Sunday, October 30, 2005

Flying for Me


Well I guess that you probably know by now
I was one who wanted to fly
I wanted to ride on that arrow of fire right up into heaven
And I wanted to go for every man
Every child, every mother of children
I wanted to carry the dreams of all people right up to the stars

And I prayed that I’d find an answer there
Or maybe I would find a song
Giving a voice to all of the hearts that cannot be heard
And for all of the ones who live in fear
And all of those who stand apart
My being there would bring us a little step closer together

Jabber

AOL, MSN, ICQ, and Yahoo! all have instant messaging networks. About 6 years ago, a superior alternative known as Jabber (or XMPP) was developed. It is now a published standard. Jabber is superficially very similar to other instant messaging systems. Each user has a Jabber ID and a roster of some other Jabber users. The online presence of those on the list can be seen, and they can be messaged. But Jabber is different:

  • Anyone can run a Jabber server. Users are not reliant upon the continuing beneficence of a large corporate entity. Users with accounts on different servers can communicate, just as with e-mail. My Jabber ID is jeff@jgarrett.org and my home server is jgarrett.org, but any Jabber user can message me, and vice versa.

  • There is not a privileged (often buggy, bloated, and poorly integrated) "official" client. All have access to the standards defining Jabber, so -- in theory -- all clients are created equal. Those who aren't on the most popular platform have access to a first-class client with the same features. Even those on the most popular platform have a choice of client.

  • Authorization is required to view a Jabber user's online presence. This authorization is neither permanent (it may be revoked) nor reciprocal. In fact, more fine-grained control is possible. A user -- though online and available -- can choose to be "invisible" to some or all.

  • Users may be signed into their accounts multiple times. Inbound messages go through the connection with the highest priority. This is especially useful for nomadic computer users. Forgetting to close a connection will not affect the ability to use Jabber as usual on another machine.

  • A user's roster is stored on the server. It's therefore protected from data loss, and in a single central location.

  • Users may opt to have their basic information listed in the Jabber user directory. Other users can then find them more easily.

  • Gateways to other instant messaging networks exist. Not everyone uses Jabber instant messaging yet. :-)

  • Security was a priority from the start. The whole interaction with the server can be encrypted. Even more, using the magic of public key encryption, individual messages can be signed or encrypted.

  • The basic Jabber protocol was developed 6 years ago and has (almost) completed the Internet standards process. It has been widely used during this time, and is both stable and mature. Google is deploying its Google Talk based on the same technology. (Note however that not all of the features I mention are available on Google Talk. For example, Google Talk users cannot talk to most Jabber users not themselves using Google Talk.)

  • Despite the rigidity of the basic protocol, its structure allows for easy extensibility. Features not yet imagined or codified in the standard can be developed relatively quickly and share many of the advantages of the "standard" features. There is a body who oversees this process, and publishes these enhancements.



Convinced? The first step is to find a client here and a server here or use jgarrett.org. In the latter case, be sure to read this. Your Jabber ID will be of the form username@servername. Once you've chosen a server, you are free to choose the username portion. Then you use your client register the new account. (The server will tell you if the username conflicts with another preexisting one, or is otherwise disallowed.) Now you can sign into your Jabber account and start talking. If your browser is configured properly, you can even follow this link to message me.

For more information on Jabber, check out the Jabber user guide.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Identity

The top Google hit for "Jeff Garrett" used to be one of my pages. A very old and tendentious one, if i recall, but still mine. I have had an Internet presence for 10 years or more, after all. Now you can't even find me! :-)

I've not had a blog for as long -- only about 3 years. The top Google hit for "Jeff Garrett blog" is unsurprisingly not mine. But still, check it out. At least people can tell us apart. :-)

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Go Sox!

A sweep! The first World Series appearance since 1959! The first World Series win since 1917!

Saturday, October 8, 2005

Hmm

I couldn't stop sneezing today. I thought it was allergies. But it's been unusually cold in the apartment all day, and now it's so warm. I know there's a problem when my apartment feels warm in autumn...

Thursday, October 6, 2005

O Fortuna


O Fortuna velut luna statu variabilis,
semper crescis aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis nunc obdurat et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem, potestatem dissolvit ut glaciem.

Sors immanis et inanis,
rota tu volubilis, status malus,
vana salus semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata et velata mihi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum dorsum nudum fero tui sceleris.

Sors salutis et virtutis mihi nunc contraria,
est affectus et defectus semper in angaria.
Hac in hora sine mora corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!