What is ICQ?

[rowan]

Please excuse the newbie question, folks.

[daveleau]

ICQ is an instant message program. You get someone's ICQ number and send them a message and you can either leave a message if they are offline or chat in real time. Nice program but it has security issues. I have not run into any problems myself nor have I heard any stories of people being hurt by ICQ but there are noted security issues.
dave

[Warthog]

I hate the program.

I only use it to chat with fellow Sysopt members.

Warthog

[Ziz]

It's also the longest running beta in the history of the internet.

Are they ever gonna finish it?!?!?

[This message has been edited by Ziz (edited 12-20-2000).]

[Barney]

I SEEK YOU.That's what it means (duh).To bad it's owned by AOL.Makes it tough to choose between Microsoft instant messenger and ICQ .

Ronald

[dos7]

yeah,,which is the worst of two evils, AOL or Microsoft,,anyway, I've used all of the instant messaging progs,,and icq seems to have the most functionality. chat/file xfer/and it even has it's own built pop3/smtp email client. I remember when icq could fit on a floppy disk,,now it has bloated to about 6 megs, because of all the plugin's it has and many other useless features, but icq ,to me seems to have the most "character" , and correct me if im wrong, but icq was the first of it's kind and the trend setter which everyone copied.

I've been using Icq since it's first version and the best version were 98a and 99a, but the first 2000 version is pretty good,although i had major malfunctions with the newest version 2000b, some options would simply disappear from the icq menu, and then later would be there again. so i reverted back to 2000a, and not one single problem with it.

I was wondering if anyone could elaborate on the security issues with icq,,im aware of one or two,,just wondering if anyone could give some more.

dos7

[dos7]

sorry about the duplicate post, i hit the back button and then i tried to stop it,,but alas, this is like the third or fourth time this happened to me in the year i've been with sysopt, which i might add is the best online community EVER brown nose brown nose, suck up suck up,

sincerely
dos7


Np, dos7. If it happens again, don't re-hit Submit; just back up your browser to the thread itself, and hit your browser's Reload/Refresh. Your post will be there. (IOW, hit Submit only once ) -Socalgal

[This message has been edited by socalgal (edited 12-20-2000).]

[Beemer]

With ICQ I can catch your IP number is the biggest flaw. I will not elaborate on this.

ICQ made it possible to create a no charge line of communications with my family. We all moved around and kind of lost contact on the day-to-day basis. I found ICQ and called everyone to show them how to get the program on their machines. Very, computer illiterate family at the time. We now type and leave messages online or offline. We keep up to date on each other.

I also have lots of friends back east in the Toronto area that I had lost touch with and now we know when one of us burps. Sending files such as pictures or what ever while you are typing to each other is great and it is like being there and handing your friend a picture to view. Very interactive. Real time chats or messaging back and forth. It is an ideal communications program.

You have to make it work for you, as it doesn't come with a pre-made user list. You have to build your list of contacts to make it interesting. Chances are lots of your friends are already on ICQ. If they aren't and they have a computer, you have the option to search for them by E-mail address or name or ICQ # if you have it handy and send an Invitation through ICQ, Add/Invite Users button. The invitation has the ICQ web site and they can find the download there.

I use it for messaging with my boss in the mornings in case some kind of arrangement falls through and he wants to contact me, and visa versa. ICQ won't ring and wake up everyone in the house and he knows I open ICQ first thing in the morning.

ICQ is an addition to your other communications in your house. Personally I do more communications on ICQ than any other form of communications at my home. Locally and long distance.

Some people get all caught up in ICQ. They become Chat Aholics. This is when an ICQ user looses all sense of reality, as you know it now. They get on ICQ and get obsessed with it. All they do is look for strangers or friends to talk with all day and night. This slowly takes away from their quality family time and all around them suffer. Marriages suffer quite often because of this obsessive behaviour. I have been witness to and have been blamed for ruining a couple of marriages as I helped introduce computers to their home and put ICQ on their machine.

There are those that buy a computer on the pretence of getting a better shot at some of the higher paying computer jobs. They get tired of trying to learn all that there is to learn to achieve their primary goal and use ICQ as a diversion that never ends. What they end up with is a $3,000.00 telephone and nothing more.

When used in moderation, ICQ is great and will become an asset to your life style.

I hope this spells out some of the pros and cons of the ICQ program to you and others that aren't familiar with the program.

Cheers!

[NDC]

But you have an option to "Do Not Publish IP Address", all you have to do is put a check next to it and your IP address will not be shown in the "User's Detail"


Just go into Preference & Security \ Security & Privacy\Security

And check off the option. The downside to enabling this option is that you can never be "invisible", you will always show that you are on line even if you put yourself in "Invisible Mode". Your name icon will just have an "Eye" next to the name but still show as "on-line"


Another great program you may want to try using is "Firetalk". It's very similar to ICQ, but the difference is that you can send on-line messages and talk through a mic like a PC phone. There used to be a big lag in voice transfer through the server, but since their upgraded version, about 3 second delay is the most I've seen using the new version of Firetalk. The best part is that it's FREEEEEEE I've saved myself alot of money talking to my family members and friends on international telephone bills.

If you want to learn more about it, go here:
www.firetalk.com



[This message has been edited by NDC (edited 12-20-2000).]

[sharder8]

I used to use ICQ a lot to talk with family, but then, after AOL bought it, I started getting spammed by porno sites through ICQ. I did some investigating and found out some of these people had 20 or more ICQ #''s and were just entering numbers at random for their spamming. I got so tired of the **** that I now only turn it on once every month or two to see if I have any messages from family.

I also have a program called GKU, but it's still very primitive and I turn that on even less.

[NDC]

Yes, Beemers, I'm using ICQ 99b. I wasn't to crazy about all the gadgets on ICQ 2000.

[Beemer]

You must be running an old version of ICQ NDC. 2000a and b doesn't give you the option of "Do Not Publish IP Address".

Cheers!

[Beemer]

Hey! After all the trouble I have gone through to get my rightful web presence name of Beemer. Thanks a lot NDCs.
lol

I guess you didn't notice.

Cheers!

[This message has been edited by Beemer (edited 12-23-2000).]

[NDC]

Huh??? Run that by me again. That one flew right over my head! LOL

[NDC]

Ahhhhhhhh! Now I know what you mean. LOL. I'll make sure to get the spelling correct, Beemer. I see you had to go through a lot to get it!