MSN 7 Countdown

[parad0x]

Well, I was bored this afternoon, so I threw together this stupid little program after a request from one of my friends. Basically, it just counts down the time until a specific event, updating your personal message at the specified interval. You can include a message before the counter, or just use the counter by itself. It also allows you to choose from 3 different icon types (Games, Office, Music).

The Format field uses variables, which are replaced by their respective values. See the program's Help dialog for information on the specific variables. You can also insert variables by right-clicking in the Format field, and selecting any of the values in the menu. The Frequency determines how often the counter will be updated, in milliseconds. This value seems to be limited by MSN to about 6 seconds (6000ms).

Get it here: http://sack.ath.cx:8080/drop/MSNCount.zip (right-click, save target as)

Disclaimer: This program is provided as-is, and I cannot be held responsible if it decides to ruin your computer, light your house on fire and/or run away with your spouse.

NOTE: This program requires the .NET Framework Version 1.1. If it tells you it failed to initialize, that's probably why. It also requires that the "What I'm Listening To" feature be enabled in MSN. Credit for the Personal Message code goes to doggie from the mess.be forums - thanks for your work :)

Edited May 12, 2005 by parad0x

[parad0x]

New version!

Changes:

- Settings are now stored in the registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MSN Countdown)

- Preview bar at the bottom of the window so you can see what the counter will look like

- Right-click menu in the Format box, so variables can be inserted easily

- Minimal help dialog (it's not much, but it should help)

New download link: http://sack.ath.cx:8080/drop/msncount.exe

(Make sure you right-click, save target as, or it won't work)

i also have a few more features for you.. i think this will turn out to be a project instead:

- can you disable icons?  or does it always need to have something there?

- remember previous settings

- add a quick panel, or a check box, to display times.. like the %D, %H options.. incase people get confused

great work so far :)  im really liking this, and gonna keep using this

BTW: can anyone get these icons for download?  i'd like to use them in conversations

585889119[/snapback]

I looked into disabling icons.. there is a string for "Empty", but it doesn't seem to work. If you set the icon to empty, it simply won't update your message.

If you want to extract the icons for other uses, they're in msnmsgr.exe:

PNG 825 = Games

PNG 2044 = Music

PNG 2061 = Office

[MrBear5587]

That's great, and surprisingly useful (Y)

Good job man, using it right now :D

[GrimReeper]

Awesome app, Thx heaps.

[kernatch]

doesn't do anything for me!

[parad0x]

doesn't do anything for me!

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I've now had reports from a couple other people that it simply doesn't do anything. If you could provide more details, such as the exact settings you were using, where you were running the program from, and your computer config (Windows version, exact MSN version, .NET Framework version), I might be able to track down the problem. Has anyone else been experiencing problems?

NOTE: I've changed the link to point to a .ZIP file instead of just the executable to hopefully clear up security issues people were having with Internet Explorer. From now on, please use this link: http://sack.ath.cx:8080/drop/MSNCount.zip

[Slimy]

thx for the update, looking good - will try it when I get home, great thing that it now saves previous settings!

[Hankyone]

nice little stupid program hehe :p

[kernatch]

I've now had reports from a couple other people that it simply doesn't do anything. If you could provide more details, such as the exact settings you were using, where you were running the program from, and your computer config (Windows version, exact MSN version, .NET Framework version), I might be able to track down the problem. Has anyone else been experiencing problems?

Right, I figured out what was wrong. I didn't have "What I'm listening to" on. I guess it makes sense and I see how the program works now (interacts with MSN like a media player), but I don't think this was mentioned earlier. If it was, I'm sorry for being thick!

btw, good little program ;)

[Slimy]

i think you need to resize the window a tiny bit, see below

do you plan on making it possible to choosing your own icons?

[Martyn]

Im deffinately getting this when I get home from school.

[doggie_dog]

hmm this source wouldnt happen to be from mess.be? especially when my example was in vb.net :p clever way of using it though

[Azusa]

nice i have something to count down to the end of the world again

[Martyn]

Its a brilliant little program, but the only thing I dislike about it is the fact that we have to have the program open all the time.

[parad0x]

i think you need to resize the window a tiny bit, see below

do you plan on making it possible to choosing your own icons?

585901638[/snapback]

I updated the link to a new version with a wider window, and I also added tooltips to both the format box and the status bar, so if it's past the visible area, you can still see all the text if you hold your mouse over it for a second.

hmm this source wouldnt happen to be from mess.be? especially when my example was in vb.net :p clever way of using it though

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My apologies, doggie.. you were credited in the source, but I neglected to put your name in the Help dialog and my original post. Proper credits have been included in the newest version :)

[doggie_dog]

oh well, never mind i was just curious :p

[MiG-]

any chance of getting the source for the program, i would like to see how you did this in vb.net

[doggie_dog]

head over to my site http://www.adriandoherty.info and just add a timer control to my example :)

[parad0x]

Anyone who wants the source, I've attached it to this post... be warned, it's uncommented, and quite poorly coded. No support is provided ;)

MessengerCountdown.zip

[one321]

Has anyone done anything with this lately?

[mdsalih]

How about having a message which displays once the timer has ended ? or even.. display a message for x amount of time once the timer has finished.

MdSalih

[Bobster]

Awesome little program! I love it :D

[galoosh33]

Why doesn't this work on my PC?!

I have the .NET 1.1 framework and I'm using MSN 6.2.

It seems everything is OK (I used the first version posted) but when I hit 'Do your Thing' just nothing happens..

Thanks.

[Slimy]

because you need msn 7 as far as i can tell.

[doggie_dog]

lol yes, messenger 7 is a requirement

[d3nuo]

Very cool little useless app!! you should make a variation that just shows the time rather than a countdown.. like hh:mm:ss AM/PM or w/e.. would be kinda cool (and probably even more useless) but nevertheless cool!! cheers !