Mac OS X Leopard - ARCAism

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CHAPTER 12 iCHAT
Chat mode uses a chat room metaphor, similar to Internet Relay Chat (IRC). That means
people can be invited to join at any time and leave as they please. As long as one person remains
in the chat room, the conversation will remain open.
Even if you’re only talking to one person, chat is a still a good mode because you always
have the option of inviting more people—more like a natural conversation. Imagine if you were
in a coffee shop talking to a friend when another friend came in. How silly it would be to have
to leave the coffee shop and come back for them to join you!
NOTE You can chat without using your buddy list. To start a chat with someone who isn’t on
your buddy list, select File ➤ New Chat... (Cmd+N) from the menu bar and fill in the information
in the pop-up dialog box. To join a chat room by name, select File ➤ Go to Chat Room...
(Cmd+R) and type the name of the room. If a room by that name does not exist, it will be
created.
Instant and Direct Messaging
Instant messaging is hardly a new invention. Indeed, it’s limited person-to-person connection
could be called a step backward, as it has more in common with the old UNIX talk command
than with the sophisticated chat rooms of IRC. Still, what it lacks in features, IM makes up for
in simplicity and ubiquity.
In iChat, selecting Send Instant Message... or
Send Direct Message... works almost identically to
Invite to Chat...; in fact, the window will still say
you are “chatting with” your buddy, as shown in
Figure 12-6. Don’t be fooled; IM has fewer options
than a true chat. While you can hold multiple IM
conversations, you can’t have three or more people
talking at a time, nor can you add participants as
you can with a chat.
To add to the confusion, if you try to send an
instant message to multiple buddies at once, you
will actually start a chat session, even though your
selected Send Instant Message..., not Invite to
Chat...!
Direct messaging is identical to IM, with one
subtle behind-the-scenes difference. Whereas IM
uses a central server to route messages, direct mes-
Figure 12-6. Direct messaging over Bonjour
in iChat
saging establishes a direct connection between two
computers.
The main advantage of direct messaging is
enhanced privacy, but IM has its own advantages.
It’s older and more common, so it’s more likely to be understood by chat clients other than
iChat. It’s also less prone to interference from network settings and firewalls.
CAUTION Direct messaging enhances privacy, but it cannot be considered secure, because it
doesn’t use encryption to protect the content of your messages. To read more about secure
chatting, see the “Customizing iChat” section, which follows.