Windows Live Channel Blog

When you think of Britain what is the first thought that enters your mind?

Is it the rain, rail strikes, losing the football, Tim Henman, Tony Blair, a cup of tea, Geri Halliwell in 'that' dress, David Beckham, Queen, Led Zeppelin, a red telephone box, Doctor Who, Cricket, Winston Churchill, Weston Super Mare, Big Ben, Page 3, Terry Wogan, John Peel, Glastonbury, The Beatles, The Royal Family...? I could go on, but you get the jist.

For more inspiration head along to the Iconic Britain gallery on the WL channel.

Iconic Britain is Microsoft's eight week-long search to find the ultimate images of ‘Iconic Britain’. Help create the chart of great sights, institutions, people and art that we will compile into the definitive top 100.

There are two ways of making your mark: the first is to rate the images previously chosen, or liven things up by using Live Image Search to find your own. Drag and drop your chosen image into the box provided - with a short description and hey presto.

I want to put my personal spin on this so here are a few of my choices

Legendary broadcaster John Peel - he inspired a nation (Courtesy of PA)

The almighty Led Zeppelin (Courtesy of AP Photo/Murad Sezer)

(Note you can't submit your own photography, but this is a personal favourite of mine which I took during the Postal Strike. All the more apt I think!)

For a chance to win one of 300 cameras head along to Iconic Britain and cast your vote.

Who would be your British icon? Let me know by leaving your comments

The results are in for our Profile Picture Poll which we ran in association with the What does your Profile Picture say about you? article.

We painted the following scenario:
"You need a new profile picture for Live Messenger. Which of the following do you choose?"

We polled 3553 responses (which has to be a record for this here channel) and despite 'A cartoon version of yourself' taking an early lead, the winner with 29% was 'A photo of you with friends'. Which is all rather nice, is it not?

Incidentally you can create your own cartoon WeeMee by following the link.

Head on over to the Windows Live Channel to take the MSN Toolbar poll

If you've been keeping an eye on the MSN homepage this week you might have seen the Windows Live features on Facebook. If not read them now at my Facebook hub.

If you're a Facebook junkie (read: just about anyone stuck with a desk job and looking for an escape) then this new addition to Messenger is quite simply a godsend. Why get hauled by the scruff of your collar for wasting your time on Messenger AND Facebook when you can check Facebook from Messenger itself... therein lies the appeal.

Clicking on the new 'Facebook tab' will suck you into the world of status updates, pokes, and embarrassing tagged photos. Another saving grace is the omission of those really annoying applications (whose numbers seem to have snowballed of late), but if you absolutely insist on stroking your ego by checking your ranking on 'Hotlist' or adding the 'What mental disorder do you have' application, well....

However, if you want to 'Own' me then go ahead and place a bid (I might have added that application last night) I was curious?

Go ahead and try Facebook Updates out, it would be good to hear from users in the comments box below.

Matt

This morning sees the release of the latest version of Live Search. Personally I'm a big, big fan of the Image Search, it just feels a lot more rugged than [insert competitor's brand here] and the infinite scroll function has a habit of hypnotizing me... The Video Search has just started to do some nifty things too: the 30sec preview feature is definitely a nice touch.

I've made a whole heap of Search related content available on the Windows Live channel, this is just a selection:

Search homepage

Unsung Heroes: The Internet Innovators!

Why not take our Whose Shakespeare Line Is It Anyway Quiz?

The following is taken from Evan Malahy's blog post over at the official Live Search developer blog. It makes for interesting reading but the question is, do you agree or disagree? Let me know your thoughts on the new technology...

More than a pretty face

Along with the release of our new search experience, we'd like to give some background into the design team and process that went into all the changes you see. You might not immediately think of design as being a critical part of a search product, but we think it is, and we have a growing team of designers, researchers, and developers who believe it, too. We have a growing, pro-design community here at Microsoft as well (only fitting to plug Microsoft Design).

Simple and powerful. Human. Fast. These were our guiding principles for this latest version of Live Search.

Here's the nickel tour:

• Simple and powerful is about getting just enough, having information and tools when you need them, and revealing functionality without being overwhelmed.
• Being human reminds us that all good products speak to people and we should always design for them.
• Being fast has particular relevance to search where so much depends on rolling up the world of information to support people's countless other activities and passions.

We wove these principles into our work on Live Search in a process that started with user research, customer feedback, and a myriad of other sources for data and learning. All disciplines got involved in sketching as a shared way to develop our ideas. With informed iteration, sketches turned into the interactions, layouts, and visual designs that fed directly into user testing, giving us a unique opportunity as designers and researchers to make truly "user-centered" decisions.

Here are some of the biggest changes you'll notice that resulted from our product design process:

Search box near results  The new Live Search header and search box is slimmed down from a heavy piece of UI into sleeker, simpler elements. Bringing the search box into alignment with the results and into the body moves it closer to where users are looking and flattens out the visual bumps between it and the results.

Room to breathe on the page  Something else you'll see on a large screen (lucky you!) is our centered, fixed-width page, allowing for a more thoughtful, predictable experience as richer search content and wider screens become the norm.

Crisp, clean type  We've also made changes to our color and typography. Our decision to use Arial and the new color palette was based not only on our desire to improve readability and consistency, but also on rounds of testing to find the right combination.

Intuitive video search  For our new video search experience, the team focused on activities and behaviors that make video search different. We focused on simplicity — cutting irrelevant pixels and text — and power — investing in enhanced preview for video — both of which contribute to the overall simple, yet powerful experience.

Health results integrated from many sources  You'll see in health search that we've created a way for users to pull together health information from many different sources, digestible all in one place.

Ultimately, we think we've taken a step forward with this new product that we think will improve the overall Live Search experience.

It's been a very game-centric week here at Windows Live. If you've come here from my article on 'Secret Games in Messenger' you might be looking to leave your 'Sea legs' survival score. Comment below, and we'll compile a list of best times for next week. My score was a lowly 5 seconds, rubbish!

Incidentally, if you're experiencing any problems trying to get these games working with Messenger - head on over to mess.be where they've developed a handy games launcher.

Regular visitors to this blog will have seen my previous write-up on the 'MSN Webcam Missile Launcher' - well I managed to get hold of one (a big thank you to the good folk at Firebox).

The webcam missile launcher (WML for short) is manufactured by Dream Cheeky and (as I'm sure you've already guessed) packs a neat little webcam and foam rocket projectiles into its glossy plastic frame.

Despite the dubious name and looking like the Big Gun straight out of Quake II, the WML is quite a feature-packed piece of kit. The images produced by the webcam are certainly of acceptable quality, although the box neglects to state the value in mega-pixels. The webcam itself is detachable from the body of the launcher, which is a nice feature and makes for a pretty sturdy cam to boot.

The WML makes use of two of your USB ports; one for the webcam, one for the launching mechanism. Getting the WML up and running is a pretty painless process. It also comes Vista ready, so there's no sticky compatibility issues, just make sure to install the multitude of software on the CD supplied before plugging anything in.

In the box you will also find 3 foam missiles and a painted target (shown in pictures) which is great to hang next to unsuspecting victims.

Now comes the ingenious part (courtesy of Live Messenger) - you and your friend's can get a live, launcher's eye view of the attack. Simply invite a friend to start the WML activity with you and firey, foamy hell will soon be reigning down on your head (or bouncing off your face) dependent on your friend's preference. The on-screen menu even allows you to tilt and swivel the launcher, and what's more a host of sound effects alert you to every missile-strike - so you still have time to take cover.

I'm off now to don my camouflage gear and get my head below ground, have a great weekend everyone.

Matt

Have you visited the MSN Entertainment channel recently? If so you may have spotted a few changes - these changes come in the form of 'auto generated links'. In the same vein as a particularly annoying advert, stick with me while we cover the science bit......

Auto generated links are effectively a series of linked words, which when clicked will whoosh you off to related content. What's more, if you hover your mouse-over the links you'll be presented with a healthy number of different options.

In the example shown 'Nicole Kidman' is highlighted; mouse-over her name and choose to search for Nicole Kidman videos, weblinks, images etc.

You will be able to spot an auto generated link because it is underlined with dashes.

The theory behind this new breed of linkage is all about maximising the users experience and not wanting your browsing experience to end.

So, what do you think? Do you find the links useful, or perhaps you have seen similar technology in action on another website? If you totally hate it, that's cool too - let us know.

Matt

Yes, it is as strange as it sounds.....
http://www.firebox.com/product/2073?aff=512

A few days ago I picked up an e-mail from Firebox advertising this bizarre contraption.

"The MSN Webcam Missile Launcher...features an integrated webcam and can be controlled via MSN Instant Messenger. Thanks to the quality onboard webcam you'll get a live, launcher's eye view of the attack - mwa-ha-ha! But here's the really good bit: by hooking up to MSN you (or anyone on your MSN list) can control the launcher remotely from anywhere in the world."

I'd be interested to get my hands on one, Friday afternoons were made for office hijinks!

Matt

Part of my role as editor of the Windows Live Channel involves keeping a beady eye on similar tech blogs and websites. As is often the case, there's some pretty worthwhile stuff out there - one such discovery is 'MSN Cartoon', a nice little application from our friends at MSN China.

But, that's not to say it's also a little bit strange..........

Cartoon MSN does exactly what it says on the tin - it caters for anyone who ever dreamed of seeing themselves in cartoon form. We've all created our own 'WeeMee' avatars (if not, create a WeeMee now), but Cartoon MSN uses facial recognition to give your cartoon form a more stylised appearance.

Language barrier

To get the ball rolling head on over to the Cartoon MSN download page.

Now, the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that the software and instructions are written in Chinese - but follow the steps below and we should get through this unscathed.

1. Begin your download by clicking on the magic wand, but make sure you don't close the window. Cartoon MSN will be installed on your hard drive.

2. Once the download has completed, click the second icon.

Picture perfect

If successful, Cartoon MSN will launch. To progress you'll need to upload a photo of yourself.

To get the best results the software requires a good, clear, head-shot - so none of this facing away from the camera nonsense. In fact, liken this step to choosing a passport picture - the difference being you won't get stung for £3 of your cash.

To launch the upload browser, click the folder icon - a dialog box will appear.

Confirm your selection by hitting the 'action' button.

Cartoon heroes

You may need to crop your photo; this is easily achieved by moving the red bounding box. When you are happy with the selection you'll need to select a facial-type from 6 different options.

Voila! The beginnings of your new life in cartoon form are unveiled - but we're not done yet. The software doesn't always get it right so you might need to adjust the facial recognition settings; to do this, click the button shown.

Each green dot represents a point on your face.

Click on a dot to select; drag to move.

Once done editing, you can choose to give your cartoon a number of different hair-styles, accessories and facial expressions. Have a play around, some of the results can be rather odd! Don't forget to download your cartoon when you've finished! You can use it as a display picture on Messenger or stick it in an e-mail.

Cartoon MSN has taught me a few things: Just because I look a bit like a cartoon character (I think it's the bright red hair) doesn't mean I make a convincing cartoon...... This aside, I'll leave you with a video that explores a few more of Cartoon MSN's features.

Let me know how you get on, leave a comment below.
Matt

In my article 'Music in the Cloud' I showed you how to add music to SkyDrive and then embed it into your Spaces page.

Free music is great. Regular readers of my blog will already know my feelings on the subject, if not read my post a few entries down!
I found all of these by spending a few minutes on Live Search - the list is by no means exhaustive, but this represents a good selection of artists and genres. Bands also occasionally give away free tracks via Myspace, so keep your eyes peeled.

Top up your music collection today - all of these bands are offering their music for free:

Radiohead - 'In Rainbows'
Nine Inch Nails - 'Ghosts'
Counting Crows - 'Digital 45'
Foxboro Hot Tubs (much rumoured Green Day alias) - 'Mother Mary'
The Charlatans - 'You Cross My Path'
Harvey Danger - 'Little By Little'
SXSW Festival - Various artists
The Crimea - 'Secrets of the Witching Hour'

If you haven't done already go and check out 'Ghosts'. As an instrumental album, it's fantastic mood music. I almost prefer it to Year Zero........

As ever, leave your own links and recommendations in the comments box below - and I'll go check them out.

Matt

In my tribute to the humble Smiley I cited a number of popular references to the yellow one. Space constraints being so, I had to make a few omissions so I'll use the power of the blog to add a few of my favourites.

Unreal Tournament (PC)

When using secondary fire on the Flak Cannon, a smiley can be seen flying from the flaming barrels.

Randall Flagg

Randall Flagg is a fictional character created by Stephen King. He has featured in numerous novels and is noted for the smiley badge that he often wears.

Have you ever read "The Stand"? King's masterstroke; an almost dystopic epic with an amazing narrative. The movie version with Gary Sinese is also pretty good.

Now it's your turn: I want to hear your tales and uses for the smiley. You never know, we might even run another gallery!