Shoutbox

I dont really quite understand it...But anyway:

Idea 2 and 3 is already available, according to what I understand from your post...

For your second idea, you can do that by clicking the Plus! menu, then Event Log Window...

And, the third idea, you can view the logs of your contacts by right-clicking it, and select 'View Message History', provided that you turn on Messenger's logging...

Also, for your first idea, wont you find it funny when you hover your Messenger icon in the taskbar and see a large yellow thingy coming out?