I found that at work I couldn’t use any external IM programs, so consiquently I’ve been using Gmail as an IM. Well yesterday I got it into my head to “fix” this little annoying scenario. I downloaded and installed ircd-hybrid, which is a server for IRC (Internet Relay Chat). I setup the server to use a port that commonly use at work (only for other, legitimate, reasons). I then setup my router to point all traffic on that port to the computer with the server. Now I can connect to that server, Hollywood can connect from home, and we can chat as much as we want. Yay for us! Everyone else can connect too, if they want. :)
If you want to join the network, do the following:
Download mIRC
Put in your usernames and whatever, click ok.
In the status window type:
/server penderwood.servehttp.com:1521
Then type:
/join #blah (which is the channel we’re in, not for any particular reason)
Start chattin’!!