In some secluded rendezvous,
That
overlooks the avenue,
With someone sharing a delightful
chat,

Of this and that,
And cocktails for two.
—”Cocktails for Two,” Words & Music
by Arthur Johnston & Sam Coslow

I’m at the Hackers Conference at the Chaminade spa/resort in Northern California. I turn on iChat,
the instant-messaging client that is bundled with the Mac operating
system, and the first thing I discover is that countless other people
are available for chatting — not through my Buddy List, but through
Apple’s Rendezvous
networking tool.

And it occurs to me that Rendezvous is the perfect solution to
a longstanding problem — how to pass notes in class without getting
caught. Professors, make sure you open the Rendezvous window during
your lecture. Then check it against the seating chart.

—–