The quite famous and well reviewed internet web browser, Opera is currently giving away registration codes as part of their ten year anniversary.
You can get your registration code here.

Google have entered the online chat game, with a new client that includes text base and voip chat. As is the way with google at the moment, the application only supports Windows OS.
Google Talk is based on Jabber, so anybody with an appropriate client, like me (I use adium), can connect to the jabber server (talk.google.com) and authenticate with your gmail details.

Isn’t it funny the things that some companies will try and cover up. It is such a shame that honesty is such a hated thing in business. It is difficult for staff to work out what they should allow the business to cover up and when they should make some noise.