gabbly.com
June 25, 2006 10:28 PM   Subscribe

Chat about any content on the web by adding gabbly.com in front of any URL.
posted by the_bone (67 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Nifty, although it doesn't appear to like Bon Echo much. Works, but gripes. Or at least it worked on MoFi, doesn't seem to care for Metafilter as much...
posted by notnamed at 10:37 PM on June 25, 2006


Oh, yeah... via MoFi
posted by the_bone at 10:38 PM on June 25, 2006


the_bone is a gangster!
posted by shmegegge at 10:40 PM on June 25, 2006


Heh, most of the people testing this out (when I was on just now, that is...) chose the handle, "mathowie"?

My favourite quote:
Mathowie: Hey, I made Metafilter!

Oh, and lots of flaming... and the usual complaints about the five dollars thing. Ech.

Interesting idea, though.
posted by Ricky_gr10 at 10:40 PM on June 25, 2006


Anyone remember Odigo?
posted by aubilenon at 10:43 PM on June 25, 2006


That was weird, but very cool. I wonder why someone didn't write this ages ago.

Also, there's no security, so if you see mathowie, it's probably not me.
posted by mathowie at 10:43 PM on June 25, 2006


the original mathowie was orange.
testing...
posted by carsonb at 10:43 PM on June 25, 2006


If you see mazola, it probably is me.
posted by mazola at 10:44 PM on June 25, 2006


Yeah, slight problem.
posted by Ryvar at 10:46 PM on June 25, 2006


This worked much better... *cough* elsewhere.
posted by notnamed at 10:48 PM on June 25, 2006


This could actually be fun at sites like del.icio.us, since there's no real community interaction.
posted by mathowie at 10:52 PM on June 25, 2006


That was weird, but very cool. I wonder why someone didn't write this ages ago.

People did think of it ages ago.
posted by delmoi at 10:54 PM on June 25, 2006


Nitpick (besides identity being broken): it needs Gchat like functionality where you can use the chat windows and keeping using the basic site (Gmail) in the same window/tab.
posted by Ryvar at 10:55 PM on June 25, 2006


Yeah, I know and I mentioned thirdvoice in the chat channel. But I meant writing it like this, in DHTML, with no software required whatsoever. This is super clean and simple and I wonder why no one tried it eons ago.
posted by mathowie at 10:56 PM on June 25, 2006


This could actually be fun at sites like del.icio.us, since there's no real community interaction.
Metafilter has community interaction? I thought it was just a bunch of egos constantly talking over the top of each other....
posted by coriolisdave at 10:57 PM on June 25, 2006


fun.
posted by nickyskye at 11:01 PM on June 25, 2006


Well this application is perfict if you want to make a bunch of jokes about eating babies.
posted by delmoi at 11:05 PM on June 25, 2006


Yeah, I know and I mentioned thirdvoice in the chat channel. But I meant writing it like this, in DHTML, with no software required whatsoever. This is super clean and simple and I wonder why no one tried it eons ago.

Yeah, it is pretty slick, but with no moderation or accountability the level of discorse is pretty low...
posted by delmoi at 11:11 PM on June 25, 2006


odd.
posted by shoepal at 11:15 PM on June 25, 2006


It hurts.
posted by MetaMonkey at 11:17 PM on June 25, 2006


The problem is most places will either be empty or, like the mefi one right now, with just annoying random unfocused chatter. That is, the technology is compelling but the "content" not so much.
posted by vacapinta at 11:19 PM on June 25, 2006


This is awful.
posted by fatllama at 11:22 PM on June 25, 2006


This is one of those things that makes you go this is "cool", and then you never use it again because by "cool", you really mean "god awful".
posted by justgary at 11:32 PM on June 25, 2006


Horrifying. But it could be cool.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 11:34 PM on June 25, 2006


It was a quick download and start, but kind of a memory whore. Didn't work properly in Safari.
posted by onalark at 11:35 PM on June 25, 2006


That conversation was almost as inane as the one on the collaborative fridge magnet page.
posted by beniamino at 11:36 PM on June 25, 2006


nonmyopicdave: Why are we "gabbers" when the site is called "gabbly"? Shouldn't we be "gabblers"?
gabber326: deep
shoepal: gabble gabble
hditty: would need to be desperately in need of modern technology. Thus, head to msn.com
the great satan: yes
the great satan: that's a bug
TODD F'N LOKKIN: to bad we can't embed images into this
mcrandello: each comment made is a gabblet
posted by delmoi at 11:38 PM on June 25, 2006


The problem is most places will either be empty or, like the mefi one right now, with just annoying random unfocused chatter. That is, the technology is compelling but the "content" not so much.

Yeah like I remember when this was posted on digg, thousands of messages flying by, then a while later it's like tumbleweeds.

That conversation was almost as inane as the one on the collaborative fridge magnet page.


I remember that being pretty awesome.
posted by bobo123 at 11:42 PM on June 25, 2006


::gong::
posted by thejoshu at 11:45 PM on June 25, 2006


I remember that being pretty awesome.

Yeah, it was fun, but one person writing 'MEATLIFTER' ten times, and a bunch of other people stealing all the letters to put them in a pile doesn't constitute high-quality discussion.
posted by beniamino at 11:52 PM on June 25, 2006


it seems to have some performance issues when a lot of text accumulates.
posted by delmoi at 11:53 PM on June 25, 2006


That was quite a non-amusing waste of time.
posted by Samizdata at 12:05 AM on June 26, 2006


dgaicun is now mathowie

♪♫ doo loo loo ♪♫
posted by dgaicun at 12:17 AM on June 26, 2006


Well, in terms of "keeping this going" - all sites need to do is put up a Real Time Chat! link on their main page, and it will be like flies to shit.

I wonder why someone didn't write this ages ago.

gabbly has been around for quite a few months now.

One interesting feature - RSS Feed. You don't even need to be in the chat, you can check on what's been happening in your own good time.
posted by Jimbob at 12:21 AM on June 26, 2006


I miss the jabber server...
posted by brundlefly at 12:56 AM on June 26, 2006


there's a bunch of stuff like this that really seems like it should be great, and then someone does it and you realize that it wasn't really all that great after all and you're going to sleep instead because it's 2am.
posted by blacklite at 1:16 AM on June 26, 2006


Am I not the only person for whom this is rediculously slow and often crashes Firefox?
posted by taursir at 3:19 AM on June 26, 2006


brundlefly, I miss the jabber server too
posted by filmgeek at 4:12 AM on June 26, 2006


A: Hello?
B: HI A!
A: HI B!
B: How r u?
A: I'm gd. U?
B: Nt bd
C: HI ALL
A: HI C
B: Hi C
C: BBBBBBBBBBBBB
posted by bonaldi at 4:28 AM on June 26, 2006


delmoi, people thought of it ages before that, even. I miss crit.org.
posted by scruss at 4:46 AM on June 26, 2006


interesting. it'd be useful if the chat window survived me clicking on links.
posted by boo_radley at 4:52 AM on June 26, 2006


Am I not the only person for whom this... crashes Firefox?

No. Crashed my Firefox as well when I tried to escape the tedium...

I can't remember the last time my browser crashed. Oh, yeah. It was back in the day when I still used IE for something other than testing websites... Speaking of which, I wish these jokers had tested their site a little more before releasing it. When Firefox crashed, it took a lot of browser windows/tabs with it.

(Recycled idea + content vacuum) * browser crash = unhappy / total waste of time.
posted by cup at 4:56 AM on June 26, 2006


Ok...I guess we're done with this now..

Should we come back when the little chat window is surrounded by ads and we have to pay $5 to join?
posted by HuronBob at 5:09 AM on June 26, 2006


I wonder why someone didn't write this ages ago.

They did. I think I linked to quek the first time here about 5 years ago.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:27 AM on June 26, 2006


I can't remember the last time my browser crashed.

Actually, switching tabs too quickly after a new site starts to load crashes it pretty too. ;)
posted by taursir at 5:30 AM on June 26, 2006


Didn't make my browser crash, and survived me clicking on links and changing the discussed site several times. I liked it.
posted by youarenothere at 5:34 AM on June 26, 2006


I swear this was linked to before. Hmm. Maybe on Metatalk.
posted by FunkyHelix at 6:58 AM on June 26, 2006


Thanks for posting this - it's a pretty cool technical implementation.
posted by GuyZero at 7:18 AM on June 26, 2006


It's real time chat for any url. Pretty amazing. Had chats using Google and AltaVista.
FAQs.About. Forum. Blog.
posted by nickyskye at 7:28 AM on June 26, 2006


Apparently Gabbly was launched March 12 2006.
posted by nickyskye at 7:33 AM on June 26, 2006


Neat, but I don't see anyone saying "yeah, I'll see you on Gabbly" just yet.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:03 AM on June 26, 2006


bonaldi, I love you for that.
posted by Zozo at 8:09 AM on June 26, 2006


When Firefox crashed, it took a lot of browser windows/tabs with it.

There are several good session restore extensions available for Firefox. While I love Firefox I experience periodic browser crashes and it is very good to restart it and have it automatically reload the 45 open tabs I had.
posted by obfusciatrist at 8:52 AM on June 26, 2006


Can anyone think of anything useful to do with this?
posted by LarryC at 10:18 AM on June 26, 2006


Apart from chatting informally on non-commerical sites, possibly use it on a business page, instead of having clients sign up with commerical chat services? But one would need to add some kind of restriction function so competitors wouldn't interrupt?
posted by nickyskye at 10:22 AM on June 26, 2006


Actually, switching tabs too quickly after a new site starts to load crashes it pretty too.

Nope. Wasn't switching tabs. It crashed when I tried to close the window (I have Mefi set to open links in new windows). But thanks for the advice, taursir. I will keep it in mind (I love tabs).

There are several good session restore extensions available for Firefox. While I love Firefox I experience periodic browser crashes and it is very good to restart it and have it automatically reload the 45 open tabs I had.

Another tab lover! Thank you for the suggestion, obfusciatrist. I was sure there had to be some extension to mimic that Opera functionality in Firefox but never really looked into it. Which extension are you using? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

And thank you for posting this, the_bone. Although the crash motivated me to pee on the site in question, your post did benefit me greatly in the long run. Thanks.
posted by cup at 10:30 AM on June 26, 2006


Weird, I remember using this back in March. Woulda sworn that I had seen it either here or on MoFi, too.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:40 AM on June 26, 2006


Can anyone think of anything useful to do with this?

It is basically IRC without the hassles of setting anything up.

Seems like it might be useful to have a link on your travel blog and use it to have an insta-conference with family/friends from internet cafes and such...
posted by vacapinta at 11:03 AM on June 26, 2006


In other words, this fills the need I had in this Ask Metafilter question.
posted by vacapinta at 11:06 AM on June 26, 2006


Nice point vacapinta.
posted by nickyskye at 11:47 AM on June 26, 2006


cup:

I use Tab Mix Plus it has everything I need for managing my tabs including sufficient session recovery for my needs. I know there are several standalone session recovery extensions but I've not used them so I can't make a recommendation.
posted by obfusciatrist at 12:13 PM on June 26, 2006


Also works with bad URLs, even ones with invalid DNS records.

For instance:

http://www.gabbly.com/www.lkjdsfljsaf.com

So basically disposable anonymous chat. Couple it with an anon proxy...

Hmm.
posted by Ynoxas at 3:44 PM on June 26, 2006


Curses. I had exactly this idea over a year ago.

Ah well, back to whatever it is that I do.
posted by modernerd at 4:47 PM on June 26, 2006


obfusciatrist:

I use Tab Mix Plus...

Thank you!
posted by cup at 10:08 PM on June 26, 2006


Doesn't seem to work with all sites. On a whim, I tried out http://www.gabbly.com/www.nytimes.com and was simply redirected to nytimes.com.

Not tech-savy enough to understand why....
posted by brundlefly at 10:22 PM on June 26, 2006


Cool idea.
posted by Me_Korak at 5:41 AM on June 27, 2006


Doesn't seem to work with all sites.

they have a kind of half-assed workaround/explanation on the FAQ, perhaps intended for myspace/et. al profilers.
posted by carsonb at 11:05 PM on June 27, 2006


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