Cheech and Chong discuss the current financial times, but cannot agree on economic forces in regards to the real price of goods, and decide they'll have to "Tron for this." This video is the second of Mean Magazine's videos made in some collaboration with Microsoft, through a series of "Cinemash" shorts. The videos are streaming on MSN, though they're sharing a clip of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Sid and Nancy. (previous Mean Mag video on the blue)
posted by filthy light thief on Jul 16, 2009 - 25 comments

Search Engine Battle.
posted by gman on Sep 22, 2008 - 42 comments

According to ComScore, Google takes 59.8% of search traffic in the US, leaving Yahoo, MSN and smaller players to fight for the scraps. Pretty pie-chart here. Slightly different numbers are available from Compete and Hitwise, but Google still rules the roost.
posted by SharQ on Apr 17, 2008 - 25 comments

A Soldier's Lament by Brian Mockenhaupt in Esquire, brought to you via MSN. We've seen a similar post by a Marine officer recently, but I liked the tone of this one a bit more because it does a better job of showing us the inside of a warrior's head.
posted by pax digita on Mar 21, 2007 - 43 comments

Yes, another one. Best Rest of the Web. There are lots of questions sites now. Amazon opened Askville. And now Windows Live has "QnA". I'm all for competition and innovation, but really, why does the question-and-answer site format attract so much "me too" behaviour?
posted by GuyZero on Nov 7, 2006 - 26 comments

Microsoft won't delete blogs without proper legal notice. Microsoft has changed its blog censorship policy, previously discussed on MeFi.
posted by b1tr0t on Jan 31, 2006 - 11 comments

"They use my lines for free -- and that's bull." The CEO of SBC Communications Inc. Ed Whitacre launched this criticism at the likes of Vonage, Google,Yahoo and MSN. Meanwhile Google is seeking some alternative paths to the Internet.Perhaps SBC should head the old adage from John Gilmore "the net treats censorship as a defect and routes around it”Or perhaps these companies need to pay the proverbial Internet plumbers; myself, I prefer more competition;my phone bill has never been lower!
posted by thedailygrowl on Oct 31, 2005 - 23 comments

Virtual Earth from MSN While I'm familiar with Google Maps it was fun again to play around with Microsoft's response that was just released. In summary, allows you to pan/zoom around the US, and with a click of a button, see aerial/satellite imagery. This stuff is just soooo cool! ;-)
posted by RonZ on Jul 23, 2005 - 46 comments

Blackhat Search Engine Optimization Techniques. Through the use of a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) complaint, you can have competing web sites thrown out of Yahoo's search index. If you file a DMCA report against a site, Yahoo will quickly remove the "offending" site, leaving no trace of the site in its index. This has led to a rise in so-called "Blackhat SEO," wherein one seeks to become the leading search result not by improving one's own site, but by having competing sites removed through the DMCA.
posted by nlindstrom on Jul 12, 2005 - 15 comments

Micros[censored] Helps China [censored] Bl[censored]s. "This topic contains forbidden words. Please delete them."
posted by digaman on Jun 14, 2005 - 8 comments

Search Wars The BBC reviews five search engines, including Google and the new MSN beta
posted by Mwongozi on Nov 12, 2004 - 8 comments

Microsoft has unleashed their internet search engine to the world. It currently isn't working, at least for me. Is it wrong of me to wish it stays that way?
posted by ashbury on Nov 11, 2004 - 43 comments

Bill Is Thinking About The Children. MSN has decided to close almost all of it's chatrooms across the world. It cites concerns about paedophiles targeting and grooming children. Some children's charities are delighted. Some of MSN's competitors are less impressed.
posted by Blue Stone on Sep 23, 2003 - 33 comments

Google: the God that failed? is the title of the article on MSN Slate. All of us know Microsoft is working on a new search engine technology. Till date everyone considers Google to be the Guru. MS obviously doesn't like that, so what it is doing? Well, the same thing it always does - to survive competition, eliminate it. The reasons being given by the article are pretty silly and more aimed at 'faming down' Google.
posted by jayantk on Jul 22, 2003 - 39 comments

Searching MSN for the phrase "Linux" yields some pretty amusing (but yes, unsurprising) results. The first site seems moderately legit - Amazon stuff related to linux. The second one - MSN has a tech section about Linux? Not exactly. It doesn't really have much linux content at first glance. The third link is most amusing - see for yourself.

Comparatively, a google search for "linux" yields much more useful results.

This makes me wonder: should ethics be taken into consideration on search engines? MS has every right to have whatever they want come up when you type in "linux" - but they are willfully contaminating search results, which makes one wonder what other search terms Microsoft might want to rig the output of, and also, which they might have overlooked...
posted by twiggy on Jun 30, 2003 - 44 comments

$300 million in advertising= 300,000 lost subscribers. MSN's butterfly ad campaign has led to a loss of 300,000 subscribers. Why? Terrible creative(remember the butterfly man?)? Price competition? Saturated consumer market? Environmental outrage at the use of decals and graffiti? Discuss.
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy on Apr 22, 2003 - 40 comments

Hooray! Great news for those who love to communicate - Microsoft have released a new version of their popular Windows/MSN/.NET Messenger software! So, let's glance at the new features: there's a great new look with a spinny logo thingy, and... and, erm... well... it's had some features removed... like the ability to use third-party add-ons... and, oh but wait, there's new pop-up advertising and alleged spy-ware! Oh...
posted by Pretty_Generic on Nov 26, 2002 - 20 comments

.NET integration I use MSN messenger and am notified by it of any mail arriving in my hotmail account. I just logged in to hotmail with the intention of forwarding a few emails to my POP account for download by my mail client, and was informed that my account was suspended, and all mail, folders and addresses deleted, because I hadn't logged in to hotmail for more than 30 days. I've logged in to messenger virtually every day, but I hadn't received any mail so why would I log in to hotmail?

Is this a punishment for not requesting spam, or a sign that even Microsoft doesn't "get" integration?
posted by southisup on Jun 18, 2002 - 25 comments

Hell freezes over. MSN coming to the Mac this summer.
posted by donkeyschlong on Apr 8, 2002 - 20 comments

pressplay launches today. The service will charge people a monthly subscription fee to download and stream digital music, launched through its Web distribution partnerships with Yahoo, MSN Music and Roxio. A free 14 day trial is available.
posted by riffola on Dec 19, 2001 - 29 comments

If you crow about your redesign, claiming your site is now "better-looking and easier to use" (and not, say, "sludgy as Hotmail and nearly as ugly"), and you offer a graphical tour to "show you how all these slick new features work", the link to which is a 404, are you the stupidest monopoly around?

Just wondering.
posted by textist on Oct 29, 2001 - 26 comments

MSN.com shuts out non-Microsoft browsers. If you're using Mozilla or Opera, you'll have to get a hex editor and change your User-Agent string and pretend you're using IE. Is this lawsuit material?
posted by manero on Oct 25, 2001 - 56 comments

ESPN teams up with MSN First the Justice Department folds, and now this: “ESPN.com’s sports content will be uniquely integrated with MSN and will carry MSN branding and links throughout the ESPN.com site.” Is it really a surprise? Will it really make a difference?
posted by kirkaracha on Sep 6, 2001 - 5 comments

MSN blocks its subscribers from sending mail with non-Outlook mail clients, as of last week. Like AOL, MSN hasn't allowed its subscribers to check their MSN mail with non-MS mail clients since the beginning. Last April, they banned access to non-MSN SMTP servers (to block spam relaying), but you could still send mail to other ISPs through MSN's SMTP server using your mail client of choice with a simple fix. Now, you can only do so if you switch to Outlook or Outlook Express (quietly announced on their site and via e-mail). All others (Eudora, Pegasus, Agent, Yahoo Mail, Netscape Messenger) are left cold. (more inside...)
posted by waxpancake on Jul 31, 2001 - 30 comments

Physics problem A "Discovery" program for kids at MSN.com explores the physics of skydiving, specifically the trajectory of an object dropped from a moving plane. Problem is, their demonstration animation looks completely phucked. More inside...
posted by Tubes on Jan 29, 2001 - 8 comments

Microsoft’s network is hacked It's gotta be tough for MSNBC to report this...
posted by chiXy on Oct 27, 2000 - 16 comments

I don't recall having heard from anybody that the consumer experience of getting online required redefinition.
posted by baylink on Oct 5, 2000 - 12 comments

Slate launches a redesign ... but I think it's a little thin, content-wise.
posted by rcade on Sep 29, 2000 - 5 comments

Does anyone really dig the new MSN? I am not a member of the Church of Microsoft but I do really like what they have done with the new MSN. I'm not talking about just the web site but the overall experience with the MSN Preview 2.0. I think they may be in a position to really give AOL a run for the money.
posted by Brilliantcrank on Sep 11, 2000 - 13 comments

Friends, family seek "Left Eye". If my friends referred to me as "Left Eye" I would have dumped them, too. But seriously, how does someone famous just disappear like this, especially in celebrity-crazed America?
posted by kristin on Sep 11, 2000 - 6 comments

Ever wondered how much it would cost to have your listing pop up on a particular MSN search? According to Micros~1's keywords.com (as of a few minutes ago), you can get sex for $795.20/month, mp3 for $175.66, and Bill Gates for a mere $8.96 a month!
posted by tregoweth on May 23, 2000 - 3 comments

The new MSN logo (the butterfly) is quite attractive.
posted by Nuxx on Mar 10, 2000 - 3 comments

Today's Davenetics (it's a newsletter) noticed a flurry of wireless deals came about today. AOL is planning mobile versions of instant messenger, email, and other AOL services, Microsoft is working on mobile MSN and Hotmail, while Amazon has unveiled their phone portal to shopping. Looks like we will soon be reminiscing about the good old days when the internet used silly wires and cables.
posted by mathowie on Feb 28, 2000 - 1 comment

Mars, the next version of MSN, is just around the corner. It's obviously an AOL clone, giving new users a view of the internet filtered for ease of use. My opinion of it is split. On the one hand, there's nothing wrong with making a useful, straight-forward interface that anyone can use. In fact that's a holy grail for UI designers. But the interface is a bit much, taking up over a third of the screen real estate, and it will no doubt funnel users into all of the MSN websites. Will MSN users know the rest of the internet is out there?
posted by mathowie on Feb 27, 2000 - 3 comments

Bantu is the holy grail of instant messaging apps. The people behind it have been working on this for a while, and they're now offering a web-based, java client that can talk to ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo instant message clients. If it were a client side application, I'd probably use it, I'm not a big fan of leaving a browser window open all the time. Another drawback is that it can't reach AIM users.
posted by mathowie on Feb 20, 2000 - 3 comments

The bandwidth speed test over at MSN seems to be the most accurate one I've used so far. It gave out statistics that are very close to what I expected, and didn't choke just because I'm on a T3. (thanks blogblog)
posted by mathowie on Jan 13, 2000 - 0 comments

AOL and Microsoft are resorting to playground antics. I downloaded the new MS messenger when it came out last Thursday, and I've already gotten three patches for it, each time it works with AOL users for just a few hours. I wonder how long they'll continue the dueling banjos thing.
posted by mathowie on Jul 26, 1999 - 1 comment