MeFi XMPP/Jabber chat (not a pony)

November 14, 2010 5:48 PM

Any MeFites want to test out an XMPP/Jabber chat server? Well, registration is open.

Short and Sweet
Send me (zengargoyle) a MeFi Mail with the Subject: 'METABOT: register username apassword' (not your MetaFilter password, just some random new one), wait a few (20-ish) minutes and check This Status Page until you show up as a REGISTERED USER or there is an ERROR message with your MeFiName near the bottom of the page.
Now go and find yourself a XMPP client for you OS of choice and use your shiney new JID: [e-mail] to join the chat room of special snowflakes: [e-mail] on the mu.jklmnop.net XMPP server.
A Bit More Meat

• XMPP is an IM protocol that is just plain cool. It's what powers Google Chat/Talk, iChat, Facebook, and most newer chat services. (Death to IRC/MSN/Yahoo!!!)
• If you're using a multi-protocol IM client you probably already have what you need, but you can check out xmpp.org and this gtalk page and even this google search to find a client.
• When registering a username keep in mind that there are some characters you can't use:

  <space> " & ' / : <> @
  

  Most people replace them with '.' or '_' (periods or underscores). Think simple like email addresses, when you're actually chatting you can change your screen name to something more fancy if you like.

Just in case, this is the format of the MeFi Mail Subject line needed to register:

Subject: METABOT: register username password

I would do something like this for myself:

Subject: METABOT: register zengargoyle notmypassword

And somebody with a special snowflake name like "i'm special, look@me" might try:

Subject: METABOT: register i_m_special_look.at.me notapassword

Smell My Feet
The server is ejabberd on a "1 free year (almost)" Amazon Web Services Elastic Computing Cloud instance running Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat. It may croak.
The registration is set up the way it is so that only MeFites can register. :) And there is a list on the status page mapping mefiname==username.
Once connected you should be able to browse for the one chatroom at the moment ([e-mail]) and change your password and all that good stuff.
Trick Or Treat

I've only tested all of this by editing a dump of my MeFi Mail inbox. A Perl script checks it every 20 minutes and does the new registrations. Cross your fingers.
A summary of the diagnostics that can appear on the status page:

• "${datetime} SUCCESS: registered 'mefiname' as 'username' password sha1:hexstring sha256:hexstring."
  

  Yay, it worked! You should be able to login and chat now. Your JID is: [e-mail]
  

• "${datetime} ERROR: 'mefiname' already registered as 'username'."
  

  You already registered as username, you can't change your mind. (yet)
  

• "${datetime} ERROR: could not parse register request for 'mefiname'"
  
  

  The Subject of your message did not match my expectations so I ignored you. Reread the instructions for registering and try again.
  

• "${datetime} ERROR: 'username' is already registered by 'mefiname'."
  

  Some other MeFite stole your cutesy name idea. Pick another username and try again.
  

• "${datetime} ERROR: User [e-mail] already registered at node [e-mail]";
  

  This is the same as the previous error. Except you should never see this version.
  

posted by zengargoyle to MetaFilter-Related at 5:48 PM (46 comments total)

You can't send a blank message (i.e. Subject line only). I never knew that.
posted by unliteral at 6:10 PM on November 14, 2010

zengargoyle already mentioned it right away in the thread, but I just want to note that you should not use your MetaFilter password for this and this isn't an official MetaFilter offering.
posted by pb (staff) at 6:15 PM on November 14, 2010

Hot damn, it's tatering time!
posted by nomadicink at 6:28 PM on November 14, 2010

The status page doesn't seem to be updating.
posted by enn at 6:36 PM on November 14, 2010

It checks for new logins every 20 minutes if I'm reading this MeTa post right.
posted by nomadicink at 6:39 PM on November 14, 2010

Yes, I read that. I sent Mefi Mail 45 minutes ago and neither my account nor any other new accounts have shown up on the status page since then.
posted by enn at 6:40 PM on November 14, 2010

We've been tricked! Alert the Tea Party!
posted by nomadicink at 6:42 PM on November 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yeah, seems the server being all UTC vs my inbox dates in +0 from server is screwint things up...

brandongoddamnblatcher
deezil
enn
evilcolonel
unliteral

I pushed these through.
posted by zengargoyle at 6:48 PM on November 14, 2010

Thanks!
posted by enn at 6:52 PM on November 14, 2010

I can use mathowie's password though, right?
posted by cjorgensen at 7:13 PM on November 14, 2010

Well that was fun.
posted by unliteral at 7:18 PM on November 14, 2010

Nice admining.
posted by unliteral at 7:26 PM on November 14, 2010

So, how about checking your mefimail zengargoyle. You seriously fucked up there and I'd like to talk about it.
posted by unliteral at 7:34 PM on November 14, 2010

Hrm, for some reason Pidgin isn't letting me connect. Username in the username box, mu.jklmnop.net in the domain box, resource box is empty, my password in the password box. Keeps saying Not Authorized when connecting... ideas?
posted by deezil at 7:37 PM on November 14, 2010

deezil, I don't know anything about pidgin, but I had to set my username to [e-mail] — in addition to setting the server to mu.jklmnop.net — to connect.
posted by enn at 7:38 PM on November 14, 2010

That didn't work either... crap.
posted by deezil at 7:41 PM on November 14, 2010

But thanks enn
posted by deezil at 7:41 PM on November 14, 2010

Hold on, unliteral -- a MeFi community member offers up a free service for you to use, you seem to have some issue with getting set up to use it, so you start shitting in the thread about his admin skills and a serious fuckup about which you demand an immediate audience? Do you walk into soup kitchens and piss in the soup, too?

Damn, were I the admin of said service, I'm fairly sure I know who'd be banning...
posted by delfuego at 7:45 PM on November 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

Wow, my pidgin has worked just peachy with no mucking about. I would put something in the Resource field though. That was actually in the longer version of the post that I trimmed up a bit.

Be warned, some client break it up differently. Some add a resource, which is just a sub-identifier so you can be logged in multiple times from different devices. Your phone may use: [e-mail]/Mobile while your desktop uses: [e-mail]/Home. Some clients won't even ask for one and will pick a random string for you like: [e-mail]/c7c6dc06.
Some clients even break it up into seperate parts like this:

User: username
Server: mu.jklmnop.net
Resource: Laptop

Pidgin: 2.6.6
On the Basic tab I have:

Protocol: XMPP
Username: admin
Domain: mu.jklmnop.net
Resource: home

On the Advanced tab I have Require SSL/TSL checked, port 5222, and that's it.
posted by zengargoyle at 7:46 PM on November 14, 2010

ME-TA-BOT
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:54 PM on November 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Fucking d'oh. Must have mistyped the password. Twice. Retyped it again, and it's working now. Sorry, my own fault.
posted by deezil at 7:57 PM on November 14, 2010

Hold on, unliteral -- a MeFi community member offers up a free service for you to use, you seem to have some issue with getting set up to use it
delfuego, I have no problem connecting. I do have a problem with his posting my full real name for all to see.
posted by unliteral at 7:58 PM on November 14, 2010

but I just want to note that you should not use your MetaFilter password for this and this isn't an official MetaFilter offering.

So you're saying that I shouldn't tell zengargoyle that my mefi password is taters2000amirite? Got it.
posted by special-k at 8:04 PM on November 14, 2010

OK I haven't read any of this thread yet, so pure speculation:

Publicly-announced MeFi side-channel fosters trolling, upset members, rude behavior, a torrent of mefimail (and shouts there-to), and some super-pouty pouty faces in record time.
posted by carsonb at 8:20 PM on November 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

HA-HA!
posted by carsonb at 8:21 PM on November 14, 2010

I do have a problem with his posting my full real name for all to see.
is this the case. because artemus veronica is NOT my name.
posted by clavdivs at 8:28 PM on November 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yes, find the Change Password function of your client. Once you do I can't get to it anymore. The internal auth of ejabberd is of the 'save the hash' variety and the over the wire auth is of the 'no secret passed' variety. All I could do is the brute-force attack.

And everybody can see your JID when you join a chatroom. There is capability of hiding it, but then it's like 4chan. Anybody could drop in and pretend to be anybody else. So I guess this is a warning or a gotcha or something. Some machines have 'names' of some sort and some defaults or work environments or whatnot decide to name the machine "my-firstname-lastname-Grape-5000" and some clients will use that as part of their unique identifier. Happens all the time. At work we had what you would consider HUGE broadcast domains, like dozens of /24s with hundreds and hundreds of machines advertising the owners and types and building/room locations.

So set your Resource! Guess I shouldn't have trimmed that part of the post.
</BB privacy leaking rage rant>
posted by zengargoyle at 8:31 PM on November 14, 2010

Honestly I've downloaded google talk and trillian and I have no idea how to connect so explain it step by step for stupid people now, go:
posted by furiousxgeorge at 8:47 PM on November 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

explain it step by step for stupid people now

i just want to know if it is an honest error or a "forgot to add the part about..." since i AM stupid in code matters i dont know this and a full name from a tater should have a warning.

and 'trick or treat' is not a good marketing tool, IMO, when a chat app is presented.
posted by clavdivs at 9:01 PM on November 14, 2010

Try a slight variation on their Facebook-XMPP Instructions

Adding the connection to Trillian
Go into Trillian Preferences > Identities & Connections.
Click Add a new connection.
Choose Jabber/XMPP.
In the username field, enter your full JID e.g. [e-mail]
Enter your password in the password field.
Don't forget to check the box "[X] Automatically connect to this account at startup" if you want to connect every time you load Trillian.
When you're finished, press Connect.

posted by zengargoyle at 9:10 PM on November 14, 2010

Sent a request, keeping an eye on this thread to check on further developments. Thanks, zengargoyle!
posted by Phire at 9:26 PM on November 14, 2010

Publicly-announced MeFi side-channel fosters trolling, upset members, rude behavior, a torrent of mefimail (and shouts there-to), and some super-pouty pouty faces in record time.

Twitter already exists and these things already happen.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:43 PM on November 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Here's a quick guide for Adium users:

Go to "File > Add Account > Jabber"
Under "Basic info", enter your username and password
Under "Options", enter "mu.jklmnop.net" in the "Server" field
When you've connected, go to "File > Join Group Chat"
Enter "meta" in the "Chat Room Name" field
Enter "conference.mu.jklmnop.net" in the Server field
Pick a username and enter it in the "Handle" field
Click "Join"

Ta-Da.
posted by Phire at 9:47 PM on November 14, 2010

Is there any iPhone love?
posted by five fresh fish at 10:38 PM on November 14, 2010

Can iPhone have an iChat client? Same thing. But this sure looks really neat
posted by zengargoyle at 11:39 PM on November 14, 2010

Any iphone client that support straight Jabber should work. I'm use Beejive and it works great.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 11:49 PM on November 14, 2010

http://www.webxmpp.com/main.html tells me I've connected, but lists no rooms existing. Is it my choice of client? Or is something else wrong?
posted by Obscure Reference at 5:54 AM on November 15, 2010

Is there any iPhone love?

I...I just don't know anymore. We use to be so close, we went everywhere together, but lately I've been feeling different.
posted by nomadicink at 6:21 AM on November 15, 2010

Fo' mah Pidgin using peeps, if the earlier ones didn't do the job

Accounts > Manage accounts
Add...
Choose XMPP from the dropdown.
Username = the one you registered
Domain = mu.jklmnop.net
Resource = freetext, you might write home, or work, or what have you
Password = the one you registered

The rest is can be left blank. For localalias I have Iteki on MeFi so I recognise it compared to other windows I have running. Do *not* click "Create on server". Save and exit and all that.

Now...

Buddies > Join a chat (or hit ctrl-C)
Choose the mu.jklmnop.net from the dropdown, fill in "meta" as the room name.
The server should fill in automatically, otherwise "conference.mu.jklmnop.net". Hit Join.
Hello to you!
posted by Iteki at 8:52 AM on November 15, 2010

Ok lazypeepl. http://jwchat.org/ is an online interface.

Server = mu.jklmnop.net
Username and password are as you have registered.

Little window pops up, there's a small crowd of people down in the left corner. Click.

Nickname is as above your username, room is meta and you need to change server to conference.mu.jklmnop.net. That last part is important. Hello!
posted by Iteki at 9:13 AM on November 15, 2010 [2 favorites]

ME-TA-BOT
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:54 PM

ME-TA-BOT!
posted by jtron at 9:26 AM on November 15, 2010

I have no problem with this, but wouldn't it have been more appropriate to post it in projects?
posted by forforf at 11:28 AM on November 15, 2010

Eh, as a sort of "hey fellow mefites let's engage in this collaborative thing" announcement this is pretty much fine for Metatalk.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:36 AM on November 15, 2010

nice work!
posted by filmgeek at 7:44 AM on November 16, 2010

Successfully got my bitlbee 1.2.8 stack connected to this and joined to the groupchat. Adding the account is straightforward, it's just another jabber server.
Something like

account add jabber [e-mail]/bitlbee thepassword

gets the account added; account on should connect it.

I recommend you run account list to take note of which account slot bitlbee is using for the new server, you need the reference to add the group chat.
The group chat is added by running

chat add 0 [e-mail] #meta

where 0 is the account number reference. However, that only adds the server-side magic, you still need to /join #meta to actually join the conference.
posted by arrjay at 5:30 AM on November 17, 2010

There is now a local web client!

http://mu.jklmnop.net/jwchat. Just register, then go here and enter your username and password and click the 'Login' button. When the window pops up, click the little 'group of people' icon at the bottom. When the next window pops up, click the 'Join' button. You are now in the 'meta' chatroom.

Disclaimer: requires JavaScript to be enabled, pops up little windows, plays sounds (you can turn them off if you poke through preferences).
posted by zengargoyle at 11:41 AM on November 17, 2010