Look at http://www.activeworlds.com
No matter what you write or find, you won't find
anything more suited to what you want than this.
At 03:03 PM 7/30/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Among the most frequent requests after ICANN's Public Meetings in Berlin in
>May was a centralized ("official") real-time chat site for online
>participants to use to communicate with each other.
>
>I'm prepared to make such an area available, but as yet no online chat
>software has met my the requirements I believe are appropriate:
>
>* Free, donated, or already owned by the Berkman Center. (IChat and Oreilly
>Webboard fall into the last category.)
>
>* Has a web interface to eliminate the nee for installation of an IRC or
>other special-purpose client. (I worry that installation of such a program
>would be too burdensome for non-technical users, and it'd likely be
>impossible on shared computers.) JavaScript is OK, as far as I'm concerned,
>being realistic about what client-side tech really is necessary for chat to
>work.
>
>* Is stable and reliable. (IChat might do the job except that it fails this
>test, according to past Berkman experience with the product.)
>
>* Allows direct access to the chat without a lengthy or unduly burdensome
>registration routine. (Yahoo Chat is marginal in this respect, certainly
>not as good as I'd like. Webboard is customizable, but I haven't yet made
>as much progress as I'd like in reducing the number of clicks to get to the
>actual chat room.)
>
>* Multitasks readily, allowing the RealPlayer and (another session of the)
>web browser to run at the same time.
>
>* Provides a complete, easily-readable log of the chat session.
>
>
>Do people agree that these are appropriate criteria? Are they too
>restrictive, or too broad?
>
>Any suggestions on software that meets this criteria? I'd be happy to use a
>free web-based service like Yahoo Chat; to link to a Chat server hosted by
>any entity that makes reasonable assurances of equal access, service
>availability, etc.; or even to install additional software on our NT server
>if necessary. But at the moment I'm not thrilled with any of the options
>I've found so far, and while Yahoo Chat or Webboard (among many others!)
>might certainly do the job, I'd like to think there's something better out
>there.
>
>Comments and suggestions on or off-list, as appropriate.
>
>
>Ben Edelman
>Berkman Center for Internet and Society
>Harvard Law School
>
>
>
--
Richard Sexton | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | http://dns.vrx.net/tech/rootzone
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