Facebook has a messaging service that you can send messages back and forth ... now i'm not sure how much programming this type of program involves and if it's lenghty obviously forget it ... but if we could get something like that going i think that would be pretty cool

How is it different from the PM system here? I'm not familiar with all those social networking sites.

I believe he is referring to pop-up chatting. Gmail now has a similar function. Basically a little in-frame window (not a new window) pops up that allows users to have a chat session.

It would def. make working out deals quicker. I use AIM a lot for that sort of thing, but a built in messenger would be balls.
~~NGD

I agree! This would be an awsome feature, not sure how hard it would be to impliment tho

Not easy, but not out of the question. Ironically, it uses similar technology to our super-simple IM notifier (AJAX).

sounds interesting if it works like google chat on gmail

This would be cool, but is it worth the effort? Everyone I trust enough to deal with regularly is on my AIM list already.

I agree that this would be a major kick-ass enhancement to the site, but I too have all of my regulars saved as buddies on AIM for quick chatting. I wouldn't expend a lot of effort on this unless an overwhelming majority of the forums has a true want or need for it and it is relatively straightforward to implement.

I for one would LOVE this. I'm bound to Gchat cause of my work... me and Aaron are the only ones with that.. so I dont have quick contact with any others. Like everyone else said, if its a load of work then nah, but it would (to me) be one of the most useful things on the site.

Well if there's some coding help needed I'll volunteer my services... I'm not an expert by any means but I'd like to think that my CS bachelor's should be worth something

We already have the infrastructure to do this (anyone remember the old NA chat?)... it's just a matter of putting it all together. Jonebone -- if you're savvy with AJAX and jQuery (or can become savvy), by all means we could use the help.

Hmm I can't honestly say I've ever used those, but I'll do some googling and see what it's about.

Although, we may end up using some type of IM gateway like XMPP.