Help -> About AIM

Retiring this blog...

2011-03-29T16:15:00.005-04:00

I mean, I guess this post isn't necessary right?

Like, "Duh Capt. Obvious, your last post was in 2007, we get the point."

Yea yea I know. But, for those of you that want to follow me along on this great thing called "Life", you can follow me at:

rmacasieb.tumblr.com

See ya there!
~R

Two Letters: GM

2007-10-04T10:05:00.000-04:00

The time has come...

We've finally released our GM client! None of this beta [insert # here] stuff - this is the real deal! So if you were weary (which you shouldn't have been since our Betas are solid), it's time to get in on the good stuff and worry no more.

I've been pretty good at keeping you up-to-date with our changes throughout our Betas so I'll let you explore this one for yourself. A lot of fit and finish...depth in features...and some hardcore security fixes.

Hardcore Security Fixes?

Let me explain. Recently, AIM along with some of our major competitors, both web and desktop, have come under scrutiny for some vulnerabilities that have been exploited. We've executed on these quickly and effectively. We're also being preemptive with possible future exploits. It should be noted that these vulnerabilities aren't easily exploited but are there nonetheless...and we take that very seriously.

So there you have it, not only did we improve performance, buggyness, and all out quality, but we've patched some holes along the way.

AIM 6.5 - Get on it!

Many Thanks and Happy AIM'ing!

Bay Ta 3 - Al Red E?

2007-08-23T15:31:00.000-04:00

I know, my rhyming skills are horrible, but trust me, we've Beta 3'd already! As promised, quicker turn around time with some promising client value.

Let's get straight to the point. Changes:

Status Messages - Nearly done! In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the core Status Message feature sets we wanted are in...minor ones will come in future releases. For those of you that downloaded Beta 1 and/or 2:

1) Thanks :)
2) You'll be happy to see that buddies with no status message don't show "available" under their name. Gives you a whole lot of Buddy List real estate so you can stalk away with Buddy Info and buddy clicking!

I made some other changes to the top of the Buddy List that will make more sense for your Status and Away Message needs. And by the way, the top changes color with the different themes you set now! ;)

Installer Games - I'll be honest. I was an early beta tester of this and I was hooked! Billiards is absolutelyyyy addictttingggg!!! Try it out. You'll lose track of time!

Design Enhancements - You'll see tweaks to our design. This includes changes to color, frames, and icons. If you're a UI guy or gal, trust me, you'll notice.

There are some other changes that I'll be addressing shortly. Not that I'm bragging *cough* but I think it's worth the download for Status Messages alone. :D

Click here for Beta 3

Get on it!!!

Thanks and Happy AIMing!

We're Bringing Proxy Back!

2007-07-17T15:27:00.001-04:00

Okay, okay...

I know that was a corny allusion to Justin Timberlake's "I'm Bringing Sexy Back", but I couldn't resist. I'm just excited to have Port and Proxy back in the client and it's here for your use in our latest beta which has just gone live!

AIM 6 Beta 2!!!

Key Features:

1) Connection Settings - Firewalls or Proxy holding you back? Click on the "Settings" link on the sign on window and maybe we can help you out. Don't try this at work! *cough cough*

2) Status Messages - Yea, they were in before...but hidden. Now we have it exposed and ready for consumption. I'm stoked to see what the public uses them for...it'll be very interesting. And, yes, more changes will come in Beta 3 such as the collapsing of status text for buddies who have not actually typed one in (more buddy list real estate).

3) Flyout on yourself - It's not quite a Batman move, but it's useful! Hover over your screen name in the Buddy List and find some useful options. Let's face it, you know you like stalking yourself on your own buddy list! ;)

As always, there are some other changes here and there as well as some bug fixes. Download, install, and tell me what you think!

Thanks and Happy AIMing!

Status Messages!

2007-05-24T15:04:00.000-04:00

Hi All,

So, as said in the post prior, we finally have Status Messages in AIM 6, but it's still in its early stage and hidden because of this. But hey, why not check the code in and let some of you have a taste right? ;)

To enable status messages, go to:

C:\program files\aim6\services\imApp\ver6_2_14_2\resources\en-US

and open up strings.xml with your favorite text editor.

Search for the following string: (shouldn't be too far down)

imApp.showStatusMessages

Now change the '0' to '1'. Exit AIM and restart.

You'll see a bunch of text under every buddy's screen name...and you'll find a way to set your status message in the "Away Menu Dropdown" next to "Set Away".

Unfortunately, because this feature is supposed to be hidden, I had to keep some of the styling the same so it doesn't look too "pretty" in the buddy list (doesn't look pretty at all to be quite honest with myself ;) ). Also, because no one really knows of its existence, you probably will not find too many people with actual "status messages" set.

But hey, like I said, it's just a taste.

I hope to see a few "Available - I love AIM!"s out there :D

Enjoy and Many Thanks for the support.

Happy AIMing and enjoy/remember Memorial Day.

Beta Fun :)

2007-05-24T14:42:00.001-04:00

Hi All,

Once again, it has been awhile, but I'm excited to say that we'll be getting beta's out more consistently, with greater functional reliability, and with features worth the download...this first beta is our first step in that direction.

What's in 6.2.14.2?

Offline Settings - Ever find it inconvenient that you had to sign on in order to set a preference? Well now you don't have to - settings that are local to your machine are now available offline.

Metrics - Okay, this really isn't user facing but it's just as important as if it weas. Those arguments we've had about button usage, item positioning, etc...this will help settle some of the scores. I'm looking forward to this adding more insight in the way our users interact with AIM and having some of the higher ups understand what our users REALLY want.

Status Messages - Ever want to post an away message without actually being away? Well now you can...sorta. We have the feature hidden because it's a considerably large task to deliver in a single beta. In a post following this, I'll show you how to enable status messages just so you can get a taste of where it's going.

There are a few other things but those 3 are the ones that stick out most. Again, this is only the first beta in a series that will lead to our actual GM build, but come Beta 2, I hope you see why you stuck around. ;)

Get it here at beta.aol.com

Thanks Everyone and Happy AIMing!

It's not Triton...It's the new AIM6 ;)

2006-11-20T13:03:00.002-05:00

Hi All,

I'm obviously behind on all this blogging mayhem but it's due to just cause, getting the new AIM6 out the door. It's actually the first release that I can actually say I'm proud of. Oh yea, and AIM 5.9, that's not on my pc anymore ;)

Features:

1) Offline IM's - You can't run away from your significant other anymore people, they'll be sending you IM's without you online. And when you get on, SURPRISE, you have an IM waiting to be read. (Nostalgic memories of getting paged from friends and not being able to deny it...hehe)

2) IM Logging - Yup, IM logging is finally in and legit. No more trying to find that logger we snuck in about a year ago. Gotta love calling people out on stuff they said the night before ;)

3) Expanded Buddy List - You want 1,000 buddies? Go for it 'cuz the buddy list supports it. Let's be honest, you only have that many buddies because you're using the same screenname from 8 years ago ;) J/K

4) New Away - Away messages make more sense now. You wanna manage them, select manage...want a new one, select new (hmmm...why does it look a lot like the old one...?) BECAUSE IT GOT THE JOB DONE! ;)

5) UI - The UI has been completely redone and worthy of using. Some of the color choices may make you cringe, but it's well worth the download. Everything from color to positioning has changed. Even video, file transfer, and images have been reworked from a UI perspective. Much more usable and inviting to use. Try dragging and dropping a pic onto a conversation, you may start using it more often ;)

6) I could go on...but I'll let you see it for yourself. Try the new AIM6 from www.aim.com. You may just replace your current AIM client with it..I know I did. ;)

Out with Triton - In with the new AIM6.

Happy AIMing and Happy Holidays!

Can I get a Ohhh Yeaaa!

2006-08-16T09:58:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile...

Sorry for the huge break in blogging...it's been pretty hectic around here...but, it's all paid off. Soon a new release of AIM will be coming out that is a lot more promising than what we went out with late last year. Some of you may have had a taste of it already (thanks beta testers, you guys are awesome), but I'll let you know what's different about this drop anyhow.

1) Performance - the main idea was to get last year's build comparable to what you all loved in old AIM...speed and lightness. You'll notice that sign on has been improved dramatically, and things like the IM container pop almost instantly. This was no small feat ;)

2) Usability - since our main focus was on performance, we tried to hold off on other things for our post-performance build. We did, however, change a few things such as the way you manage away messages. Before it took n=15 clicks (yes I'm exaggerating), to set a simple custom away message. Now you go to manage away messages...type away...and set away. Done! Now ain't that easy. It almost brings back memories of the way old AIM....

3) Overall Enhancements - we've added minor tweaks here and there to give you a better user experience. Like I said, we'll be coming out with a post-performance build that'll please all you usability freaks. Trust me, I can't wait either. But for now, download the latest build when it comes out and let me know what you think. Nothing better than some good o'l constructive criticism.

Thanks for the support and Happy AIMing!

About 1.5

2006-06-07T10:15:00.001-04:00

Hi All,

I promised I'd talk about Triton 1.5 a lil' more, so I'm back. In essence, this drop is our GM client with a few more features and performance fixes. Obviously there is still more work to be done in the performance arena, but I'll talk about that more in posts to come....

One new useful feature is QuickAway. You can find it by clicking on our tray icon -> hovering over "Away" -> and selecting Quick Away. You'll find that it's a lot more convenient than having to open up the large Away option, Creating the away message, Saving the away message, and then bla bla bla. You get the picture. I hope to build more upon this when our performance is up to speed and I'm given the green light ( it was kinda snuck in ).

Perhaps the most noticeable and frequently used feature is the new view Buddy Profile method. All you have to do is hover over those little "I's" on the buddy list, and click! It will pop a buddy profile window that changes dynamically when you click on other friends. Stalkerish ain't it!!!? Oh yea, and hovering over buddies in your buddylist now pops up that little box that gives you some quick info (just like old AIM did).

Although AOL Video is new (found on the bottom of the buddy list), I'd like to give AOL music, albeit not new, a re-plug. I mean, the junk is crazy convenient! After using it a few times, you'll be hooked on keep that lil' XM Radio Module up and running.

A few things on the IM window. Now you can select any of your system fonts by selecting "Select Font" on the font bar drop down. Same goes for text and highlight colors. And the little paint palette will allow you to view your own buddy wallpaper and icon in the top pane. Afterall, you chose it cuz you liked it ;)

Well...That's it for now. I've probably forgotten to mention a few things, but hey, you get the picture. Download it from AIM.com and give it a shot. Maybe the new features will keep you entertained till our next major release.

Happy Stalking! :)

AIM Triton 1.5 Preview

2006-05-25T12:55:00.000-04:00

Hi All...I'll talk about this version a little more later...but I wanted to give it a quickPlugIn();

Download Triton 1.5 from AIM.COM. It isn't at its best yet...but its a whole lot better than what we had before :)

And again, on behalf of the AIM team...Thanks for the support. Happy AIMing!

Happy Birthday AIM

2006-05-17T11:46:00.000-04:00

Happy 10th Birthday to the AIM Buddy List!!!
Check out AIM's timeline @ http://aimpages.aol.com/birthday

Now you log it. Now you don't!

2006-05-02T14:18:00.000-04:00

So, many many moons ago, Beta testers were able to download a beta build that had Logging in it! You know that good ol' feature that keeps DeadAim fans DeadAiming :)

Well here's the magic potion to resurrect it:

1) Take 1 cup of Gus' IM Control Panel and use it to find the prefs/prefsContainer.box file.
2) Take an ounce of Ctrl+F and look for "prefs.chkLogIMs_string" in that box file.
3) Now, you'll notice there is a collapsed="true" right before that string. Change the "true" to "false" :)
4) Exit Triton completely and then log back in.

Presto Chango, You now have logging enabled! From here on, conversations will be saved and you'll be able to view them by going to an IM Window and selecting File -> "Open Saved Logs..." The option to disable logging can be found in Settings -> "General IM".

Now, I don't want to hear any complaints about Log problems/features. Afterall, it really doesn't exist ;-) Happy Logging!

The Installer We Have All Been Waiting For...

2006-04-26T10:39:00.001-04:00

So I finally kicked off a Triton build that seems to have successfully included what you all have been screaming for...

an Opt Out of AOL Explorer!!!

I must say, I've been wanting this feature in as well. I'm not saying that I don't like the browser, I'm actually all about it. I'm just saying that I went to AIM.COM for an instant message client, not a browser. Lets face it. You end up having a "Would you like this to be your default browser" war between I.E., Firefox, and AOL Explorer. Yea, I know, there are options that disable that...but we're click happy...we click NO and move on.

So stay tuned for our next Beta, or even better, when we GM (which will be soon I hope). It's a big Up from what we released in December. As for AOL Explorer, give it a shot. You may find yourself falling for its eye-candy features and end up setting it as your default browser :)

Example: showAd();

2006-04-25T21:07:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not, what we learned in school still stands: Using descriptive naming conventions are helpful. For example...

Using Gus' IM Control Panel, you'll find that the AIM code has been beautifully separated into subfolders with obvious naming conventions.

The "bl" folder, for instance, stands for Buddy List. And in there,
The "bl.js" file, represents the main script code for the buddy list.

Okay Okay. So you're thinking, "Big Deal. Anyone can name folders and files with an obvious naming scheme. How about with code!?" Well hold your horses. Going back to the example above, you'll find:

bl.js has a function called showAd();

So anytime you're in that file and you see this.showAd(), you never have to stop and think..."Hmmm, now what does that function call do again?"

Introduction...

2006-04-24T20:55:00.000-04:00

Hi AIM users,

So, this is my first blog. Cut me some slack will ya!? My intent is to talk about all things AIM related from a client stand point.

If you have any infrastructure questions, College Justin would be a good starting point. If he doesn't have the answer, I'm sure he can point you to someone that does.

If you have any questions I can't answer, call out Gus Verdun, the Triton Dev Architect. And check out his blog while you're at it...he has some pretty cool stuff :)

Well, I'm out for now. Time for some 24!!!