Main/News >> News Archives > The week of January 18 (2004) (you
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Microsoft settles with Mikerowsoft
dwergs says ( 24 Jan 2004 ):
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The 17-year-old Canadian teenager who caught the attention of Microsoft's lawyers by registering www.mikerowesoft.com, agreed Friday to give up his Web site in exchange from some perks from the world's largest software maker.
"We believe he's a bright young man with great potential," Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said. "Mike will soon decide on his new name and Web site and we have agreed to help redirect any traffic to his new Web site to ensure he does not lose any business."
In exchange, Microsoft will pay for Rowe's expenses, the cost of switching over to a new site, provide training for certification on Microsoft's products, a subscription to Microsoft's developer program Web site, and an Xbox video game console with games, as well as an invitation to bring his parents along for a visit to Microsoft's headquarters for an annual technology fair.
Just when you thought it's better not to mess with Microsoft they pull off something like this! :)
[Source: Reuters News Service] [Further reading: Forbes.com] [Thanks to RoiZ] |
Added: noroom's ListCleaner Beta
SLim_Shady says ( 24 Jan 2004 ):
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noroom's ListCleaner is a program that will: - detect people who have deleted you from their contact list - delete these people from your Contact List / Allow List / Block List, to sign-in quicker than usually.
It is pointless to give people permission to see your status when they don't have the ability to do so. Each e-mail address you delete will remove about 40~50 characters from the data sent when receiving a new lists while sign-in, that will result in faster sign-in process.
Note: This is still a Beta version, if you discovered a bug, have any comments/suggestion, please e-mail them to noroomstesthotmail.com
>> Download ListCleaner |
Review: the Abacus SPOT watch
dwergs says ( 24 Jan 2004 ):
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Not able to purchase it myself in Belgium, I have searched for a review on the Abacus SPOT watch by Fossil and the MSN Direct service by Microsoft:
"[...] it's big. It even looks klunky on a thick wrist."
"The coverage is spotty — Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio are covered, but not Lubbock or Corpus Christi."
"The watch's face has a clean, easy-to-see black-and-white look that reminds me of the screen on the original Macintosh."
"In using the watch, I found that the news alerts came quickly [...]. Weather information was thorough, even providing such details as humidity and wind speed and direction."
UPDATE: Another "preview" can be found at TechTV.
[Source & Further reading: HoustonChronicle] |
New: Belgian eBay tab
dwergs says ( 24 Jan 2004 ):
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I dunno about other countries, but we Belgians have suddenly seen a fifth tab appear in MSN Messenger, linking to the world's most popular auction place: eBay. From within this tab you can search for items, see the bargains and get help on how to sell or bid. Nothing spectacular, I know... |
New Launch Site activities on their way !
timothy says ( 24 Jan 2004 ):
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Today we have spotted 2 new Launch Site activities that will be released soon. They are still in the beta phase, but will be available for msn 6.0 and 6.1.
The first one will be the game "Mozaki Blocks", a strange drag and drop game in which you have to close in the big blocks with little ones ( Well, that’s the best description I could give, just try the single player version at MSN Gaming Zone ).
The second one is going to be a make-over of the quick greets, just a new name and maybe will get a new layout. It will soon be available under the name "Xpress Greetings".
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Update-a-way!
dwergs says ( 23 Jan 2004 ):
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Sometimes our visitors contact us to point out we at Mess.be don't take our top-of-the-page credo serious, like Joe for instance: "sorry to burst your bubble... but your site has not been updated daily since 2001... there was no news on [fill in date]".
Ok, there might have been no news on some days but there's always new stuff, like the +300 new display pictures and MSN emoticons I've approved over the last couple of days (by the way, shout out to ygkhan who uploaded loads of them including a picture of himself :p).
Anyway, things are always evolving around here and it's sure worth the effort coming back to this dynamic website at least once a day. Oh do we have A LOT MORE lined up for ya! |
Mess.be Chat Room
zipp says ( 23 Jan 2004 ):
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Need any help or advice relating to MSN Messenger? Feel free to join the mess.be chat room and ask our experts and also mess.be staff your questions! Please be patient though, and try to type the name of an operator if you need help.
For you mIRC users the connection details are as follows:
Server: irc.ikcs.net Channel: #Mess.be
Please remember; Mess.be staff are marked with a . before their name, operators [Huuf & Smil3r] with a @ and helpers with a + symbol. The link can be found at the top right of the page, named IRC Chat! Happy chatting messers!
>> Join the Mess.be Chat Room!
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SmartInsert for Microsoft Smartphones
dwergs says ( 21 Jan 2004 ):
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SmartInsert is a small utility that facilitates the input of smileys while chatting with MSN Messenger on your MS Smartphone. Hold down the "record" button slightly longer and a smiley selection window -as pictured in the image to right- pops up. SmartInsert is available for free but the author asks for donation of 1.6 Euro to support his work.
>> Visit the homepage or download SmartInsert here...
[Source: MSMobiles] |
Added: Orneryboy Display Picture Pack
dwergs says ( 20 Jan 2004 ):
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We've made a handy freemoticons installer for Michael Lalonde's display pictures currently featured in Mess.be's third Artist Showcase, which has received nothing but excellent comments from many of our Messers.
With this software you can instantly add all 80 Orneryboy cast display pics. If you haven't heard of Orneryboy don't be afraid to install blindly, I'm sure you will love each and every pic!
>> Download the Orneryboy Display Picture Pack
And check out our other freemoticons installers with emoticon fonts and the 69 valentine emoticons. |
It's Microsoft versus Mike Rowe-soft
dwergs says ( 20 Jan 2004 ):
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Mike, a 17-year-old high school senior and Web designer from Victoria, has angered the software giant by registering an Internet site with the address MikeRoweSoft.com. "Since my name is Mike Rowe, I thought it would be funny to add 'soft' to the end of it," said Rowe. Microsoft, however, is not amused.
"I received an email from [...] Microsoft's Canadian lawyers, informing me that I have been committing copyright infringement against Microsoft. They told me that I must transfer my domain name over to Microsoft as soon as possible.", states Rowe on his website.
Only last month we've seen a similar case where Microsoft was accusing a domain holder of copyright infringement and trademark confusion, when a web-based MSN Messenger service was asked to change its homepage URL.
Update: A Microsoft spokesperson told ZDNet UK: "We appreciate that Mike Rowe is a young entrepreneur who came up with a creative domain name. We take our trademark seriously, but maybe a little too seriously in this case."
[Source: Andy & Neowin] [Read more: CNN.com] |
Added: Plus! Tweak! for Plus! 2.54.74
SLim_Shady says ( 19 Jan 2004 ):
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Plus! Tweak! is a program by Choli that tweaks hidden regestry settings of MsgPlus!, like Name On Sign-in, number of seconds the Personalised Status window is displayed before exiting automatically, background color used in the Quick Icons panel, etc.. Plus! Tweak! supports all the regestry settings listed on MsgPlus! Advanced Settings page for Messenger Plus! version 2.54.74 (the newest version so far).
>> Download Tweak! Plus! 1.1.14 |
Update: TabMgr service improved
dwergs says ( 19 Jan 2004 ):
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Last Friday we informed you about TabMgr, a web based application for MSN Messenger 6.1 that allows you to manage and control your tabs (those buttons on the left of your MSN Messenger window). Interesting improvements since last week:
- Custom tabs are now working fully! - There's... a menu! *thanks chef* - A bunch of new tabs were added available from around the world.
>> Download the TabMgr patch and register your account (both with the same and your actual email address). |
Emoinstaller, a quality timesaver!
dwergs says ( 19 Jan 2004 ):
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Emoinstaller.com has been recently launched by our friends from Itselephants & Sherv.net and it has received many hurrays from its users so far. On offer are 23 fully automatic installers that include emoticon designs by graphical gods like MNeMo, MiDAS, Gizmo among others. Emoinstaller.com is one to bookmark.
The obligatory heads up here: these installers are so-called adware. By agreeing to install them, you acknowledge the fact that nCase will be installed onto your system. More information can be found in our FAQ.
[Reported by: Sherv, Jparto & zigomar10] |
Beta: Messenger Plus! Log Viewer
dwergs says ( 19 Jan 2004 ):
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Messenger Plus! Log Viewer is a program by 360° Software that opens and processes Messenger Plus! chat logs so you can see them in rich text format. I picked this version 0.16 up from the Plus! forums (leave your comments there) and it's still in beta but I'm posting it to see if I can give development a little boost ;)
>> Download Messenger Plus! Log Viewer.
>> Visit 360° Software. |
Soap Operas Go Mobile
dwergs says ( 19 Jan 2004 ):
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Media Republic, a Dutch production company, will begin delivering its popular Jong Zuid (Young South) series to cell phone users in the UK and Germany in April.
Jong Zuid has already become a hit in Holland, where it is delivered via MSN Messenger and to more than 30,000 mobile users. Mobile subscribers receive two episodes a day at a cost of $1.40 a week. Each episode consists of six cartoon-like sequences with corresponding text.
[Source: PCWorld] |
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