Cybercrime

Cybercrime comes in many forms. The most common examples experienced by chatters are threats of computer hacking and stealing or hijacking account information. Many threats are just that - threats. Some chatters may attempt to scare you by showing they have an IP number for your computer. Every computer has an IP address. Every time you visit a web page or send an email you send out your IP address. Knowing this number does not enable someone to hack into your computer. People need special skills and tools to actually hack. Make sure you're running firewall software so your computer is not vulnerable to hacking attempts. You should be able to keep your accounts safe by choosing passwords that only you could know and *never* giving them out to anyone. Reports of cybercrime can be reported at. While threats are taken very seriously, you're not likely to get any immediate relief this way - your best bet, as always, is to protect yourself ahead of time.

Adoption Chat Rooms

Thinking about adopting a child? Maybe you aren't sure where to start. There are many adoption chat rooms filled with parents who have adopted children and sometimes even experts on the topic on how to go through the process. You can find some great advice on adopting a child by asking questions in an adoption chat room.

Have you adopted children? Do you have a question about raising a family? Parenting chat rooms or adoption chat rooms may be helpful. Discuss anything that is on your mind, about how to raise the kids or how to answer tough questions.

If you have children who have been adopted, it may be benificial to let them particpate in some of the chats. Do monitor your children and all conversations they may have in any chat room and never give any personal information, even full names. Your name could be traced back to you.

Business chat rooms

There are many different types of chat rooms, including business chat rooms.If you can't wait to talk to your co-workers and friends about the latest stock tip or episode of "The Apprentice", a chat room that focuses on business may be right for you. Internet chatters are able to send and receive messages with other users as fast as they can type and press the "Enter" button. As we all know the speedy exchange of information as well as the quality of contacts and relationships you have are key factors in the success of your business. Rooms where people trade stock tips are extremely popular. It's important before accepting a tip or bit of information you've learned in a chat room that you consider carefully the source of information. Stock tips and other business related information is only as good as the chatter providing it. Never buy anything from someone you've met in a chat room without doing your due diligence. Check sites carefully and make sure to confirm all contact information. And finally, buy low…sell high!

Trillian Instant Messenger

Trillian is an instant messaging application created by Cerulean Studios that allows a user to connect to every major instant messaging service simultaneously. Instead of downloading and installing AOL, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ and IRC instant messengers users can download just one program that will enable them to send text messages to all of their contacts who use different instant messaging platforms. Trillian also allows sending and receiving of files, viewing profiles, changing contact names and logging user conversations. Cerulean Studios produces a free version of Trillian instant messenger as well as a commercial version dubbed Trillian Pro, which adds many useful features to an already great product.

Human Interest Chat Rooms

Keeping up with the news? You may find a human-interest story that has sparked your interest. Do you want to know more? A human interest chat room may help you keep on top of what's going on and what you may do to help.

Many news stations keep a chat room open to discuss any topic, including human interest stories. You can also do a search for human interest chat rooms with your favorite search engine. If there is a particular news story you were interested in, but you didn't catch most of what was being said, you may be able to find answers to your questions. Just ask. Many people interested in these topics are very helpful and you can find them in one of the many human interest chat rooms.

News chat rooms are not just local or national news. A lot of them offer options to other chat rooms, including missing children, crime prevenetion, neighborhood watch, and anti-drug campaigns.

Graphical emoticons

The word "emoticon" is a combination of the words "emotion" and "icon." Graphical emoticons are shortcuts that add zest to the often flat text of chat or instant messaging. Graphical emoticons are used anywhere in sentences – before, after, or within, and can also stand on their own. Some chat services offer the option to automatically translate text emoticons into graphical emoticons. Here are some of the more common graphical emoticons: [link to palette]

Game Chat Rooms

Talking about games in chat rooms is very popular. Could you imagine actually playing a game in a chat room? Many game players have created systems, sometimes role-playing games or even card games by playing online. Some chat companies actually have online games you can play while you are chatting, like chess or pool.

Whether you like to talk about games, or if you want to find buddies to play against, or even play with while you are chatting, you can find them in places all over the Internet. You can also get cheat codes and tips from other players on how to win a certain game.

Gestures

Gestures are unique to chat software. Gestures consist of either a regular graphic in .gif format, or an animated graphic in .gif format. The graphic is accompanied by a short sound file in .wav format. In other words, gestures are small pictures or animations, sometimes accompanied by a sound that can be sent along with text while you are signed in. Gestures can add a bit of color and flair to the somewhat dry emoticon :-) Imagine if that smiley face winked at you and giggled! The challenge of chat is to make the communication as real and meaningful to the participants as possible. Sometimes, it is difficult to ascertain the actual meaning of plain text. Chatters, unless they are using voice or live chat, cannot see the people that they chat with. Emoticons and Gestures enhance the environment by adding images and sounds to a text based environment. These devices act almost as punctuation! They add emphasis and help discern the meaning or intention of the text it follows.