YIM Tip -- Getting and installing YIM (a totally free program):

YIM Tip -- Maintaining your privacy:

When visiting public chat rooms, like on Yahoo, other people can try to chat one-to-one with you.  Usually, you do not want this, so here is a tip to prevent people who don't know you from YIM'g you.

Press CONTROL+P for PREFERENCES, then click on PRIVACY, and then click to put a dot next to "Ignore anyone who is not on my Friend List".  Once done, press Ok.
(Many thanks to Wowww for this tip)

NOTE: Previously I had said to put a check mark next to "Ignore chat invitations".  This is not a good idea, as it turns out, because then it makes it impossible to invite you to any future private conferences we will set up. So, to remove that check, once again in the main YIM program -- CONTROL+P, then CHAT and then make sure there is not check mark next to "Ignore chat invitations".  If there *is* one, click on it to remove it.  Then press OK.

NOTE: I do not recommend logging in "under Invisible Mode". If you do this, we can not tell if you are online or not. We also can not invite you to conferences.

YIM Tip -- Adding a friend:

In the main program (the one where top left menu item is "LOGIN" -- if not on screen, double-click the tiny yellow in the bottom-right corner), press the CONTROL key, then the letter A (i.e. CONTROL+A).  Then click on NEXT. Then type in their YIM id (mine is just_think_it).  In the second field, choose a group (move arrows or type a name). and in the 4th field type a brief message (with your chat name so they know who you are!) and click ADD.

NOTE: It is up to you, the adder of YIMs, to type in a message explaining who *you* are.  If you do not do this, then people will not "accept and add" you, and you will have gained nothing.

NOTE: If you added me and I do not show in bold in YIM, then you should delete and re-add me.  If you can not get me to show in bold, send me an email.  [I am always in bold because I am always online]

YIM Tip -- Editing a friend's info:

In the main program (the one where top left menu item is "LOGIN" -- if not visible, double-click the yellow smiley icon at the bottom right, near the time), SINGLE click on the name you want to change or update info on.  Then RIGHT-click, and select "Edit contact info".  Make your changes, and then click ADD when done.

Second tip: The trick is to type in the person's chatname as the first name and as nickname.  This way it shows in list as the chatname, not the YIM id.

YIM Tip -- Getting a friend's YIM to work:

In some cases, when you have tried to add someone to YIM, you are still not able to YIM them or they can not YIM you. To fix this, you should delete the problem YIM entry and then re-add it.

To do this:

In the main program (the one where top left menu item is "LOGIN" -- if not on screen, double-click the tiny yellow in the bottom-right corner), RIGHT-click on the YIM name that is not working, and then select DELETE.

Now you can press CONTROL+A to re-add the person again.

NOTE: To avoid this kind of problem happening, be sure to always put a bit of "who you are" information when you are adding a new person to your YIM list.

YIM Tip -- Chat etiquette (Netiquette):

(1) Politeness tip: It is considered rude in Chat rooms to use ALL CAPITAL letters.  It makes your text difficult to read, and is also known as "shouting".

(2) Common Chat Room Abbreviations

a/s/l ----- "Age/"gender"/location"
AMC ----- "America's Choice"
b/c ----- "Because"
bbl ----- "Be Back Later"
BBT ----- "Big Brother Time (PST)"
brb ----- "Be Right Back"
FOH ----- "Front of House"
FOTH ----- "Front of House"
hb ----- "Hurry Back"
ita ----- "I Totally Agree"
jk ----- "Just Kidding"
k ----- "Okay"
lmao ----- "Laughing my [butt] off"
omg ----- "Oh My God!"
PM ----- "Private Message"
rofl ----- "Rolling On Floor Laughing"
tc ----- "Take Care"
ttyl ----- "Talk To You Later"
thx ----- "Thank You"
ttfn ----- "Ta Ta For Now"
ty ----- "Thank You"
wb ----- "Welcome Back"
yw ----- "You're Welcome"
True ----- Blue always True to You.

YIM TIP -- Private room conferencing with YIM:

Our YIM conferences usually start at 5pm PST (8pm EST). Assuming you have made the settings below, and have added the room to your YIM favorites already, here is the new very best way to join the room [and thanks again Don56]:

Click on Tools, Yahoo Chat, Favorite rooms, just_think_it

To add the conference to your favorites when you have the room open:

Click on File, Favorite Rooms, Add Room

NOTE: Before you can be successfully invited to, and/or participate in a YIM conference, you need to make sure of several things:

(1) that you do NOT have a check beside "Ignore chat invitiations" (CONTROL+P, then Chat).  Also very handy is to turn on (i.e. put a check in front of) "Tell me when other people join and leave the room".

(2) a number of settings in "Privacy" (CONTROL+P,Privacy) must also be set a certain way:

(a) a dot should be beside "Ignore anyone who is not on my Friend List" (but you also have to have me added as a friend, if not I can't invite you) -- if you are often online at night (when we test) and have never received an invite, double click my name in your YIM list and I will work on that with you.

(b) you can NOT be set to "invisible".  Many use this to hide that they are online, but it completely prevents you from receiving a conference invite So, remove a from in front of "Login as invisible"

(c) finally, the bottom box is probably ok either way, but I have mine set to "Allow users to see me online and contact me" -- simply because I have the "Ignore anyone who are not on my Friends List" setting above.  This way other non-friends can at least see me, but not contact me except on my terms.  (They can say in the chat room that they would like to PM, and *I* can choose to PM them if I wish)

(3) if you received an invite and got to one of our test conferences, and then had a lock up of YIM, you should make two YIM firewall setting changes. NOTE: both changes must be done together, as per Yahoo instructions.

(a) Press CONTROL+P for PREFERENCES, then click on GENERAL.   Now remove a check from beside "Stand by and wait until I connect to the internet", then press OK.

(b) Change #2: Press CONTROL+P for PREFERENCES, then click on CONNECTION.  Put a circle next to "No network detection", then press OK.

In the optional but not really category, I highly recommend getting a headset with attached microphone.  Mine is from Radio Shack -- it is white with a black strap, and cost me $30 (see below).  It comes with snug fitting old-style headphones that dampen out outside sounds, and also keep the microphone in perfect position (as compared to free-standing mics that have very poor sound quality, and those thin "telephone operator" headsets that move around a lot). (The lighter headset-mounted mic unit would be my second choice) One huge side benefit of getting a good quality headset+mic unit is that you can chat with loved ones in other states for free with it -- I saved several thousand dollars in the first year I had one.

When you get your headset+mic unit home, you will see that it has 2 wires -- both get plugged into the sound card (at the back of your computer usually), with the black wire going where the speakers were, and the microphone wire going into one of the other jacks (experiement).  You may also want to pick up a splitter, so that you can have sound going to speakers and/or headphones.  (Note that Speakers off and headset on in conferences is the only way to go)

Ibee emailed me the names of the two parts you need to have a headset+microphone, plus your speakers all able to work (but never both at once):

(1) Compaq, Multimedia Headset, white -- Item Number: 33-1168 -- $29.99 (red package, stereo, with noise-cancelling)

(2) Computer Headphone Speaker Switch #26-204: $16.59

YIM Tip -- Adding a Nickname, etc. to your contact info:

In the main program (the one where top left menu item is "LOGIN"), click on LOGIN, then on EDIT MY CONTACT INFO, then click in the "NICKNAME" area and type a nickname (usually your chat name) and the click ADD.  Of course, I do not recommend you put more personal information like phone numbers in here...

YIM Tip -- Creating a new YIM id:

In some cases, you may wish to change your YIM id.  I do not encourage you to change it frequently, however, because then we will all get even more confused that we already are.

To get a new YIM id, in the main YIM program, click on LOGIN, and then CHANGE USER.  A little window will come up - click on "Get a Yahoo ID".  If you already have more than one and just want to switch YIM ids, type the one you wish to change to in the first field, and type your password into the second one, and then click Login.

NOTE: I do not recommend logging in "under Invisible Mode". If you do this, we can not tell if you are online or not. We also can not invite you to conferences.  See Maintaining your privacy in YIM.

YIM Tip -- Archiving (saving) your chats:

By default, "archiving" (keeping a copy) of YIM chats is NOT turned on.  You will lose all old chats after 10 days unless you change this.

To do so:

In YIM press CONTROL+P for PREFERENCES, then click on ARCHIVE and put a check beside "Enable archiving" (and checks in front of the next 3 boxes below).  Also, remove a check from "Automatically delete files older than..." and press OK.

YIM Tip -- Too many Instant Messenger programs?:

There are seven Instant Messenger programs, including the four "majors":

• Yahoo Instant Messenger (YIM)
• ICQ ("I Seek You")
• AOL Instant Messenger
• MSN Messenger

YIM Tip -- Testing your system's sound capabilities:

Ok, this is an easy tip for me to write -- I just turn it over to Yahoo, who have created a wizard to do all the hard stuff.  Just click on the link below, and you will get fixed up and know where you stand.

YIM Tip -- Configuring event sounds in YIM:

The first sounds you will here in YIM are the comings and goings of your fellow YIM friends.  Depending on how loud you have your speakers, and how many friends you have, this can become quite the steady source of audio input!

To modify things, you can start by turning off the "a friend comes online" sound and maybe also the "A goes offline".

In YIM press CONTROL+P for PREFERENCES, then click on "ALERTS AND SOUNDS".  For each event, you can turn sounds off and on -- so let's click on "A friend goes offline" (the phrase near top), and then you will see that there are 3 checks in the 3 options below.  I recommend removing the click from this event's "Playing a sound" option, as you have other clues that someone is now offline (unbolded name in your friends list).  So, click next to the "playing a sound" line to remove the check.

In addition, you may wish to change the "A friend comes online" option also.  Click on "A friend comes online", and then down below remove the check from "Playing a sound", then press OK.

Finally, if you get a Yahoo email while running YIM, you will get a notification, and sound.  You can turn this off as follows:

YIM Tip -- Free Yahoo Email:

YIM Tip -- Problems Getting Smileys To Show In YIM:

In rare cases, you may be unable to see YIM "smileys" (emoticons).  It turns out this is due to the unusual case where Microsoft Paint was not installed when Windows was installed (i.e. Custom setup, and check removed from MS Paint).  A "DLL" file called "riched20.dll" is what is installed when Microsoft Paint is installed.

MSC Tip -- Anti-virus & firewall protection:

The Windows operating system does not come with anti-virus software installed.  So if someone sends you a virus, and you activate that virus (by as little as opening a message), your computer will become infected.

There are tens of thousands of viruses, so what happens next depends on what virus has affected you, but I *can* say that it is never good.

So, you do not want to become infected!

MSC Tip -- Tips for a more stable computer:

(1) Delete cache files (this makes it easier to get back into Chat after getting kicked out).

In Internet Explorer, click on Tools, then on Internet Options, then on Delete Files.  Then press OK.

(2) Reduce Browser cache size (the Micro$oft default is ridiculous).

In Internet Explorer: Tools, Internet Options, Settings and then change the "Disk space to use" number to 10MB & press OK.

(3) If you are running Windows 98, 98 Second Edition (SE) or Windows Millenium (ME), you should run as few programs at once as possible -- especially during something like the YIM conferences.  Each program uses "system resources", and many programs will gradually deplete system resources as well -- so the more system resources you have available, the longer you will be able to operate without having to reboot.  On my backup computer I run Windows 98 SE (the best of the 3 above) and am able to go 24 hours without rebooting, on average. (Windows 2000 and Windows XP do not have this system resource limit -- I run XP on my main computer and recommend XP to everyone as a much more stable platform than 98/ME)

MSC Tip -- Protecting/monitoring your child's net usage:

Some of you have received "content advisor" pop-ups that said you "weren't authorized" to go into our YIM conferences, or perhaps into CBS chats, etc. It turns out that the current version of Internet Explorer (version 6) is the cause of this. Someone using your computer has turned on the Content Advisor and now it is stepping in when you try to access certain places on the Internet (like chat rooms).

You have three options.

Electronic greeting cards are a very popular to send special "hellos" to someone close to you.  There are numerous sites that allow you to send eGreetings (as they are called).  Here are a few to get you started:

MSC Tip -- Changing your screen resolution:

If you can not see the whole CBS chat window on your screen, or the text and icons are too large, you are probably running your computer at too low a resolution.  To change it, you want to RIGHT-click on your desktop.  A little menu will come up -- select Properties.  Then click on the Settings tab at the top right.

Then you want to look at the Screen Area part of the box -- if it is on 640 by 480, that is too small.  Click on the arrow thing, hold down the mouse button and drag it to the right at least one position -- should be at least 800 by 600.

Now press OK.  It will say it is going to change your resolution -- press OK.  Then when it does, it will ask you if you see with the new resolution OK -- answer Y if you can, or press N if you can not.

(If you are wondering how you got into such a low resolution (large font) mode, it usually happens because your computer went into "safe mode" after having a problem.  Safe mode is where Windows will load the safest, lowest common denominator driver for your screen -- and that would be the 640 x 480 one. Strangely, after the problem has passed, it is up to you to know what has been changed and how to fix it...)

MSC Tip -- Sending a picture to someone by email

These instructions assume you have a printed picture.  If you have a digital camera, there are a couple of steps you can skip.

You need to scan your printed picture.  If you do not have a scanner, maybe you can borrow a friend's.  Alternatively, you can go to some photo places and get your pictures on CD (or the web) as well as printed.

Once you have scanned your photo, you are ready to send it. Note that the best file format for sending pictures is called "JPG".  Also good is "GIF".  Unfortunately, many scanners save scans in "BMP" format -- this is an uncompressed format, so will take 3 or more times longer to transmit over the Internet.

Ok, assuming you have a digital picture file now, you want to load your email program, create a message and then attach your file to the message.  Instructions for that will vary by program, but look for the paper clip button in Outlook, or press CONTROL+H in Eudora.  Then you just click to send and wait -- on a DSL or cable connection, it will take just a few seconds, but on a modem connection, it will take several minutes.  And that's all there is to it!

MSC Tip -- Stopping pop-up ads:

When surfing the internet with Internet Explorer (the browser that you use to chat in CBS chats), you will often encounter pop-up windows.  These are usually advertisements that a web site sends you to try to make a bit of money back on their otherwise free service.  These pop-ups *can* get annoying, however, and can even, in worst case situations, force you to reboot your computer (or click to close numerous *other* pop-ups that "spawn" when you close the first one).

To prevent this, you need a program that prevents pop-ups, and then you need the knowledge of when and how to *allow* certain pop-ups.