Come and talk to me

I have to warn you, I'm addicted to instant messenger. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not without my lappie or my AIM. I use Yahoo Messenger as well, but I find it cumbersome. With the ability to use DeadAIM and get all my conversations in one box, AIM is definitely my IM software of choice. However, in much the same way they are taking over the search world, Google is beginning to take over the IM world, with this cool new program titled Google Talk! (Yeah, they aren't very creative with names over there: gmail, googlemaps, etc., but whatever, they're Google).

I casually mentioned that Google Talk allows you to talk to anyone, anywhere with a gmail address, for free, to my friend, Brian. Well, being similiarly nerdy, he immediately downloaded Google Talk and we began the experiment. Weren't we surprised to find out that not only can you talk to anyone, anywhere who has gmail, but that the conversation is so clear, it sounds like the person is in the same room (Ok, I know, Google informed us this was the case, but talking is believing)? We proceeded to play with our new program for a good hour, "hanging up" and "calling" each other back. We discovered:

1. When receiving the call, the noise is like a soft, cheery bell.
   
2. When making calls, the noise is like a real telephone ringing - too cool.
3. There's a "mute" button, so you can put the person on "hold"
4. There's a way to set your status icon so that it shows that you are "chatting" to other people on your buddy list.
5. It really is free, it really IS.

When Brian got too boring (or, he really just had to go do something), I went on to my next victim and equally nerdy friend, Olatunji (aka Sexy Daddy)! Well, even though Tunji was in a meeting at work, I informed him that he had to download Google Talk and call me. To which we found out another great feature - his laptop has a built in mic, so he didn't have to go searching for one like I did (yeah, I know this has nothing to do with Google Talk, but it's still cool). Thank goodness he was on his headphones, as I was so excited to be using Google Talk that I proceeded to seduce him with my super sexy, is-she-Latina-is-she-Black-the-Bronx-meets-P.R., phone voice (a friend of mine once told me I could make it as a phone sex operator - if things keep going the way they are, I just might work that out). We finally had to go when Tunji was getting ready to leave work.

Yet, through it all, what does GoogleTalk really mean for me? Well, it means that I can live in South Africa for a year, and still talk to my friends and family, for FREE! This is very neat, because it's convienent, eliminates annoying calling cards, complicated international dialing bullshit, and of course, it's free. So, if you want to keep in touch and maybe say hi to me sometime, get Google Talk(if any Google personnel happen to come upon my blog, I'm available to do some sponsored ads and whatnot, for a nominal fee)! You need a gmail account to use Google Talk, however you can easily send one to yourself through your cellphone, or email me and I'll send you one. I have about 100 invites. Once you get on Google Talk, add me as a friend.

Which leads me to my main point: what does Google Talk mean for you? Well, if you try it out and give me a holler, maybe I'll provide some stimulating entertainment for the evening. It's worth a shot, right?