Author: Deano

Rather than a termination of interoperability, it's an extension thereof – whereas before, to chat with AIM contacts from Gchat, one needed to log into an AIM account – effectively making Gchat a "google-themed AIM client", at least while talking to AIM users.

Going forward, Gchat users will be able to see, chat, and possibly use other features (file transfer, video/audio, conferencing, chat rooms) with AIM users without needing a separate AIM account. That is, so long as you use Gmail or Google Apps, you'll be able to delete your AIM account from your Google Chat preferences(*), and still chat with AIM users.

Presumably, Google won't remove the existing functionality outright for a while, so this primarily affects Gmail/Gchat users who don't already have an AIM account, who also need to chat with someone on AIM. That sounds like a pretty small group of people to me…

Thinking it through a bit further, Gchat is (last I checked) based on XMPP protocols – and for this kind of AIM integration to work, it's possible that AOL has rolled out (at least in a limited fashion) an XMPP gateway for AIM, or even have transitioned to XMPP on their backend. If the latter is true, then this announcement is just the first of many, and ultimately will allow for many more uses for an AIM account – and perhaps, continued relevance for AOL, for another few years, at least.

(* As David Mickler points out in the comments, it is not possible to delete an AIM account/screen name, well, ever. Yikes!)

How did Gmail & AIM change the way their chat interacts in May of 2011?

Three points:

• Old dogs, New Tricks – when you get a dog at a year old, there's probably a lot of prior (mis)training to overcome and deprogram, and
• These Things Take Time (The 4 T's) – between the established disposition of your pup, and the general anxiety of a new place to call home, it's probably going to take a lot longer to "cure" him completely.
• "I pee because you're the boss!" – Submissive urination is real, and is often meant to show respect for authority.

You mentioned adopting, but didn't say from where… Assuming for a moment that you, or other interested readers with similar issues, picked up a rescue/shelter animal, it's possible that any of the following have happened:

• Prior "failed" adoption(s)
• Brief foster periods
• Acclimation to the organized chaos of shelter life, and the freedom to pee on concrete floors on a whim with no ill repercussions

Regardless of the origin, the solution is very much like curing "accidents" in toddlers/preschoolers:

• close monitoring and possible rationing of liquid intake
• regular walk times and intervals
• praise for properly expressing the need to pee before it happens

That, combined with a more general program to help establish the new dog's place in the existing pack hierarchy, as well as give him reassurance that he's "home to stay", should help reduce/eliminate the problem over time.

How long that period is, however, will vary quite a bit based on the dog's personal history, and your general patience level. If at all possible, focusing on rewarding good behaviors over punishing bad ones (even those of the other dogs) until the problem is under better control, will hopefully shorten it to just another month or two. 😉

Worst case scenario, you can look into diapering the animal (this is dangerous – some will hate it, and "get" that they need to stop peeing in order to be free, but others will just appreciate not having to care about letting loose on a whim), or even a prescription/surgical solution (ask you vet, but as I recall, these are pretty spendy), and of course you can also just keep him in semi-isolation (kitchen only while indoors).

Whatever you do, the keys are to show love early and often, and try to make him understand that the peeing doesn't make you happy without being punitive. At their hearts, dogs just want to make the leader (you) happy, and will usually go beyond all reason to do so. But they have a funny way of interpreting even negative attention as a good thing, so the messaging needs to be consistent and careful.

How do I stop my adopted small dog from peeing whenever he's anxious?

Yes, absolutely!

The primary specialization you should be targeting is this:

• low cost domains,
• that you sell at the highest margin,
• in the shortest span of time

These three ingredients will make you not only successful, but true Domain Sales Royalty if you can perform to the standard with regularity.

Other than this specialization, well… The highest profit margins come from domains under every TLD, of every length, and in every language. Perhaps you could argue that a domainer who only did ".coms" would be more statistically likely to do better than his or her peers… But it would still depend entirely on finding customers for his or her inventory, end of story.

The closest thing you can see these days to a "specialized market" are the newer TLD registries like .co… And while there may be a slight SEO bump in some cases for such domain names, and it's certainly more "wide open" in terms of possibilities than the .com space, it seems a LOT of money is being poured into marketing, with results being okay for the registrar, but nothing to write home about in terms of ROI % compared to a successful domain seller.

Is it important to specialize in a certain type of domain names (for example, 5 letter domains) if you are going to become a domain seller?

Half the fun, with twice the danger.

Basic rules about keeping your wits about you, staying in groups in unfamiliar places, and having solid transport, funds, and a plan are much more important here… It's not at all hard to read up online for the hotspots, but in part because of the reputation, and in part because the reputation is based on fact, the nightlife scene moves about a bit day to day, and even on the weekend it's hard to string an itinerary out until sunup… People go home early compared to a lot of larger metros worldwide.

All that said, there's lots of fun to be had, and the well lit, newer, and more famous areas tend to be very safe during the day/evening hours, and again the busier the scene is, the more likely it is to also be safe. Downtown, especially, appears to be pretty safe and sane all hours these days.

Doesn't hurt if you're a pro wrestler, either… Physical perception of your vulnerability to robbery/mugging can have a dramatic affect on how likely it is either will happen – so if you're not well-built, try to go out in a group.

How is the nightlife in Cape Town compared to other metropoles in the world?

Congruity between what is offered with regularity/predictability, and what the pool of potential clientele are looking for in a bar. This could be any, all, or none of the following:

• Empty
• Packed
• Quiet
• Loud
• TOO LOUD
• Great craft beers/well executed cocktails
• cheap taps, bottles and well drinks
• Excellent high quality cuisine for pre-dinner or late night eats
• Bad, or at least bad for you food, that fills the stomach and holds off a good drunk
• Strangers looking to talk
• Strangers looking to be left alone
• Dancing
• Karaoke
• Dark places to make out
• Dark places to buy and sell narcotics
• Photo Booths
• Pinball
• Free Peanuts or Popcorn
• Decor with history and atmosphere – seedy, but comfortable
• Clean and fresh decor – germ free and sanitary
• Giant TVs to watch sports
• Giant TVs to watch cult movies
• Giant TVs to watch random mind-boggling video snippets (including music videos)
• No TVs
• Pool tables and/or foosball
• Old people
• Young people
• Concentrations of people with a given cultural/ethnic background
• Concentrations of people from all over, with no unifying theme
• Locals
• Out of Towners

And that's just off the top of my head. Unfortunately, the main thing that unifies all great bars around the world is dead simple: the ability to consistently stay afloat financially. Beyond that, the specific tactics, atmosphere, decor, food/drink menus vary far too much to give a good answer that is not necessarily based on personal preference.

What makes a bar worth visiting?