MSN Spaces
or Hotmail .
MSN Spaces is Microsoft's free blogging platform, which is currently still in beta. The site was launched in December 2004. The aim is to make the process of blogging a simple and straightforward affair, while competing with similar services like Google's Blogger. After a simple signup process (you pick a name and url)and your blog is ready. Microsoft offer a variety of themes to suit your needs. The software is integrated with MSN Messenger 7, with other people's "Spaces" appearing in their contacts.
New Features
As of April 2005, MSN Spaces has now increased the storage from 10 MB to 30 MB. Other big changes have been made as well. These include dozens of new themes for a space and you can now e-mail entries to the blog instead of having to access the MSN Spaces web site. Also, MSN Spaces now works with My MSN and some of the tools used to edit a space have been modified. A new look has been applied to the main page of MSN Spaces as well.
Contact Cards
Contact Cards, which summarise recent additions to an MSN Space for a particular user, are integrated with MSN Messenger, MSN Web Messenger and Hotmail Contacts. Clicking on a users icon in your buddy list, pops up their Contact Card which shows thumbnails of their recent photos, a summary of their recent blog entries and a short list of recent songs from their playlist.
Controversy
MSN Spaces has attracted some controversy. The Terms and Conditions that all users must agree to when signing up for an MSN Space, grant Microsoft permission to "(1) use, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, modify, translate and reformat your Submission, each in connection with the MSN Web Sites, and (2) sublicense these rights, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law." Finally noting that "Microsoft will not pay you for your Submission." [1] It has also been pointed out that MSN Spaces censors the words that a user can choose when naming their Space, prohibiting for example the word whore or the seven dirty words. [1]
Facts - MSN Spaces is one of the fastest growing blogging communities in the world with 4.5 million (4,500,000) blogs.
- However only 4% of blogs on MSN Spaces are updated on a daily basis.
- 30 MB of storage allows people to upload hundreds of images.
- Intergration with MSN Messenger allows users on your buddy list to view and comment on your blog.
- With over 60 themes to choose from there is always a style to suit someone's needs.
External links - MSN Spaces
- MSN Messenger 7
- ZDNet: Microsoft blog service sparks censorship dodging
Blogs - Banjo's Space
- Thorpe's Space
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