Gives up in disgust.

[erastes]

I’m seriously considering changing my chat programme. The chat programme within Gmail has always been a bit unreliable but now it’s just getting silly. I don’t get messages sent, and the people I’m chatting to don’t get messages I’ve sent the them.  Even the email is unreliable – I sent a snippet of the new novel to two betas and neither of them replied – or so I thought.  Now I hear today that one of them did email me back and that email is just… missing.  So – what worries me – is how many more emails are missing, and I haven’t received? Important ones that needed a response?

Not feeling very happy with gmail today. not AT ALL.

And hardly more pleased with myself.  Working through the first 40 pages of Mere Mortals:

Here are some things I have learned.

• Valets and footmen obviously don’t need permanent names. Just call them any old thing. No-one will notice.
• Crispin Thorne is obviously an alias, as he’s also known as Crispin Thorpe.   Also he went to two different schools. His ex-boyfriend has two different surnames.   Seems very shady to me. Don’t trust him, guv.
• Philip Smallwood has a twin brother Oliver Smallwood who’s mentioned once and NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN.  Is this another naming bungle on the part of the author or… dun dun dun….. something more sinister???
• Crispin is carried through the house like a rajah: I allowed himself to be taken through the corridors of the house seated in some resplendent splendour on a marvellous carved chair in an enormous sitting room.  Really?  They carried him AND the sitting room AND the chair?

Hmm. Perhaps there's a career in those A, B, C books.

     - -  -  - -

Comments

[aunty_marion]

I've never had any noticeable problems with Gmail as a mail program. I don't use the chat function much - it's useful for quick 'immediate-response' messages, but I don't use it as a regular thing. It's possible, if you're missing e-mails, that either your or your correspondents' ISP is blocking the other one for some reason. Hiccups do happen, though - I got a notification of an LJ comment (not via gmail - I use CIX for that), but the comment itself didn't show up on LJ for several hours.

For chat - well, mostly I use IRC. There are loads of servers and you can set up your own 'rooms' on them, but you do need a conscientious moderator/sysadmin-type person to set it up to keep out the trolls. irc.slashnet.org is where the Snupin chats take place, for instance; and we have a filk channel on servers hosted by two BNFs (one UK, one US). Advantages: lots of people can chat at once and if you want a 'private' chat you set up a sub-'room'. Disadvantages: you need someone who knows what they're doing to set it up. (But it can't be terribly difficult, I wouldn't think.) Opera has an irc client built in, but mostly I use mIRC on the PC and Colloquy on the MacBook.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

sounds like black magic! - i don't need a chat room, though, just a IM programme, trouble is everyone uses different ones, some are on MSN, some on yahoo, some on gmail - i have all three, but i can't manage to run them all at the same time.

[aunty_marion]

Ah, right. Well, I've only really used the gmail chat one for one-on-one chats. I think I tried the MSN one and didn't like it. Or was it Windows Messenger? Might even have been something else!

[johnrw.livejournal.com]

There are third party IM clients which can cope with multiple IM services, I'll check around but off the top of my head I can only think of Pideon which runs on Linux (it's a default part of the Ubuntu distribution) I hope there's a Windows port as it's fairly straight forward to use

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Sounds good.

Now, enough with the swahili and in English?

[johnrw.livejournal.com]

I spelt it wrong, it's Pidgin (like pidgin English) and it can be found at http://www.pidgin.im/ snd there is a windows version. Pidgin can also do IRC which might interest aunt_marion ;-)

The idea is simple, you enter your login details for each IM service where you have have an account and pidgin (or Trillian if you prefer) and when you're online you can access all of them from one program.

I've had a quick look at the Trillian website and it covers the same IM services with rather more bells and whistles. Given that Trillian can also integrate Skype contacts and email as well it might be rather more than you'd want, in which case don't tell it everything!

Anyway check them out.

Sorry about the Swahili!

[chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com]

Trillian?

[johnrw.livejournal.com]

Only heard of it by reputation, but yes Trillian fits the need

It's at
http://www.trillian.im/

[chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com]

Just installed it myself yesterday again (after many years) - gorgeously easy to use imho. :)

[johnrw.livejournal.com]

Can't argue with that, except that from a look at it's feature list there's potentially a load of bells and whistles to confront a first time user - unless the 'fun bits' are easily ignored until you have a need for them.
The 'I've been using it for years and it's simple!' can mask a difficulty that is often under-appreciated (except by tech support, and who cares about them?).

[chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com]

It's actually a rather great interface - I find it very intuitive (this new one, the old one was a bugger) - the great thing is that it forces first time users to do all the complicated setting up stuff before they do the first login so it is all THERE for you.

Customisation is reasonably easy, though I have to say I found fiddling the user interface a wee bit irksome at first. It's very "idiot proof" and so there are only a limited number of options . I also really liked how it detected my computers webcam and headset and automatically utilised them, rather than the normal pain in the arse process where people have to set settings.

The myriad of options are very logically laid out - especially for a Windows interface (I run windows because I need seamless compatibility between this and my work computer). You don't see all the options at once, and they are placed in a simple and logical manner. The icons are self explanatory and really aid user navigation.

As for tech-support, with the amount of troubleshooting I do just in my day job (and completely out of my actual role - but hey, when our REAL tech support take 2 days to fix a problem and your project has to go out tomorrow, who has the time to wait?), I have great sympathy for anyone trying to explain software and interfaces, especially over the phone. That is why when I find things that are simple and intuitive, like trillian, I thank my lucky stars that I have something I can easily explain to the standard Windows user without worrying they're going to mess up the whole network by fiddling about with proxy settings and port allocation!

Got a bit evangelical there *grin*

[chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com]

See, my take on the matter is that Crispin does not give a stuff who the retainers are - there are obviously enough to move him, the chair, and the sitting room (with Philip and Oliver's help). The presence of Crispin Thorpe (knowing what MeMo is about) is part of your highly recursive genius, the story about Crispin Thorpe, Crispin Thorne, and Cripsin Thomas mimicking the story of MeMo as a whole. I guess that falls under Oliver Smallwood's purview though - Philip is probably too busy fixing brass plaques to his manservants to notice.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

*giggling too hard to comment further*

[angrboda]

Lots of people have mentioned problems with gmail lately. Most though of the 'why is it down?!' variety.

With my account functioning flawlessly, I'm beginning to feel a bit left out.

(At least, I think it is. I can't really know, can I?)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Well exactly, you never know if you are missing mails! Its the talk programme that's annoying most of all, tho. Grrrr

[angrboda]

I never use that, so it's not a big deal. I've only got it on Pidgin because I can (and Trillian couldn't), but I don't use it. I haven't seen it falling out any more than YIM or AIM or MSN does.

And most of my email would be group mail so to miss a few is also not really a big deal. :)

The closest I get is that mail received on one gmail account which is then rerouted to my primary account sometimes take its time in getting there, but it shows up in the end.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Oliver is obviously lying in wait for a sequel. Or, alternatively, he is really Crispin's alter ego, manifestation of an as-yet undiagnosed personality disorder, a part of Crispin that split off due to the trauma of having his architecture continually reorganized,

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Good thought! It's more of a sycological dramer than I thought!

Recursive Geenius. I haz it.

[ammonite7.livejournal.com]

It appears that at least two of my emails to you have been lost. The weird thing is that I always get a notice that my email has not gone through, but I never did with the ones I sent to you. Whatever that means in the neverland of electronic blips and bleeps.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

i have the two latest files - been tied up today with stuff but will have them back to you by tomorrow.

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Phrased like this, it's funny. My mind is too literal...

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'm glad! It was meant to be funny!

:)

[romankate.livejournal.com]

Valets and footmen obviously don’t need permanent names. Just call them any old thing. No-one will notice.

Well, except if someone in the house is shagging them senseless. Then they need names just so the other characters have something to yell at appropriate intervals... :D

[erastes.livejournal.com]

This is true! :)

[annephoenix.livejournal.com]

Here are some things I have learned ...

*lol*
Reminds me of the first draft of my current fic!

I have had on and off problems with Gmail since it was first invented. I think I have a LOL!account or something :(.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I think part of it, is I had problems with the names right from the word go, and changed them so many times, it's not surprising that some errors are still there. Hope to god i can weed them all out!

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Perhaps there's a career in those A, B, C books.

Ah, we're at THAT stage of the book, are we?
Call me back when you decide to give up writing and join the bomb squad.

(I have a story where the hero is Sean. I called him Nick four times in the rough draft.)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

its just reassuring that other people have the same problems!