In this Reader’s Mailbag query, Brandon addresses the Rick Astley phenomenon on IM known as "Rickrolling":

Brandon, what is a 'rickroll'? I am sadly out of the loop but a lot of my friends were talking about doing it on IM and all I could do was smile and nod... --Adrian Zamora, Rochester, NY.

Adrian,
Rickrolling prompts IM users to send a covert link to Rick Astely's 1987 music video, "Never Gonna Give You Up," to an IM contact pretending the link is to another article, video or Internet resource. When they open the link, they get Rick Astley serenading rather than a useful file or article. Rickrolling is an easy prank to play on IM.

--Brandon
im.guide@about.com

Jodi-Ann Beelby has a bone to pick with some of you.

The 21-year-old senior at Brock University, in Ontario, Can., recently launched a Facebook group devoted to teaching IM users the fine art of netiquette. Serving as editor and clearinghouse for ‘The Unwritten, But Now Written Rules of Windows MSN Messaging,” Beelby said she and friends gleaned much about these recently penned rules since first joining MSN Messenger as a seventh grader in 1999.

While she is now the master of the rules of IM, Beelby does admit she has broken a few rules. How many of the rules have you broken lately?

While public libraries contain thousands of titles, friendly, knowledgable staff and are one of the last free resources available to most Americans, they have a lot of competition for people’s recreational attention.

When the Homer Township Public Library, of Homer Glen, Ill., was looking at a unique way to bring in more patrons several years ago, they found an unlikely ally in the form of IM.

In this Reader’s Mailbag query, Brandon helps one reader keep AIM from freezing up:

Brandon, I have a hiccup on my IM. I will be talking to someone (on AIM) and all of a sudden, I get an interruption for just a split second and I have to click the send space and bring in the motion bar. It does not disconnect me from the Internet but it will tell the other person that I am offline. What do I do?--MJE

MJE,
After extensively researching this issue, I can't for explain why this is happening. However, I do have a good first solution many people don't even consider when AIM or any other IM client or computer program is not working: Registry Cleaning.

Sometimes, after many months or years of use (or abuse!), your PC's registry keys can go missing or even become damaged. These little files are important to the efficiency of your PC applications, including AIM. I'd recommend cleaning your registry with a registry cleaner, then see if that doesn't help eliminate the problem.

--Brandon
im.guide@about.com