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MSN messenger posts

Filed under: Internet, Google, Microsoft

You spend more time on MSN Messenger than ANYTHING else

MSN Messenger, scraped right off the MSN site. Thanks, MS.To some of you, this might be a shock. To the rest of you that prey on poor, unsuspecting girls with webcams... not so surprised.

Apparently 14.5% of all online time is spent on MSN Live Messenger -- 14.5% of 27 billion total hours.

To put it into perspective, the next biggest service is Facebook at at 5.2% with YouTube coming in third at 4.4% (and Google's biggest slice of the online pie.)

One has to wonder if people with Messenger logged in in the background counts towards the total -- I imagine it does. So the totals are probably somewhat skewed -- but in either case, you can find all of the data on the original comScore report. Perhaps most impressive is Facebook's 200% climb in usage since the same time last year!

[via SeattlePi]

Filed under: Windows Mobile, Freeware, VoIP

Fring lets you make free VoIP calls from your Windows Mobile PDA

fring
Mobile VoIP company fring has added support for phones and PDAs running Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6. Since fring works with any internet connected device, that means you can use the software to make free phone calls from your PDA, even if it doesn't normally have telephone capabilities.

In a nutshell, fring lets you make VoIP calls using your 3G or WiFi connection. You can make calls to anyone on Skype, Google Talk, MSN Mesenger, SIP, or Twitter. You can also call other mobile phone users running the fring software, or you can use services like SkypeOut to make phone calls to any phone number without eating into your phone plan's voice minutes.

Before you download fring software, you'll be asked what type of phone or Windows Mobile devices you're using. For some reason, a number of devices, including the Dell Axim X3 are listed, even though they do not run Windows Mobile 5.0. And we've confirmed, fring will not work on devices running Windows Mobile 2003SE or older.

[via StartupSquad]

Filed under: Internet

Pidgin IM final beta out - final release due this week

Pidgin IMChat client Pidgin IM (formerly known as Gaim) version 2.00 beta 7 is out, with a final 2.0 release scheduled for later this week.

The program performs very similarly to GAIM 2.00 beta 6, with some cosmetic changes, including a new Pidgin logo (which unsurprisingly looks like a pigeon). The redesign does include some under the hood changes as well, so the developers caution that this beta is actually less stable than earlier beta releases, and recommend backing up your Gaim directory before running Pidgin.

Some preferences may be lost, or buddy icons may not work, and some plugins may fail to work. In previous versions, you could easily tell whether your contacts were using AOL IM, MSN Messenger, IRC, or other chat protocols at a glance by looking at the color of their icons. Now you're presented with a green circle for each of your contacts. Hopefully this will be one of the items fixed before the final release.

Filed under: Internet, Windows, Office, Productivity, Microsoft, Freeware

Windows Live Messenger problems? Here's a fix.

Windows Live MessengerEd Bott is probably my favorite person to read when it comes to covering Windows and other Microsoft software. Today I noticed a little post he had regarding a way to fix Windows Live Messenger in case you find yourself unable to log in. I didn't think much of it, until my wife asked me why she hadn't been able to log in to her messenger for a few days. I quickly went back and read Ed's tip, then logged in remotely to her machine and deleted the registry key mentioned, and voila - she's back online.

So if you're having problems with your Messenger, the registry key you want to delete is:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MSNMessenger\Policies

Give it a shot - it might well fix your problem!

Thanks, Ed.

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Utilities, Video, E-mail, Web services, Yahoo!, VoIP, P2P

Yahoo Messenger is out of Beta

yahoo messengerThe new Yahoo! Messenger version 8 with voice has been brought out of beta to stir the pot with MSN Messenger, and Google Talk.

Besides being able to tie into MSN Messenger contacts, the new Yahoo messenger is loaded with plug-ins and cool new features from both internal developers, and users, by using Yahoo Messengers Plug-in SDK. Top plug-ins for Yahoo Messenger include one for Coupons.com, Newsgator RSS feeds, and one from Jeteye that lets you store and organize your online world. Nothing tops the new Movie Trailer plug-in that allows you to catch the latest movie trailers while IMing though.

It looks like there is a full on IM war out there. And Yahoo!, MSN, and Google are stuffing their messengers with new features like crazy.

[via cnet]

Filed under: Security, Windows, Microsoft

Trojan masquerades as leaked MSN Messenger 8

Trojan HorseF-Secure is warning that instant messages claiming that "Messenger 8 BETA has been leaked!" and offer a download are really Trojans containing the Virkel.f virus. "Virkel.f adds the compromised machine to a botnet," says Personal Tech Pipeline, "from which the hacker can update the Trojan with additional malicious code, to make the PC into a spam zombie or along with others, launch a denial-of-service (DoS) attack on Web sites. Virkel.f also shuts down anti-virus and security software, and blocks access to sites that belong to security vendors." It spreads by sending itself to everyone on infected machines' buddy lists.

Filed under: Internet, Microsoft

How to customize MSN Messenger more than Microsoft would like

MSN MessengerHeavysheep is running a tutorial that teaches you how to "Mess with MSN Messenger." It shows you how to use Mess patch to remove all sorts of things from MSN Messenger like the MSN or Passport logos, the MSN Search box, almost any button, and yes, the ads. You can also do things like move the tabs the the right side of the window and get rid of useless warning messages. Guaranteed to piss off Microsoft.

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