I felt violated that they made that the default. I don't IM - EVER - and it appalled me to have my presence known to all who enter. (And, yes, I turned it off, too.)

there is a positive to this adventure. well, two. one, i've a fresh reason to make fun of you. two, i can now turn off the chat in my gmail, vis-a-vis your discovery.

I'm just avoiding the whole thing. I don't trust Google. That whole "don't be evil" thing always sounded like a big cover story.

Call me a philistine, but I don't use GMail. I have an account, but I just use it as a backup.

I do use Google Talk, though. And I have GMail backing it up, too. But I like having the little client on my machine (and being able to turn it off, too).

Having e-mail browsing "by default" making your chat presence known seems kinda goofy.

If it wasn't for G talk I wouldn't have had my blog rolling that YOU did so well. Also, there is a way to hide yourself from the unwanted. Under your name choose sign out, that will hide you. M. ps again thanks dude.

Doesn't bother me, but then I use the POP3 feature to download my Gmail into Thunderbird along with the three other email accounts I have elsewhere so most of the time I'm able to check Gmail without actually going to the site.

When I'm at work I usually have Google Talk running anyway so having it show up in Gmail when I do use the web interface isn't a problem.

GRRRRRRooooLLLLLWWWWW

Yeah, but it is funnier for the rest of us this way.

get well, solly baby! and thanks, now I know how to turn it off, too!