Hello Everyone,
Finally some news about Ginge (Neil) has come in.  I am talking to him on MSN.   He has been gone for a long year in the University Halls, and has just gotten access to MSN Messenger again (they were blocked)...Anywayz, He's completely outta the MSN Addon Business (This signs the death certificate for BetterMSN) and is a bit disappointed that Patchou removed his name from the about window in MsgPlus3 it seems.  Anywayz, He is alive and well.  You can see his current programs at this site, They are very promising!

Hi everyone, since I last posted a lot has happened. I'm not really upset at being dropped from the about box, although am curious to see if my password encryption code is still in there or not. BetterMSN is pretty much dead, I got sick of tracking incompatible API changes, which makes development no fun. BetterMSN is still open source, and the code and program are still available somewhere (although I'm trying to find out where). If anyone wants to take over the program, let me know.

I have also finished my degree (MEng, 1st class), and got a PhD place with funding. Done several huge projects, 70 pages/28,000 words (available online). Got a website (not sure if I had it last time...), http://www.nmitchell.co.uk/ . I have also got a pile of programs up there, Dane gave the link above (I recommend Clock, Countdown and Evolution - my graphics editor should be uploaded within the week - my management program within the month). Got a girlfriend (very time consuming). Had several jobs, including writing software for motorway signs, and the British Airways departure control system. And probably a load of other stuff too...

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/better-msn/Bet...ource.zip?download for the source code. found it on hotmailstuff.com

hi ginge

quote:

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Originally posted by Dane
and has just gotten access to MSN Messenger again

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Long time no see..

The best thing you can do about chekcing on the encryption code is throwing Patchou a good old email, msgplus [at] msgplus.net

Good to see that you're back and your life is all on track

quote:

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Originally posted by Chrono
Maybe he blocked u? cause i have seen hiom online since a couple of onths ago (not that i talk to him anyway )

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I just checked, and I'm pretty sure its the same encryption code in there - there are certain characteristics about my encryption code which make it unique to me

As for blocking people, yeah, I blocked my entire contact list for a few months - because I really was that busy! Take a look at my 4th year project to see just how busy - I didn't sleep for a full 48 hours before hand in. (and completed it with a broken rib, unable to raise my hands above my shoulders)

Yo Ginge,

good to see you're alive and well . I removed from the about box of Messenger Plus! 3 while I was cleaning it for the first public release. I removed a LOT of names, not only yours. However, I'm ashamed of myself to remember just now that the encryption system used for email storage in the registry is still based on your original code (when I removed your name, it was in the "he helped me, but a long time ago" batch ). So, you're back in the box, and I do apologize for this.

Anyway, good luck with your new gf, your jobs, your studies ... hope to see you more often on the forum

Patch

Well done ginge nice to here someone achieving something with there lifes.  It seems you have worked hard to get where your going.  Perhaps we might even see some real compeition for Messenger Plus if you ever get any spare time

Good luck for the future (Drop into IRC sometime ) 

Peace

The chances of me ever competing with Plus are pretty remote - its a nice extension, and there are only 2 features its missing

Thanks for the reinstating to the about box, its nice to be associated with Plus! - it makes me feel clever by association. Thanks also for all the good luck messages - i'll certainly need lots of luck when i get back to uni - still have yet to meet the people i'll be spending all next year living with.

Heh, Patchou must have a text file for everything.  Anywayz, when you go back to the Uni, you can see if you can get to http://webmessenger.msn.com for MSN Messenger Web Version.

Only the other day I was thinking if only I could write a program that everybody needs, and road signs programs is what everyone needs, then I could gain a lot from it. I know someone who wrote a program that many banks use, and someone else who made a program for opticians. Good business to be in

You'll probably get nowhere on the road signs thing, sorry to say. There are lots of banks and opticians which are separate practices - so you can sell to lots of different companies. The only people with road signs are the Highways Agency, and they require ISO9000 certification for their software - which is a complete bitch - and takes a team of people just to do the paperwork for.

As for the web messenger, that looks way cool. I tried it now, but I'm on a modem and downloading SP2 in the background, so it wasn't fun and I managed to get signed out repeatedly. Anyway, its definately getting a bookmark - thanks!