bnull
National Hazard
Posts: 590
Registered: 15-1-2024
Location: Home
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sleepy
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What is that "Aim" thing in your profile
Have you ever wondered what should be in the field "Aim" of your profile? If you're old (enough) or have a soft spot for old tech (I'm old and like
vintage stuff), you probably remember what it was. If not, here's the thing: it is not the same as "aim", objective or purpose, as in your objective
while member of the forum. Aim, more precisely AIM, was an instant messaging software from the late 1990s to 2017. Ever wondered what people used
before WhatsApp? Well, that was it, along with MSN Messenger and ICQ. AOL created AIM in 1997 and discontinued it in 2017, which means you can't use
it anymoreNote.
When you fill the field Aim with a "personal objective", it treats "personal objective" as if it were a screen name and shows a link of the
form | Code: | aim:goim?screenname=&message=Hi+personal%20objective.+Are+you+there+I+got+your+aim+name+from+a+message+board. |
In the 2000s, if a person who had AIM installed in their system clicked on the link, it would send a message to you through AIM so you and the person
could have a chat. Today, with AIM dead, the following appears on Firefox (other browsers will show something similar, you can try it with your
profile):
| Quote: | The address wasn’t understood
Firefox doesn’t know how to open this address, because one of the following protocols (aim) isn’t associated with any program or is not allowed in
this context.
You might need to install other software to open this address. |
That's it. Remember that the forum exists since 2004 and tastes and tech have changed a lot since then. You can move your personal objective to the
field Bio or leave it at that, it doesn't matter anymore. The choice is yours, it is none of my business. I just thought someone would be curious
about the strange link that apparently leads nowhere.
Note: There have been several attempts to revive AIM by nostalgic former users. If it works at all, it
will be a niche thing with a rather short life, despite the affection it used to have. Reminds me of Geocities and Orkut.
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BromicAcid
International Hazard
Posts: 3266
Registered: 13-7-2003
Location: Wisconsin
Member Is Offline
Mood: Rock n' Roll
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AIM was such an interesting creation of the time. I was using AOL at the time and people took the time to make profiles. And you could search those
profiles and just message people at random for having things you jived with. Like - hey - I see you like Ranma 1/2, I also like Ranma 1/2, let's
talk. I had people on AIM that I would chat with for hours and hours, never met them, or intended to meet them but did have plenty in common. I had
people on this forum too, one of the previous mods, chemoleo - he hasn't been active on the forum since 2020 but we'd talk for hours when he was in
college and do homework. It's amazing how wide the ecosystem was, if you had something in common you'd just message someone and suddenly you had a
friend.
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