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 Online flirting: the facts and the goods

dwergs says ( 14 Feb 2009 ):

More research on "online romance", based on an online survey of 1021 Instant Messaging users in the U.S., men and women aged 18 or above. Here are some of the findings of the Valentine's survey conducted by Impulse Research between January 28th and February 2nd, 2009: - Men use IM more often than women when they have some kissing up to do. - Men are also more likely than women to use IM to pursue a secret relationship, or to test the waters to see if someone is interested in them. - The main reason people prefer to flirt online is because it allows them time to come up with witty, romantic responses. - Flirting via IM is not just for teenagers! 11% of 55 to 64 year-olds and 5% of 65 and older have used IM to ask someone out on a date. Finally, some suggestions to spice up your online flirting: >> Check out our Love O Matic -a name-based compatibility calculator- and the custom Candy Machine in CustoMess. >> Browse our Love & Romance Emoticons (or for Anti-Valentines: Diss & War Emoticons). >> Browse our Love & Romance Display Pictures (or for Anti-Valentines: Violence & War Display Pictures). >> Free Valentine Theme Packs by Microsoft: Love Creatures, 3D Love Emoticons, Love Family.

 MSN France presents animated 3D Love Emoticons

dwergs says ( 13 Feb 2009 ):

MSN France released their 3D Emoticons in a special Valentine's outfit. The Émoticones Love 3D pack adds 10 high-quality animated emoticons to your Windows Live Messenger account. >> Download 3D Love Emoticons (French installer). NOTE: Make sure the options on the second screen of the installer are unchecked, unless you want change your default Internet Explorer settings (Click here to see how)

 Updated: Windows Live Messenger 14.0.8064.0206

dwergs says ( 13 Feb 2009 ):

An update to Windows Live Messenger 2009 is now available download.live.com. Users of Windows Live Messenger 8.1, 8.5 or an older build of 2009 can expect to be encouraged (but not yet forced) to upgrade via a "A new version of Messenger is available" prompt. No word on the actual changes in this version yet (we'll have a close look), but according to Microsoft there should be some "improvements" (read: bugfixes). Messenger Plus! Live and Mess Patch Light are compatible with this build. >> Download Windows Live Messenger 2009 Build 14.0.8064.0206 as part of the updated Windows Live Essentials suite. Other installed components will be automatically updated. [Reported by: x.iso]

 Dutch Love Creatures add bonus content

dwergs says ( 13 Feb 2009 ):

We already told you about the Love Creatures Theme Pack which Microsoft released two weeks ago, and back then we made the remark that The Netherlands did not participate in the multi-region launch of the pack. Now it seems that they eventually released it, and with added bonus content! In addition to the 15 animated emoticons, the Dutch version of the theme pack also adds two conversation backgrounds (one dynamic, one static), two Winks and one Dynamic Display Picture. >> Download the Love Creatures + Bonus Theme Pack (Dutch language). NOTE: Uncheck all three options on the second screen of the installation if you don't want to install Windows Live Toolbar and modify your default Internet Explorer settings.

 Sixty six per cent would rather "type" love than "talk" love

dwergs says ( 13 Feb 2009 ):

Should you make it through this Friday the 13th, there's no escaping Valentine's Day tomorrow. Pleasurable to some and dreadful to others, it's that day of the year when everywhere you look you see heart-shaped things, like chocolate, balloons, pillows, toys, soap, candy, emoticons, maybe even the occasional cloud drifting by. And if you spend a part of Cupid's favorite day signed into Windows Live Messenger, those (h), (l) and (k) emoticons will be unavoidable in instant messages, display names or status messages. A survey by Microsoft's Windows Live Group among 78 000 respondents across 16 countries in Europe, Middle East and Africa, hints that most flirting will be happening online on February 14th. Two out of three Europeans admit that they find it easier to flirt over Windows Live Messenger than face-to-face. One out of three even declared their love for the first time to someone over IM. Especially loverboys -and girls living in the Netherlands (61%), Denmark (42%), Portugal (41%) and Spain (40%) prefer a virtual "I love you" confession. Mainly because it's less intimidating, but also because it allows more creativity. In case you're feeling uninspired, we will today provide you with all the goods to come across witty and romantic on Messenger. >> Check out Kris' post about the survey for more results.

 Do you spend 31 hours online per week?

dwergs says ( 11 Feb 2009 ):

Recent research found that UK teens spend an average of 31 hours a week online. Three and a half hours are spent chatting on Windows Live Messenger, around two hours on YouTube and in diverse chat rooms. Oh, and at least one hour and 40 minutes a week are dedicated to watching porn. Why, that's still less than the time spent researching topics for their homework (at least three hours and 10 minutes)! Good kids! Surely, these findings have to be taken with a grain of salt. The survey, which questioned 1000 teens aged 13-16, was commissioned by parental lock software company CyberSentinel. Obviously, this company wants to encourage parents to restrict their children's Internet access with the help of their software, invigorating the usage results with statements like "One in three admitted trying to hide what they were looking at if a parent entered the room." Also, the research was conducted using OnePoll.com, a service that pays its members to complete surveys. But even if the results are slightly biased, there's no doubt that youngsters spend many hours online doing what they do. And knowing that teenagers today are born multitaskers, these online activities likely overlap each other. I'll leave you with that thought...

 MessengerDiscovery 2.Net into Public Beta

dwergs says ( 09 Feb 2009 ):

Matt Holwood is lifting the curtain on the 2009 transformation of his MessengerDiscovery add-on. The public beta of MessengerDiscovery 2.Net is far from finished, with many features incomplete or even non-existent, but hardcore fans will love to play around with the add-on during the development stage. Note that official beta-testers are doing all the bug reporting, so Matt is not accepting any input. The public beta is compatible with both Windows Live Messenger 8.5 and Windows Live Messenger 2009 and it should also work alongside Messenger Plus! Live if you disable tabbed conversations. >> Download Messenger Discovery 2.Net Beta (direct link) from msgdiscovery.com.

 Do NOT change your Windows Live ID until further notice

dwergs says ( 09 Feb 2009 ):

Windows Live Messenger MVP Jonathan Kay is warning users to NOT change your Windows Live ID e-mail address until further notice. The feature, which allows users to change their non-Microsoft e-mail address* and have associated accounts and contact lists automatically updated, appears to be broken. "Beginning with this latest update to the Wave 3 Live web sites, this feature has become quite unreliable and in general, your Messenger contact list will never be updated. So although the web site currently claims all you have to do is wait 48-hours, you'll end up with a contact list of offline contacts even after the wait. Since your contacts won't have your updated address on their contact list, they'll see you as offline too. You end up in a limbo state." If you fell victim to this major bug, you should switch back to your previous e-mail address at the Windows Live Account site. When we find out the problem has been fixed, you can reattempt the switch. Those who have switched to a live.com (or any live.* domain), however, have to ask their contacts to manually add them to their contact lists. Jonathan points to the Live ID Support section to report your problems and have it escalated. *This feature is not available to owners of @hotmail.*, @msn.* and @live.* accounts.

 Updated: Microsoft Messenger for Mac 7.0.2

dwergs says ( 09 Feb 2009 ):

The new Microsoft Messenger for Mac 7.0.2 update improves overall quality and conversations with Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2. No news on the promised audio/video features for the personal service yet. NOTE: If you are using Live Communications Server 2005, you should use Messenger for Mac Version 6.0 instead. >> Download Microsoft Messenger for Mac 7.0.2 (11 languages).

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