6.6.2000
Everybody seems to have an instant messenger nowadays. I suppose that's a good thing -- if you really want your friends to know when you're online. Which is the right one for you? Well, I suppose that would depend on what most of your 'online' compadres use. AOL, MSN, Yahoo, Odigo, ICQ... they all have their pluses (and minuses). As your list of buddies grows, you may have a difficult time keeping track of who's who. In ICQ (my default IM), I always rename my contacts to something a bit more memorable than their real name or handle. For instance, if I know that person runs a site, I'll use their first name followed by their site address. 'Chris Fileflash' or 'Josh TechTalkShow' are a couple of practical examples. This naming scheme will help you keep your online contacts organized; it's always good to know who and where someone is from. You may not always remember that stuff offhand -- especially if you don't "see" them often.