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Video2Webcam lets you share video clips with others during online sessions, even when you don't have a webcam attached. If you do have a webcam, you can switch between the live feed and file playback easily. Video2Webcam installs quickly.

The Video2Webcam interface is simple to use. A small dialog shows video clips in a folder you choose, and lets you play them, pause, loop, and stop playback from a small control panel; a small preview window underneath lets you see what the video file looks like (and position playback, if necessary). There are also controls for your webcam to … Read more

Skype Recorder is, as you would expect, an audio recording application that can record and play back any Skype call. Despite the name, Skype Recorder can also work with most other VoIP based apps such as AIM, ICQ, MSN, and so on. Skype Recorder installs without a hitch, but .NET Framework needs to be in place.

The Skype Recorder interface is pretty basic (and not very attractive). There are three buttons to record, pause and stop recording. There's a section of the interface for setting the function hot key for these capabilities, as well. Finally, you have three options … Read more

Microsoft plans to make a touch-optimized version of its MSN portal available to users running Windows 8/Windows RT and Internet Explorer 10 as of October 26.

Microsoft officials are showing off a near-final preview of that portal in New York during Advertising Week, which kicks off this week on October 1. They also will be showing off new touch-centric Windows 8/Windows RT ads that will be available on MSN and on select Windows Store apps during this week's advertising confab.

The updated MSN portal will be available only to Windows 8/Windows RT and IE 10 users, … Read more

Iran is cracking down on the use of foreign e-mail addresses.

The country's telecommunications ministry is now barring local banks, insurance companies, and phone operators from communicating with their clients using foreign e-mail providers, according to the AFP news service.

Based on information from Iranian news service Asr Ertebatat, the new order requires such industries to use addresses ending in the Iranian domain .ir, effectively preventing them from using such foreign providers as Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, or MSN.

Customers of such companies are also included in the ban, requiring them to use local e-mail addresses in order to do … Read more

Trying to tap into the national conversation, Microsoft is launching a new service today, msnNOW, that algorithmically curates the most shared content on the Web and presents it to users on a new Web site, a Facebook reader and on mobile phone browsers.

The new service uses algorithms created by Microsoft to scour Facebook, Twitter, Bing, and BreakingNews.com to cull the most-shared articles among users in real time. About 20 editors will monitor the data, typing up blurbs, in 100 words or less, describing the stories and posting the links.

"We're taking the hottest, socially trending conversations … Read more

Ads within instant-messenger or browser clients are rarely welcomed by the user. They can slow down your computer and have the potential to contain harmful content--from adult products you don't want young eyes to see to adware or malware. RemoveAds is a Windows program that can be installed to remove those pesky (and sometimes dangerous) advertisements from just about any IM client or browser.

Step 1: Download and install RemoveAdsRemoveAds. 

Step 2: Launch the program from the Start menu by searching for RemoveAds.

Step 3: Be on the lookout for any ads that made it through the … Read more

One of the most popular and customizable third-party clients in the multiservice chat category for Mac continues to impress. It supports multiple services, including AIM, Yahoo, MSN, Facebook, Windows Live, and Google Chat. Part of what made the original Adium so attractive was the multitude of IM service options, and that still forms the core appeal of this client. The interface is smooth and lean, fitting in well with the Mac OS. The client supports tabbed browsing, encrypted messaging, and you can transfer files to your buddies, though it can be hit or miss depending on what service you're … Read more

While the very public spat between Microsoft and Google over the way Bing creates its search index continues, questions about Microsoft's originality have cropped up in another place--its advertising.

Music blog Stereogum picked up on a YouTube clip of an MSN.com advertisement that had been posted in late January, and noted that it the background music had been "ripped off" from the popular rock group Arcade Fire.

Below is the MSN ad in question, as well as an embed of Arcade Fire's song "Wake Up."

Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" has … Read more

Fitbie, the latest addition to MSN's Lifestyle portfolio of Web sites, has just gone live at fitbie.msn.com, and partners MSN and Rodale say the interactive multimedia Web site will enable people look, feel, and live better by helping users make better diet and fitness choices.

With subpages on how to get fit, lose weight and eat right, as well as personalized plan and goal setting, Fitbie is clearly trying to be to personal health what Mint.com is to personal finance.

Content is culled from several Rodale publications, including Women's Health, Prevention, Runner's World, Bicycling, … Read more