Brokaw had pretty good info. Meebo users are now able to work with Facebook accounts again. Here’s CEO Seth Sternberg’s message to his users:

Good news!

Facebook Chat is back.

In my last blog post (linked), I told you we were removing Facebook for a little while in order to incorporate a new way of connecting to their network.

After some hard work from the folks here at Meebo and help from a whole host of people at Facebook, we now have Facebook back in Meebo.

Plus, Meebo is now the first launch partner of the ‘alpha’ version of the Facebook Connect + Chat integration. That’s pretty cool.

The method for connecting is slightly different than the other networks on Meebo, but it works basically the same way. You can login to Facebook from the front page or, if you have a Meebo account, login with your Meebo username and add Facebook as a network account from inside Meebo.

Thanks for your patience while we were getting Facebook up and running again.

We hope this helps you keep in touch with all your Facebook friends!”

Last week Mark Zuckberg’s company sued Power.com, a social network aggregator, because the company allowed Facebook users to plug into the site without actually visiting Facebook itself. Today, instant-messaging aggregator Meebo is unplugging itself from Facebook.

No idea if legal threats were brought up in this case, but the parallel seems pretty clear: Facebook will offer outside sites access to its user base, but only on its own terms.

In both cases, Facebook wanted the would-be partner sites to use its recently launched Facebook Connect service. Last week, Power.com founder Steve Vacahni told me that he and Facebook had “resolved” their issues, and that Facebook’s lawyers had told him the suit would be dropped shortly. But as far as I know Facebook has yet to withdraw its complaint.

Which has probably served as an effective warning for Meebo CEO Seth Sternberg, who sent out this memo to his users tonight:

Hi Meebo,

Got some bad news. :(

As a bunch of you already know (because you’ve been using it), we recently added Facebook Chat into Meebo.

We have been speaking to the Facebook team, and it turns out, they’d like us to connect to their network in a different way. In the interim, they asked us take Facebook off Meebo, and we said ‘okay.’

However, we were glad to hear that the Facebook team was genuinely excited to see their network on Meebo, especially since they already have plans to open Facebook Chat. They also committed resources from their Chat and Facebook Connect teams to do extra work with us to get Facebook Chat back on Meebo ‘really, really soon.’

Work began this week, so stay tuned. We expect some all nighters on both sides!

Seth

P.S. Meebo grew in December. We reached close to 45 million people, a new record, including 2.5 million via Meebo Community IM. So it’s not all bad news… :)”

Update — here’s comment from Facebook:

We are excited to be working with Meebo to implement Facebook Chat using Facebook Connect. Their current integration was launched without meeting the policies we have in place to assure the trust users have established on Facebook is maintained when they interact with their Facebook friends around the Web.

We announced our plans to open Facebook Chat to third-party Websites in 2008 and are working closely with Meebo to create a great experience for Facebook users that use their service.

AOL’s AIM started out with enough popularity to freely ignore the need to integrate with other programs; now, it can be argued that AIM retains its relevancy by operating with other messaging programs like Google‘s Gmail chat and Apple‘s iChat. Other IM clients paired up with one another to increase usability, like when Microsoft and Yahoo became interoperable over two years ago.

But nowadays, social-networking offerings — like leaving messages on Facebook walls and receiving Twitter “tweets” from friends — compete with traditional instant-messaging programs. And advanced technology in mobile devices has helped these chats move from desktops to iPhones and BlackBerrys, where conversations can continue on-the-go, using mobile applications.

Three free programs — Meebo, Adium and Digsby — work by consolidating numerous messaging accounts into one combined program.

This week I tested three free programs that seem to acknowledge the fading star of isolated instant messaging, as we once knew it. Meebo, Adium and Digsby work by consolidating numerous messaging accounts into one combined program. Some of these include social-networking integration or even built-in email notifications, turning the service into a one-stop shop for online communication. The result can save people from choosing one IM system over another.

All three of these programs are straightforward and work without much effort or instruction. They require users to enter the user names and passwords to log onto each IM account, which may make some people uncomfortable, even though each site explains its privacy policy. Of the three, Digsby offers to integrate with the greatest number of programs all at once, including instant messaging, email and social-networking accounts. It also lets people handle email by deleting or sorting it directly in the IM window, which neither of the other programs does.

But Digsby isn’t yet usable on Macs or Linux, and Adium (the second-best offering) is available only on Macs. When used with the correct operating system, these programs perform as promised, easing communication overall and saving people the hassle of logging into various accounts — or missing out on chats with friends because of not signing into certain programs.

Meebo, www.meebo.com, is the only one of these three products that is completely Web-based. It works on all major browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari, and doesn’t require any installation — a plus for those who would like to be using instant messaging in the office but aren’t able to install software on corporate computers. It can log users into one of six messaging programs simultaneously, including Yahoo, Microsoft, AIM, Google, ICQ and Jabber.

I signed onto three instant-messaging accounts at once on Meebo by entering the username and password for each and selecting one overall “Sign In” button, which logged me into each program simultaneously and displayed all of my contacts in one condensed panel. Meebo can be configured to automatically launch within Firefox if a Firefox extension is downloaded.

Meebo.com is also usable on the iPhone and iPod Touch, allowing people to log into multiple accounts simultaneously from their mobile device. As of now, neither Adium nor Digsby has an application that allows it to work with the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Digsby, www.digsby.com, was a cinch to set up on my laptop, which was running Windows Vista. It walked me through the steps of adding accounts from instant-messaging programs, email accounts such as Gmail and Hotmail, and social-networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Digsby works with IM and emails accounts from AOL/AIM, Yahoo, Microsoft and Google. Jabber, ICQ and Facebook chats also work with Digsby, along with IMAP and POP email accounts.

Once added, all of these accounts are represented in one clean panel. These consolidated communication programs saved me many extra clicks on my computer over a weekend, and I easily chatted with friends while checking messages. New emails received in my Gmail account were visible in a preview panel that popped up when I moved my cursor over the email account name. Right within this email preview panel, I could delete or archive each message; I was also able to mark a message as read or report it as spam. I performed all of these email tasks without opening my Gmail account in a browser or email client. Shortcuts in this preview panel labeled Open, Compose and Inbox sent me to my browser to perform these more-involved tasks.

This in-line functionality also applies to other email accounts, according to Digsby. But though I could see a tally of newly received Hotmail messages in my Digsby preview panel, these messages weren’t as interactive as those received in my Gmail inbox.

Digsby also tracks Twitter alerts and timelines, as well as Facebook newsfeeds and alerts — including posting notifications in your Digsby panel whenever someone “friends” you on Facebook.

Adium, www.adiumx.com, wins points for cuteness. The downloaded program is represented by a goofy, green duck, which plops itself in the Mac operating system dock and closes its eyes when not in use. When new messages are received via Adium, this duck flaps its wings until you open the message. The Adium user interface incorporates sleek visuals, such as status windows that gracefully float above user names whenever a cursor moves over these names.

Adium works with AIM, ICQ, .Mac, Jabber, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. Adium supports new email notifications for some accounts, but doesn’t enable reading or sending email within the program. Instead, it offered to open my account via the browser or using Microsoft Entourage on the Mac. Social networking is limited to MySpace IM on Adium, though the next version will support Facebook Chat.

Adium organizes multiple conversations using tabs stacked at the bottom of a chat window. Icons line the top of each chat window, such as a file icon for transferring files and a lock that switches a conversation to be encrypted and off-the-record. Any conversation that isn’t designated encrypted is automatically stored in a table of Adium transcripts, which can be sorted by To, From or Date. Transcripts can be sorted using rough timelines like “within the past two weeks” or “since yesterday.”

I saved myself time and mouse clicks by using these three consolidation programs, though I preferred Digsby in the end because of its intuitive email integration. These programs will help to take down the instant-messaging barriers that have become turn-offs over the past couple years, and may better integrate IM with the social networks and mobile devices that are on the rise.

Edited by Walter S. Mossberg

Write to the Mossberg Solution at mossbergsolution@wsj.com

AOL announced today that it has forked over the $850 million dollars in cash for Bebo–presumably in small bills in big bags, so all the fully vested Bebo employees can’t run away quite as fast–completing its acquisition of the quirky No. 3 social-networking site.

As part of the process, it has also created a new business unit, called the People Networks, which will be headed by Bebo President Joanna Shields.

Her new title is EVP at AOL and President of People Networks and Shields will be reporting to AOL President Ron Grant.

The People Networks will combine Bebo with AOL’s AIM, ICQ and other community platforms that AOL said reaches about 80 million users worldwide.

While the new moniker might sound as if AOL (TWX) has become a new Communist Party, the company has obviously placed high hopes in the division to make a lot of capitalistic dough.

More importantly, AOL has got to be betting that the new unit will finally bring its moribund community elements back to the vivacious life they all previously enjoyed.

Consider the slow death of AOL’s once-mighty “people” parts, which clearly dominated the scene early on in the online space.

Which company had some of the first truly usable groups online for the non-geek? AOL.

What company was a pioneer in bringing email to the masses? AOL, my friend!

Who created one of the first easy presence technologies called the Buddy List? AOL again!

And what company was smart enough early on to have two of the finest instant messaging systems ever created, with worldwide reach and upon which all others are inspired? Two guesses and the first two don’t count! AOL with its ICQ and AIM, of course!

BoomTown–who was there when AOL was actually the only true online service of the people, by the people and for the people–was also there to see it almost perish from this earth.

That’s because AOL did squat, as others simply usurped the core consumer concepts it commercialized first.

Let’s be honest, what is Facebook but a souped-up version of AOL? And couldn’t its AIM and ICQ really have been morphed into a more useful version of Twitter, Meebo and everyone else combined?

Still AOL’s Grant has dreams of renewed world domination! (It didn’t work out for Khrushchev, but thankfully Grant does not seem to be shoe-banging to make his point.)

“Unlike other social networks, which have had a difficult time monetizing their sites without jeopardizing the user experience, Bebo created an environment that enables advertisers, brands and media companies to engage in meaningful, relevant conversations with its users,” he said in a statement. “Combining Bebo with our other social media applications, our content sites, and Platform A gives us an unmatched opportunity to create value for these highly engaged audiences.”

Now, I really think Joanna Shields is a sharpie and I have repeatedly posted, well before anyone noticed, about Bebo’s innovative fare (see video below of my visit to Bebo’s London offices last year), including its clever melding of original online entertainment and social networking, such as its “KateModern.”

But I have to hope that Shields and AOL have some bigger plan in mind than simple combination and cross-marketing that is talked about in their press release.

(And, of course, getting a tiny bump from moving Bebo’s ad deal in the U.K and Ireland with Yahoo to AOL’s Platform A, as soon as the contract expires next year.)

Because AOL was the company that showed everyone the way communications, community, content and context could be utilized to unleash to yield enormous power for consumers.

And while it blew that first (and second and third) round, it probably still has to tools to take back some of the power it lost by organizing AOL workers and getting them to put some noble sweat into the effort.

Or, as Lenin once said: “Sometimes–history needs a push.”

Here’s my longish video of my visit to Bebo’s cool Carnaby Street offices in London last summer:

Project Granola?

Apparently, that’s the jokey nickname that’s been given by some in the company to Microsoft’s (MSFT) new online strategy, in the wake of its failed efforts to acquire Yahoo (YHOO) that ended in a big heap of mess this past weekend.

Now, sources tell BoomTown, it is all about “organic”–hence the image of a healthy handful of granola (except for the fact that, in my experience, nobody really likes granola after eating it as much as they think will before).

In any case, it is a word Microsoft folks have been slipping into the conversations with BoomTown over the past few days, so much so that I have started to feel like I was talking to execs from Whole Foods.

Now Microsoft’s greenness has gone public.

Case in point: Brian Hall, Windows Live General Manager, who trotted out the organic word in front of Merrill Lynch analysts yesterday, as reported by CNET’s Ina Fried, saying: “We’ve withdrawn the offer and moved on, and now are focused on how we grow as fast as possible organically.”

But what does organic mean exactly?

Two things, it seems.

First, stepping up spending on marketing, technology and research to try to find ways to differentiate from Google (GOOG) and get into the No. 2 spot now held by Yahoo.

Of course, that plan has not worked out so well as yet for the software giant, with Microsoft spending billions of dollars with no profits and little gain in online search or ad market share, while its archrival Google keeps growing stronger.

Even so, while in Korea today, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates backed Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s do-it-yourself path and his move to walk away from Yahoo.

“The key decisions on that will be made by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who took a look at Yahoo and decided that, on our own, he likes the stuff that we’re doing,” said Gates.

Gates also added what amounts to the second option for Microsoft. “I wouldn’t rule out some partnerships, but we don’t have anything imminent there,” he said.

While a return to Yahoo is a possibility, in fact, buying up Web 2.0 stars is likely to be a bigger focus of the company.

“Yahoo can twist,” said one source. “Microsoft has lots and lots of other options.”

According to sources close to the company, for example, Microsoft’s bankers had been putting out subtle signals to Facebook to see if it would be open to a full buyout.

Microsoft already invested $240 million in the hot social-networking site, an investment that gave Facebook its kooky $15 billion valuation.

And its execs have long told Facebook execs they wouldn’t mind a bigger bite–um, like all of it.

“We just wanted to gauge their interest, more than any real effort,” said another source, who expects Facebook to stick to its longish path to an eventual IPO.

But, as is no secret, Microsoft has selections all over Silicon Valley to help it improve its Internet chances.

Those would include buying bigger vertical sites in strong categories like autos or jobs or finance, and also scooping up smaller but fast-growing socially oriented sites like Digg, Meebo, Yelp or focusing on ad plays like Spot Runner (which just got another big dollop of funding).

There might even be some sense in spinning some of these and all Microsoft Web units off into a separate Internet company, which would be another way of integrating even bigger deals for properties like Time Warner’s (TWX) AOL or News Corp.’s (NWS) MySpace (which are longer shots, I think).

In a post I did in February right after Yahoo rebuffed Microsoft for the first time, I suggested such a course for the company.

As I wrote:

Here’s a list: LinkedIn. Digg. Flixster. Slide or RockYou. Veoh. WordPress. Sphere. Sugar. Some international stuff. And more.

Then, some noted, Microsoft would have to give massive financial incentives to those entrepreneurs to stay and thrive. Most importantly, it would have to keep its Redmond hands from interfering.

Now that would send shivers up the spine of Larry and Sergey.”

And that, most of all, would be more like icing on the cake for Microsoft and be much more tasty than a bowl full of granola.

And, as Martha Stewart says: It’s a good thing.

Spot Runner, the online ad agency, delivered yet another Web 2.0 miracle today, raising another $51 million in funding from a diverse group of investors.

Among other services, Spot Runner makes and places low-cost television and radio ads for small businesses and is trying to bridge the gap between the traditional and online ad market.

In this round, those stepping up to invest in the Los Angeles-based start-up include international media giants Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT.L) and Grupo Televisa (TV), investment company Legg Mason Capital Management (LM) and, curiously, luxury conglomerate Groupe Arnault/LVMH (MC.PA).

This group, along with existing investors, forked over the $51 million to add to the $60 million already raised. This appears to give it a massive valuation of upward of $500 million.

Well, at least in the land of Web 2.0 it does. In the real world, it still remains to be seen. But that has not stopped the nonstop investment party of late for Web 2.0 start-ups.

Web-based instant messaging company Meebo recently raised another $25 million at a reported $250 million valuation, while widgeteer Slide got $50 million for a $550 million valuation.

Of course, the champ of them all has been the social-networking site Facebook, which now has a $15 billion valuation.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Or maybe not so much, but obviously no one in Silicon Valley is listening to BoomTown at this Kool-Aid carnival.

Spot Runner’s previous investors are: Allen & Company, Battery Ventures, Comerica Bank (CMA), Lachlan Murdoch, Vivi Nevo, Capital Research and Management, CBS (CBS), Index Ventures, Interpublic Group, Tudor Investment Corporation and WPP.

So far, this group has invested $60 million in Spot Runner. Its board includes Index’s Danny Rimer and former AOL exec Bob Pittman.

“We want to use the investment to make a real penetration in the market,” said Nick Grouf, chairman and CEO of Spot Runner. “We want to expand both organically and through acquisitions, as well as expand our staff, and these strategic investors will help us do that.”

Spot Runner has already been doing that. For example, it recently bought Weblistic, a local search listings creator, and hired former Microsoft exec Joanne Bradford.

The Daily Mail is a large media company based in the United Kingdom, with newspapers, online and radio assets, while Grupo Televisa is one of the largest media conglomerates in the Spanish-speaking world.

Groupe Arnault/LVMH owns some of the world’s toniest brands, including Moët & Chandon, Hennessy, Louis Vuitton and Givenchy.

Grouf, again along with partner David Waxman, also previously founded PeoplePC and Firefly Networks.

In the spirit of the funding, here’s one of my favorite Kool-Aid commercials:

Last night, dressed in my kindergarten soccer-coach best (sneaks, sweats and athletic socks–glam!), I ventured over to the Tenderloin district of San Francisco to attend VentureBeat‘s party in honor of the launch of its new digital media blog.

Held at the Ambassador club on Geary Street, it was as if 1999 had never ended, and the huge crowd was partying like it was, well, 1999.

Shoulder to shoulder–or, in my puny case, shoulder to stomach–entrepreneurs, PR folks and a healthy smattering of press jammed into the venue, chattering about valuations, venture deals and other vacuous topics of Web 2.0.

Attendees included Mashable’s Pete Cashmore, Craigslist’s Jim Buckmaster, blogger Dan Gillmor and Microsoft-man-in-Silicon-Valley Dan’l Lewin (who gave us bupkis info about the deal, as you can see in the video).

Also in the video, in order, Meebo Co-Founder Seth Sternberg (fresh from a big funding); VentureBeat’s new editor of its digital media blog, Eric Eldon; Lewin; Gillmor; Valleywag’s Owen Thomas; and, finally, VentureBeat Editor and Founder Matt Marshall.

And, as BoomTown wrote yesterday, so the war of attrition for Yahoo begins.

Not with a bang, but a whimper. And so much whine, I am considering serving up a nice plate of cheese to all players.

But while the first moves by Microsoft (MSFT), which is seeking to take over Yahoo (YHOO), seem a bit weak, it is likely the more significant bombs will start flying next week.

But not quite yet.

First, came a not-so-subtle insinuation from Microsoft Steve Ballmer that he could take his marbles and go home any time.

He noted yesterday in a speech in Milan (Milan? OK, we’ll go with it) that the software giant is “prepared to move forward alone without Yahoo.”

A show of hands of who actually believes this claim, please, a classic go-fish negotiating ploy? No one? We thought so.

Then, comes the artfully worded Wall Street Journal story today, in which it is revealed that some at Microsoft are skeptical of the deal.

Apparently, Microsofties are worried that the job of merging Yahoo into Microsoft will take precious attention away from, well, them!

Well, that’s been the biggest open secret at Microsoft. Almost anyone you talk to notes that the Yahoo deal is risky, but it would be done no matter what due to Ballmer’s determination to use Yahoo to better hammer at rival Google (GOOG).

“This is Ballmer’s war,” said one Microsoft employee to me recently, who also noted that it is still a good move for Microsoft, despite the slowness of the attack. “I doubt he will surrender.”

Well, BoomTown suggested Microsoft do so back in mid-February in a post, noting that Ballmer might do better to use the $41 billion to buy up every hot start-up in Silicon Valley–Digg, Meebo, Slide and even the hopelessly high-valued Facebook–and still have money left over to buy everyone a tank of gas.

The Journal story also listed previously reported names of possible directors for a proxy slate Microsoft must nominate to replace Yahoo’s current board.

They include, noted the story, “former Nextel Partners Inc. CEO John Chapple, former Grey Global Group Inc. CEO Edward Meyer, Jaynie Studenmund, the former chief operating officer of Overture Services Inc., which was later acquired by Yahoo, and former Adelphia Communications Corp. Chief Financial Officer Vanessa Wittman, according to people familiar with the matter.”

Not to be whiny about it or anything, but with no truly prominent Internet executive or figure among these director possibilities so far, BoomTown would have to say we are profoundly underwhelmed by the list.

Thus, we await more powerful forces.

And that might be sooner than later. Microsoft will announce its earnings this afternoon, which–if they are strong and lift the price of Microsoft stock and, therefore, the Yahoo offer–could be the first big gun to fire in the proxy fight.

Last week, I visited Meebo, the Web-based instant messaging company, at their headquarters on Castro Street in Mountain View, Calif.

Why? Well, like a lot of Web 2.0 companies, because it’s a hot and hyped little start-up with a fast-growing audience for its–wait for it!–widgets!

But Meebo makes actually useful widgets, such as its flagship unified instant-messaging offering. Thus, in an endless sea of useless and juvenile apps, that immediately makes BoomTown happy and interested.

And, backed by Sequoia Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson, it also has a solid team, although it is one still in search of a much more solid business plan.

Which is: Advertising, of course! (Which is: Web 2.0′s possibly dubious mantra of mantras! Presumably, if you say it enough times, it will come true!)

How hot and hyped Meebo is was in evidence, when this article in VentureBeat posted yesterday claimed that the company was raising $25 million to $30 million at a valuation of $250 million.

Meebo’s last $12.5 million round valued the company at an already kooky $60 million to $70 million. The company was started in 2005.

Ouch, my head hurts from the bubble atmosphere that persists in Silicon Valley, even as our economy is tanking and the Fed can barely prop it up. But I was already in pain at the $850 million that AOL forked over for the very-nice-but-very-not-worth-$850-million Bebo, so please pardon my deep and unfulfilled need for sanity.

Still, it is hard not to like what Meebo is doing, which is a million times more useful than some widget makers. Basically, it solves the interoperability problem in instant messaging, by allowing a user to chat across the most popular sites–AIM, Google (GOOG) Talk, Yahoo (YHOO) Messenger and Microsoft’s (MSFT) chat service.

It also offers chat rooms to sites across the Web, branded as Meebo Rooms, like the one below on Meebo’s valuation, with lots of cool features, such as the ability to play videos that are embedded in them.

These products have attracted tens of millions of unique monthly users, trading over 100 million messages a day, although–as I said–it is not clear how money will be made providing this useful service.

Meebo, like a lot of similar companies, has struck some interesting ad partnerships, including with record companies, but–no matter what anyone says–it is obviously too soon to tell how effectively it will perform.

Luckily, in this video, two of Meebo’s founders–Seth Sternberg and Sandy Jen (the other is Elaine Wherry, who is not in this video)–as well as recently hired CNET vet Martin Green, who is handling business development, explain it all for you!

Here’s the video:

Just use an Internet-based service so that you can chat from a Web page without having to install any software, which might be blocked by a firewall. I tested two such services: Meebo at www.meebo.com and KoolIM at www.koolim.com. Both are free.

These services let you simultaneously log in to multiple IM accounts — and communicate with people with various services. If you have a friend who uses Yahoo Messenger, for example, and another who likes MSN Messenger, you can chat with either.

Another plus: Meebo and KoolIM are far less vulnerable to viruses than downloadable applications. They’re also more efficient, saving users the hassle of installing multiple programs on a computer. This is especially handy for people with old computers that slow down when running several applications.

Meebo has a well-designed, sleek interface that makes it appealing to even the least tech savvy. From its home page, you simply sign in for different IM services—MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, GTalk (or Jabber) and AIM (or ICQ). Your buddy list will be combined automatically. You don’t have to register, but if you do, you get perks such as a single sign-on for all of your accounts, and the ability to share files, save chat logs and store conversations.

I tried Meebo on my work Windows PC and my iBook at home, and it worked well on both. To start chatting, you just log in to any of the IM services by entering the screen name and password you already have with a service, or by picking a new name, password and services. Your buddy list will appear in a window on the right side of the page, with each name marked by an icon denoting the service the person uses. Once in your buddy list, you can add or delete a contact, message or join a group chat.

The service also offers MeeboMe, a way to chat from your own Web site. Bloggers can use this to start a conversation with site visitors who log in to their Meebo account. It also shows how many users are on the site at any time.

But Meebo, like most such Web services, lacks the ability for audio and video chats — basic features on installed IM software. If you’re used to plugging in a Webcam and headgear to chat with friends, these services might not be for you. Meebo also doesn’t have the standard send button that’s on installed IM software. Instead, you press a key on your keyboard.

Sharing files using Meebo is tricky, too. Only Meebo account holders can send files; although anyone can receive them. When I sent a PDF file to my friend on her installed MSN Messenger, she received a message and a link that rerouted her to Meebo’s home page with no further guidance. When I sent her the same file after she logged in to her MSN using Meebo, she could open the file.

KoolIM also connects users to multiple IM accounts from one Web page. It gives you the option to create an online account, so you don’t need separate log-ins for each IM service you’ll encounter.

You can select an embedded or a pop-up version of the service. The embedded version shows your buddy list and messages as windows tied to a Web page, while the pop-up version lets you move the windows around the screen. You can choose to display all of your buddies or only the ones online. In your buddy-list window you can add and delete names and log in to or out of a service.

I didn’t like having text ads appear at the bottom of the IM window in KoolIM, or the fact that, unlike Meebo, there isn’t a time stamp on messages to tell you when they arrived. It also doesn’t allow you to send files, as Meebo does. And it doesn’t let you save conversations or chat logs. KoolIM’s lack of some of these basic features might make it less appealing to consumers, especially those who ponder swapping it with their desktop software.

I preferred Meebo, but both services are good alternatives to installed IM, if you’re willing to do without audio and video features.

Walt Mossberg is on vacation. Find all my columns and videos online free at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

• Email me at Sarmad.Ali@wsj.com.

Though I jokingly congratulated Calacanis on the investment from a “toddler VC,” because of the 33-year-old Botha’s freshly-scrubbed and youthful looks, I’d be pretty pleased if my two sons–2 and 5 years old–could be involved in a multibillion deal after only a few years on the job.

“You have to put yourself in a position to be lucky,” said the South African-born Botha over lunch at the Sundeck on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley recently.

Here’s a video I did of my visit with Botha, where I both incorrectly note the address of Sequoia and willfully refuse any effort at pronouncing his name with any grace:

Botha, who is the clear protege of Silicon Valley uber-VC Mike Moritz of Sequoia (of Yahoo and Google fame), seems to be awfully good at that, after scoring a big win for the firm when he turned a $12 million investment in YouTube into a $450 million windfall after the online video site was sold last year to Google for $1.65 billion.

Botha’s previous stint at PayPal (where he met the team that later put together YouTube), a job he got to earn money while at Stanford Business School, ended with him being CFO at the time of its 2002 IPO. It was soon sold for another $1.5 billion to eBay.

His background is actually more in math, with his first job as an actuary. Botha later became a consultant, before he came to Silicon Valley to get his MBA from Stanford.

While many mistakenly think he is related to former hard-line South African Prime Minister P.W. Botha, he actually is the grandson of a well-known former foreign minister Pik Botha, a liberal politician at a time of not-very-liberal policies related to apartheid.

He arrived at Sequoia after PayPal, although he noted that he had no experience in being a VC, and he has been intent on finding companies that “solve consumer problems.”

Currently, he is invested in another online video start-up, the high-profile Joost, as well as instant-messaging site Meebo and shoe and accessory online retailer Zappos.com.

He is also foraging around in the world of “bioinformatics,” which he thinks is a promising new arena marrying Web and medical technologies.

Here are a few questions about computers I’ve received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. This week my mailbox contained questions about alternatives to instant messaging at work, what to look for in an inexpensive PC and using Macs to make trades.

If you have a question, send it to me at mossberg@wsj.com, and I may select it to be answered here in Mossberg’s Mailbox.

My company has banned us from using instant-messaging programs on our work computers, claiming they are a security threat. Is there an alternative way for me to keep using instant messaging, which I consider a useful business tool?

Yes. You just have to use a service that replicates the functions of instant-messaging software inside a Web page. That way you aren’t downloading an instant-messaging program onto the company’s computer, you’re simply using the Web browser already on that computer.

I’ve recently seen a cool new Web service of this type called Meebo, at http://www.meebo.com. It’s only 11 weeks old, and it’s still in testing, but it enables users to sign into four different instant-messaging services — Time Warner’s America Online’s AIM (or ICQ); Microsoft’s MSN Messenger; Yahoo Messenger; and Google’s GTalk (or Jabber). You even can log on to all four simultaneously and see a combined buddy list. Meebo is basic and hasn’t yet added fancy features like file transfers, but it works well on Windows PCs and Macs. And, it’s very slick. You even can move the message and buddy-list windows around within the Web page.

If the Meebo site won’t come up on your company computer, try the secure version, at https://www.meebo.com. If your company blocks this, too, I suspect it just hates the idea of instant messaging at work for reasons that go beyond security.

How can you suggest that people consider buying a Macintosh now when Apple Computer will be coming out with all-new models based on Intel processors starting next year?

With any digital-technology product, the pace of change is so rapid that there is always a newer, supposedly better model on the horizon. But people buy these products when they need them. If you wait and wait, you lose the use of the new computer or other product in the meantime. And the next model may be flawed or otherwise unsuitable.

My recommendation last week of the best desktop computer on the market this holiday season, the Apple iMac G5, was meant for people who plan to buy a computer this holiday or within the next few months. Apple’s changeover will be gradual; there is no indication when the iMac G5 will be replaced by a Mac with an Intel processor. It could be as late as 2007, according to Apple’s public statements. There is no way to know if a future Intel-based model will be better or less expensive.

In addition, current Macs will remain highly useful for years even after the Intel models arrive. Makers of software and peripherals are highly unlikely to restrict their products to Intel-based Macs, which will be few in number compared with the tens of millions of Macs based on the current design. Apple has devised a system for creating software that runs on both designs.

I would like to purchase a PC for my mother but do not have much money to spend. All she uses it for is email really. But I think if she had decent processing speed, she’d surf the Internet more. What PC would you recommend that is the least expensive, works with wireless Internet technology, and has decent processing speed?

The least expensive PCs are bargain-basement Windows desktop models. I haven’t tested these machines lately, but almost any of the sub-$500 desktop models should do the trick for these simple uses. You likely will have to pay extra for wireless Internet connectivity, since most desktop computers — even costly ones — don’t come with that feature, which is meant mainly for laptops. Also, make sure your bargain model has security software, a CD drive, and speakers — some don’t. You may have to add those features at extra cost.

As for “decent processing speed,” your implication that fast processors are needed for Web surfing is just plain wrong. The slowest processor on the computer-store shelf is more than powerful enough to handle Web browsing. If you have any extra money to spend in your tight budget, don’t spend it on a faster processor. Instead, make sure the memory is at least 256 megabytes, or 512 if you can afford it. That will have a bigger effect on Web performance.

In your favorable review of the new Apple iMac G5 computer last week, you said it may be the wrong choice for day traders. Why? Are Mac owners unable to trade stocks?

Although I believe Apple’s Macintosh computers and its Tiger operating system are superior to Windows computers today for mainstream consumers and small businesses, I have long advised that there are some niche groups for whom Windows is still the best choice. This is mainly because the Mac can’t compete with Windows for cutting-edge games and niche software.

The biggest examples of people who should stick with Windows are heavy-duty game players, or users who rely on specialized Windows software provided by their employers. I mentioned day traders in this list, because heavy traders sometimes rely on special software available only for Windows, or on Web sites that work best in Windows.

But I was speaking only about the most intense, full-time, stock traders. You certainly can buy and sell stocks on a Macintosh, using the popular Mac Web browsers, and many people do.

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Because of the volume of e-mail I receive, I can’t routinely answer individual questions by e-mail, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.