Showing posts with label instant messaging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label instant messaging. Show all posts

Wednesday 30 March 2011

emesene : A lightweight MSN Messenger client

emesene is a nice and simple MSN Messenger client. It tries to be similar to the official client, but with a simpler interface and a nicer look.

emesene has got very simple and cool graphics and is fully coded in python using pyGTK, GTK+. Hence, its a cross platform messenger with binaries available for different platforms and the source code available under GNU GPL license.

Following part is taken from wikipedia entry on emesene.

The current version of emesene is compatible with the Windows Live Messenger protocol MSNP15.

Official Windows Live Messenger features supported by the client are:

Offline messaging
Personal messages
'Now Playing' personal messages
Nudges
Contact list retrieval from server
Nickname retrieval from server
Tabbed chat windows
File transfer
Webcam support (1.6.3 working)

Other features specific to emesene are:

Plugins (now playing, AES Encryption, Gmail checker, POP3 mail checker, spell checker, Youtube videos, last.fm song reporting, MSN Premium and others)
Auto-reply
Minimize to notification area (System Tray)
Window and icon themes
Emoticon themes
Multilingual support

To install emesene in ubuntu, open the terminal and type:

sudo apt-get install emesene

To download and install emesene under under OS, you can go to the Download page of emesene.

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Monday 6 September 2010

Steal your buddy's MSN display pic

I don't know how well this works but it worked well for me... Extra note that I'm using msgplus addon on my windows live so I am not sure about the native Windows live messenger. Anyway I thought it would be worth sharing here.


I was actually looking for the malware that apparently was running from the temporary folder of my computer. So I went to the temporary folder by typing

%temp%

There I found the folder MessengerCache and then to kill my curiosity, I browsed inside the folder and found some files with their name in base64 encoded format(probably) like:

5MUxRvUiwvrxjV2LPv16yrBUhKs=
fffaxlzPZXqjTQMBjaQqrIhOQtc=
RMsNq5KjYXJA2LKOCzpJX2FY4Wzo=
etc...

I then opened one of these files in notepad++ and found the starting of the file containing

GIF89a

which is something like header for the GIF images. Immediately I renamed the file into .gif and when I viewed it, I found it to be display pic of one of the friends in my buddy list. I hope you got me... This is something like stealing buddy's display pic. Have fun. :)

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Tuesday 24 August 2010

Installing MSN Handwriting feature

MSN Handwriting is one of the cool features that can be added to your MSN Live Messenger. It allows you to write Ink Messages i.e. by drawing. Enabling the handwriting feature can be done by installing the Microsoft Journal Viewer but today I'm going to discuss about the other way to enable handwriting tab in your messenger.

We will be using a MSN messenger add-on called Messenger Plus! for adding the handwriting ability in our messenger. Messenger Plus! Live is an add-on for Windows Live Messenger that adds tons of features and extras to the software. This addon extends the possibilities of Messenger and make your experience a lot more entertaining!

First Download and install the Messenger Plus! from HERE. Then you will need to download the MSN Handwriting script from HERE. But this script requires installation of the Ink Redistributable which you can download from HERE.

After successfull installation, you can use the handwriting feature in your chat window. Have fun with your MSN Live Messenger.

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Saturday 21 August 2010

Encrypting your IM Conversations

With the presence of numerous powerful packet sniffers and specially designed IM sniffers, the malicious person can always sniff and see your Instant Messaging Conversation over a network. So its important for the IM users to remain secured by encrypting the IM conversations they are making. And in order to provide us the encryption, there are some tools you will find useful for the purpose. Here we will be talking about some of these tools and plugins.

1) SIMP: Simp is a Windows based encryption software that supports many protocols like AIM, MSN, ICQ, YIM, etc. and works with Gaim, Trillian, and the following clients: AIM, ICQ, MSN and YIM. With Simp Lite, free version of the Simp product line, you can secure one of the following services: MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ/AOL Instant Messenger(AIM), Jabber/Google Talk. Also, SimpPro is available for download & for corporate environments and more demanding users, SimpPro encrypts and authenticates messages as well as file transfers (MSN Messenger only), making it the most comprehensive instant messenger security add-on. It uses 1024 to 2048 bit RSA keys.

Download from : http://www.secway.fr/us/products/all.php

2) Gaim-Encryption: An open source plugin to encrypt your IM conversation in the GAIM software, it uses 512 to 4096 bit RSA keys to securely encrypt your IM conversations. Grab this plugin if you use GAIM for your IM. It supports AIM, Jabber, ICQ, YIM, MSN and others too and is available for both Windows as well as Linux systems.

Download from: http://gaim-encryption.sourceforge.net/

3) Pidgin-Encrypt: Another open source plugin mainly targeted for Pidgin IM software, it also uses 512 - 4096 bit RSA keys. It automatically creates a public/private key pair for you upon loading the plugin and automatically transmits your public key to other users. A must have plugin for pidgin.

Download from: http://pidgin-encrypt.sourceforge.net/

4) OTR: "Off the Record": Another IM encryption, available for Pidgin in Linux+Windows and Adium for Mac, its a transparent encryption. A detailed explanation about its protocol can be found at http://www.cypherpunks.ca/otr/Protocol-v2-3.0.0.html.

Download from: http://www.cypherpunks.ca/otr/

5) SecureIM: SecureIM is another tool that uses 128-bit Blowfish keys to secure the IM conversation in Trillian IM software in Windows. It has lesser supports i.e. supports only AIM/ICQ protocol.

Download from: http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/

6) X-IM: Its another free instant messaging encryption which uses 256-bit session keys, 160-bit hash functions, and 2048-bit public/private key pairs. It is available for windows and officially it says "X-IM's Encryption Protocols and Algorithms are selected and designed to protect the privacy of your communications well into the foreseeable future and beyond."

Download from: http://x-im.net

Apart from these, SSL can be implemented to securely encrypt your IM conversations, you can use certificates from verisign(paid) and get the enterprise softwares from AOL, Yahoo and MSN which include encryption in their enterprise software.

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