Hey MessengerSays readers,

I’m honored to be one of the first guest bloggers here at MessengerSays.  My name is Rob Dolin and I’m a Program Manager on the Windows Live Spaces team.  

I’ll (unsurprisingly) be blogging about integration points between Messenger and Spaces.  Spaces is a blogging, photo sharing, and social networking service.  It’s built by a bunch of engineers who share a cafeteria with the Messenger folks. 

As you also probably know, the “gleam” (right) in Messenger tells you when a contact has posted a new blog entry, photo album, list, expo listing, etc. on Spaces.  But another view on “What’s New” with your friends that’s also available.  Click the Spaces icon at the top of Messenger to go to your Spaces homepage and see “what’s new” with your Messenger contacts.  The page shows up to 20 updates by default and you can click through to see up to 100. 

You can also find other links to get started on the Spaces homepage like links for writing a blog entry, sharing photos, creating a list, or inviting friends.  You can also see recent comments on your Spaces blog and find links to Explore the Spaces community. 

Merged screenshot of Spaces homepage:

If you’re using Spaces, there are also a bunch of great Messenger integrations. 

• You can hover on someone’s “identity control” and select “Invite to Messenger” (above)
• You can browse friends (below or ex: http://messengersays.spaces.live.com/friends) and then invite them to Messenger

Thanks for reading to the bottom of the post ;).  If you have suggestions for how the Spaces team can help make your Messenger experience better, please leave a comment.  Thanks—

--Rob

P.S. Thanks to Jason B. and Stacia S. for letting me be a guest blogger.

Posted by Jason

GoPets Ltd. and Microsoft Casual Games are pleased to bring you a special version of GoPets tailored to Windows Live Messenger!  Over the past few weeks, we’ve launched a unique version of the popular virtual pet game in Australia, Japan, Korea, and the US.  If you use Windows Live Messenger in one of those countries, you now can find GoPets in the conversation window’s game menu.  This will enable you to sign up with a friend and watch your adopted pets interact real-time.

If you don’t have a friend online to play with, Lily Panda is always awake and ready to play with you.  Just add her to your contact list using lilypanda@gopetslive.com, say hi to her, and type “start” to let her know that you are ready to start GoPets.  Like all GoPets, Lily travels the world socializing with other pets, and sharing adventures with them.  To find out what’s new in Lily’s world, you can check out her spaces page.

Once you’ve adopted a pet, you’ll find tons to do in the GoPets world, including caring for and accessorizing your pet, playing mini-games, and socializing with other pets around the world.  To learn more about everything you can do in GoPets on Windows Live Messenger, check out our website!  We’ll be bringing GoPets to more markets each month, so stay tuned for more info as our world-wide release continues.

Now get out there and adopt your pet today!

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If you have a comment on this post please comment! For other questions/concerns/discussion topics/rants/raves/etc - please head over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup.

posted by Nasa

In May, MSN launched a new site called Live Earth @ http://liveearth.msn.com. It's an exclusive website for Live Earth: The Concert for a Climate in Crisis.

On 7/7/07, over 150 artists from around the world played music for the cause on seven continents (even Antarctica). Venues included US, UK, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, China, Australia, and Turkey. What an event! Zack Kushner (Live Earth Blogger), writes more about it here.

If you missed hearing about this, it's not too late. You can view the concerts, learn what you can do, and see what people are talking about all at http://liveearth.msn.com. I've been tuning in all week and I feel like I haven't even scratched the surface of the content that's out there.

Listening to people talk about their concern for our climate and the passion to make it better inspires me to think about what I can do. It also made me realize: Live Earth is much more than a concert. Participants (everyone involved, not just the artists/celebs) want to catalyst the worldwide community to a single vision and mission: convert concern to action. As one artist said in an interview: You wouldn't want to burn down your home, we need to think the same about our planet.

Live Earth asks individuals to make pledges like:

• switch to compact fluorescent bulbs
• set thermostat to 55F when sleeping
• maintain properly inflated tires
• set water heater temperatures to 130F
• choose seafood wisely
• buy EnergyStar appliances and electronics
• wash and rinse in cold water
• buy locally produced food and produce
• drink from reusable glassware
• walk, bike, and carpool

What I really enjoy about this cause is that it focuses on what each of us can do as individuals. It emphasizes that each of us has an impact and responsibility. It also made me realize that even the small things matter. For example, writing a blog entry and spreading the word ... As one artist put it: you don't have to make big changes, just do what you can.

Download the Messenger LiveEarth Themepack and show your support!

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If you have a comment on this post please comment! For other questions/concerns/discussion topics/rants/raves/etc - please head over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup.