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 About the annoying custom emoticon bug in 9.0 Beta
About the annoying custom emoticon bug in 9.0 Beta

dwergs says ( 19 Sep 2008 ):

 

Everybody and their talking parrot is reporting the custom emoticon bug in this week's Windows Live Messenger 9.0 Beta. I could go on and repeat that betas "are pre-released versions of software" and that "you may experience problems", but everybody and their talking parrot already knows that.

So yeah, one of the disadvantages of using this fresh beta-build is that you cannot see some of your own custom emoticons. You can send them alright and your buddy will see them at the other end, but you might not even notice you sent one.

Possible scenarios:
- If you enter the keyboard shortcut for a custom emoticon, you will not (always) see a preview in the text input area until you hit space and/or type a letter afterwards.
- The preview will appear properly if you click on a custom emoticon from your pop-up list of emoticons. But...
- If you send a custom emoticon, it will not (always) appear in your conversation window, but it will in your buddy's.

While this happens to most custom emoticons some are spared the bug, like my "smoking squirrel with a bowhat" emoticon for instance. If we find out why this is the case, maybe we can find a workaround. But for now you and your talking parrot will have to cope with it!

PS: It's Talk Like a Pirate Day (see below), hence the parrot.

UPDATE: Messer scrtmssgs reports that emoticons listed first in your custom emoticon panel are more likely to show properly than those that follow after. Also, the required number of characters needed to make a custom emoticon appear seems to increase the later it is listed.



 Talk Like a Pirate Day '08: Show some pirattitude on Messenger
Talk Like a Pirate Day '08: Show some pirattitude on Messenger

dwergs says ( 19 Sep 2008 ):

 

Ahoy shipmates and shark baits! For the fifth spin of the world in a row, we Messers are gobbling up our grogs in honourrrrr... of Talk Like a Pirate Day! This one day, the 19th September of each year, every sea dog and landlubber in the world HAS to talk like a pirate. Other days, it's allowed, but often frowned upon. At work, school, the sandwich bar and, of course, on Messenger too!

How, you wonder? First, you need a fitting name for the occasion.
pirate msn emoticons >> Make your pick: male pirate names or female pirate names.
UPDATE: Great to see people using our pirate name generator beyond Messenger, like this bunch at the Army Management Staff College (read this post).

Next step: forget all the usual chat lingo because today there are different rules:

ASAP = Another squid, another pirate (Neither party can win yet they still fight on).
CMCB = Cry more, cabin boy (Keep whining).
EMPL = Eat my peg leg (I don't care).
KH'd = Keel hauled (You got punk'd)
LTC = Load the cannon (I'm ready for some action!)
POE = Pieces of eight (Money, bling)
YHHABOR = Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum (Use when you don't know how to respond).
pirate emoticons >> Find more acronyms to chat like a pirate here.

If you have a headset, a microphone or webcam with a built-in mic, you can send Voice clips to your mateys using the pirate glossary. Every "you" becomes "ye", my/mine becomes "me" and insert the obligatory "ahoy" and "arrrrr!" anywhere you can. Other favorites of mine:

Avast! = Hey or stop that.
Fair winds or "Godspeed! = Goodbye and good luck!
Getting me grub = I'm out for some food.
Splice the mainbrace = To have a drink (or two... or ten).
Ye scurvy dog! = You idiot.
Smartly = Hurry up!
pirate msn emoticons >> Learn more pirate words over here.

Can't record your voice? Then make your emoticons talk like pirates.
pirate emoticons >> Create speech bubbles for your emoticons.

And finally, some free Windows Live Messenger content:
pirate emoticons >> Kiwee's got Pirate Flag emoticons, a Ninja vs Pirate Dynamic Display Picture and one Pirate Monkey Wink. All free!
pirate msn emoticons >> Use one of the Pirates of the Carribean display pics.
pirate emoticons >> Visit the official Talk like a pirate website.



 MessPatch Light: renovated, integrated, and updated
MessPatch Light: renovated, integrated, and updated

Rolando says ( 18 Sep 2008 ):

 

Itching to tweak the new Windows Live Messenger 9 Beta? Your prayers have been answered! While Mess Patch is still being cooked up, MessPatch Light is ready for serving.

After almost a year of no updates, you can now get back in action with the new MessPatch Light: integrated into the website (for all of you popuphobic messers) and updated to work with the new beta (build 14.0.5027.908) released just a couple of days ago.

So what's new you ask?
- Updated to work with Windows Live Messenger 14.0.5027.908.
- Added "Remove partner links" option for versions 8.5.x and 9.0.x.
- Fixed "Disable Windows Live Spaces Integration" for all versions.

Big daddy Mess Patch is being impeded by some restrictions introduced in the new release, meanwhile you can get your patch on with the new MessPatch Light (also known as messy-poo;))

PS: As a side effect of the aforementioned "restrictions", MessPatch Light will not remove the advertisement banner from the contact list. The text advertisement in the conversation windows however, is unaffected.

>> Fire up MessPatch Light (or try the link on the left panel).

>> Feel free to share your comments and suggestions in our Mess Patch forum.



 New version of Windows Live Messenger Library released
New version of Windows Live Messenger Library released

Inky says ( 18 Sep 2008 ):

 

In the midst of the release of the Wave 3 BETA products for Windows Live, the Windows Live Contacts and Messenger Platform team managed to sneak in a new release of their Windows Live Messenger Library as well. The library, which is free for anyone to use, allows web-developers to add instant messaging functionality to their websites.

Version 2.5 fixes and improves many aspects of the library, such as:


  • Firefox 3 is now an officially supported browser

  • Easier access to the presence and display names of contacts

  • The ability to read and edit nicknames for contacts

  • Access to the name of endpoints

  • Reliably showing and hiding the sign in control without breaking the "channel"

The new version is still backwards compatible with 2.0, and can be used by simply updating the URL of the library to "http://www.wlmessenger.net/api/2.5/messenger.js". Unfortunately at this point no Script# assemblies have been released (we'll let you know when they are!).

>> What's new in the Windows Live Messenger Library (MSDN)



 Download Windows Live Wave 3 Beta Installer in your language (UPDATED)
Download Windows Live Wave 3 Beta Installer in your language (UPDATED)

dwergs says ( 17 Sep 2008 ):

 

Here are the download links for the Wave 3 Beta installer in all available languages (sorted alphabetically). The small version is just 1 MB and downloads only the software you select to install. The full installer is over 130 MB and already includes all installable software. Download the small version if you're just going to install the Windows Live Messenger 9 Beta in your favourite language.

>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Arabic (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Arabic (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Bulgarian (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Bulgarian (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Simplified Chinese (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Simplified Chinese (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Traditional Chinese (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Traditional Chinese (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Croatian (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Croatian (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Czech (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Czech (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Danish (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Danish (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Dutch (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Dutch (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - English (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - English (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Estonian (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Estonian (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Finnish (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Finnish (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - French (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - French (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - German (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - German (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Greek (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Greek (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Hungarian (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Hungarian (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Italian (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Italian (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Japanese (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Japanese (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Korean (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Korean (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Latvian (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Latvian (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Lithuanian (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Lithuanian (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Norwegian (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Norwegian (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Polish (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Polish (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Portuguese (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Portuguese (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Brazilian Portuguese (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Brazilian Portuguese (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Romanian (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Romanian (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Russian (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Russian (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Slovak (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Slovak (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Slovenian (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Slovenian (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Spanish (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Spanish (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Swedish (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Swedish (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Thai (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Thai (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Turkish (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Turkish (full)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Ukranian (small)
>> Download Windows Live Wave 3 Installer - Ukranian (full)

We'll add more localised download links once they go online. UPDATE: Added 17 extra languages. UPDATE #2: Added three more (thanks Maikel).



 What's new in today's new Windows Live Messenger 9 Beta?
What's new in today's new Windows Live Messenger 9 Beta?

dwergs says ( 17 Sep 2008 ):

 

Here's an ongoing list of changes and new bits in the new Windows Live Messenger 9 Beta (14.0.5027.908) that went live today (see post below):

- Changes we mentioned before when the first screenshots appeared: change your dashboard background ("scenes"), big inbox icon to the right, Personal Status Message separated from "music you're currently listening to", colored display picture frames to show current status, new buddy list icons, What's new feed and relocated promotional tabs.
- Favorites and Groups features, left-aligned display pictures in the convo window, added Segoe UI font... All as previously discussed here.

New discoveries:

- Hover-over contact options menu (Send an IM, send an e-mail, etc.)
- New Layout tab in Tools > Options allows you to customize the appearance of your contact list window (screenshot).
- New (softer) sounds for contact signing in, new e-mail, incoming/outgoing voice or video call, new Windows Live Alert and nudge.
- System sounds now have the same editor as signature sounds.
- Links in display names are not clickable. Those in PSMs are.
- Say goodbye to "Out to lunch", "In a call" and "Be right back". The Messenger statuses are now limited to "Available", "Away", "Busy" or "Appear offline".
- New "What I'm listening to" icon.
- Chat history button added to conversation window.
- Sharing folders feature makes room for Windows Live Skydrive: Click Files > Publish files online in the conversation windows. NOTE: Clicking "View your online files" in the hover menu on your own Display Picture opens a faulty link (skydrive.live-int.com instead of skydrive.live.com)
- New Display Picture options for webcam owners: Webcam snapshots and Tile with moods.
- Clicking your Display Picture in the main window allows you to change your Display Picture again (in 8.5 this just showed your contact card).
- Word wheel now offers Search for profiles and Live Search options.
- Invites you to add MessengerTV@live.com, the Messenger TV bot, to your contact list This seems to have happened only to me.

(...this list is being updated...)

>> Download the latest Windows Live Messenger 9.0 Beta via the Windows Live Installer.



 Download the new official Windows Live Messenger 9 Beta
Download the new official Windows Live Messenger 9 Beta

dwergs says ( 17 Sep 2008 ):

 

windows live messenger 9 wave 3 betaThe new Windows Live Messenger 2009 Beta is here! You can officially download it through the Windows Live installer linked below (thanks LiveSide). Uncheck "Set your search provider" and "Set your homepage" options at the end of the setup if you don't want to mess with your current Internet Explorer settings. More details as we find out.

>> Download the Windows Live Wave 3 Installer.

>> View Windows Live Installer - Messenger screenshot.



 Steal display pictures and emoticons with updated WLM Ripper
Steal display pictures and emoticons with updated WLM Ripper

dwergs says ( 16 Sep 2008 ):

 

A few weeks ago I installed the two year old WLM Ripper again to verify its compatibility with recent Windows Live Messenger versions. As I expected, it still worked properly. But when I reminded Huuf of his application, he went straight into action and rebuilt it. As a result, WLM Ripper v3 looks a bit better and is now faster and more stable than before.

For recent Messers and those not familiar with WLM Ripper yet, it's a handy tool that sits in your system tray and stores ("steals" or "rips") your contacts' custom Messenger content (i.e. display pictures, custom emoticons, dynamic display pictures, voice clips and contact card backgrounds) to a folder of your choice. New in this version is the history log which shows the four most recently ripped items.

WLM Ripper is a bit like a "big brother" on Messenger in the George Orwell meaning of the term. It's able to spot and save -sometimes surprising- display pictures that you hadn't seen before, so check out that ripped content folder every once in a while for a good laugh.

>> Download WLM Ripper v3.



 Fifty words per minute would entail mobile IM boost
Fifty words per minute would entail mobile IM boost

dwergs says ( 15 Sep 2008 ):

 

With mobile phone operators around the world continually launching Windows Live Messenger-compatible services for their customers, the odds are that you'll have at least tried a mobile Messenger client by now. And admit it, it works, but you're not discussing last night's party or next week's history exam at length. Even with touch screen devices like the iPhone and the HTC Touch, text input is still too uncomfortable to use well-turned sentences.

swype - infinitySwype could change all that and dramatically increase usability of touch screen devices for communication beyond 160 characters, such as instant messages and e-mails. Created by the co-inventor of the standardized T9 predictive text entry system, the gesture-based Swype technique allows you to "connect letters on a touch-screen keyboard by making squiggles between them using your finger or a stylus". The developers promise a low learning curve of 60-seconds to get started, and 40-50 words per minute within a few days of use. The demo at TC50 enforces these claims and the way creator Cliff Kushler entered the word "infinity" was just brilliant. Like their CEO says, Swype could very well be "coming to a screen near you" soon.

>> More information at the Swype homepage.

>> Watch the Swype presentation at last week's TechCrunch 50 event.



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