Tips & Tricks in Google talk (gtalk)

I am very happy to share something about the google's IM Client (Gtalk) . I like chatting in gtalk as it is thin in appearance and it runs in less system resources. The grouping of the Chat sessions is really cool with the option to change the focus. And the status of showing the Current Playing music track (Windows Media Player, Winamp, iTunes) is awesome. The search & add contact if not found on enter is usability at rich. Having mail as a place to store chat History is a good move. One can send messages of 32767 characters long.
Smileys are recognized by Google Talk and will be shown in blue.




Please have a look into the Keyboard Short cuts.

• F9: Open Gmail to send an email to your friend
• F11: Start a call with your friend
• F12: Stop the current call
• ESC: Close the current window
• ALT + ESC: Minimize the current window
• TAB: Switch between multiple chat windows
• CTRL + I: Same as TAB
• SHIFT + TAB: Same as TAB but in reverse order
• CTRL + TAB: Same as SHIFT + TAB
• Windows + ESC: Open Google Talk (if it's minimized, or in the tray)

Some Additional Info :

• To write text in bold, put it between *bold*
• To write text in italic, put it between _italic_
• Drag a conversation window on top of another and they will dock together it the combined height is more than the scree height
• File Transfer with drag & drop just rocks
• When you see a message notification, you can right click it to close it without focusing the conversation window.
• You can right click on a contact and set his/her picture as your picture
• You can rename contacts in your list in one click

Secret Startup Parameters

• /nomutex: allows you to open more than one instance of Google Talk
• /autostart: when Google Talk is run with this parameter, it will check the registry settings to see if it needs to be started or not. If the "Start automatically with Windows" option is unchecked, it won't start.
• /forcestart: same as /autostart, but forces it to start no matter what option was set.
• /S upgrade: Used when upgrading Google Talk
• /register: registers Google Talk in the registry, includig the GMail Compose method.
• /checkupdate: check for newer versions
• /plaintextauth: uses plain authentication mechanism instead then Google's GAIA mechanism. Used for testing the plain method on Google's servers.
• /nogaiaauth: disables GAIA authentication method. The same as above.
• /factoryreset: set settings back to default.
• /gaiaserver servername.com: uses a different GAIA server to connect to Google Talk. Used for debug purposes only, there are no other known GAIA servers.
• /mailto email@host.com: send an email with Gmail
• /diag: start Google Talk in diagnostic mode
• /log: probably has something to do with the diagnostic logging

Scope for improvement:

Even though Gtalk Client rocks there are also some areas to improve. They should have a group chat as a startup feature for gTalk even though they are supporting group chat in the chat inside gmail. They can have some great feature as LiveSupport, ShoutBox. Guys considering these features can have a look into ZohoChat . I don't expect google's integration of it's services with gtalk as it is done now. Currently mail and chat are integrated well. They have to consider other services too. It seems they concentrate more on the mail these days. The IM client should be able to notify any events in any of the serivces across google.

The current integration of gtalk with orkut doesn't seems that good. One should be able to scrap in his/her friends scrapbook as he/she sends an IM to a friend.The scrap notification doesn't seems to works to google's standards either. Twitter integration with gtalk is good, here too the follow functionality seems to have some issues.

Hotels @ Velachery,Chennai

Just want to share some info about the Hotels in Velachery.

1. Nalas Appa Kadai Non-Veg (8/10)
Wonderful place to dine. Reasonable price. The only thing is you have to plan a bit early if you would like to have your dinner there :-(, its that crowded. Appam, with coconut milk is the highlight of appa kadai. Located just opposite to VijayaNagar Bus stand

2. Nawaz Dharbar Non-Veg(8/10)
Formerly known by bhai kadai. You can get really good Mutton Briyani. You can't get better Briyani anywhere in Velechery. The thing to be noted here is the quality of Briyani seems to get worse when the shop moved from ViayaNagar Bus Stand to the 100 ft Road. Reasonable price and worth for money.

3. MCV Non-Veg (8/10)
Minerva Chetinad Restaurant Located in the Velachery-Tambaram highway just arround 300 meters from VijayaNagar Bus Terminus. Its really worth having chetinad food there. The highlight of mcv is vangram meen kulambu & viral meen kulambu. I love having Neethili fry in mcv. You can also get good rottis, Naans and other Tandoori dishes. I am not aware of the Vegetarian food here. Reasonable price. Worth for money. Minerva will be safe till Anjappar opens a branch in Velachery.

4. Kumarakom Non-Veg (7/10)
Located aside of Velechery-Tambaram highway Nathella sambathu Chetty.You can feel the real taste of Kerala there. Price is a bit costly. Mallus you can have fun dining there.

5. Karaikudi Non-Veg (6/10)
Too costly and not worth for money. You will feel good at karaikudi till you get your bills. Located at Velachery-Taramani Highway , less than 1 km from VijayaNagar Busstand.

Other than the above you have Milan just opposite to VijayaNagar Bus stand. One can have food once in a month or so. Snow park is also a place to visit, you can get good dishes, deserts. The problem here is, it is heavily crowed thanks to TCS. Food fiesta just below Snow Park worth for money and for tandoori items.