fascinating. I was thinking of the reverse. If the arduino was to send data to the serial port, the arduino+pidgen would send it out the IM client.
That would allow someone on the IM channel to see arduino output. For example, I could monitor my arduino with my PDA while in another city.
For completeness, if the channel has data starting with "/", send that data to the arduino. That means normal messages do not go to the arduino but /A would send an "A" to the arduino. /? could send the status of the pins... etc.
It would give you truly remote monitoring in a safe way if pidgen only responded to your buddy lists.
ps: nice work
That would make an interesting remote control for the arduino.