Jump to content

Wijitmaker

WFG Retired
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    9.663

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    9

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Wijitmaker

    Msn To Limit Chat Service In Most Markets

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    MSN to limit chat service in most markets

    http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story...sdate=9/24/2003

    By HELEN JUNG, Associated Press

    Last updated: 6:35 a.m., Wednesday, September 24, 2003

    SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. is shutting down Internet chat services in most of its markets around the world and limiting the service in the United States to help reduce criminal solicitations of children through online discussions.

    The changes also should help Microsoft shed some nonpaying users that have dragged on profits, said an analyst who follows the software giant.

    The changes, which will take effect Oct. 14, were disclosed Tuesday.

    In most of its 34 markets in Europe, Latin America and Asia, Microsoft MSN has chosen to simply shut down the service. However, MSN will continue to offer chat services to users in the United States, Canada, Japan and Brazil.

    Eliminating and curtailing the service will help curb inappropriate uses, MSN spokeswoman Lisa Gurry said, including pornographic spam as well as pedophiles or other sexual predators.

    "We recognize that it's a common industry wide problem," she said. "We've taken a look at our service and how can we make efforts to step up our efforts to provide a safe environment."

    Microsoft officials refused to say how many people use its chat service.

    The Redmond, Wash.-based company has about 8.6 million subscribers for its Internet service. Gurry said the number of MSN chat users has been declining as people switch to instant messaging services from companies such as AOL, Yahoo! and MSN.

    In recent years, authorities have pursued cases in which suspects allegedly sought out children and others through online chat rooms, including an incident in July in which a 12-year-old British girl ran off to meet a former U.S. Marine she had met in a chat room.

    In the United States, MSN will require users of its chat service to subscribe to at least one other paid MSN service. That way, the company will have credit card numbers to make it easier to track down users who violate MSN's terms of use. The sessions will not be moderated, Microsoft said.

    In Canada and Japan, the company will offer some moderated chat rooms. Users can also subscribe to an unmoderated service. MSN will offer some moderated chat discussions in New Zealand and Brazil.

    The move also may help MSN trim the number of free users and help boost its overall revenue, said Rob Helm, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm.

    "I think this change will have welcome side effects, like keeping spammers out of the chat rooms," he said. "But fundamentally I believe this is a move to make MSN more profitable. It will allow the company to get rid of some infrastructure that was supporting chat, and to make more money on what it leaves in place."

    ------

    On the Net:

    http://www.msn.com

  5. Old Forums

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    The old forums here:

    http://forums.heavengames.com/wfg/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi

    are closing in one months time. Unfortunately we thought we would be able to recover the database, but Zen (the webmaster of HG and that forum) informed me on Sunday that we will not be able to save it. The reason is, that the forum conversion that HG was going to do on all its forums has been delayed till next spring.

    So, this means that if you want to save any of the old posts at that forum you need to go and copy/paste all the text you want into this forum. You have one month, but just to be on the safe side, you better do it in the next 3 weeks.

    Thanks

    IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ

    in General TLA Discussion

    Posted

    Not sure if this is a good forum for this info Adam, so feel free to move it wherever...

    The old forums here:

    http://forums.heavengames.com/wfg/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi

    are closing in one months time. Unfortunately we thought we would be able to recover the database, but Zen (the webmaster of HG and that forum) informed me on Sunday that we will not be able to save it. The reason is, that the forum conversion that HG was going to do on all its forums has been delayed till next spring.

    So, this means that if you want to save any of the old posts at that forum you need to go and copy/paste all the text you want into this forum. You have one month, but just to be on the safe side, you better do it in the next 3 weeks.

    Thanks

  16. Multiplayer Settings

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    What is 0.A.D (maybe an address to a website for info)...

    When does it release??

    Is it a mod, if yes, for what game??

    If NOT, is you Grafic Engine good, some pics??

    Oh, forgot to answer your questions ;)

    We are shooting for a beta release in December of next year. From that point out, the release will depend on how many problems the testers see we need to fix, and how much time we want to spend 'balancing' the civs in the game.

    It is not a mod, it is a standalone freeware game!

    The programmers are working on the graphics engine, and we do not have any screenshots currently availible for the engine version they are working on now. But, the engine is called Prometheus and it should be very good.

    You can visit the website (which we will be updating within the next 2 months) here:

    http://wildfiregames.com/0ad

    Or the link is at the top of the forum under the banner ;)

  17. Multiplayer Settings

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    "MakeItWithTheArmyYouGet" - Zezar thats a cool idea? It would be like a battlefield exercise? I think thats pretty cool, and origional too ;) The 'no attack for 5 min' idea is good to. Some people really hate rushing.

    Widukind what do you mean by in game browser? You mean like an internet browser?

    CO - good point about the victory conditions. I'm a millitary guy too :P

    World pop cap is a neat idea, especially because that would help with the computer resources. I hope we can have 1000's of units on the map, but we will just have to see.

    BTW if you guys want thousands of units on the map, would you prefer them all being individual units or groups of say.. 2,3, or 4?

    16 players, Yikes that would be allot! Like one of our programmers said in a programming meeting said "I don't think I have that many friends" lol ;)

    Oh and remember, long thoughful posts are welcomed, and in fact... ecouraged!

  20. What Is Your Favorite Rts Game And Why?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I personally like AoK allot, mainly because it was the first RTS game I really got into. But since then I have learned to love others... I liked Red Alert 2 (especially the ranking of units), I like Rise of Nations with the easy econommy and borders idea. I like AoM with their graphics and gameplay.

    What your thoughts?

    What are your favorite RTS's and what is it that you like about them?

    Arafat Diverts $1.35bn

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    Arafat diverts $1.35bn

    http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/commo...610^912,00.html

    22sep03

    DUBAI: An audit of the Palestinian Authority has revealed President Yasser Arafat diverted $1.35 billion in public funds to a bank account he controlled, with most of the money later invested in Palestinian assets at home and abroad.

    International Monetary Fund official Karim Nashashibi credited openness and transparency in the Palestinian Authority's accounting under Finance Minister Salam Fayad for disclosing the transfers of money between 1995 and 2000.

    But Mr Nashashibi did not rule out the possibility of the remaining funds being misused.

    He said there would be an audit.

    Mr Nashashibi said the money was diverted from the budget to a bank account controlled by Mr Arafat.

    "We estimated that amount to be around US$900 million over a period of five years," the IMF official said.

  24. Season Premiers

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    Hey guys the Fall TV shows are just unveiling over the next few weeks? Which ones are you looking forward to?

    I have to admit I don't watch much TV, but here are my picks:

    Alias! - I'm addicted

    Boomtown - pretty good show

    J.A.G. - not sure why I watch it... just a habbit from when I started 8 years ago

    Thats about it B) Like I say I don't watch much TV

  25. What Car Do You Drive ?

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    The Way!. Oooh very nice Micah :) I have an uncle who owns one of the earlier El Camino's. The ones with the big fins. I don't remember the year.

    I'm kind of a ford guy, but I make exceptions for classic chevy's. Was that a project car you worked to restore with someone? I used to own a '55 ford pickup but I sold it. B) I really like the '69 camaro. Hold on to it, you'll kick yourself if you ever sell it!

    Here is my Chevy list of likes:

    '62 Nova

    '55 Chevey Pickup

    '68-'69 Camaro

×
×
  • Create New...