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 Mess.be proudly presents: MessPatch Light Beta
Mess.be proudly presents: <b>MessPatch Light Beta</b>

dwergs says ( 16 Aug 2007 ):

 

It is with great pleasure and pride that we announce today the birth of MessPatch Light (Beta), little brother to the almost 3-year old Mess Patch!

Like the name suggests, MessPatch Light is a light weight version of our reputable Messenger toolkit with the big difference that it's completely web-based. This means that from any location and with any browser (IE, Firefox, Opera) you can now mod any currently active Messenger version (from 7.5 to 8.5, including skinned versions!) without having to download the patch. MessPatch Light is certainly not a replacement for the 80+ feature-laden Mess Patch, but the current beta already offers six options including crowd favorite "polygamy" (sign in with multiple accounts at once). Perfect to patch your girlfriend's, mom's or whoever's Messenger on the fly. Quick. Basic. Universal!

You'll have to accept the digitally signed security certificate the first time you access it, but rest assured that MessPatch Light is 100% safe and will not harm your computer in any way (it even creates backups of Messenger's original files before patching). And since it's java-based, it requires the common Java Runtime Environment (JRE) which you can download here in case it hasn't yet been installed. Check out the F.A.Q. tab should you have any questions.

Patching MSN/Windows Live Messenger has never been easier, really. Here's what the little fella is capable of so far:
- Enable polygamy
- Remove extra menus
- Remove advertisements
- Remove "Featured" content
- Remove Windows Live Search
- Disable Windows Live Spaces

>> Click the button in our left-hand menu to load MessPatch Light (hold Ctrl and hit F5 if you don't see it).

>> Share your thoughts on MessPatch Light in this topic.

>> Download Mess Patch for 8.1.0178.

>> Download Mess Patch for 8.5 Beta.

Tons of kudos to Rolando for developing this gem!



 IM'ing your DVD player while friends are watching
IM'ing your DVD player while friends are watching

dwergs says ( 16 Aug 2007 ):

 

From the many Q&A's we've had with the Windows Live Messenger team in the past, if something we have learned that they never EVER reveal future features. SiliconRepublic, however, dug up a public patent filed by Microsoft last month, which reveals some of their plans for the rather distant future.

Apparently they're considering expanding their IM service from a system where you talk to buddies, into a framework that allows you to communicate (via text and speech) with remote devices as well, like for example your DVD player, TV, or Xbox 360. Your usage of these devices can then be tracked by friends or the system itself, which will try to map and profile your viewing tastes. In short, they're designing a chat service, networking portal and media player all in one.

"A user may be at work and realize that a particular program of interest is going to be broadcast while they are still at work. In this case, the user can access their instant messaging application and click on the TVBuddy icon to open a conversation window with the bot," explains Anthony Bristol, patent applicant on behalf of Microsoft. "Once opened, the user can use the conversation window to remotely make their programming/recording selection."

>> Read more at SiliconRepublic.com.

>> Check out the patent yourself here.



 Adium v1.1.1 doesn't crash
Adium v1.1.1 doesn't crash

dwergs says ( 15 Aug 2007 ):

 

For those like Shoop who saw the just released Adium 1.1 crashing on launch, there's a new build out (v1.1.1). Full details on why it kept crashing can be found on the Adium blog.

>> Download Adium v1.1.1 (Mac only).

>> If you're on OS X 10.3.9, you need Adium v1.0.6.

[Reported by: Ancyru]



 A day in the life of Jhonny Green, the Messenger buddy
A day in the life of Jhonny Green, the Messenger buddy

dwergs says ( 14 Aug 2007 ):

 

Jhonny Green is the (oddly spelled) nickname for the faceless Messenger mascot as given by Italian website Chariots of Fire. It's also the leading character in a video that they uploaded to YouTube yesterday, in which Jhonny is being impersonated by... a HUMAN being with a costume possibly even more ridiculous than that of an Oompa Loompa.

The short movie shows a typical day in the life of Jhonny, complete with status changes, nudge spamming, IM flooding, contact blocking, add requests, file transfers, etc. See if you can identify personal status messages and appearing offline?

Eventually Jhonny signs out, not after being sent a virus, but just because he ends up in a way too crowded group conversation.

>> Watch Jhonny Green in MSN Messenger (YouTube)



 Microsoft officially comments on .info block, fine-tunes filter
Microsoft officially comments on .info block, fine-tunes filter

dwergs says ( 13 Aug 2007 ):

 

Upon request we have received official communication from Microsoft on the *.info filtering that has been going on in the background for a few weeks:

"In order to prevent the spread of a malicious advertising effort that included Windows Live Messenger accounts as targets, Microsoft took steps to block instant messages that include the words ".info" and a few additional key words to protect our customers. The targeted accounts were sent either info or another URL, which led to a website asking them to provide their Windows Live user id and password. If the customer provided that information, the user’s complete contact list also received a message with the domain site link. This was not a Microsoft sponsored effort, and in order to prevent the spread of it through our service, instant messages that include the words ".info" and a few additional key words have been blocked. This action may block some safe, reputable sites and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause our customers, however, given the circumstances this action was necessary. In an effort to remedy this moving forward, Microsoft continues to investigate other ways to protect our consumers from this threat.

Microsoft recommends that Windows Live Messenger users do not provide their account information to third-party sites. To learn more about how to recognize a social engineering threat, more information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/email/socialengineering.mspx. In addition, Microsoft continues to encourage people to follow the "Protect Your Computer" guidance of enabling a firewall, applying all software updates and installing anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Additional information can be found at www.microsoft.com/protect.
"

Nothing new here, but our upset reaction to what could be considered as censorship appears to have come across. While writing this, I noticed that they have weakened the filter to some extent:

1) You can now send .info if it's not part of an URL.

2) You can send www.* hyperlinks to domains that start with info (with possibly a few exceptions), eg. www.infosyncworld.com and www.informationweek.com.

3) If you send a blacklisted string, you'll get an error message informing you that "The following message could not be delivered to all recipients". Unfortunately, this notification appears rather randomly and not on every single filtering occasion.

We're glad with the changes so far and will keep you posted on further progress in this matter. We'd also like to suggest that everyone confronted with phishing and SPIM through Windows Live Messenger reports their encounter as quickly and as detailed as possible through this form, so Microsoft can fine-tune their filters more directly.

[Digg me, please!]



 Updated: Adium 1.1 for Mac
Updated: Adium 1.1 for Mac

dwergs says ( 13 Aug 2007 ):

 

Although it has only been a month since the previous Adium release, v1.1 has been in the making for much longer. Hence the many improvements in this version of the multi-protocol Mac client. Not only has it been made prettier, smoother and faster, it also features much advanced tab control, support for nudges (oh joy!) and proper right-to-left text handling.

>> Download Adium v1.1 (Mac only).



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