February 2023
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Get Rid of All The Annoying Things About Windows Live Messenger

I’ve begrudgingly put up with MSN Messenger and now Windows Live Messenger as they’ve progressed and gained ads plus other add ons I don’t even care to use. I use it to chat and occasionally video chat. I rarely play games and when I’ve tried they haven’t been that much fun or I’m prompted to buy them. All those other tabs — I don’t even know what they do!

I remembered reading over on Nordquist Blog about a patch that removed the ads. I searched and found that it is called the Mess Patch and it does way more than just remove ads. In fact, they try to persuade you that the ads are crucial to Live Messenger remaining free before you remove them. You can remove the Live Messenger logos, ad photos next to your contact names on the contact list, remove the photos from the pop up alert, remove emoticons from your contact’s names and many more options. If it’s annoyed you, you can probably turn it off with the Mess Patch.

There are few places to get it but for the latest Windows Live Messenger Beta 8.5 build you can find it here. Check that your version matches by going to File -> About because the patch is specific to your version of Messenger.

Should I Get More Certifications?

I was just thinking about this today. I had motivation to go all the way towards an MCSE earlier but got stuck when studying for 291. I know some people are just good at taking tests but I like to have something to apply it to for me to really learn it. I don’t have a server at work to just play with — even though I can build one, I don’t have the chance to really build out a lot of clients and try things with different users. I learned a fair amount from MeasureUp practice tests but not enough to try the test. Then I started working more shows and just wanted to relax when in the office.

Some people have been taking the Vista certifications and maybe I should try one now that I’m a little more familiar with it. The only annoying thing is that I guess you need to know about the new programs that come with Vista. Applications like Mail, Calendar and some others I think. Since I use Outlook and the MS Office Suite at work I don’t have any clue about those other programs.

Another idea is getting some non-Microsoft certifications. Security+ and Network+ come to mind as those are areas I’m interested in. I also hear that the Security+ can be used as an elective on the MCSE track. My friend Christian is thinking about Security+ so I may do it with him. Security is something very important these days of course, so having a paper that says I know something about it could help.

Just getting my thoughts out there. I’ll be busy on show site for all of July of course so no test taking during that time period.

Absurd Piracy Claims

From Slashdot — http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/17/009218

Full article about the retarded claims of the MPAA industry. These people really don’t understand their customers at all….

Internet Content Filtering Survey

Please take this Software Filters and Content Rating Survey that my friend Eddy is doing for school. He’s a great guy and this is his last big school project. He needs around 400 respondents so every little bit helps!

Woman Chases Down Her Identity Theif

sdot_identity-1.jpg

I would be furious! Actually seeing the person that made your life hell? Too bad the sentence handed down was so weak.
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/15/1220215