Dooyoo have MSN? (Microsoft MSN Messenger Service)

Member Name: Roxie_228

Product:	Microsoft MSN Messenger Service
Date:	20/04/03 (3118 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: free communication... well kind of!

Disadvantages: sometimes hard to log on to

Ooh I’m so down-trodden today. I have some kind of stomach problem (apparently caused by stress but I don’t like to say so because compared to most others I probably don’t even know what stress really is). So anyway… I’m sat here in my jeans and I’m so bloated the popper keeps going! Darnit!

The rage of teenage communication at this moment in Yeovil is MSN messenger, however I’m not saying that’s the only age group, the users of MSN range from 11 years old upwards. Being of 14 nearly 15 years I try not to talk to people with that much of an age difference! There are so many paedophiles being unearthed around the world recently that you can never be too careful, I find that most parents are either very restrictive in their son/daughters web viewing or they don’t give a damn at all.
The good thing about MSN messenger is that the user controls everything, you can decide for yourself who gets the privilege of being added to your contact list. Even when a contact is online if you do not wish to speak to them you can block them, this way they do not know that you are there.

I’ve been with MSN since the version 4.0, atleast I think that’s what it was? This is where I have to introduce the downside to MSN, there are far too many upgrades available. Since I got MSN nearly 3 years ago they have upgraded it atleast 4 times. Whenever there is a more recent version available to download you will receive a little pop-up on signing in which will allow you to access it. This is all fine and dandy but what has annoyed me is that even after I have downloaded the newer version the pop-up still appears! There is the option ‘Don’t ask me again for a week’ which will give you some time away from this blasted thing but its still annoying!

You can only use MSN if you have a hotmail account, this is either free-based or you can pay yearly. I prefer to use the free one (who woul
dn’t!) with this you get 2mb space which is enough for me at the moment. I also have a school email address with outlook express which I can use so…I couldn’t want for anything more. (More about this in a hotmail review later ..)
When signing in a pop-up window will appear in the corner for a few seconds containing a link to your inbox and telling you how many new emails you have. After this pop-up has gone the link remains at the top of the window should you need to access the inbox.
The same occurs when a contact signs onto MSN their screen-name pops up in the bottom corner for a few seconds.
*Double-click on any online contact to bring up a conversation window.
*Double-clicking on an offline contact will take you to your own inbox ready to send them an email.
*Another option are the contacts which have a mobile phone icon next to their names, I cannot offer any help on how to use this function because I do not know how to!

I’m not sure but I think I’m right in saying that MSN messenger is now included in Windows XP. This is because MSN Messenger is part of MSN Explorer which XP uses to navigate the internet.
You are able to set the options in MSN so that it will automatically sign into your account when your computer logs on to the internet. I used to use this option when my computer was my own, however since my step-dad moved in it has become a family computer (Grrrr!). To cancel this setting all you have to do is uncheck the box upon signing in.

MSN is very easily operated, I am currently using version 5.0.
The tabs along side the window can be edited to fit your own purposes, I don’t use any of them they are things like : Tesco. MSN money. Travel. You get the drift…
There are 3 or 4 options at the bottom of the window including
*Add a contact – all you need for this is an email address. When somebody else has added you a pop-up will let you know their email ad
dress and you can choose whether or not you allow them to add you to their list and likewise.
*Go to more chat rooms – MSN has its own number of chatrooms called GrapeVineEspresso in the usual categories, Teens, 20-40 50-70, Romance, Lobby, Music etc etc
Aswell as this there are user-created chatrooms and you can create your own chatrooms (although when doing this it is hard to advertise your chatroom and so there is never very many people in there!)

There is one advertisement at the bottom of the MSN window, it is not separate it is attached and below everything else and so easily ignored. Usually this advert is for MSN itself or presents to do with Easter/Valentines/Birthdays/Christmas depending on the time of year.

The font you are writing in can either be changed from Tools/Options or directly through a conversation window. The colours are the basic ones (its not a good idea to write in aqua or yellow…oh so hard to read!). Apparently there are downloads which allow you to use more interesting coloured fonts..but the ones I have come across do not work! The font is any choice from what you have on your own computer.
Emoticons can be used, unlike the funky ones I discovered on tooyoo recently they do not move! Perhaps in an upgrade to come? But they are 3d and still very effective. Unfortunately I have forgotten some (one of them is a cake and one a film roll….)!! I would go online and check for you…but I cant go on anymore today! If anyone knows the ones I have missed please leave them in my comments and I will fill them in!

(A) Angel (N) Thumbs down (^) :O Gasp
(B) Beer (O) (#) Sun ({) Hug
(C) Coffee (P) Camera (@) Cat (}) Hug Back
(D) Cocktail :P Tongue out (%) Handcuffs :[ Bat
(E) Envelope (R) Rainbow (*) Star
(F) Flower (S) Moon (&) Dog
(G) Present (T) Phone (6) Devil
(H) Dude (U) Broken Heart :( Sad
(I) Bulb (W) Wilt Flower :S C
onfused
(J) (X) Bloke :@ Angry
(K) Kiss (Y) Thumbs up :| Straightface
(L) Heart (Z) Woman :) Smile
(M) Contact (8) Music Note :D Grin

*The are many options for your status, chatting away on MSN and your mobile starts ringing? Change your status to ‘On the phone’ the contacts on your list who have manners will know not to bug you.
*Gone to have your meal but too lazy to disconnect and have to reconnect? Swicth to ‘Out to Lunch’.
*‘Busy’ lets your contacts know you are at your pc but you wish to be left alone.
*’Away’ This is used when you have connected but are not at your computer at the moment, if you leave your computer when online after 3-5 minutes your status will automatically change to ‘Away’
* Online and Offline are self-explanatory.

Screen-names. When first signing up an account your screen-name will be your email address. E.g someone@hotmail.com or someone@msn.com many people use their first name, surname or full name and leave it at that. Borrriiinnggg!
Like the Personal Profile page on dooyoo, this is the chance to show your temperament. People are more likely to notice you if you log in with a colourful or funny name and it does sometimes stem a conversation! Friends of mine often use lines snatched from recent songs e.g (8) And I will always love you
(Aaaaarrrggh, pathetic, but something I knew everyone would recognise!)
Things like that and childish lymerics
e.g Roses are red, violets are blue I thought I was ugly but then I met you!

I think at the moment my own user name is - -
(8) Save your breath cos I’m not upset I’m just over it and we’ve disconnected ! ! !
This is a line taken from a Kelly Osbourne track and its basically shouting to my ex-boyfriend (not Simon, he’s my boyfriend right now) to get over himself, lets hope he’s smart enough to work that out&
#8230; he also uses MSN.
You can use absolutely any figure you like in a screen-name but swearing is not allowed and for some reason you cannot use ‘help’ or ‘problem’ or ‘www’ either?
To get around this there is an option on www.mess.be called online nick-changer, using this you can put anything into your nickname.
I think you get the idea of screen-names now! But still… if you like to stick to your original name there’s no law against it! Yet.


MSN user-profiles can be accessed by right clicking and choosing -view profile. These are very helpful, although usually not honest! That girl your having a great chat with can’t possibly be 120?? (120 is the highest age given on MSN).
There are spaces for you to write about:
About Me
Favourite Things
Hobbies and Interests
Favourite Quotes (I have read countless ‘Oh My God’s and Whatever’s written here!)

On MSN profiles you do not have to give your name, age, marital status, or any other information you do not want to. There is a choice of about 10 colour schemes.

There are many programmes and patches invented to make MSN more fun, such as the polygamy patch, this allows you to use multiple msn. If you have more than one hotmail account like myself you can sign into each one and there is a separate window for each account. This can get a bit sticky and they haven’t yet invented this patch for the recent version of MSN so its something I have to do without right now.

When changing to a new email account, the easiest way to set-up msn is not to copy down all the addresses of your contacts and re-add them all. Go to File and Save Contact List, then when opening your new account File and Import Contact List.
The maximum amount of contacts enabled on your MSN is 150, so if you have reached this limit look through your contacts and if there are any you don’t particularly
speak to, delete them! If you don’t block them they can still see you, this means that if they want to speak to you they can but you don’t have to speak to them and you don’t know if they are online or not.

Some people complain of SPAM in their hotmail inboxes, to avoid this simply set the junk-mail filter to high (but not exclusive) and set the trash level to empty itself every 7 days. If you receive SPAM after this when clicking on block you are given two options.
E.g Doyouwant@moremoney.com
You can either block Doyouwant@moremoney.com
OR you can block any addresses ending in @moremoney.com
Always click the second option and after about a week you will have no further problems with SPAM.

Common messenger abbreviations:

Brb = be right back
Rsa = Read sentence above
Hb = Hurry back
Wb = Welcome back
D/c - disconnected
'6' - commonly used when someone is able to view the conversation over your shoulder!

(sorry to insult the intelligence of the people who knew those... but hey some don't!)

Soooo I think that’s about it! I used to spend a large portion of my evening on MSN chatting away, atleast 50 of my contacts are school-mates! Very helpful when your stuck on that essay.. However for some reason since we changed to AOL its not working! Another fault with this stupid provider! I will eventually do a review on AOL…when I work out how to use every aspect of it…. So be set to see that one around in 2004!!! Lol

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