Hey folks,

I’d like to dedicate this post to Windows Live Messenger, who celebrates 10 years today !

Taken from Microsoft’s website:

Ten years ago today, Windows Live Messenger made its debut. What began as a minor repair in a communications tool grew into the world’s No. 1 instant messaging service. For its anniversary, the Windows Live team collected stories from around the world about Messenger’s impact

Read the rest of it here!

So happy birthday Windows Live Messenger, we probably wouldn’t be here today without you

Last week, LiveSide reported that Microsoft decided to block access to Windows Live Messengers users in Cuba, Syria, Iran, Sudan, and North Korea. users from these countries now receive an error message “810003c1: We were unable to sign you in to the .NET Messenger Service”.

Seems like the reason for that is that Microsoft has discontinued providing IM services in countries subject to the US sanctions and embargo.  It is yet unknown if this decision was imposed or voluntarily.

Roy

A survey of more than 1,000 men and women found that online instant messaging services are among the leading ways people prefer to flirt, second only to in-person and outranking text (SMS) and e-mail.

The survey was conducted online with a random sample of 1021 men and women aged 18+ from the US who use instant messaging.

Here are some of the findings:

• 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.

The survey also found the following to be some of the WORST pick-up lines people have received via instant message:

• “Are you tired? Because you have been running through my mind all day.”
• “Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”
• “Do you have a Band-Aid? Because I scraped my knee when I fell for you.”
• “Hey baby, if I could change the alphabet I’d put ‘u’ and ‘I’ together.”

I wonder what will be the results of this survey among SweetIM users… Hopefully our smileys and winks have improved your flirting abilities this Valentine’s day…

Roy

Hello SweetIMers,

Yesterday a new release candidate version of Windows Live Messenger 2009 was released (with build number 14.0.8050.1202).

While this might be good news for all you messenger lovers out there, it is also bad news, cause unfortunately, SweetIM does not support this build !

For some technical reasons that we’re still trying to figure out - our bar doesn’t appear inside the messenger chat window at all.    The only thing one can do with this version is receive content sent by friends with SweetIM.

Since we only started investigating this issue, we estimate that it will take us a rather long time to fix it, and so our for people who can’t do without SweetIM (I guess most of you…) is to stick with older versions of messenger till further notice !

Right now this is in top priority for us and we’re using all of our resources to solve it.  Your patience is needed! This was expected to happen as things can change when a product (Windows Live Messenger) goes from beta to release candidate.

In the meantime, we suggest you remove your current Windows Live Messenger version and then install the previous one, which is supported by SweetIM: http://get.live.com/WL

Robert

Publish on Reuters.com:

Gary Small, a neuroscientist at UCLA in California who specializes in brain function, has found through studies that Internet searching and text messaging has made brains more adept at filtering information and making snap decisions.

But while technology can accelerate learning and boost creativity it can have drawbacks as it can create Internet addicts whose only friends are virtual and has sparked a dramatic rise in Attention Deficit Disorder diagnoses.

He said a study of 24 adults as they used the Web found that experienced Internet users showed double the activity in areas of the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning as Internet beginners.

Small said the tech-savvy generation, whom he calls “digital natives,” are always scanning for the next bit of new information which can create stress and even damage neural networks. “There is also the big problem of neglecting human contact skills and losing the ability to read emotional expressions and body language,” he said.

Small, however, argues that the people who will come out on top in the next generation will be those with a mixture of technological and social skills. “We’re seeing an evolutionary change. The people in the next generation who are really going to have the edge are the ones who master the technological skills and also face-to-face skills,“. “They will know when the best response to an email or Instant Message is to talk rather than sit and continue to email.“

Hmm… I wonder what would Small have to say about the people using SweetIM…

Hi Everybody,

I’ve got some VERY good news !!!

Today started as another regular day… morning coffee, some chit-chats, an air-hockey match (or two… ) but then came the big news:

This morning SweetIM have reached 100,000,000 registered users !

Jeff LaPorte, co-founder of EQO Communications, has published a blog post with an IM coverage world map based on his company’s IM interconnect capability, showing different countries seem to have different preferences of IM platforms.

For example, 77.18% of Argentinians use MSN Messenger, followed by 9.88% who use GTalk, while 50.77% of Australians use MSN Messenger, followed by 24.45% who use Yahoo Messenger. Beside Argentinians - Mexicans (83.72%), Turkish (75.60%), Brazilians (75.31%), French (68.01%) and Dutch (65.41%) are all big fans of MSN Messenger. AIM is mostly common in the US (and amazingly very uncommon in the rest of the world). In large parts of Asia, Yahoo take the lead. And of course in China - QQ is the dominant platform.

Roy

A recent study by the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Microsoft on the usage of instant messaging reveals that Spain is the European country with the highest proportion of Windows Live Messenger users aged over 45. Nearly half of them use it more than three hours a day.
The study surveyed 10,000 users from nine European countries: Italy, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, France, Germany, Sweden and Netherlands.

The results show that Europeans aged below 35 are more likely to communicate with people of the same age, while those who go beyond that age tend to communicate more with various age groups.

88% of respondents stated that the Messenger helps keep them connected to their families and nearly a third of the group defined as parents and two thirds of grandparents used instant messaging to chat about “news, gossip and their personal life”.

Spain is one of the countries with the highest instant messaging penetration, especially among respondents older than 45.  46% of this age group use Messenger more than three hours a day, ahead of Italy-with 41%, and France-with 39%.

89% of Spaniards think that IM chatting is a good communication tool “because it is fast, simple and you can talk to two people at the same time” and 94% of Spanish parents responded that it helps maintain contact between families.
Nine out of ten parents claim to have more communication with their children thanks to Messenger.

( Source: Expansion.com )

Interesting,

Roy