Austin Improv

The tiny Chat link at the top of the page is an experiment in web-based chat.

As you may know (or maybe not) Austin Improv runs a private chat/IM server at jabber.austinimprov.com. It's compatible with Google Talk - both use XMPP aka the Jabber protocol, hence the name.

If you follow the link, you'll get to the login page. If you don't have an account, follow the Register New Account link, then log in. I don't think the polling/binding thingy means anything (not for our purposes anyways) so all you need is a username and password.

After logging in, a chat window will pop up as if by magic. Give it a few moments to log you in and get your buddy list, etc. then click on the greyish blocky people icon (Join Groupchat) near the bottom, next to the big plus sign. If all goes well, you should find a chat room called "foyer." People might be chatting in there.

This is currently an experimental service so it may be a bit wonky. I have a lot of faith in the underlying chat server; it works well with standalone clients like Gaim and Trillian and seems pretty solid overall. The Web->Chat gateway thingy is still a bit dicey, but it'd be cool if people tested it to see how well it works.

Have fun!

no go on the chat thing so far for me, bob. When i try to use my AI forum account is says "authorization failed" and when I try to submit for a new registration it craps out and gives me a "the page cannot be displayed"

Any ideas?

Same thing happened to me. Does it have something to do with login?

Your forum account won't work; you need a chat account (one day I want to unify all the accounts; it's a mess...)

I can create a chat account and log into web chat with Firefox, but I haven't tested it with other browsers.