Bye-bye to Adium
A while back, I converted over to using Adium for all my IM needs.
However, over the weekend, I was the unlucky recipient of over a dozen "spam" messages on my account offering me low mortgage rates or free online mortgage quotes. Sadly, Adium doesn't allow you to block messages from random subscribers, so I've switched back to iChat. This means that if you now try to contact me and aren't already in my buddy list, you're instantly banned. It's a pretty strong-armed tactic, but I can't be bothered with a new message indicator only to find out it's yet another free mortgage quote. What's more, most people that contact me out of the blue usually do so with questions I can just as easily answer via e-mail.
If anyone knows of a way to block AIM spam a little more effectively than a blanket ban, I'm interested in hearing about it. I really like Adium, and I think the upcoming update with customizable buddy list views is going to rock.
Comments
I use Proteus 4 and it works very nicely for me. I really don't like iChat that much, though that may change now that the original Proteus developer has been hired by Apple.
Proteus 4 has some limitations, such as its inability to transfer files, but if you just want a clean chat app, it works fine.
Posted by: Arthur Langereis | August 10, 2004 04:22 AM
The version of Adium I have now has customizable buddy list views. Unless you're talking about something even fancier... could you elaborate?
Why not write to the Adium folks and tell them the feature you're looking for? I bet they could whip something up for you post haste.
Posted by: brian w | August 10, 2004 06:37 AM
The next update to adium .64 is going to add very customizable buddy list. It will be to the point where you can see the away message of the person in the buddy list and such. To see screen shots go to www.adiumx.com.
Posted by: andrew | August 10, 2004 07:23 AM
"Why not write to the Adium folks and tell them the feature you're looking for? I bet they could whip something up for you post haste."
The blocking limitation is actually in gaim itself. I was under the impression that the Adium guys don't whip up patches for that code.
Posted by: Brad Oliver | August 10, 2004 11:30 AM
One of the Adium developers has been working on support for blocking (at least gaim-side), but I think it's been put on the back burner for a while.
Posted by: ender | August 10, 2004 12:54 PM
Hmm, I've never had a reason to use iChat's blocking features. No chat spam ever.
Posted by: Alphax | August 11, 2004 03:56 PM
Ah, but if your AIM username was written over all of the bathroom walls in gas stations and rest areas you'll get chat spam. Just look at Brad!
Posted by: a2daj | August 13, 2004 11:28 AM
uhh blocking works fine in gaim. it's an adium thing.
Posted by: sdfasdf | October 9, 2004 07:04 PM