AIM

American Indian Movement (AIM)

Civil rights organization founded in 1968, originally to help urban American Indians displaced by government programs. It later broadened its efforts to include demands for economic independence, autonomy over tribal areas, restoration of illegally seized lands, and protection of Indian legal rights and traditional culture. Some of its protest activities involved violence and were highly publicized (see Wounded Knee). Internal strife and the imprisonment of some leaders led to the disbanding of its national leadership in 1978, though local groups have continued to function.

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AIM

(1) (AOL Instant Messenger) America Online's instant messaging service, which supports text chat, photo sharing, online gaming and PC to PC voice. An AIM list of Instant Messenger contacts is called a "Buddy List." See instant messaging.

(2) (Application Integration Middleware) An umbrella term for middleware software that ties applications together. See application integration, middleware and PPMW.

(3) (Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility, Warrendale, PA, www.aimglobal.org) The trade association for the automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) industry. Established in 1982 as a product division of the Material Handling Institute (MHI), AIM is involved in setting standards for bar codes, magnetic stripes and RFID technology. See also AIIM.

(4) (Apple/IBM/Motorola) The alliance of Apple, IBM and Motorola, which developed the PowerPC chip and formed Taligent, Kaleida, etc. See Apple-IBM alliance.