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 Virtual card waiting for you is in fact Messenger worm
Virtual card waiting for you is in fact Messenger worm

dwergs says ( 23 Sep 2006 ):

 

FaceTime Security Labs™ is warning us for a new Windows Live/MSN Messenger worm identified as W32.heartworm.a and propagating itself via an instant message containing the phrase "olha o que eu fiz pra vc....curti ai...[url removed]". The link leads to a Russian-hosted web site that shows a "virtual card waiting for you". When clicked, an image of a heart appears together with a Portuguese poem, but in the background banking and personal data is being stolen.

virus display pictures"The perpetrators have made a calculated move to tie this attack into numerous Web hoaxes, possibly to confuse infected users looking for help online," said Chris Boyd, director of malware research for FaceTime Security Labs. "Not only do they open up an image of a heart from a site dedicated to tackling online hoaxes, they also apparently named the attack after another online hoax - a virtual card for you - that has been in circulation since 2000. In this case, you really do receive a virtual card, but with a nasty additional 'bonus.'"

>> More information on W32.Heartworm.a.

>> A detailed description and screenshots here.

[Source: FaceTime]



 CustoMess appearance on YouTube
CustoMess appearance on YouTube

dwergs says ( 22 Sep 2006 ):

 

Last month after I posted a video featuring Mess Patch, I got an e-mail from Michael telling me about his own video on YouTube demonstrating our CustoMess software. Somehow that Bob Seger soundtrack makes me feel blue but nevertheless it's really great to see a fanvideo like this so, thanks!

free MSN Emoticons in CustoMessIf you have fired up CustoMess lately you might've noticed a slight change in the GUI compared to what you see in the video. That's because Timothy made some minor visual changes. I also added a new keagle13 pack a few weeks ago, but I didn't announce it front page yet because there's still a transparency bug we need to get fixed first.

Anyway, if you uploaded a homemade video related to Mess.be let me know via this form. We'd love to see it!

>> Download CustoMess for Windows Live/MSN Messenger.

>> Share CustoMess with your friends by spreading this link.



 Nintendo DS Messenger client Beup Live goes final
Nintendo DS Messenger client Beup Live goes final

dwergs says ( 22 Sep 2006 ):

 

Beup Live, the third party Messenger client for Nintendo DS we mentioned earlier, has gone final. It comes complete with MSN Display Pictures, emoticons, ink messages, etc. The final 3.0 version adds auto-reconnect and the "Windows Live Messenger look".

>> Download Beup Live v3.0.

>> See it live in action here.



 And my two special edition MSN notepads go to...
And my two special edition MSN notepads go to...

dwergs says ( 21 Sep 2006 ):

 

msn buddy notepadsThank you shawn84, The_Barman, jerone, cunextue, tina_laa, Mynt, CraZy Bob, jonathanyaniv, milne300, combustolux, Rekzai, davidpolitis, olivia12345, kiekopdenvlo, skauwt, DKCoole, markup & keytor69 for participating in the animated emoticons upload contest that ran for the past 7 days. Thanks to you guys (and girls) we now have 646 new animated emoticons for Windows Live/MSN Messenger in our collection. Now the question is: who uploaded most of them and who will receive two MSN Buddy Notepads?



[Obligatory suspense silence in the form of excessive line breaks]



animated msn emoticonsCongratulations The_Barman for uploading 221 animated emoticons!! animated msn emoticons

Because of the success of this short contest and the fact that I found two more unused MSN Buddy notepads on my desk, I'm repeating the contest! So the brief is: upload as many quality, animated emoticons (max. 50x50 pixels) into the most appropriate categories (at LEAST the ones that start with "animated") before the new deadline. Good luck!



 Messenger game to entice players into navy career
Messenger game to entice players into navy career

dwergs says ( 21 Sep 2006 ):

 

The Australian Defence Force itself has created a modern adaptation of the Battleships game which was launched this morning via Windows Live & MSN Messenger. Players of Battleships Extreme are expected to blow up each other's ships using mines, torpedos and guided missiles, but the main aim of the game is to attract young recruits for the Navy's 2000 battleships extreme msn messenger gamejobs on offer.

We learned from the ninemsn website that the two-player Messenger game was in fact inspired by the success of the US game America's Army. "Forty per cent of US Army recruits admitted they'd played the game before signing up." Information about these jobs (including but not limited to Combat Systems Operator, Acoustic Warfare Analyst and Seaman Officer) can be found inside the game (click Intel brief > Crew).

Normally only available to the 4.2 million Messenger users in Australia, Mess.be exclusively offers access to this game to the other 200 million worldwide via our games launcher. There's one nasty bug making one of your ships end up in an explosion loop, but apart from that it's great fun!

>> Launch Battleships Extreme via our MSN/Windows Live Messenger games launcher.

>> Watch the video about the game on the ninemsn Today show (after the ad).



 Auto-update: Windows Live Messenger Beta Build 8.1.0068
Auto-update: Windows Live Messenger Beta Build 8.1.0068

dwergs says ( 21 Sep 2006 ):

 

A mandatory update of the Windows Live Messenger 8.1 Beta is being sent out to testers via auto-update. Version 8.1.0068 is identical to 0066 so expect the same features and the same bugs. Is this a move to shake off all unauthorized users?

NOTE: In order to auto-update using Vista, make sure Messenger is running admin mode by right-clicking the msnmsgr.exe file and select 'Run as administrator'. There's also still a conflict between Messenger and Shockwave on Vista which makes the software crash.

[Reported by: Tutsumi, kingofchaos6669, Matty, Stephen Ophof & Youngy]



 Messenger for Mac 6 almost there, without voice & video
Messenger for Mac 6 almost there, without voice & video

dwergs says ( 20 Sep 2006 ):

 

Microsoft Messenger for Mac 6.0 is going to be released in the next couple of weeks, probably early October, says Mary Starman, group product manager for Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit.

Unfortunately, audio and video chat are still on the to-do list for next year's Messenger for Mac 7 release: "AV is something that we have heard very loud and clear from our customers, and it’s something that we are working on. We’d hoped to start our AV work sooner. But we support both the Windows Live Messenger platform and LCS. These use two completely different protocols for AV and porting either one of those over to the Mac OS is about a year and a half of developer time."

Our source reports that "the feature to synchronise the status [of the separated Personal and Corporate chat tabs], so that selecting Busy in one causes the other to change to the same status (if online), has been made more accessible. IT administrators can also disable the Personal chat window [which is] really helpful for enterprise IT administrators because they can decide whether or not they want to deploy the personal client for their enterprise users."

>> Screenshots and more details at APC Magazine.

>> Download Mess Patch for Mac v0.16.

UPDATE: I just learned that third party Messenger for Mac client aMSN comes with webcam support. You can get it for free here.

PS: Less than 24 hours to go in the little contest we're running, and at the moment you have to upload a total of (at least) 200 animated emoticons to be in the running for those special edition MSN notepads... Not much time left, so good luck!



 ROFL-3000: "The way keyboards *should* be"
ROFL-3000:

dwergs says ( 20 Sep 2006 ):

 

The ROFL-3000 is a mockup of a keyboard optimized for Instant Messaging. It's got its name from rofl 3000 IM keyboardthe fact that it's no QWERTY but a QWEATY so that the keys underneath spell ROFL. Home, Del, Pg Dn, etc. are now all emoticon face parts, and the most common emoticons have replaced useless symbols.

The ROFL-3000 is totally ready for excessive exclamation, double-speed kisses (hold Shift and press X) and gaming insults. Note that the Numpad only features numbers 1 and 0. Who needs 2-9 if you're uber l33t, anyway?

>> See the ROFL-3000 Keyboard (not actually for sale, duh).



 The trouble with error code 81000395: continued
The trouble with error code 81000395: continued

dwergs says ( 20 Sep 2006 ):

 

I know for sure that many of you are running out of patience being stuck all day with that error 81000395 we mentioned earlier. At last some good news because we learned from an anonymous Messer attending the Windows Live Messenger 8.1 Beta newsgroups, that the problem has been identified and is (probably) going to be fixed in the next hour or two, i.e. before midnight GMT.

UPDATE: Hurray! The 81000395 error disappeared half an hour after this post!



 Make your emoticons talk like a pirate!
Make your emoticons talk like a pirate!

dwergs says ( 19 Sep 2006 ):

 

Give your emoticons some "pirattitude" with Mess.be's brand spanking new emoticon speech bubble generator! With our web-based app you can create text bubbles that make your custom or standard MSN emoticons speak, think and even converse. The animated gifs it generates can be saved and added as custom emoticons for use in MSN and Windows Live Messenger. This calls for an example:

pirate emoticonspirate bubblepirate emoticons

pirate emoticontalk like a pirate bubble

>> Create your own emoticon speech bubbles.

PS: You can submit your custom speech bubbles to Mess.be so they may be featured on our site.



 Shiver me timbers, TLAP Day again!
Shiver me timbers, TLAP Day again!

dwergs says ( 19 Sep 2006 ):

 

skull display picturesArrrrrr, thanks to me hearties aNILEator & Underlord but no Jacks be tellin' dwergs when 't is Talk Like A Pirate Day! Years 'n years we'e been celebrating this 19th day of the 9th month with grog & plenty o' Messenger booty. And yo-ho-ho, this time sea dog Timothy has engineered a plug-in for Windows Live Messenger that turns yer landlubber's talk into words of a true buccaneer! But arrrrr, talk like a pirate only with yer pirate name or fear the gunner's daughter!

pirate emoticons >> Download the Pirate o Matic plug-in for Windows Live Messenger.

pirate msn emoticons >> Male Pirate Nicknames for use on MSN Messenger.

pirate msn emoticons >> Female Pirate MSN Names for use on MSN Messenger.

pirate msn emoticons >> Play Dead Man's Tale or other Messenger Games.

pirate emoticons >> Extras: talk like a pirate videos, glossary and the original TLAP Day website.



 Windows Live Messenger Error code: 81000395
Windows Live Messenger Error code: 81000395

dwergs says ( 19 Sep 2006 ):

 

Messers on the forum are reporting sign-in problems with the Windows Live Messenger 8.1 Beta. The error code 81000395 is caused by a server-side problem so we suggest you resolve to Web Messenger or downgrade to WLM 8.0.0812 for the time being.

In other sad news, Microsoft is sending out e-mails to all those declined for the Windows Live Messenger 8.1 Beta. "We regret to inform you that one of the programs could not accept you for participation at this time. We encourage you to check available connections on the Microsoft Connect Web site regularly to check if there are any new programs open for participation. We value your support and are looking forward to partnering with you in future." Well, better luck next time!



 Calling Google Talk from Windows Live Messenger
Calling Google Talk from Windows Live Messenger

dwergs says ( 18 Sep 2006 ):

 

The GTalk2VoIP service launched in March this year has added a new protocol to its gateway last month, which allows Google Talk and Windows Live Messenger users to have voice conversations with each other. After adding the servicegtalk2voip.com buddy to the GTalk or WLM contact list, one can initiate calls to an e-mail address or even PSTN (landline or mobile) phones via a simple text-based interface.

PC-to-PC calls are obviously free of charge. For several countries the rates for PSTN calls are -depending on the chosen service provider- cheaper than the standard Windows Live Call rates. A planned phone number lease service will make it possible in the future to answer calls in Messenger coming from landline and mobile phones.

I've tested the service and the Windows Live Messenger-Google Talk interoperability worked fine. However, an outgoing call to my own mobile phone number failed. The reliability and audio quality of the connection also depends heavily on the used service provider, which is chosen based on the internal ranking mechanism.

>> Calling from Windows Live Messenger to Google Talk or vice versa.

>> Calling landline and mobile phones from Windows Live Messenger with GTalk2VoIP.

>> Compare Windows Live with GTalk2VoIP rates.



 Future feature: Polygamy? No. Multi-point presence? Maybe.
Future feature: Polygamy? No. Multi-point presence? Maybe.

dwergs says ( 18 Sep 2006 ):

 

About a week ago I received a screenshot of what was described to me as a future version of Windows Live Messenger. Of course, I appreciate all your tips, but I decided not to pay attention to this one because there were just too many signs the image was doctored. Whoever created the "screenshot" wanted to make people believe polygamy was going to be baked into Messenger (8.2). And apparently the access to multiple contact lists from one window looked convincing enough to fool some. Sorry guys, not gonna happen.

What we can reveal to you today is a feature that Microsoft is thinking of adding, which lets you sign into your (one) Messenger account simultaneously from multiple clients/systems. So don't mistake this with polygamy, which allows you to log into multiple accounts from one system. For example, you'll be able to be online on your Windows Live Mobile client on the road as well as your laptop at work and your desktop PC at home. Conversations will automatically be mirrored on all active systems (centralize those chat logs!) and if you close an IM window at one location, it will be closed at all three.

I have no information on how implied privacy issues (like spying eyes while you're away) will be addressed, but my guess is you'll at least be able to remotely control the other clients from every point.

>> There's no ETA for multiple-point presence (one-on-many) and I wouldn't expect it in Windows Live Messenger 8.1 yet.

>> Polygamy (many-on-one) can be enabled via Mess Patch.

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