Main/News >> News Archives > The week of July 27 (2003) (you are here)

 Microsoft lambasted for MSN liquor ads

dwergs says ( 02 Aug 2003 ):

Microsoft Korea raised eyebrows by commencing the display of liquor advertisements on its MSN Messenger service. The software giant announced yesterday that it clinched its first advertisement contract with a liquor firm and is ready to launch large-scale promotional campaigns for alcohol products in the next couple of months through its newly rolled-out MSN Messenger version 6. The company's move, however, prompted concerns from observers that it could expose the younger generation, which makes up a large part of the MSN service's user base, to indiscriminate liquor advertisements. They also pointed out that the liquor ads displayed on the MSN service are touting the products as "symbols of youth and uniqueness" or "more diverse in taste and flavor," phrases that glamorize alcohol drinking. Under the current broadcast laws, such phrases that have connotations of glamorizing alcohol are prohibited, not to mention the ban on commercials for foreign liquor brands. Also, TV liquor commercials in Korea are allowed only after 10 p.m. in order to help block teenagers from viewing them, but for the Internet there are no such limitations in the display of the alcohol-related advertisements. An industry source noted that Microsoft Korea seems to be capitalizing on the loopholes in the law, which does not yet cover the online advertisement of liquor products. In response to this criticism, the software giant said, "We do not think the liquor commercials on our MSN service will greatly affect teenagers in that about 85 percent of MSN users are adults." The company also reaffirmed that it would step up its efforts to block teenagers from viewing the commercials by tightening its adult-certification procedures. [Source: The Korea Herald]

 W32.Simic.Worm spreads itself using MSN Messenger

dwergs says ( 02 Aug 2003 ):

The W32.Simic.Worm, also known as I-Worm.Sinmsn has been discovered July 30th and spreads itself using MSN Messenger. Number of infections is still very low, so don't get too worried. When W32.Simic.Worm executes, it performs the following actions: 1) Copies Sins.exe or msninst.exe to the default MSN Messenger download folder. 2) Executes it, which downloads the following files from script.mine.nu: Vbdlls.exe Sin.dll Msn.exe 3) Runs Vbdlls.exe, which installs the Visual Basic run-time components on the system. 4) Executes Msn.exe, which checks whether MSN is running, and if so, will send Sins.exe or msninst.exe to anyone who instant messages the infected system. Removal instructions can be found here. [Source: Symantec]

 Mess.be hits 5000 MSN 6 gfx!

Johnny_Mac says ( 02 Aug 2003 ):

Thanks to all you dedicated messers we have just passed 5000 MSN 6 Graphics!. Remember you can always submit your pics and work in our dedicated MSN Messenger 6 display pictures & custom emoticons section. If you get a "Warning: mysql_connect(): Too many connections" error, that means hundreds of Messers are browsing through the images at the same time and that would make the gallery too slow anyway. In that case, just try again a little later. Also, look out for another Mess.be Artist Showcase soon!

 Updated: MouseMan's MSN Messenger6 LogViewer

dwergs says ( 01 Aug 2003 ):

MouseMan's MSN Messenger6 LogViewer has been updated to v1.3.2 in a major way. Care for a list of the most important changes? - Dramatically improved speed for large chatlogs. - Added a progressbar to see the loading-progress. - Support for other languages; in chatlogs and in Logviewer itself (use of languagefiles). - Added hyperlink-support. Logviewer will now automatically convert url's into hyperlinks. - Added "Header" (logdate and time) to chatlogs. - Added search-function. You can highlight al items you are looking for by clicking the magnifying glass, or search for items one by one by hitting Ctrl-F on your keyboard. - LogViewer is now able to fix chatlogs who previously couldn't be opened by LogViewer. - Possibility to show all chatlogs for a contact at once. - Improved emoticon-functions; all possible combinations are now included. - Animated emoticons. You can download it from Mess.be or get the latest version of this frequently updated logviewer here.

 New Poll: Please evaluate the "Interstitals"

dwergs says ( 01 Aug 2003 ):

It's been 2 weeks since we introduced "interstitial" ads on Mess.be to help us cover expensive hosting & bandwidth charges. I'm talking about a full-page ad that appears for 10 seconds while preparing your download and that you can skip at all times. ONLY 5% of all Messers have seen them until now, and it's their opinion we want. If you've seen one right before downloading one of our files (not talking about the banners underneath file descriptions, but the full-page thing), please evaluate here.

 Itselefonts!

dwergs says ( 31 Jul 2003 ):

The ItsElephants dudes have been productive this week. Not only have they merged with former emoticon & all-round patcher Webtech.tk, they have also unleased four new emoticon fonts: - Crippo by Joe; - Blunt by Oliver; - Backwardz by Leo and - Cyber Girl by Oliver. Download and-joy!

 Messenger Plus 2 plugins database!

Wolkje says ( 30 Jul 2003 ):

Making plugins for MsgPlus 2 seems to have become very popular! MsgPlus now created a database, much like our own, but with plugins instead of patches and programs. At the moment there are only 20 plugins in the database but I'm sure it'll grow with time! Now hurry and browse those categories for the plugin of your taste! Older Plus! plugins can be found in our own Messenger Plus downloads section. (*note to dwergs: time for some updating). [thnx to wabz for creating and DjMystic for reporting it!]

 Do you <3 Mess.be? Send us your fanpics!

dwergs says ( 30 Jul 2003 ):

Heavily-addicted to Messing with MSN Messenger and Mess.be in particular? If feel like a real Messer, you can now step out of anonymity by sending us a fanpic. That's a webcamshot of you expressing your favorism towards Mess.be (or dwergs) by using one of our characteristics (logo, url or slogan). More details and examples can be found on the Mess Express page. We're looking forward to receiving your fanpics!!

 Penguin & Neowin MSN skins

dwergs says ( 30 Jul 2003 ):

Rolando presents the Penguin MSN skin ("an icy cool full-skin based on the Linux tux and the MSN butterfly") and Neowin Messenger, based on Neowin's blue theme. Both full skins are updated to the latest, English MSN Messenger build (0602). Download them from Roland Underground.

 Added: CE/DP Manager by Sherv (MeSseNtial file!)

dwergs says ( 29 Jul 2003 ):

Sherv's Custom Emoticon & Display Picture Manager (CE/DP Manager in short) instantly earned Mess.be's MeSseNtial status (a new thing we award must-have MSN stuff with). It's a beautiful batch importer for custom emoticons and display pictures, with backup, restore and export function (to share all your images with a friend). Find out more about this utility on the CE/DP Manager information page or download it right away! [Homepage: Sherv.net]

 Try MyEmo for free, become one of the 200 beta-testers!

dwergs says ( 29 Jul 2003 ):

MyEmo is a new, paid-service for MSN Messenger 6 that offers 50 colorful custom emoticons imported into your account instantly and offers a virtually unlimited display picture generator for only $4.99. To optimize their service, the people from MyEmo are looking for 200 beta-testers among you Messers. The first 200 people to mail [removed - read the update] will receive a free PIN code for a full installation of the MyEmo setup. With the email reply, they will also receive some feedback questions*, like: any problems to report with the installation, thougts on the display pic builder and currently included emoticons... Have a look at MyEmo.com and if you're interested in testing the prog, e-mail them before it's too late :) **UPDATE: The 300 PINs have been issued (yes, MyEmo threw in an extra 100 because of the massive interest) and the betatest-fase is now closed.

 Fixed Download: MSN Messenger 6 Color Changer + Source Code

dwergs says ( 29 Jul 2003 ):

Boo, I mistyped the download URL to one of the addons posted yesterday. Sorry, my mistake, here's a repost: Just another font color changer for MSN 6, but this one comes with the source for all interested MSN addon coders out there. Don't thank me, thank Huuf. Download this tool here.

 Reminder: 10% off your AsSeenOnScreen order

dwergs says ( 28 Jul 2003 ):

Hurry up, only three days left to enjoy our special discount offer at AsSeenOnScreen, home to the stars. Enter voucher code mess at the checkout and you'll get a 10% reduction off your total order amount... ..."Swwwweeeet" is the word you're looking for.

 Added: HIM emoticon font

dwergs says ( 28 Jul 2003 ):

=[ACO]=Haggard!!! based an emoticon alphabet on HIM's band logo. Metalheads head over here.

 Added: MSN Proxy 1.20.00

dwergs says ( 28 Jul 2003 ):

This MSN Messenger 5, 6 and Plus! compatible proxy for MSN Messenger, written by Mister Huge, makes it possible to log into MSN while appearing offline and write your own autoresponders/plugins. Grab it here. [Reported by: Pieter Meyvaert]

 A little surprise follow-up to the artist showcase...

dwergs says ( 28 Jul 2003 ):

To celebrate the new Artist Showcase feature on Mess, I decided to randomly reward some of the artists already among us. This time I've selected from all the Messers who submitted a Mess.be logo display picture when I asked for it a while ago. The following people can expect a Scarybear fun pack (3 buttons, 3 stickers, 5 postcards, 1 newsletter, 1 secret coupon and 1 membership card by our featured artist Jason Pultz): - InfernalMesser --you gotta love this one; - Qith (check these out); - Kent, who made these; - GSake, creator of these pics; - and HeaKtic (especially for this one). Scarybear merchandise is available here. (By the way, the mood display pictures compo is still on...)

 Added: Emoticon Extender Pack 2

dwergs says ( 28 Jul 2003 ):

Jplyn created and refurbished seven series of emoticons you can extend forever and ever, including a pencil, a train, another type of 'pencil', a snake and more. Download the Emoticon Extender Pack 2.

 Updated: MSN Helper, now compatible with MSN Messenger 6

dwergs says ( 27 Jul 2003 ):

Remember the addon for MSN Messenger called MSN Helper? Well guess what, it's now updated to version 2.6 (build 30720), and it is fully MSN 6-compatible! There are a lot of big improvements as well as some newly added features. With MSN Helper you can log (and encrypt) your chats, make Messenger main & chat windows transparent, scan up to 4 POP-mail accounts, hide/show the ad banner, change your font color to anything you want, specify auto-reply message for each status, etc. A full list of features is written out here. Download it from our MSN6 Download section. [Reported by: SLim Shady]

 Search the Mess.be news

dwergs says ( 27 Jul 2003 ):

After being out of action way-too-long, I've refurbished the search engine for Mess.be news. Look for the search box on top of the main page, after the sticky and the latest headlines...

 1st Artist Showcase: Jason Pultz from Scarybear.org

dwergs says ( 27 Jul 2003 ):

I'm proud to present Mess.be's very first Display Picture Artist Showcase! Every once in a while we will ask a professional graphic artist to design a batch of MSN Messenger display pictures exclusively for Mess.be. Introducing our showcase is Toronto-based Jason Pultz who does freelance illustration and web design work. In his weekly Comic Strip he stages a scary bear, an imperialistic Mac, a psycho chicken/boy, a swearing cowboy and lots of other dysfunctional characters. "If David Lynch had illustrated comic strips instead of directing films about dwarves talking backwards, this might have been it." (Internet Magazine). Now go on, enjoy the 39 display pics Jason made us. But first check out his comic at Scarybear.org. (If you are a professional -as in: it's your job- comic or graphic artist and would like to showcase display pictures or emoticons on Mess.be, send the url of your portfolio to artist at mess.be)

Back to the News Archives