM clients to chat with Google-talk users. Google even provides an inital list and their capability/availability matrix. Too bad you can only use the talk functionality when you use the official Google-Talk client.

The client is pretty slick (and mine is pretty barren at the moment). You can enable the “friend’s list” to include everybody in your contacts list but if you are like me then that list contains 400 entries and I dont want them to be listed in the talk client. I wish there is an option to limit that to Gmail contacts but according to Google help center the people you most frequently ‘communicate’ with will appear in the list. Even if this people dont have Google-Talk, you can still use these contacts for sending email. You just have to click the gmail envelope across their names. Now if only you can specify which browser it uses because I have mine defaulted to IE as required by the office.

The hype on this service is pretty high and since it is still in beta stage then expect some problems now. I suggest waiting till most of the furor settles down. And since it is still in beta, the functionality offered by Google Talk is rather sparse and Google would need to add more features that is at par or better than the ones offered by current IM providers before it could sway people to their fold. Knowing Google, this is already planned so all we could do is wait. And watch for those saying Google is evil since this is another ammunition in their argument bank. 😀

ciao!

Who remembers or has even heard of David, the supposedly ingenious Filipino project that will enable Linux to run windows executable?

The first time the news of it came out only the ‘uninitiated’ bought it. Most ‘techies’ I have come across all cocked an eyebrow and muttered ‘Wine?’ SpecOps Labs insisted they did not use any Wine code but no techie worth his salt is biting. Why should they? To them David is nothing but vaporware that is going to rip the Wine project because it won’t give proper credit to where it is due. Bad move because it will only generate bad press.

Anyway, when I received this post that SpecOps is hiring again, I thought that it was amazing that David still survives until this day. I only became aware that SpecOps has generated (again) bad press from the local OSS scene again by being quoted in a news item that there are no sufficient local talent that will sustain the development. Only this time SpecOps has admitted to using Wine code.

And then I got wind of the this blog which is links to other criticisms that project David has already accumulated.

The new item said that David is already nearing completion. Let’s wait and see but I am not holding my breath.

ciao!