The personal status is very easy!!!
... But not setting the away message...
I tihnk I have posted this somewhere before.. .I'll just post it again...
bnameresult = SetNewName("somenick" & Chr(160) & "{somestatus}")
That should do the trick.. This code is VB.. I think it is easy to convert to c++/others....
the Chr(160) is just the Ascii character of 160...
... If you understand...