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With Messenger Plus! Live taking a new direction as Patchou expands his development team for Windows Live Messenger's most popular extension, we at Messenger Stuff thought we would take a more personal look into the man behind the code, Cyril Paciullo.
This is our second interview with Patchou, so you may want to listen to our first interview back in September 2006.
Could you tell us about your background? What degree did you study and at what university (if at all)?
For a first answer, that's gonna be disappointing :). When asked about this in French, I tend to say I have a "BAC minus 2". I left school when I was 17, the general scientific curriculum in France just did not interest me anymore. I was already spending more time reading about software development than I was studying. Luckily, I met a girl in Quebec, I moved to Canada and after a year of college, I started to work as a programmer, at the age of 18. Seeing where it brought me today, I'll never be able to thank my parents enough for letting me follow my own path so soon in my life.
What jobs have you had before you started developing Messenger Plus!?
I worked as a software developer and team leader for several companies in Montreal. My personal pet-projects (such as Messenger Plus!) also gave me the opportunity to work as a consultant for companies in the US. I have very good memories of my life as an employee, I found people in North America to be very easy to work with, nobody cares about your age, what you look like, etc, as long as you can do the job. Of course, that's my own experience, not everybody is so lucky, but the first thing you notice when coming from Europe is that your picture doesn't have to be stapled on your resume to help human resources do a first screening of potential candidates...
What is the most humbling moment you have had during your time developing Plus!?
You know, I think the real answer to this question can't be summed up with any given moment. When you're young and your software starts being used by so many people, it's easy to lose focus. The work itself taught me humility. That's the beauty of the internet: there's always somebody smarter than you, better than you, with brighter ideas, etc... you can't escape that fact when talking and working with so many people. Most of my testers aren't afraid to tell me that "this incredible idea I just had" just awfully sucks. If you don't deliver, people won't follow, I like the simplicity of that.
What originally attracted you to Messenger development?
I actually talked about that on my personal site recently (quick plug for patchou.com ;). I wanted to try my hand on some new technologies I had read about, and as MSN Messenger was the last thing I had installed on my computer, I thought it would be perfect to use it for my tests. I started creating and distributing patches for Messenger 3, and after a month or two, I decided to distribute the first version of Messenger Plus! on my Frontpage-template web site.
Where do you see Messenger in the next 5 years?
I wish I could be sure. There's so many things happening in the world of social networking nowadays. I even started to use Facebook more actively recently myself, after ignoring it for so long (I found it to be a good use of my time while my projects are compiling). From what I've seen in Messenger 2010, Microsoft has done a good job making sure Messenger keeps its appeal. At Yuna Software, we're also working on various other projects that will give more purpose to Messenger in the near future. One thing is sure: as everybody moves to online services, Messenger Plus! 5 will follow on the same path. There's no point fighting change, online tools is what most people expect nowadays and that's what they'll get from us.
What do you see yourself doing in 10 years from now?
Reading and playing all those games I bought and put on a shelf, waiting for the right moment to start them. Life goes by so fast, one day you're 20, the next day you're 40, with kids, and not enough stamina to play that latest Virtual Reality RPG that just came out on the PS5. I've always had fun with my work, I am an extremely lucky guy, but I'd like to have more free time for my hobbies. Let's sum-up by saying that the next companies I'll open will have to do without me installing Office for the accountant ;). I have many projects, there's just too many things I want to try. Ask me again in one or two years from now :).
What feature within Messenger Plus! are you most proud of any why?
Probably the most insignificant ones. It felt good when I was able to decode and re-encode UIB interface files in Messenger, a year ago. That's the kind of work that nobody really notices but that keeps the job interesting and motivating. There's always something to fix, improve or research to keep things working as they were before.
What other Messenger add-ons do you admire?
I've never really used any other add-on. That's always been part of my own policy of not copying features from others. If I don't install or read about another add-on, I'm sure I won't be tempted to copy parts of it, even unconsciously.
What is your relationship with Microsoft like, considering the issues you have had in the past?
I think it's good. The problems I've had in the past all had an explanation. I understand it can be difficult for a big company such as them to deal with a single guy like myself. People at Yuna Software are currently working actively to solidify our relationship with Microsoft and I'm pretty sure the situation can only get better. I didn't send them chocolate for Christmas this year though, but if anybody from Microsoft is reading this, know that no MVP = no chocolates. I'll reconsider if you do the same... life is full of tough choices.
What do you want from Windows Live Messenger 2010?
Me? No-thing. Nothing at all, keep the code as it was in Messenger 2009, don't modify anything that's used by Messenger Plus! and I'll be the happiest of developers this year. Seriously, I'm expecting as much social networking interoperability as possible in the next version. The only thing that was really missing in the core product was tabbed chatting and they apparently added it for the next version already (say bye to the same option in Messenger Plus!, hope it served you well all these years).
Do you have any interesting facts about yourself that the community may not know?
Facts about myself, there are plenty. Facts that are interesting, not that much... I always share parts of my life with people on the forum, and more recently on my blog. I can share something else very cool with you though, that I learnt recently on Mythbusters (a show on Discovery Channel). Did you know that you can construct a whole boat out of duck tape and a bunch of metal tubes? For a couple of hundred bucks, they were able to build a complete sailing boat, use it on the water with moderate wind for an hour, and the boat performed as well as a real one. You can even create a read full-size canon with that stuff. Pretty incredible.
This is our second interview with Patchou, so you may want to listen to our first interview back in September 2006.
Could you tell us about your background? What degree did you study and at what university (if at all)?
For a first answer, that's gonna be disappointing :). When asked about this in French, I tend to say I have a "BAC minus 2". I left school when I was 17, the general scientific curriculum in France just did not interest me anymore. I was already spending more time reading about software development than I was studying. Luckily, I met a girl in Quebec, I moved to Canada and after a year of college, I started to work as a programmer, at the age of 18. Seeing where it brought me today, I'll never be able to thank my parents enough for letting me follow my own path so soon in my life.
What jobs have you had before you started developing Messenger Plus!?
I worked as a software developer and team leader for several companies in Montreal. My personal pet-projects (such as Messenger Plus!) also gave me the opportunity to work as a consultant for companies in the US. I have very good memories of my life as an employee, I found people in North America to be very easy to work with, nobody cares about your age, what you look like, etc, as long as you can do the job. Of course, that's my own experience, not everybody is so lucky, but the first thing you notice when coming from Europe is that your picture doesn't have to be stapled on your resume to help human resources do a first screening of potential candidates...
What is the most humbling moment you have had during your time developing Plus!?
You know, I think the real answer to this question can't be summed up with any given moment. When you're young and your software starts being used by so many people, it's easy to lose focus. The work itself taught me humility. That's the beauty of the internet: there's always somebody smarter than you, better than you, with brighter ideas, etc... you can't escape that fact when talking and working with so many people. Most of my testers aren't afraid to tell me that "this incredible idea I just had" just awfully sucks. If you don't deliver, people won't follow, I like the simplicity of that.
What originally attracted you to Messenger development?
I actually talked about that on my personal site recently (quick plug for patchou.com ;). I wanted to try my hand on some new technologies I had read about, and as MSN Messenger was the last thing I had installed on my computer, I thought it would be perfect to use it for my tests. I started creating and distributing patches for Messenger 3, and after a month or two, I decided to distribute the first version of Messenger Plus! on my Frontpage-template web site.
Where do you see Messenger in the next 5 years?
I wish I could be sure. There's so many things happening in the world of social networking nowadays. I even started to use Facebook more actively recently myself, after ignoring it for so long (I found it to be a good use of my time while my projects are compiling). From what I've seen in Messenger 2010, Microsoft has done a good job making sure Messenger keeps its appeal. At Yuna Software, we're also working on various other projects that will give more purpose to Messenger in the near future. One thing is sure: as everybody moves to online services, Messenger Plus! 5 will follow on the same path. There's no point fighting change, online tools is what most people expect nowadays and that's what they'll get from us.
What do you see yourself doing in 10 years from now?
Reading and playing all those games I bought and put on a shelf, waiting for the right moment to start them. Life goes by so fast, one day you're 20, the next day you're 40, with kids, and not enough stamina to play that latest Virtual Reality RPG that just came out on the PS5. I've always had fun with my work, I am an extremely lucky guy, but I'd like to have more free time for my hobbies. Let's sum-up by saying that the next companies I'll open will have to do without me installing Office for the accountant ;). I have many projects, there's just too many things I want to try. Ask me again in one or two years from now :).
What feature within Messenger Plus! are you most proud of any why?
Probably the most insignificant ones. It felt good when I was able to decode and re-encode UIB interface files in Messenger, a year ago. That's the kind of work that nobody really notices but that keeps the job interesting and motivating. There's always something to fix, improve or research to keep things working as they were before.
What other Messenger add-ons do you admire?
I've never really used any other add-on. That's always been part of my own policy of not copying features from others. If I don't install or read about another add-on, I'm sure I won't be tempted to copy parts of it, even unconsciously.
What is your relationship with Microsoft like, considering the issues you have had in the past?
I think it's good. The problems I've had in the past all had an explanation. I understand it can be difficult for a big company such as them to deal with a single guy like myself. People at Yuna Software are currently working actively to solidify our relationship with Microsoft and I'm pretty sure the situation can only get better. I didn't send them chocolate for Christmas this year though, but if anybody from Microsoft is reading this, know that no MVP = no chocolates. I'll reconsider if you do the same... life is full of tough choices.
What do you want from Windows Live Messenger 2010?
Me? No-thing. Nothing at all, keep the code as it was in Messenger 2009, don't modify anything that's used by Messenger Plus! and I'll be the happiest of developers this year. Seriously, I'm expecting as much social networking interoperability as possible in the next version. The only thing that was really missing in the core product was tabbed chatting and they apparently added it for the next version already (say bye to the same option in Messenger Plus!, hope it served you well all these years).
Do you have any interesting facts about yourself that the community may not know?
Facts about myself, there are plenty. Facts that are interesting, not that much... I always share parts of my life with people on the forum, and more recently on my blog. I can share something else very cool with you though, that I learnt recently on Mythbusters (a show on Discovery Channel). Did you know that you can construct a whole boat out of duck tape and a bunch of metal tubes? For a couple of hundred bucks, they were able to build a complete sailing boat, use it on the water with moderate wind for an hour, and the boat performed as well as a real one. You can even create a read full-size canon with that stuff. Pretty incredible.
Wow, it has been a while since I last posted here so I feel I owe an explanation. Having just started university things have been a bit manic and with Halloween being tonight, I thought I should squeeze in a post before venturing out.
- Messenger Plus! 4.83: Patchou has released a small update for Messenger Plus! Live which addresses some bugs and compatibility issues, whilst removing traces of the recent contest. [Read more]
- MessengerDiscovery 3.0 plans: Matt, the creator of MessengerDiscovery has already outlined the program's future development plans. Perhaps the most notable new feature on the list is the end of the proxy connections and the application becoming open source to encourage other developers to migrate to Messenger. [Read more]
- eBuddy receives a re-code: The hit web messenger eBuddy is working on a new web messenger, from the ground up, drawing on newer technologies and better user-interaction. A sleeker interface, along with greater depth for customization and a new layer of polish ensures the service stays up to date with this fast moving industry. [Read more]
- Interview with Marcus Schmidt: Marketing manager over at Microsoft, Marcus Schmidt reveals his personal thoughts about the future of Windows Live Messenger and what he would like to see in the upcoming Wave 4 series of Windows Live products. [Read more]
- A standalone web messenger from Microsoft: Microsoft Singapore have released their own web messenger client based on the Messenger API library. As the old Microsoft web messenger was recently discontinued for one built inside of Windows Live Hotmail this is an interesting move, yet one that should please those seeking a fully featured, yet non-bloated client on the web. [Give it a go]
Many of you Messenger Stuff readers will know RebelSean, an enthusiast news reporter in the Windows Live business. He was writing here from July 2007 until December 2008, and since then he is catching up on news stories on Neowin.net. Describing himself as “unofficial Microsoft Evangelist”, I talked with him about Messenger’s past and future.
Read the rest of the interview at mynetx – Windows Live Enhanced
mynetx: Do you think the Windows Live team cares for their users’ demands? Why?
Sean Bradford: Definitely, as the Windows Live ecosystem evolves so do the products. Windows Live Homepage is a perfect example. When the “What’s new” feed was launched back at CES 2009, users requested more feeds be added. Since then Microsoft has added 40+ services to the list of partners, including Facebook, Digg, Twitter, and much more.
mynetx: Looking into the future: Within the next five years, where could you picture Windows Live?
Sean Bradford: Windows Live has grown tremendously since its initial launch. I think the main focus on Windows Live has turned to its online services. As more and more online services are launched, I foresee Windows Live becoming a central hub for communication and collaboration for users.
Read the rest of the interview at mynetx – Windows Live EnhancedFollowing up with the theme of Windows Live interviews, mynetx has been asking Messenger enthusiast and now developer, many of you may know as Inky some questions on his role. Siebe, as he is really known plays a prominent role within the development of the Windows Live Messenger Web Toolkit, something which he is very close to ever since the days he created BOT2K3.
Read the rest of the interview at Mynetx's blog
mynetx: Your job in the Windows Live Platform team must be a great one, true?
Siebe: Absolutely, I get to work with some very smart people and develop great new products for Windows Live. Being on top of the latest and greatest web stuff is a great way to spend my day :) It's a dream come true, haha.
mynetx: As an MS worker in the Live team, are you running Messenger 24/7? Maybe you’ve got kind of a daily routine with Windows Live.
Siebe: Yeah, my life pretty much revolves around Messenger. I love the new MPOP feature (signing on at work and at home). I talk to my friends and parents back home on Messenger, as well as the rest of my team. Being up in Canada away from my manager and the rest of my team is a bit of a challenge, but using Messenger all day to communicate makes things a lot easier.
Read the rest of the interview at Mynetx's blogIf you know anything about skinning, you must of heard of Will Ingles, who has been the most active skinner using the engine of Messenger Plus! Live. He has created some of the most unique and popular skins for Windows Live Messenger, and I can even remember him when he was skinning MSN Messenger 7. Passion, time and polish goes into each skin he creates and thus his work is usually set as a benchmark for any skin you see in Messenger today. Mynetx managed to get an interview with Will to learn more about his work:
View the rest of the interview at Mynetx's blog
mynetx: Skins - good word. Is customizing the Messenger interface fun for you? Or a serious business? Or in between?
Will: Well a bit of both really. Originally I started skinning as a hobby so that I could help improve my abilities as a multimedia designer. I was hoping that by working with an established user interface I would be able to gain a deeper understanding as to how the user interprets UI’s.
I never really expected to be doing it for that much mainly because I didn’t think that audience was big enough at the time. But it seems that has changed in recent times so now I do treat it more seriously.
But yeah for the most part there is still the original sense of fun which attracted me to doing it in the first place.
View the rest of the interview at Mynetx's blogGuardian interviews Patchou and other programmers about adware
on Fri 30 Jan 2009 (18:48 GMT) (1599 views)
on Fri 30 Jan 2009 (18:48 GMT) (1599 views)
The Guardian is a paper I read everyday, before school, with a coffee, with my friends. During a free period I went online to research into an essay and clicked into the technology section, where I found an article on the Messenger Plus! Live creator, Patchou. Btw, I want to make it clear my life does not involve around being an old man, reading newspapers and drinking coffee, I do have real fun too.
Patchou created controversy some years ago when he was awarded a Microsoft Most Valued Professional (MVP) award for his contribution to MSN Messenger. However, it was soon revoked when Microsoft community members continuously highlighted the optional adware program included in his add-on. The capitalist approach to creating software has raised debate, and the article looks deep into the issue. The author then gets the opinions of similar programmers, including the creators of Stuffplug and MessengerDiscovery Live.
Read the full article at the Guardian website (highly recommended)
Patchou created controversy some years ago when he was awarded a Microsoft Most Valued Professional (MVP) award for his contribution to MSN Messenger. However, it was soon revoked when Microsoft community members continuously highlighted the optional adware program included in his add-on. The capitalist approach to creating software has raised debate, and the article looks deep into the issue. The author then gets the opinions of similar programmers, including the creators of Stuffplug and MessengerDiscovery Live.
But this is a man who has also outraged millions. His sin? A Faustian pact with dark forces responsible for distributing adware, those pop-up windows that torture PC users the world over. Messenger Plus! Live comes bundled with a "sponsor's program", which the unwary install unwittingly on their machines. They are then subjected to messages urging them to buy insurance, take out credit cards, play poker or download ringtones. To his opponents this breaks a sacred code of geek ethics and the two sides engage in furious online debates. Supporters say Patchou has provided a brilliant piece of software free to millions of people and the adware is harmless; critics call him "a scam artist making money off gullible young Live Messenger users".
Read the full article at the Guardian website (highly recommended)January catch-up: IMO update, Messenger protocol issues and Windows Live interview
on Wed 14 Jan 2009 (20:08 GMT) (1509 views)
on Wed 14 Jan 2009 (20:08 GMT) (1509 views)
There has been a number of small things going on in the Messenger world in the past couple of weeks. Below is a summary of some of the news that we have failed to cover, or too small for its own post:
Although there are only three relatively small pieces of news to cover, I thought it may be in your interest to know about them. There are a few other stories that should pop-up in the next couple of days, but with most of my admins currently busy or disappearing, don't count on us to cover everything until February starts.
- IMO is a small, stable, compact web Messenger has undergone major changes this week. The development team have been working hard to improve services and have recently launched a new and improved imo.im, along with eight cool new features. IMO now offers a number of options that allow you to personalize your contacts list and prioritize your buddies. Click here to check IMO out!
- This week has seen an update to the Messenger protocol (common when new versions are released). However, there has been implementation problems, freezing some 3rd party IM clients out from signing into the Messenger servers. Although the issue has now been claimed to be resolved, there is an update for Pidgin and Messenger for Mac users to download
- Rebelsean has recently had the opportunity to interview some Windows Live directors. Having recently moved to Neowin, Sean has not forgotten his Messenger roots and has brought up the issue of tabbed conversations and what we can expect from Windows Live Wave 4. Generally he got a good feel for the direct Windows Live is heading in, and although is not Messenger specific, it still provides a useful insight to what's going at the live front
Although there are only three relatively small pieces of news to cover, I thought it may be in your interest to know about them. There are a few other stories that should pop-up in the next couple of days, but with most of my admins currently busy or disappearing, don't count on us to cover everything until February starts.
I'll like to start this post by apologising for being inactive the past few weeks. But now I can hopefully spend more time on posting news and I'll start by writing up a few news posts within this speedlinking catch-up one. See this as getting your contextual knowledge about Windows Live Messenger in October.
Create your own web messenger: LiveSide have created a highly detailed, eight-part tutorial on how to create a web messenger for Windows Live Messenger using the API developer library. Click here to view part 1, and use the tags to locate the post tags to find the rest of the tutorials.
Significant sign-in bug present in Wave 3: The MessengerSays blog has brought up an important concern, over another sign-in bug, that has famously plagued Windows Live Messenger since it was first launched. The bug occurs when users block the new-style groups within the program. There is no current solution, but the Messenger team have assured users a fix is being developed.
Windows Live Calls powered by Voype: Our friends over at mess.be have the scoop on this one:
Interviews with the Messenger team: LiveSide have had the chance to interview the Messenger team on a recent visit to Raymond. Altogether there are three videos, all of which make interesting viewing. Watch, part 1, part 2 and part 3.
Free Halloween Messenger theme pack: It's a week until Halloween is upon us yet again. It's not such a big thing here in the UK, but I know you Americans treat it as a national holiday so, grab your free theme pack from Microsoft today.
Create your own web messenger: LiveSide have created a highly detailed, eight-part tutorial on how to create a web messenger for Windows Live Messenger using the API developer library. Click here to view part 1, and use the tags to locate the post tags to find the rest of the tutorials.
Significant sign-in bug present in Wave 3: The MessengerSays blog has brought up an important concern, over another sign-in bug, that has famously plagued Windows Live Messenger since it was first launched. The bug occurs when users block the new-style groups within the program. There is no current solution, but the Messenger team have assured users a fix is being developed.
Windows Live Calls powered by Voype: Our friends over at mess.be have the scoop on this one:
After earlier deals with Verizon and Net2Phone, and then completely pulling outbound PSTN calling earlier this year, Microsoft has teamed up with Telefonica, the largest telecom provider in Latin America, to reinstate the Make a Phone Call feature in Windows Live Messenger. Telefonica's Voype service allows Messenger users in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, the United States and Venezuela to make calls directly from their client to landlines and cell phones around the world at a reasonable price.
Interviews with the Messenger team: LiveSide have had the chance to interview the Messenger team on a recent visit to Raymond. Altogether there are three videos, all of which make interesting viewing. Watch, part 1, part 2 and part 3.
Free Halloween Messenger theme pack: It's a week until Halloween is upon us yet again. It's not such a big thing here in the UK, but I know you Americans treat it as a national holiday so, grab your free theme pack from Microsoft today.
A few weeks ago I made a post about how you could win a chance to talk to British Prime Minster, Tony Blair and fire as many questions as you want at him via MSN Messenger's video conversation.
The competition has ended and you can now watch the video online, you should check it out here. You can read more about it here also. There is not much really to say on the topic, but the videos may be of interest to you. The lucky winners also won a few prises also, including a top of the range webcam.
The competition has ended and you can now watch the video online, you should check it out here. You can read more about it here also. There is not much really to say on the topic, but the videos may be of interest to you. The lucky winners also won a few prises also, including a top of the range webcam.
Tony Blair, British Prime Minister is allowing the youth of the world to send him questions via a video conversation. You can sign up for your chance of getting in on this one in a lifetime opportunity and win yourself a brand new webcam if you are one of the 10 lucky winners.
The conversations will be broadcasted live for anyone to see and you never know you may tackle a controversial issue. Then again knowing webcam you may see a family member walk past naked, you would be more famous that way. So, sign up, it takes one moment of your time, and you never know what may happen.
Sign up for your chance to win
The conversations will be broadcasted live for anyone to see and you never know you may tackle a controversial issue. Then again knowing webcam you may see a family member walk past naked, you would be more famous that way. So, sign up, it takes one moment of your time, and you never know what may happen.
Sign up for your chance to winPage: 12
Messenger Stuff