aimInfo

AIM MusicLink 1.0.0.5

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 22:59:49 GMT

I am launching a new version of AIM MusicLink, version 1.0.0.5. This fixes the widely reported problem where choosing to add a hyperlink to your profile was not being saved. In addition I fixed a bug where I was cutting off the first character in the Yahoo Jukebox player. For a little refresher on what MusicLink does, it takes the current playing song in WinAmp, iTunes, Real Player, Windows Media Player, or Yahoo Jukebox and sets it as your status message and in your profile. I add a hyperlink in your profile so your buddies can listen to a 30 second clip of the song in iTunes if it is installed.

UPDATE 12/05/2007 1030PM EST - For any further AIM MusicLink issues or questions please go to my new blog http://www.gregsmind.com

Tags: Open AIM, AIM MusicLink

AIM MusicLink 1.0

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 20:01:24 GMT

I know everyone has been chomping at the bit to check out AIM Music Link. Today I am going to launch it as a sneak peak to some other plugin stuff we are going to be releasing over the next week or so. AIM MusicLink is meant to be a replacement to MyPlaylist that I wrote as part of JAMS and AIM Gadgets.

AIM MusicLink consists of two parts. The first part runs in the background just like MyPlaylist, and sets the current media artist and title you are listening to as your status message as well as at the bottom of your profile. The second part is a UI that is launched via the Actions menu from the buddy list. The UI will show the status message for all your buddies, a preference to start sharing what you are listening to, as well as a preference to insert the song in the profile.

NOTE: The preferences are off by default, so if you want to start sharing, check the boxes.

AIM MusicLink supports the following media players:
    - iTunes
    - WinAmp
    - Windows Media Player
    - Yahoo Jukebox
    - RealPlayer

In addition, if you want more info on what your buddy is listening to. Load the AIM Music Link module or check your buddy's profile, and you can double click on the buddy in the module or click the link in the profile, and you will be taken to the iTunes store so you can listen to what your friends are listening too.

So what's next??? I want to add support for the open source SongBird Media Player as well as AOL Radio. In addition, I want to actually get rid of the UI that replicates your buddy list, because I would like the status message to appear in the tooltip in the buddy list.

You can download AIM MusicLink here. I would be amiss to mention, there is a license agreement, you can view it in the installer or here. It is the typical AOL Greenhouse (aka, skunk works) license...nothing to fear.

As always feedback is appreciated. I will be doing another post tonight or tomorrow with some more plugin news.

UPDATE 2/16/2007 421PM EST - One of my trusty testers found a problem with the installer when trying to install MusicLink into AIM 6.1. A new installer is now uploaded and ready to go for AIM 6.0 or AIM 6.1.

UPDATE 12/05/2007 1030PM EST - For any further AIM MusicLink issues or questions please go to my new blog http://www.gregsmind.com

Tags: AIM MusicLink, OpenAIM, AOL Greenhouse

New AIM Music Link version 2.0.0.2

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 15:21:03 GMT

ALERT: There is a new version of AIM MusicLink, please visit my new blog to download it. My new blog can be found here: www.Gregsmind.com. The latest release 2.0.0.4 fixes the issues people are leaving in the comments.

After the feedback I got from the last AIM MusicLink release, I decided to add back the profile support that was in the previous release. I also fixed a few bugs that I uncovered with setting the profile at sign on as well as a bug or two with setting ones status. I also cleaned up the preference dialog as I found a few issues there as well. Profile support is off by default, so make sure you change the preference via the Actions menu at the bottom of the Buddy List on AIM 6.5 or LAIM.

You can download the latest AIM MusicLink here. As always feedback is appreciated.

UPDATE Wed August 29th, 2007:
I checked on the black background problem with black text and the latest AIM 6.5 beta does not have an issue with black on black text. My profile displays properly. See screenshot below:

The bug regarding %song is an issue with the AIM API, I will try working around it from the plugin's point of view, but I am trying to fix it in the platform first.

Tags: AIM 6.5, Lite AIM, OpenAIM, AIM MusicLink

What's Old is New - GregsMind.com

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 19:59:09 GMT

I have been off the radar the past few weeks. First I was on my honeymoon for a 3 weeks, and then we had a little re-org at AOL yesterday. In addition, I have been wanting to relaunch my blog using something other than AOL Journals for quite a while. So all of these events have culminated in me launching a new blog at GregsMind.com.

We have a lot happening on AIM, and in our social network. The new blog will have all the usual goodness including new AIM plugins to download, client updates, OpenAIM updates, etc. Hopefully you will find the new blog easier to follow and with many more frequent updates. This blog will remain online so if you need to go back to reference something I wrote you can.

Thanks for reading...and see you at GregsMind.com.

Tags: GregsMind, AIM, OpenAIM

Snag Exp(ression)

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 01:25:50 GMT

We had an old feature in AOL 9.0 where you could grab your buddy's buddy icon, wallpaper and sound via a dropdown menu on the IM form. Well I thought I would bring it back for AIM via a plugin. Install the plugin, then in the Actions menu in the buddy list or in the People menu on the IM form, there will be a new menu item called "Snag Expression." When you click that menu item, I grab the buddy's expression, including WeeMees and sounds.

To try out this plugin download it here.

UPDATE 9/13/07: I have renamed the blog post, the plugin, and any plugin related data that gets set in the COM/ATL registry based on the comment that was left below in this blog post.

Tags: OpenAIM, SnagExp

Build your own AV Client

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 18:44:23 GMT

A few weeks ago I was trying to analyze some issues in our audio and video code. I decided that while we have great test tools, it would be interesting to write a managed code AIM client that only did audio and video. The idea was this client could be used to isolate issues like memory allocation and performance. Writing this client is actually easy thanks to Open AIM. I am attaching the actual c-sharp file so everyone can look at or even copy and paste the code. But I will also go over the basic steps to create this client or for that matter any c-sharp client. Download the full code here.

1) Start Visual Studio and create a c-sharp command line project (test tools are easier as command line projects, though you can create a full ui client too.)

2) Import the acccore.dll so you can create the main AIM session object.:
        [DllImport("acccore.dll", EntryPoint="#111", PreserveSig=false)]
        private static extern void AccCreateSession(
            [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStruct)] Guid riid,
            [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.IDispatch)] out object session);

3) Create the main AIM session, pass in your developer key and sign on to AIM:
                object o;
                AccCreateSession(typeof(IAccSession).GUID, out o);
                s = (AccSession)o;
        s.ClientInfo.set_Property(AccClientInfoProp.AccClientInfoProp_Description,
                    "client name (key=KEY GOES HERE)");
                s.Identity = username;
                s.SignOn(password);

4 ) Add a command listener to capture the commands being typed in at the command prompt. See class InputEvent for implementation details.

5) Start an audio session:
                if (m_avManager == null)
                    m_avManager = (IAccAvManager)s.GetSecondaryManager((int)AccSecondarySessionServiceId.AccSecondarySessionServiceId_AudioVideo);
                m_avSession = m_avManager.CreateSession(userName, 0);

6) Quit an audio session:
                    if (state != AccSecondarySessionState.AccSecondarySessionState_Offline)
                        m_avSession.EndSession();
                    m_avSession = null;

Those are the basics. Handling a multiparty audio session or peer-to-peer video is just as easy as repeating steps 5 and 6 for those types. The sample also shows how to implement events for session state or even how to handle, monitor and select input and output devices. We have made audio and video very powerful and yet very simple to implement. Give the code a glance and try implementing a client like this yourself. You might find it fun and useful.

Tags: AIM, OpenAIM, P2P, Peer-to-Peer

The Latest AIM 6 Beta...

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:12:33 GMT

Last Thursday we released the latest AIM Beta, version 6.5.3.12. This version makes improvements to existing new features like status and better color. As always plugins that work in the previous version will work in this version. In the meantime here is the change log:

Status message in the Buddy List®: Broadcast a personal message to your friends, even when you're available. Click Enter status message here… and type a message. It will appear under your screen name on their Buddy List and in your IM window. New! Thanks to beta feedback, we’ve updated this feature to only show a custom status message in your Buddy List view. Note: You'll only see the set message of users who are on your buddy list and testing with the same version. We encourage you to create a new screen name and post it in the Message Boards created for this feature so others can add it to their Buddy List to see how this feature works.

State selector menu: Do you want to set yourself as Available, Away, Mobile or invisible? Choose from the handy state drop down button. Want to go away fast? Click the yellow sticky icon and we’ll set your away message. Click it again to come back from away.

Modern design, plus more color: Check out the new sleek chrome. We’ve also added more color to the top of your Buddy List. Pick your favorite by clicking on the color wheel in the upper right corner.

Get Buddy Info: We’ve removed the blue (i) from the Buddy List. It now only appears on your buddy’s details card when you hover over their screen name. You’ll still get the orange (i) in the Buddy List to indicate something new about your buddies.

Plus: Continue to test our new TXT Message mode feature from the IM window. Don't waste your mobile phone text messages. Send them from AIM. Clicking the TXT Msg button on the IM form is just one new place you can access this mode. And, if you are having issues signing on AIM can help configure your firewall or proxy settings. Look for the Connection tab in your settings manager.

Tags: AIM 6, Open AIM

A couple of new plugins

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:33:27 GMT

Between being sick last week and being in 4 time zones in 26 hours this week on business travel, it has been hard to find time to get a blog post done. We have a couple of new AIM plugins to share this morning. Both plugins are pretty basic but great little utilities.

Translator
--------------
Translator is a plugin that will allow you to translate incoming instant messages. So, if your buddy is writing to you in English, but you would rather read his messages in Spanish, that is possible. If your buddy is writing to you in Italian and you only understand English, we support that as well. The plugin has a preference window accessible via the Actions menu at the bottom of the buddy list. One more note, the plugin does require version 1.1 of the .net runtime or better. You can download the plugin here.

SSO to developer.aim.com
-----------------------------------
This plugin was written by our intern this year, and is a very convenient plugin that will seemlessly sign you on to developer.aim.com to manage your developer keys and download the latest SDK or post on the message boards. This plugin will work with AIM 6.2 beta 2 or the latest AIM Lite. Because this plugin is a widget, you can rename the extension from .awi to .zip and view the files in the plugin to see how we made this work. Download this plugin here.

Tags: AIM 6, Open AIM, Translator

Open AIM 1.3

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:53:28 GMT

Last week we posted a new version of the Open AIM 1.3 SDK for Windows, but today we updated the other platforms as well. For those keeping score at home that is Linux, Mac and Windows Mobile. Our full change log can be viewed here:
http://developer.aim.com/sdk/1_3/release_notes.txt

I wanted to point out a few highlights from the release notes:

Updated internal dependencies, so on Mac & Linux the new SDK is not a drop-in upgrade; you must rebuild.
Added AccSessionState_Paused and AccSessionProp_Pause to allow sessions to go offline temporarily (e.g., during machine sleep).
Added AccPluginInfoProp_Windows to allow plugins to notify custom clients of plugin windows. This is used on Windows to support IsDialogEvent().
Added IAccServiceTicket which will appear in OnRequestServiceResult's "cookie" argument if you are a plugin running within AIM 6.2 beta 2 or later.
Added more AccCommandFlags.

I will be posting a couple of plugins in the next few days and as always feedback is appreciated.

Back from Israel with a Plugin

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 11:09:05 GMT

The week in Israel went really well, and I even had time to put together a quick plugin for all Open AIM clients (AIM 6, AIM Lite, etc.). The plugin adds a menu item when you right click on a buddy. The menu item, called Send Quick IM, will quickly send a "yt?" message to that buddy. Instead of opening up an IM window and typing a message, all you need is a click of the mouse. I will add some more goodness to the Quick IM plugin in the future. You can download the plugin here.

Here are some pictures from the trip to Israel...


ICQ Awards for top downloads                                View from my room


         Sunrise @ Masada                                              Eerie Dead Sea

Tags: ICQ, Open AIM, AIM, Israel, Masada, Dead Sea