InfoWorld: XMPP rises to face SIMPLE standard: April 18, 2003: By Cathleen Moore: Application Development

InfoWorld: XMPP rises to face SIMPLE standard: April 18, 2003: By Cathleen Moore: Application Development With the lure of presence-aware applications and systems dangling before them, competitors are warming up for a heated race to establish an industry standard protocol for presence awareness and instant messaging interoperability.

Lines are drawn between two protocols currently working their way through the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards body: the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)-based SIMPLE (SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions) and the open-source, XML-based protocol XMPP (eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol). Vendors are placing bets, hoping to choose the correct side of the market's eventual shakeout.

Forbes.com: Inside The EBay Biosphere

Forbes.com: Inside The EBay Biosphere He'll get 20 or 30 questions for each item he's selling, and he's now auctioning 7,000 items a month. "A lot of bidders have my direct extension and call me with questions," Edery says. "You need to be committed 100%. The community needs a lot of hand- holding."

A very interesting story, but the comment above starves for something different to scale...

IMlogic, Vayusphere Move into Security

IMlogic, Vayusphere Move into Security After having been in the works since late last year, Mountain View, Calif.-based Vayusphere last week took the wraps off its Managed IM Gateway, which imposes auditing, archiving, reporting and blocking features on top of public IM use within the enterprise -- similar to competing offerings from FaceTime Communications and Akonix.

Meanwhile, IMlogic, an early mover in the public IM logging and auditing space, earlier this week unveiled the upcoming version of its flagship IM Manager product, slated to ship in a month. The Waltham, Mass.-based company's IM Manager 5.0 adds anti-spam and anti-virus protection, unauthorized client-blocking, as well as keyword-based blocking that can be configured to inform superiors or compliance officers when a flagged word is used during an IM conversation. The earlier iteration, version 4.1, provided reporting, archiving, and authentication against corporate LDAP directories.

Bantu wins Air Force instant messaging deal

Bantu wins Air Force instant messaging deal Bantu Inc. of Washington, which also has customers in the Army and Navy, will make its instant-messaging app available to users of the Air Force Portal. The program lets users build buddy lists and communicate instantaneously with other users online.

[rec.games.mud]: FAQ #1/4: MUDs and MUDding

[rec.games.mud]: FAQ #1/4: MUDs and MUDding
1.21. What was the first MUD?
MUD1, written by Richard Bartle and Roy Trubshaw, back in 1979-80, is generally accepted as the first MUD. Sceptre was developed independently about the same time as MUD1, and so has influenced some mud servers since then. TinyMUD Original, the first of the Tiny- family of muds, was written in August 1989.
1.22. What is a bot?
A bot is a computer program which logs into a MUD and pretends to be a human being. Some of them, like Julia, are pretty clever -- legend has it that Julia's fooled people into believing that she's human. Others have less functionality. The most common bot program is the Maas-Neotek model.

A little more history for me...

Zephyr on Athena (AC-34)

Zephyr on Athena (AC-34) Version A (2 Feb 1990, Sharon Belville): Original document. -- Zephyr is a communication service for sending and receiving messages interactively. It's faster than an e-mail system; messages are delivered instantaneously, however you can converse only with other users who are logged on and running Zephyr at the same time you are.

Came across researching the earlier IM applications...

InformationWeek > Collaboration > The Word Is Out On Instant Messaging > April 11, 2003

InformationWeek > Collaboration > The Word Is Out On Instant Messaging > April 11, 2003 David Gurle, who worked on the Microsoft real-time collaboration team before joining Reuters last month to head the company's collaboration-services business, says the release of Microsoft's real-time server will be a watershed moment for IM because so many companies are waiting for it before committing to an IM infrastructure. But IM is only the tip of the real-time iceberg, Gurle says: "Presence is really the element that gives you visibility into a network of connected users."

GTV Launches Sonork-EIM and Unveils Customers of Enterprise Instant Messaging Solution -- www1.internetwire.com

GTV Launches Sonork-EIM and Unveils Customers of Enterprise Instant Messaging Solution -- www1.internetwire.com Sonork-EIM significantly improves workflow by seamlessly integrating with existing data sources and third-party enterprise application suites. The solution enables rapid internal communications that are archivable for accurate record-keeping, while its secure peer-to-peer data transfer reduces email server costs and is scalable for future enterprise information transfer needs. Sonork-EIM’s robust server boasts an extremely small footprint and is installed behind a customer’s firewall, supporting both intranet and extranet configurations.

InfoWorld: Sun launching IM server: April 10, 2003: By John Fontana, Network World: Applications

InfoWorld: Sun launching IM server: April 10, 2003: By John Fontana, Network World: Applications Sun will offer two clients for its instant messaging server, its Sun One Instant Messenger and a Java applet that can be loaded into a browser. The server runs on Sun Solaris 2.6 and 8, and Microsoft Windows NT. A Linux version is expected before year-end. Pricing for Sun One Instant Messaging 6.0 starts at US$30 per user.

Yahoo pushes enterprise IM | CNET News.com

Yahoo pushes enterprise IM | CNET News.com The Web portal has begun a campaign called "Save Smiley," in reference to Yahoo Instant Messenger's smiley-face icons. The campaign, which has launched in certain areas of Yahoo, asks users to inform Yahoo if a company has blocked instant messaging in the workplace. The Web giant plans to then approach these companies and to try to sell its enterprise IM service to their information technology departments.

Microsoft: Greenwich On Schedule

Microsoft: Greenwich On Schedule Adding presence APIs to Windows Server 2003 is aimed at boosting use of RTC Server technologies by ISVs and enterprises, by enabling them to embed Greenwich-based presence in Web pages and to create new applications based on the technology. This month's debut of Windows Server is expected to be Microsoft's biggest product launch of the year.

AOL Tests Video Messaging

AOL Tests Video Messaging For AOL, the move appears a stopgap measure, coming as it does as the company is aiming to get those restrictions lifted. Last week, the New York-based media conglomerate filed a petition asking the Commission to reconsider the condition in light of AOL's slipping market share in the IM sector. In the petition, AOL argued that the free, public IM sector is healthy and competitive, and that it doesn't have an opportunity to use its leading position in the market as a way to unfairly catapult itself to dominance in an area built on that position -- like video messaging.

Forbes.com: Can WebEx Meet Growth Expectations?

Forbes.com: Can WebEx Meet Growth Expectations? Shares of WebEx fell more than 20% Jan. 22, the day that Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) bought a WebEx competitor, privately held Placeware. "Perhaps the greatest risk to the WebEx story is the pending entry of Microsoft into the Web conferencing industry," wrote Steve Ashley of Baird Equity Research, in a March report. WebEx now trades 40% below where it was at the start of the year.

But here's the thing: Despite its success--WebEx earned healthy profits of $12 million in 2002 after several years of losses--it still has revenue of only $140 million in an industry that is expected to hit only $315 million this year.
...
WebEx expects sales of $190 million this year, up nearly 40% from 2002. Earnings per share are expected to increase 77%, to 48 cents, followed by 35% growth in 2004.

And placeware is only the beginning problems that webex will face from Microsoft...maybe there's a landing spot with webex's name already on it...

IBM makes home-networking stride | CNET News.com

IBM makes home-networking stride | CNET News.com People who have the new systems will be able to control devices like their heaters and stoves remotely and check that their doors are locked.

I can see using this to turn off my stove if I left it on by mistake, but turning on the stove while you're not home - that requires a lot of faith in more than just the internet....

Microsoft set to launch real-time server | CNET News.com

Microsoft set to launch real-time server | CNET News.com Microsoft on Thursday plans to announce that its Greenwich software will be renamed Microsoft Real Time Communications Server 2003, which it plans to roll out the first half of the third quarter.

Sun Boosts IM Integration, Features

Sun Boosts IM Integration, Features Due to launch formally in May, Sun ONE Instant Messaging 6.0 offers improved integration with the Sun ONE suite's calendaring server. As a result, the system will send out real-time pop-up notifications for event reminders or task notifications. In connection with the Sun ONE Portal Server, the IM 6.0 release adds message archiving -- using the storage and search components of the portal server to record and sort through one-on-one chats, conferences, and polling transcripts.

SmarterChild is Reborn -- For a Fee

SmarterChild is Reborn -- For a Fee Originally intended as a test, and later, a demo of the company's interactive agent platform SmarterChild was yanked from America Online's (Quote, Company Info) AIM platform last July after proving more successful than expected and potentially jeopardizing to the popularity of soon-to-be-launched bots on behalf of advertisers. In its new incarnation, SmarterChild will carry a $9.99 per-year price tag -- becoming the first consumer-focused IM bot to go behind the premium curtain.

TiVo Home Media Option(TM) Now Available, Delivering the Benefits of Networked Home Entertainment

...said Brodie Keast, Senior Vice President and General Manager, TiVo Service. "Our approach recognizes that the PC or Mac may be the best place to store, organize, manage and protect your digital media, but the living room is the best place to enjoy it."

It's either stealth mode out of the gate or smartly saying uncle before the real fight for the living room begins...

WiredRed's e/pop Provides Instant Company-Wide IT Alerts

WiredRed's e/pop Provides Instant Company-Wide IT Alerts More Organizations Adopting Secure EIM for Instant Communication About Viruses, Server Outages and Application Availability

New MSN, Windows Messengers On the Way

New MSN, Windows Messengers On the Way Some of the confusion surrounding the differences between Microsoft's (Quote, Company Info) Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger could be reduced when the Redmond, Wash. software giant ships new -- and increasingly specialized -- versions of each IM client in coming months.

Some of the feature differences include email client default (outlook vs hotmail), support for pen-enabled tablet PCs, and elimination of joining chat rooms and viewing MSN profiles. I'm sure they'll be many more changes especially post initial release.