As an avid Wordpress user, I have come to rely heavily on some of my plugins. Occasionally I’ll browse the Wordpress.org plugins section looking for cool ones to try, but usually I stumble across them trying to solve a problem or make my life easier. I’ve come up with a list of the ones that I find the most useful, or that are cool and worth having anyway.
Google announced yesterday that they have partnered with AOL to allow GMail users to sign in to their AIM accounts in the GMail Talk interface, and chat with them right from there. I decided to try it out, and I have to say, it’s wicked cool.
Once you sign in to your GMail account, and are brought to your inbox, you simply go over to the Google Chat buddy list and click Options, then sign in to your AIM account. It prompts you for your AIM screen name and password, and then you’re good to go. It shows status the same way that it does for Google Talk buddies, and displays aliases as well as away messages right on the buddy list. I have everyone on my buddy list aliased for easy reference, so I was pumped to find that out! The chat window pops up the same way, either within the GMail window you have open, or optionally as a popup window.
Google added in features like chat history from the Google Talk system for use with AIM, so it almost makes you want to just use GMail for AIM all the time. Even if you continue to use the regular AIM client, or something like Pidgin as your primary instant messaging client, it sure is a huge improvement over AIM Express for web-based AIM access. I, for one, give it two thumbs up…right after I finish using them for my conversation.
Verizon’s recent announcement to open their network to all CDMA handsets, as well as applications, marks a major transition in the mindset of wireless carriers in the U.S. and presents a great opportunity for innovative development. With the option for consumers to use any handset they like with Verizon’s service, manufacturers and developers will have fewer hoops to jump through when it comes to bringing their product into the market mainstream. Plus, people won’t be forced to use the programs that Verizon bundles with the phones they sell, or purchase ones only pre-approved by Verizon. In theory, everything should just work together, on one big happy network. In theory.
Today Google officially announced that it will be bidding for wireless spectrum in an FCC auction in January. The 700 MHz spectrum is going to be up for auction, and if Google is able to snag a part of it, it could mean a truly open wireless network. It doesn’t seem to be any coincidence that this announcement comes right on the heels of Google’s Android announcement. With the development of a mobile OS created for open development and communication, the ability to back it with an open wireless network would be a huge boost for Android’s success, and make Google even more appealing as a wireless provider.