Nine years later

[andrewducker]

I just removed my ICQ account from GAIM.  It's a terrible protocol, and used far too much by spammers or people I've never heard of.  If any of you lot had me on your ICQ lists then you can find me on MSN or Yahoo or AIM on the addresses in my profile.

Comments

[sttatus-quo.livejournal.com]

No more "uh-oh" noises? I learned to type on ICQ because it was the first chat format that I used with any regularity after I discovered that there was really life outside aohell. (That was certainly a stroll down memory lane-- :: wanders off to see if anyone she knows is still on dalnet ::)

[mb2u]

I have not used ICQ in ages. Can't say that I miss it, either. Yahoo has become my default IM, but it's nowhere near perfect. I rarely use AIM anymore. Haven't tried Google Chat yet...

[azalemeth.livejournal.com]

I haven't used ICQ for...for quite a long time. I just shove it into my multiprotocol IM client, and leave it there. The spammers haven't got to me yet. I understand why you'd do that though - it is a pretty foul protocol (though not as bad as MSN), one that almost nobody uses.

[andrewducker]

MSN has one huge advantage over ICQ - it won't let you send messages to someone unless they say "Why, yes, I do know H0rneeSlut167, and I've been wanting to talk to her for hours. Please let her sell me Cialis -right now-"

ICQ, on the other hand lets anyone send you stuff, which is just dumb.

[balthial.livejournal.com]

It was good back in the day, but now that I can use Trillian, yeah, there's not much point.

[azalemeth.livejournal.com]

True. However, "H0rneeSlut167@Hotmail.com" may well be that girl I've been speaking to in the library for the past few weeks - of the female, college-going part of my contact list, I have a "LittleMinx1490", a "shortsexystuff1234a" and a "LilWitchTwentyOne" that I can think of. And, as result, if I don't authorise her impending request, I get slapped in the morning. True, it's still better than just having IRC-Bots sending me "MyPicture.jpg.exe.lnk" - but (personally) I'd prefer a nice, big, fat, "Ban" button that optionally gives you an IP address upon clicking it. I do, however, see your point.

I also don't like M$N's linking of email address and IM address, but that's just me.

Although, ICQ does have some protocol-redeaming features; a large text limit (vital for any geek - ordinary M$N limits you to some 5000 chars iirc), voice chat that's been suitably reverse-engineered, /bell, and similar things...

[andrewducker]

Yes, but with MSN _you_ can say yes to HornyBitch123 - or say no. ICQ just lets them send you stuff.

I agree that a larger text limit would be useful, but I tend to use emails for sending code, so it's not a limit I hit very often.