Wesley's Tool-Box

Okay, I think I got this asked enough times (I already have 52 people in my GT contacts list) so I think it merits an explanation. It's still a bit clunky, and yes I really hope Google Talk gets this streamlined in the final version, but since a lot of us are using it anyway, let's see... how to change your screen name on Google Talk! You can also do this without affecting your Gmail account, and I'll cover that, too.


Okay, so you got this name from your Gmail account stuck on your Google Talk (left arrow). You want to go to 'Settings' first (right arrow).

Well, I guess it was inevitable. Google now has its own instant messaging client. 'Google Talk' has just been released, and well, it's very clean and simple. Currently there's only Windows client available, but it's interoperable with iChat, so I can talk with my friends in Mac, too. KPUG members had lots of enthusiasm towards the new Google gadget, and I got around 30 buddies registered in 3 hours. Whoa.

Since this uses the Gmail address, Google Talk has the upside of doubling as Gmail notifier. Well, I'm already sold on this product. There are serious functional shortcomings (no group chat, no file transfer, slight typing incompatiblities for Korean language, etc.) but since this is a preview version and I've already filed bug reports, I expect it to improve considerably as it hits official release.

You'll notice that there's a webcomic on top of the website. This is implemented by the new plug-in I made, named "Comics." It shows the latest comic on top of the front page, and adds a navigation link on the bottom of the comic so you can go to the first / previous / next / latest comic available.

The functionalities are simple at the moment, but I think it gets the job done, so I decided to officially release it on SourceForge CVS. Refer to the README file for details. As always, SF CVS web view has a few hours of delay, so come back later if it's not showing up yet.

Oh, and the comic. It's called "The Toon-Box" as a parody of the website name. I have thousands of images from my digital camera archive and I decided that this may be the best way to present it. Hope you like it. I plan to have it as a daily feature.