Google Talk Tips and Easter Egg

Google Talk has been my primary instant messenger for quite a while now. Here’s a short list of productive Google Talk shortcuts which frequently come to use:

• Google Talk hides itself in your tray or taskbar, use Windows + Esc to open it
• While talking to two or more buddies simultaneously, use Ctrl + Tab to switch chat windows instantly
• Use the F11 key to start voice call with your buddy.
• Use the F12 key to end the voice call.

Easter Egg: You can send a blank message to your buddy without an text. Simple hold the Alt key and press “0173”, followed by the return key [Enter]. You’ll just see a bubble conversation, nothing else!

Recording Voice Calls: In order to record voice call, we use Solicall. Basically, it’s a noise reduction application for online conversation, but it acts as a middle man in taping voice calls. It not only works with Google Talk, but it also works with other IMs like Yahoo, MSN and Skype. Refer this page for more detail on configuring Solicall for Google Talk.

Broadcasting Music: You can broadcast your favorite music to your friends an family by double clicking the speaker icon found at the lower right corner of you screen. You’ll now see a Volume Control window, click “options” and then properties. Choose your audio input device and unselect all the checkboxes, except “Stereo Mix”.

Now open up your media player (I use foobar2000) and GTalk, start the call and music simultaneously. This screencast should help you figure it out:

[flv:http://tech-buzz.net/wp-content/uploads/videos/gtalk_broadcast.flv 460 379]

This works with other IMs like Yahoo, MSN and Skype.

Reference: Amit Agarwal, CustomizeTalk
Thanks for the tip, Nabil