I fired up Yahoo Messenger the other day (something that I do far less frequently anymore) and was greeted with this puzzling dialog box:
The only good thing about the dialog box is the lack of an "Okay" button, since it's far from okay.
What's wrong with it?
- No context. I have no idea who it refers to. "Your contact" is about as vague as it gets. The title bar states that this is from "5:55pm" but I fired it up before 5:55pm on that given day. So I'm left wondering who and when this message is referring to.
- What's this about "sharing" instant messages? This appears to be another blatant abuse of "sharing." I suspect it really means "exchanging" or maybe "sending and receiving" instant messages.
- The text needs copy editing. The comma before "and wants..." is unnecessary and makes the text awkward to read.
- When I'm told that I need "the latest Yahoo! Messenger with Voice" I feel like I'm being lied to. If I had waited 9 months before seeing this, the odds are good that I really didn't need "the latest" but simply something newer than what I had. It also sounds as if the voice support is required. Was my mysterious contact really trying to contact me via voice? I suspect not.
- There ought to be an "Upgrade now" button on there instead of merely having a "Close" button. If you really want to me upgrade, make it easy! Why should I have to context switch over to a browser and do the download myself?
Yeah, all that from a little dialog box that tried to mess with my head.
Time to file some bug reports...
Posted by jzawodn at November 05, 2006 08:10 AM
I am using Gaim and getting that annoying dialog for moths. I even think ta sk my 5-6 friends that are using Y! does they have any other messenger I could add them over that protocol and drop Yahoo forever.
What is more annoying is that this message shown to me each time Audium (Mac IM client I use) connects to network. This means each time I open my laptop, which happens 2-3 times a day. It is very, very annoying.
"The comma before "and wants..." is unnecessary and makes the text awkward to read."
yet another one of my pet peeves.
Please Jeremy HELP US!!!
If that message disappears I will regularly blog how good is Yahoo interaction with user. One post per month minimum I promise ;)
What instant messenger service do you use Jeremy? And is it compatible with all the Yahoo's who have Y! IM?
Uh, I use Yahoo Messenger. But, as I said, that's pretty infrequent anymore. It ends up being a source of distractions most of the time.
yes, a lot of distractions. 2 many friend that just want 2 chat. YET it is useful. Question: why doesn't yahoo approve the multi-yahoo msgr program? Why doesn't yahoo make such a program? It is commonly known that some(many) have more than 1 username, so...
While you're at it, try and press on whomever is in charge about opening up to protocol federation. That there are any interoperability issues at all is a travesty. I and many others would build tools that provide valuable services to YM users, but the only way to do that currently is to write a *plug in* for th YM client.
By way of comparison, imagine if an email provider only allowed you to receive messages from one other email provider, and only allowed 3rd parties to send you messages after installing a plugin for the mail client (I use "the" pointedly, because there is only one).
For now, YM is damage that I begrudgingly route around. Please open it!
Heh, yeah, that message has been driving me crazy for a couple of weeks -- since I added someone on MSN to my list.
Make it stooooop. Fine, tell me once when I add him, but every time I sign on? Blah.
Meebo rocks, but whats up with the message from meebos blog... It's annoying.
i would only recommend using meebo with throwaway ids. unlike clients like gaim etc, meebo routes requests through an intermediary server, and you must presume that your poersonal information, including password, are being cached for some duration. they appear to have rolled out some sort of "encryption" according to a login message, but who knows the value of that, if any.
its safer to use gaim if you want multiprotocol IM. you can inspect the source to see how your personal information is being used, and since the client connects directly to the server for the distinct service(s), there is no intermediary.
Integration with *Microsoft* MSN messenger *nuff said*
i bought a brand new laptop yesterday and installed Yahoo Music Jukebox. first time i launched Yjukebox, Ymessenger launched too, and then the jukebox crashed. so as you can tell, things were off to a wonderful start. i posted a screenshot on my music blog.
Yjukebox is good but the number of crashes (every 30 minutes or so on all 4 of my PCs) is ridiculous.
the interaction between Yjukebox & Ymessenger is strange and more often than not when used together, one or the other crashes. i enjoy displaying my songs to my messenger contacts so all the crashing is frustrating.
i've grown accustomed to keeping the Windows Task Manager open so i can kill my Yahoo processes when they inevitably hang.
Ymessenger is becoming too much like spyware as well, as it insists on launching at start-up no matter how many times i block it with Windows Defender.
I uninstalled my newish version of Yahoo messenger recently , because I was trying to isolate a virus like "downloader." Unfortunately was only able to reinstall the most recent version. I have to say I kind of miss the old standard Yahoo sounds like the woosh when you get mail, and assorted knocks, doorbells etc. What the hell happened? Now I have these really lame real player hisses and pops that remind me of crickets farting. Is there any way to reinstall an earlier version that has the traditional iconic Yahoo sounds? I don't need all these other plugins they are pushing. Tx.
I also wish there was a feature-slim lite version of Yahoo Messenger available. I had to download the most recent one when I bought a new laptop and it seems full of features that I won't use. Not to mention the annoying ad on the bottom.
