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 Penguin MSN updated for MSN Messenger 7 BETA Build 0332
Penguin MSN updated for MSN Messenger 7 BETA Build 0332

dwergs says ( 30 Oct 2004 ):

 

penguin msn messenger 7 skinPenguin MSN is our first of many MSN Messenger 7 skins to come! Rolando has updated it for build 0332 this afternoon, and the penguin has received a refreshed 'glossy' treatment.

Some changes in the installer as well, which now gives you the option to download our top-rated Mess Patch (for 7.0.0332 of course!).

>> Download Penguin MSN Messenger 7 Skin v7.0.0332.

[Reported by: Rolando & XeroCool]



 Is everything cool? Alright. What happened?
Is everything cool? Alright. What happened?

dwergs says ( 30 Oct 2004 ):

 

msn messenger downtimeLater than expected, at around 6:45 AM CET, most of us still connected to Messenger will have received a message that they were going to get signed off "for 15 minutes" (I got two of them). That's all part of the scheduled downtime we told you about in yesterday's news. If you try to sign into .NET Messenger Service you will receive error code 80072efd.

Apparently, and according to reports from messers like Rumple from Australia, it affects not only the aforementioned countries specifically, but it's a worldwide occurrence (unlike some previous downtimes). This downtime will last a total of four to five hours. In the meantime, don't you have some pumpkin carving to do?

UPDATE: I successfully signed in again at 9:50 AM CET.



 Added: Mess Patch 7.0.0332
Added: Mess Patch 7.0.0332

dwergs says ( 30 Oct 2004 ):

 

The ultimate, all-round Messenger patch is now available for the fresh MSN Messenger 7.0.0332 BETA. What settings will it mess with, you ask?

- Enable polygamy (multiple MSN Messenger clients at once);
- Install custom MSN games from games.mess.be;
- Remove the (BETA) tag;
- Enable multiline nicknames;
- Remove Add Contact label;
- Remove MSN Search bar;
- Remove banner ad;
- Show Enable/Disable Tabs checkbox in Options;
- Remove MSN Today button;
- Fix nickname length;
- NEW: Add more Display Picture view sizes;
- NEW: Select sign-in status from system tray.

This patch was made by Rolando in cooperation with theunknown, Koen, TheBlasphemer & Windows X.

>> Download Mess Patch 7.0.0332.



 More countries confirmed for scheduled MSN Messenger downtime
More countries confirmed for scheduled MSN Messenger downtime

dwergs says ( 29 Oct 2004 ):

 

msn messenger downtimeEarlier today we reported about the planned downtime of the .NET Messenger Services tomorrow (Saturday, 30th of October) between 5 and 9 o' clock in the morning (Central European Time). We have just got word Messenger users from The Netherlands, Spain, Finland and Italy will be included in this maintenance task as well, confirming more and more our basic assumption that this will be a general (European) downtime of 4 hours.

Scheduled .NET Messenger Service Downtime:
Sat. 30th of Oct. 2004 between 5-9 AM CET [6-10 AM for Finland].
or Fri. 29th between 8 PM-Midnight PST.

Confirmed for (UPDATED):
France, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Italy and The Netherlands. Added: Spain.

msn messenger downtimeUPDATE: MSN wishes to apologize for any inconvenience caused by the unavailability of their services in several countries. They would also like to add there's a possibility that these operations exceed the suggested ending time up to one hour (or even more).

We will update this post as soon as we receive new information. For now, be prepared to "live outside the box" on Saturday morning ;)



 New: Encyclopedia of Funny Nick Name Meanings
<b>New</b>: Encyclopedia of Funny Nick Name Meanings

dwergs says ( 29 Oct 2004 ):

 

You are given a first name by your parents. A last name is even FORCED upon you by your ancestors. Some of you are given a nickname by friends or ennemies, others stick with the online name they chose as their screen name or for their Hotmail account. And then there are those crazy enough to read Mess.be's tips for MSN Names or use one of our weird Name Generators.

But one day, you wonder: "What the #!@£ is the meaning of my name?" That's where we step in. With the help of John, we spent the last six years compiling an extensive encyclopedia of name meanings, comprising billions of pages already. We will define your first or last name or your (forum) nickname as good as possible, giving you one trait at a time (search another if you're not satisfied). And let the results inspire you for your current MSN screen name.

>> Look for your name in Mess.be's Encyclopedia of Funny Nick Name Meanings.



 Gimme my megabytes: the Hotmail Inbox saga
Gimme my megabytes: the Hotmail Inbox saga

dwergs says ( 29 Oct 2004 ):

 

Microsoft is being slow to deliver the free 250MB mail storage it promised by the end of the September. Like Skeletor and winz who reported an upgrade of their Hotmail accounts, many of you are already enjoying a more spacious inbox. Some poor guys even got their 250MB accounts and Microsoft took it away from them and downgraded them to 2MB without any explanation, reports The Inquirer. But the bottom line appears to be that if you haven’t got your 250MB already (like most of my personal contacts), Microsoft will surprise you one day sooner or later and give you the extra. When? No one appears to be able to say.

[Reported by: Xero_Cool] [Source: The Inquirer]



 Planned downtime for .NET Messenger Service
Planned downtime for .NET Messenger Service

dwergs says ( 29 Oct 2004 ):

 

MSN Germany, MSN France and MSN Belgium are informing their visitors of a planned downtime of the .NET Messenger Service. Because of necessary maintenance, you won't be able to sign in to MSN Messenger, Windows Messenger and Web Messenger on:

Saturday, October 30th, from 5 AM until 9 AM CET.

This is Central European Time and we presume that this maintenance only affects European users of the .NET Messenger Service. But just in case, that time period corresponds to:
- Friday, 10 PM - Saturday, 2 AM CST (US Central Time);
- Friday, 8 PM - Saturday, Midnight PST (US Pacific Time);
- Friday, 11 PM - Saturday, 3 AM EST (Eastern Europe Time).

[Source: MSN Belgium: Status Info]



 Even more about the MSN Messenger 7.0.0332 BETA build
Even more about the MSN Messenger 7.0.0332 BETA build

dwergs says ( 28 Oct 2004 ):

 

In addition to the changes in MSN Messenger 7 BETA build 0332 reported below, we'd also like to point out the following:

- If you send more than 5 custom emoticons at once (in a single message) they WILL be sent (in contrast to previous versions where you get a dialog window) but the other end will just see the keyboard codes for all of them.

- If you're a Beta tester and thought you were downloading build 0332 but ended up with 0225 again, you'll have to be patient. Microsoft's download servers have not replicated the refreshed MSN Messenger 7 across all the mirrors yet.

- UPDATE: Timothy, cm_mc and Daimaah announced the return of lvback.gif as the background of your contact list window!

- UPDATE: Some cosmetic fixes were reported by Mike Fairbrother. Your contact's status and yours now appear correctly in the conversation window, on separate lines. The Birthday Cake emoticon doesn't look messy anymore. The contact list no longer fades randomly. And finally, there was an error when you double-clicked a contact to send a
message, it would drop down a page: this has been fixed as well.

- UPDATE: Your custom animated emoticons will finally loop indefinitely, reports c0nd0r.

Seem like the MSN Messenger BETA Chat last week is showing us rewarding results! Good work, Jon, Nicole, Roger, Sangeeta, David and all the others on the MSN Messenger team! :)



 Added: Martini's Patch for 7.0.0332
Added: Martini's Patch for 7.0.0332

dwergs says ( 28 Oct 2004 ):

 

Enable polygamy (let's you run multiple MSN Messengers), disable Tabs and Nudges and remove the (BETA) tag, all at once with Mess.be forum member Martini's patch for MSN Messenger 7.0.0332 BETA.

>> Download Martini's Patch for MSN Messenger 7.0.0332.



 Sudden common complications with the new MSNM7 BETA build
Sudden common complications with the new MSNM7 BETA build

dwergs says ( 28 Oct 2004 ):

 

Made available to testers only half a day ago, I have already received several similar questions regarding the new MSN Messenger 7 Beta build, about two issues actually not directly related to it:

- When installing over MSN Messenger 6.2.0137 - Windows X Edition, along the process it brings up the Windows X setup again which apparently you can not easily exit. You'll have to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and terminate the MSN Messenger 6.2 process to be able to continue the new installation.

- If you're experiencing problems receiving files make sure no external program, like Norton Internet Security, is blocking msnmsgr.exe.



 More changes discovered in MSN Messenger 7.0.0332 BETA Build
More changes discovered in MSN Messenger 7.0.0332 BETA Build

dwergs says ( 28 Oct 2004 ):

 

After giving the new 322 beta build of MSN Messenger a go, we discovered some additional changes to the ones reported by Microsoft (and mentioned below):

- Handwriting, also known as ink messaging, seems to be enabled by default now without the need of any plugins. All you need are the ink redistributables to send ink messages (they also come with, for instance, AutoPatcher). Take a look at our screenshot. Sometimes sending an ink message returns: "Your ink message could not be delivered to all recipients." We're figuring out why this occurs.

- As you can see in the same screenshot, the Nudge icon has changed from green to yellow. The sound (which you can listen to here) has become less annoying and 'alarming'.

- UPDATED: The status icons in the dropdown menu are now fixed and there's a new Web Messenger contact list icon.

- UPDATE: Download Packs icon was replaced with the well-known gift emoticon (gift emoticon for download packs). The option does not appear at all in regions where the BlueMountain service is not available (eg. Europe).

- UPDATE: Activities and Games pulldown menus now show (screenshot) in more regions than before. But not, as reported previously, everywhere yet, because according to A. Madsen they are still "temporarily unavailable" in for instance Denmark.

- UPDATE: Nothing escapes Timothy's eagle eye: the Winks button -although still greyed out and thus unavailable- is slightly different (screenshot).

- UPDATE: If a contact's MSN Display Picture was stored on your system during an earlier chat, it will also appear in the New e-mail message toast when you receive his or her e-mails (screenshot).

- UPDATE: A. Madsen reported that the "Restore Normal" button was removed from Options > Tabs. He also noticed GUI changes in general.



 Added: Patch! for MSN Messenger 7.0.0332
Added: Patch! for MSN Messenger 7.0.0332

dwergs says ( 28 Oct 2004 ):

 

If you're among the lucky "few" owning the latest beta build (332) of MSN Messenger released earlier today, you might be interested in the cosmetic Patch! by Daniel. It lets you choose what you want to remove: the MSN Today button, the Search bar, the advertisement, the actions pane and the (BETA) tag. All resulting in a cleaner contact list window.

>> Download Patch! for MSN Messenger 7.0.332.



 MSN Messenger 7.0.0332 Beta Refresh
MSN Messenger 7.0.0332 Beta Refresh

dwergs says ( 28 Oct 2004 ):

 

Microsoft has released MSN Messenger 7 BETA build 332 to testers on Beta Place today. Top fixes in this version:

- Contact list spacing issues (used to occur when a contact had a long display name or an emoticon in it);

- Right-clicking Get this emoticon on a Premium (i.e. Blue Mountain®) emoticon would crash;

- Spelling correction: "sent" vs. "send" when sending a nudge to an older client;

- Pinned emoticons now shows 60/60;

- Crying face emoticon :'( and disappointed emoticon now appear differently in the emoticon dropdown menu;

- Close and Minimize buttons are hidden only at the smallest width of the main window when in frameless mode.

More info and patches will be posted throughout the day. The client itself has not been made public.

[Reported by: Ben] [Source: Beta Place (e-mail)]



 FAQ: How can I organize polls with Spleak?
FAQ: How can I organize polls with Spleak?

dwergs says ( 27 Oct 2004 ):

 

Many of you have tried to create a poll using Spleak (just tell her you want to "create a poll") but got stuck in the process when she asks to send a certain text to your friends over MSN Messenger. That's why I added a quick and probably temporary solution on how to successfully poll your friends using Spleak.

>> Download Spleak 0.80.22 BETA.



 Added: More Britney and new Orlando MSN Display Pictures
Added: More Britney and new Orlando MSN Display Pictures

dwergs says ( 27 Oct 2004 ):

 

britney spears msn display picturesAgain, an MSN Display Picture update with one for the guys and another for the girls. Today's "couple" is Britney Spears (with a few dozens of new display pics) and Orlando Bloom (who earned his own category). All images were uploaded by lpchick as a contribution to our 2nd MSN Display Picture Competition.

>> Browse 476 Britney Spears MSN Display Pictures.

>> Browse 131 Orlando Bloom MSN Display Pictures.



 Reminder: Link to Mess.be and Win!
Reminder: Link to Mess.be and Win!

dwergs says ( 27 Oct 2004 ):

 

After the success of our link competitions we decided to continue with a third edition.

sonic the hedgehog msn display picturesIf you link to Mess.be according to our guidelines and then register your site with us you get a chance to win a Firebox gadget like the Sega Mega Drive 6-in-1 Plug 'n' Play (or a similar prize of your choice).

Want some examples of how to do it right? Then pay a visit to the following sites of some fine Messers: Notes from the 'Wood, El Mensa and Just a GURL. If you link to us, your site gets listed under our Recommend Clicks on the homepage or maybe even in the news, like these!

>> Put our linking code on your page and register (only needed once).

>> Browse 49 Sonic The Hedgehog MSN Display Pictures by kamahlitude and others.



 Updated: Gaim, the Pimpin' Penguin IM Client that needs updating
Updated: Gaim, the Pimpin' Penguin IM Client that needs updating

dwergs says ( 26 Oct 2004 ):

 

An extra-spooky Gaim 1.0.2 was released a bit early in response to some just discovered spooky security vulnerabilities: MSN SLP buffer overflow, MSN SLP DOS (malloc error) and MSN File transfer DOS (malloc error).

This is a very important update especially for those benefiting from its MSN Messenger compatibility:

gaim for msn messenger- MSN file transfers now work on big endian machines;
- Fixed the MSN signon crash with Miranda users in the buddy list;
- Fixed sending messages to MSN Web Messenger users;
- Fixed some memory leaks in the MSN plugin;
- Fixed a crash viewing certain MSN user profiles;
- Fixed a crash sending a file on MSN when the file is unreadable;
- Can now see your own MSN buddy icon

>> Download Gaim v1.0.2.



 Added: Laura Prepon MSN Display Pictures
Added: Laura Prepon MSN Display Pictures

dwergs says ( 26 Oct 2004 ):

 

celebrity msn display picturespHr0sTbYt3 is being very active in our MSN Display Picture Competition and uploaded a set of That 70's Show's Laura Prepon DP's. The (somewhat) magic number of twenty thousand FREE MSN Display Pictures is approaching very fast now...

>> Browse 21 Laura Prepon MSN Display Pictures.



 Give it a go in the Avatar Studio
Give it a go in the Avatar Studio

Pure_BY says ( 25 Oct 2004 ):

 

Using the web-based avatar studio you can create your very own personalized display picture. You can choose from over hundreds of parts or you can use Scito's complete display picture archive to start from. It is free and online, but there is one little downside: it is Dutch. So dutch people and polyglots, hurry up and get your ass down to Scito's avatar studio!



 Winning with MSN Messenger
Winning with MSN Messenger

dwergs says ( 25 Oct 2004 ):

 

Inviting friends to join you on MSN Messenger is always worth doing, but now it's even more rewarding for messers from the United Kingdom and Australia.

happy, makes you happy, baby!For those 18 and older from the UK, there's a Media Centre PC or a year's subscription to MSN DVD Rental at stake if you invite your friends to use MSN Messenger before November 23rd.

Secondly, the Messenger Trip of a Lifetime competition is only open to residents from Australia until November 12th, and the prize is huge: $30,000 worth of travel and cash. All you have to do is go here and register for the compo. You can also get your hands on Creative WebCam NX Pros and La Premiere Hoyts Movie passes for telling friends about your favorite Instant Messaging software.

And Mess.be's own MSN Display Picture competition is of course open to all of our visitors worldwide...

[Reported by: saralk & Timmy]



 Added: Ashlee Simpson Owned Display Pictures
Added: Ashlee Simpson Owned Display Pictures

dwergs says ( 25 Oct 2004 ):

 

ashlee simpson snl saturday night liveIt seems to be the talk of the day: pop-singer Ashlee Simpson got royally owned during her "live" performance on Saturday Night Live. You can find more information and footage in my personal blog, but to strike while the iron is hot I have uploaded four MSN Display Pictures dedicated to the lip-sync debacle.

>> You got owned, Ash!.
>> I thought I'd do a little hoe-down.
>> Family secret revealed.
>> Stupid band!

Ashlee fans with the urge to defend their idol in these embarrasing times, can pick one out of 168 Ashlee Simpson MSN Display Pictures. And we also have 43 Saturday Night Live MSN Display Pictures for you.



 Updated: MessengerDiscovery 2.6.1
Updated: MessengerDiscovery 2.6.1

dwergs says ( 24 Oct 2004 ):

 

messenger discoveryMessengerDiscovery by effekt was updated to version 2.6.1, which is pretty much a slew of bug fixes. It is not compatible with MSN Messenger 7 yet but this is planned for version 3 in February 2005, which effekt promises "be an awesome release with some really neat new features."

Some key features of the current MessengerDiscovery addon include signing in with any status (just like MSN Messenger 7 but then in 6.x), detect contacts closing and opening conversations, rich message logging, talk invisibly to contacts, control the "user is typing" message and a whole lot more.

effekt has also released parts of the source code which may be of interest to MSN Messenger addon developers. You can find it on the MessengerDiscovery homepage.

>> Download MessengerDiscovery v2.6.1.



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