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  • #1

    So, my kid wants to chat

    Yeah, my eldest, 10 and a half, still living happily without a mobile phone, unlike over half of her class, really wants to chat. She met this other girl a month back at her first chess tournament and she's on MSN Online (is that what it's called?). They have been exchanging some emails as in:
    "Hi, gonna send me an e-mail?"

    "Yeah, but I don't know what to write yet"


    "Nevermind, then I'll send one".

    Not sure what their chatting will be like but anyway.....

    What chat client can I use best? I prefer a client that has the ability, somehow, to filter for less child-friendly content (can any program do that?) and oh, I do want complete logging. Oh yeah. Not to be shut off at all any way.

    Not that I don't trust her, course I do. I just love to see that trust confirmed every day....
    Last edited by Umfriend; 3 February 2005, 05:38.
    Join MURCs Distributed Computing effort for Rosetta@Home and help fight Alzheimers, Cancer, Mad Cow disease and rising oil prices.
    [...]the pervading principle and abiding test of good breeding is the requirement of a substantial and patent waste of time. - Veblen
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  • #2
    My 10 year old wanted to sign up for MSN because all of her friends have it, but I nixed that once they wanted a credit card number to validate me as an adult.
    No way Bill is gonna get my CC number
    Yeah, well I'm gonna build my own lunar space lander! With blackjack aaaaannd Hookers! Actually, forget the space lander, and the blackjack. Ahhhh forget the whole thing!

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    • #3
      Use MSN Messenger and the Plus! extension...it has logging, some filtering as well...unless you want to pay for Trillian, you're basically limited to either MSN or Yahoo Messenger since it's what everybody uses.
      All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

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      • #4
        Miranda
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        http://www.miranda-im.org/
        When you are injured and receive a settlement, you will likely receive the money in a structured settlement. This means that the money will be paid out over time instead of all at once. There are many reasons why people choose to receive their payments this way. Structured settlements can help protect you from financial ... Read more

        Has plugins for most protocols and everything else you might want and is free
        If there's artificial intelligence, there's bound to be some artificial stupidity.

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        • #5
          I have a 15 yr old. He uses AIM. The google desktop feature logs all chat messages.

          Trust me though, it won't stop at chatting. Wait 'til you peek over his shoulder one day and find he is looking at some crazy website. And I am not talking about pr0n.

          And last, I use my linksys to boot him from the computer at the specified time
          Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice.

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          • #6
            Yup. Eriks online access disconnects a half hour before bedtime

            That said he doesn't have a chat client nor does he have an email client, though when he does it'll be through Yahoo, which has strong parental controls.

            Dr. Mordrid
            Dr. Mordrid
            ----------------------------
            An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

            I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

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            • #7
              I use Miranda (free) for all my chat protocols (MSN, ICQ, IRC and Jabber)...

              Block her account out for everybody not in her contact list, that way she won't get any messages from people outside of the list. (it is a first step)


              Jörg
              pixar
              Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow. (James Dean)

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              • #8
                Originally posted by lecter
                Use MSN Messenger and the Plus! extension...it has logging, some filtering as well...
                Including spyware! Plus tries to install spyware, I've been told. Be careful.
                Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.

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                • #9
                  MSN is made by M$....I do try to limit my use of their products as much as I reasonably can. Over here, MSN is the big thing I think, so it'll prolly eb Trillian or Miranda. I'll look a bit futher on these, but any further thoughts are wlecome as well here.
                  Join MURCs Distributed Computing effort for Rosetta@Home and help fight Alzheimers, Cancer, Mad Cow disease and rising oil prices.
                  [...]the pervading principle and abiding test of good breeding is the requirement of a substantial and patent waste of time. - Veblen

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                  • #10
                    Well Gaim (Open source IM for Linux and Windows, supports msn, Y!, AIM and others) is also viable.

                    There is a bit dated review of Gaim, Miranda and Trillian on Arstechnica

                    I'm using Gaim personally (haven't tried Miranda, found Trillian a bit overcomplicated).

                    I wouldn't know about kids features though.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Wombat
                      Including spyware! Plus tries to install spyware, I've been told. Be careful.

                      It has spyware, but it asks you nicely if you want it or not during the install process
                      All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

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                      • #12
                        I heard it was installed by default, and that you have to make sure to uncheck it?
                        Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.

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                        • #13
                          Umfriend: you might have to limit access to sites like AOL's own QuickBuddy, where you can go and it will start a Java AIM client.
                          Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.

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                          • #14
                            When I was a kid and wanted to chat with a friend, I walked my happy ass down the street and knocked on his door.






                            And no, I didn't have to slog through 3 feet of snow in so doing.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Wombat
                              I heard it was installed by default, and that you have to make sure to uncheck it?

                              That is true, but come on, a person who can't/doesn't read and untick a very clear option when installing a program shouldn't be playing with an MSN tweaker in the first place.



                              As for web clients, every program has one...it's actually a whole bunch of stuff you have to do to block every "escape route". If you REALLY want to keep track of what your kid does, install Camtasia and record the screen as a video, then peruse it quickly at the end of the day over a cup of tea
                              All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

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