Pidgin: IM
I can’t remember when the last time I rambled on about using Pidgin for IM. However today I have yet another reason why I like it. First what is Pidgin? Pidgin is an instant messenger client that allows you to run multiple instant messenger accounts from one program. So for instance I can have one instant messenger program running (Pidgin) and be logged into Google-talk, Msn, Yahoo, and Aim. This is much cleaner than running several IM clients. Originally each service (Msn, Yahoo, etc.) only ran on thier own program. So if you had friends on different networks you had to run several programs. I ran into pidgin when I was using Linux and later looked for a Windows version. Now-a-days some of the big IM clients like Yahoo and MSN will run a few of the other networks but not all of them. So hence the need for programs like Pidgin and Trillian. I used Trillian for a long time and it is just as good as Pidgin. I honestly started using Pidgin instead just so I could use the same client on my Linux machines as on my Windows ones.
So the cool thing that I ran into today is that Pidgin has a plug-in that allows you to be logged into the Facebook chat. Prior to this I would just leave one tab on my web browser open to Facebook and then if someone IM’d me I’d hear the pop sound. However the pop sound on the Facebook chat is annoying when you are IM’ing back and forth. There is a setting to turn it off but I haven’t had a lot of luck with it working. Now I can just use my Pidgin instead. The cool thing about the add in is that it also displays when people post/reply to things I’ve posted on so I don’t have to go back and check to see if anyone has responded. Instead it notifies me. I know you could just use the email notifications to get alerts on that stuff but honestly I don’t like getting that much useless email. There are also plugins for the MySpace and Twitter social networking sites.
