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Why on my contacts list do contacts pictures show up and other times not????
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Chris4
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RE: Why on my contacts list do contacts pictures show up and other times not????
quote:
Originally posted by Cassandra424
It happens in both the web version and 2009 version.
quote:
Originally posted by Spunky
Instead of telling us here (a website for a 3rd party add-on), you should report it directly to the WLM team through the help menu in Messenger. If they do determine there to be a problem, it will be fixed.
Twitter: @ChrisLozeau
02-22-2010 06:42 PM
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Cassandra424
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RE: RE: Why on my contacts list do contacts pictures show up and other times not????
quote:
Originally posted by Chris4
quote:
Originally posted by Cassandra424
It happens in both the web version and 2009 version.
quote:
Originally posted by Spunky
Instead of telling us here (a website for a 3rd party add-on), you should report it directly to the WLM team through the help menu in Messenger. If they do determine there to be a problem, it will be fixed.

Well it's not really a problem...I like the original poster was just curious.  Her question popped up on my google search to see if others had noticed it too.

So no worries....I will continue to just be curious.
02-22-2010 07:24 PM
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CookieRevised
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RE: RE: Why on my contacts list do contacts pictures show up and other times not????
quote:
Originally posted by frazzledazzle
Yeah don't get me wrong I'm not having a go...and I appreciate your advice, I just don't think you should categorically dismiss my hypothesis just because you cannot replicate it on your own machines.
The sole fact that some people can not replicate it is already proof in itself that your 'hypothesis' does not work and as such is not a way to detect blocks!

As you said yourself, you do not know all the variables which come into play with stuff like this.

The people here are 100% correct in what they've said: there is no reliable way to see if someone has blocked you.

And a grayed out display picture proofs absolutely nothing in this regards. eg: a display picture can also be grayed out because the syncronization between you, the server and the contact couldn't be established or if there was an error on the way. It even could be that your contact doesn't have a DP to start with. All things which you can not verify in any reliable way.

quote:
Originally posted by Cassandra424
This has been driving me crazy too!  I am pretty sure the person has me blocked whilst they are online as I have witnessed their display pic disappear the moment they sign off after we have been chatting.
That still is no proof that they have blocked you. It could still mean they have deleted the picture. It could also still mean that you don't have cached DPs or that your messenger experiences some bad connection so it can not cache DPs at all. And those are only 2 of the many possebilities which could occur besides being blocked.

Again, there is no way to see the difference between any of those scenarios.

quote:
Originally posted by Cassandra424
If they are online but I see their pic but not status, I am blocked.
They could also be 'appearing offline', or even be completely offline while your Messenger does has a cached version of their DP.

This post was edited on 02-24-2010 at 02:22 AM by CookieRevised.
.-= A 'frrrrrrrituurrr' for Wacky =-.
02-24-2010 02:14 AM
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Cassandra424
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RE: RE: RE: Why on my contacts list do contacts pictures show up and other times not????
quote:
Originally posted by CookieRevised
quote:
Originally posted by frazzledazzle
Yeah don't get me wrong I'm not having a go...and I appreciate your advice, I just don't think you should categorically dismiss my hypothesis just because you cannot replicate it on your own machines.
The sole fact that some people can not replicate it is already proof in itself that your 'hypothesis' does not work and as such is not a way to detect blocks!

As you said yourself, you do not know all the variables which come into play with stuff like this.

The people here are 100% correct in what they've said: there is no reliable way to see if someone has blocked you.

And a grayed out display picture proofs absolutely nothing in this regards. eg: a display picture can also be grayed out because the syncronization between you, the server and the contact couldn't be established or if there was an error on the way. It even could be that your contact doesn't have a DP to start with. All things which you can not verify in any reliable way.

quote:
Originally posted by Cassandra424
This has been driving me crazy too!  I am pretty sure the person has me blocked whilst they are online as I have witnessed their display pic disappear the moment they sign off after we have been chatting.
That still is no proof that they have blocked you. It could still mean they have deleted the picture. It could also still mean that you don't have cached DPs or that your messenger experiences some bad connection so it can not cache DPs at all. And those are only 2 of the many possebilities which could occur besides being blocked.

Again, there is no way to see the difference between any of those scenarios.

quote:
Originally posted by Cassandra424
If they are online but I see their pic but not status, I am blocked.
They could also be 'appearing offline', or even be completely offline while your Messenger does has a cached version of their DP.

Perhaps they are appearing offline.  All I know is that sometimes the pic is there, sometimes it's not and the sometimes there lines up with when they would be online during work hours.  They also work odd hours so it's not like it's a consistant 9-5 pic showing.  Since they use msn for work it would seem more likely that they would block certain people as opposed to 'appearing offline'. 

Anyhow, I don't want to argue about something that was just a curiousity.  Yes I could ask the contacts outright but as they say don't ask the question if you don't want to know the answer. ;)

I am happy that at least one other person out there had experienced the same thing and I wasn't imagining it.

This post was edited on 02-24-2010 at 08:12 PM by Cassandra424.
02-24-2010 08:10 PM
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Nofew
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RE: Why on my contacts list do contacts pictures show up and other times not????
I only quickly skimmed over this thread, so I'm sorry if this has already been posted.


Display pictures appear blank because the picture isn't "recent".

Display pictures are transfered by direct connections. In order to open one, both conversations must not have their status set to "Appear offline".

When someone changes their display picture (Or when you've just added them), your MSN asks the MSN servers if the contact has a display picture. If they do, the server gives them their IP and connects you to them to download the picture.

The picture is then saved in some obscure folder that nobody can find. Where it is located isn't important, just the fact it's saved locally is.

Now, let's say you have three friends, Anna, Bob, and Chris.

You can see Anna and Bob's picture, but Chris has never appeared online. She likes to always appear offline so people don't bother her. Nobody will *ever* see her picture unless she appears online at some point *and they open a conversation with her*.

Meanwhile, Bob has appeared online before and you can see his picture, but he claims to have a new one. He's been appearing offline for a long time. MSN doesn't know that he has a new picture, so he needs to appear online and people *need to open a conversation* with him to get the new picture.

Finally, Anna's display picture randomly disappeared overnight.  This is most likely what the people here are confused about. What has happened is Anna has signed in from a new account that has a different display picture (or no display picture) while you were offline or appearing offline. Since she's signed in with a different DP, her MSN has told the servers that her DP has changed. When you sign in, your MSN checks the server and says "Hey, I need to re-download Anna's picture. I'll delete her picture so my user knows he/she needs to open a conversation with her." So it does.

Basically, this all happens under totally normal operation. It's not a bug (Though it acts like one), it's not a way to tell if people blocked you, if they're appearing offline, if they've been hacked, etc, etc.. It's just confusing to some people.


If you want to fix the problem, just open a conversation the next time you see the contact in question online. Sometimes you may also need to send them a message to make sure the connection opens, so if you want to guarantee your MSN will get their picture, open a conversation with someone and say something to them. If their picture doesn't change after a minute or two then they've either really got a blank display picture, someone's firewall is somehow blocking communication (Albeit rare), or they're not using Windows Live Messenger.



I hope this helps.
03-09-2010 06:28 PM
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Cassandra424
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RE: Why on my contacts list do contacts pictures show up and other times not????
Thanks Nofew. :)

I have been trying to follow the comings and goings of the display pics and have noticed that where the other person signs on makes a difference.

If the person logs on and off from a desktop computer the dp is saved on my msn but if they sign on and off from their mobile, dp disappears.

So if I am chatting with them, dp shown, they sign off from desktop, dp stays for days on end but if they are on mobile the moment they sign off, dp disappears and does not reappear until they sign back on.

The display pic is always the same and it doesn't matter if I start a conversation or not.

So yes, not a function of being blocked but how/where msn stores the dp but it is weird that this never happened in last version....

So for many of the disappearing dp, the person tends to use mobile so that explains why pic is there during work hours and odds are I am blocked (not something personal as they are working and using the msn for work so personal contacts would be blocked until they had free time)
03-10-2010 01:33 AM
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