Chatango
July 9, 2004 9:01 AM   Subscribe

"Disposable" Instant Messaging. Click a link and chat to someone with just your browser*. "Include [a link] when you create eBay auctions, Craigslist personals, weblogs, moblogs, personal websites, Friendster, etc. and viewers will be able to contact you instantly." *Requires Flash.
posted by Blue Stone (20 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
This looks like a really good idea. Has anyone here tried it yet? (Does anyone want to?)
posted by chicobangs at 9:25 AM on July 9, 2004


It's pretty cool, for what it does. Too bad you can't use AIM or some other chat program, but have to use theirs. I'm up for some anonymous one-on-one action.
posted by Khalad at 9:37 AM on July 9, 2004


i'm not sure i get it. browser-based chat with a domain-name twist?
posted by mrgrimm at 9:55 AM on July 9, 2004


ok, i kinda get it now. not bad, but it takes a bit of the fun (and features) out of IM. i could see how it could be good for ebay sellers, or anyone who has a need or desire to chat with people they wouldn't want to include on a 'buddy list.'
posted by mrgrimm at 10:06 AM on July 9, 2004


After a quick stress test (thanks, all 27 of you; we must do this again sometime), aside from the very small browser window and the no-frillsness of the thing (no links, no multiple-person rooms far as I can tell), it seems to work okay.

I can see situations where I'd use this app for various quick one-off chats.

I've bookmarked it & put a link on my user page for it. We'll see how often it gets used.
posted by chicobangs at 10:13 AM on July 9, 2004


Know a good way to do non-instant messaging? By this I mean just a centralized conversation thread not in real-time. I'm no fan of IM, but I'm working with a group of 5 or so neighbors and it would be nice to be able to avoid the tons of (often out-of-synch) emails. I'm thinking of trying a blog comment feature for this...
posted by micropublishery at 10:21 AM on July 9, 2004


Like, say, the kind of thing you're reading right now?

Why not start a blog and leave the comments feature open?
posted by chicobangs at 10:23 AM on July 9, 2004


Hmm. Since I posted it, I suppose I have to risk trying it out: I have two gmail invites to get rid of. First come, first serve.
posted by Blue Stone at 10:25 AM on July 9, 2004


micropublishery - I think QuickTopic is what you're looking for.
posted by revgeorge at 10:31 AM on July 9, 2004


That Chatango and your kind offer are both pretty cool, blue stone...
posted by micropublishery at 10:32 AM on July 9, 2004


Gmails gone now.
posted by Blue Stone at 10:34 AM on July 9, 2004


Excellent.
posted by hama7 at 10:58 AM on July 9, 2004


Their taskbar message watch program doesn't seem to work for me. It's probably banging up against my work firewall, as I had to open up the web site to receive any messages.
posted by Khalad at 11:04 AM on July 9, 2004


Dr. Alec Matusis is EVERYWHERE!
posted by m@ at 1:43 PM on July 9, 2004


i'm scared of how spammers are going to abuse this, personally.
posted by pxe2000 at 1:57 PM on July 9, 2004


Looks like a cool concept. Would be nice for eBay and such, where I don't want to give out my AIM name.
posted by benjh at 1:57 PM on July 9, 2004


i'm scared of how spammers are going to abuse this, personally.

I ran through several scenarios in my head and can't think of a single way that could happen--yet.

Is it possible to inject text into a flash app without actually typing it?

I started out thinking about what would happen when a spider hit it, but I suppose the desktop app doesn't notify you until text is actually sent.
posted by m@ at 2:32 PM on July 9, 2004


Before I double-click it - has anyone found any spyware in the taskbar installer?
posted by Jimbob at 4:42 PM on July 9, 2004


This is a neat way to have (yet another) way to have people contact you... one-on-one chat, where even if you are chatting with six people, they're all helpfully segregated and don't know or see anyone else but you.

But, while this might be better in MeTa, I'm wondering if there's an equally simple "group" solution. You know, a way to instantly create a room for a website like MeFi that's open and able to handle more than two people. It'd be neat to be able to say, "Meet you at sitename.chathost.com!" and just go, without worrying too much about configuration...
posted by pzarquon at 5:46 PM on July 9, 2004


Will barter 1 Gmail invite? What 'ya got?
posted by lometogo at 8:36 PM on July 9, 2004


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