#WhatsApp instant messaging

[icqmuseum24]

🇷🇺 Another chapter in the history of instant messaging comes to a close as on August 20, 2024 VK announces the shutdown of Mail.ru Agent, following in the footsteps of ICQ. Both of these iconic messengers once defined how we communicated online, especially in the early 2000s.

📟 ICQ, launched in 1996, was the pioneer of instant messaging, developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis. With its distinctive “Uh-oh!” message alert, ICQ became the go-to platform for millions around the world, allowing people to connect in real-time long before social media took off. ICQ was later acquired by AOL in 1998, but as competition grew, its popularity faded. VK eventually took over ICQ, and despite various updates, the messenger couldn’t regain its former glory.

📧 Mail.ru Agent was Russia’s response to ICQ, launched in 2003 as an integrated messaging service. It quickly became popular, especially in the Russian-speaking world, offering not just instant messaging but also voice and video calls. Over time, however, the rise of more advanced messaging platforms led to a decline in its user base. Now, VK, the company that merged with Mail.ru Group, has decided to discontinue Mail.ru Agent, marking the end of an era.

💔 The shutdown of these two messengers is a reminder of how quickly the digital landscape evolves. As we say goodbye to these icons, we also reflect on the nostalgia and the early days of online communication.

[smsgatewayindia]

WooCommerce WABAAPI WhatsApp Alerts: Enhance Your E-Commerce Communication

Unlock the power of instant messaging in your WooCommerce store with the WABAAPI WhatsApp Alerts Plugin. Effortlessly send customized WhatsApp order notifications, manage customer engagement, and enhance your online store's performance with our user-friendly, free plugin.

[moodyseal]

Shaking and crying while pretending to be an extrovert

[forgottenbones]

Difference between Korean, Japanese, Chinese 🇰🇷🇯🇵🇨🇳 #korea #japan #china...

[shamnadt]

Unleash your creativity with the new WhatsApp sticker maker; Know how it works

Meta Platforms, the tech giant, has been working on various updates to make its instant messaging app even more user-friendly. And now, WhatsApp users on iOS are in for a treat due to the latest update – a custom sticker maker that adds a fun twist to chats. You can say goodbye to the hassle of exiting the app, as now you can create, edit, and share personalised stickers seamlessly within…

[richdadpoor]

How to Export Your Photos, Videos From Instagram, WhatsApp

You’ve probably got a ton of photos and videos in your social media and messaging apps at this point—pictures of sunsets posted to Instagram, pictures of the kids posted to family WhatsApp groups, and so on—but you might not necessarily have those pictures and videos saved anywhere else. Nobody’s Really Watching Reels That can be a problem, should something happen to the originals—say you’re…

[9kmovies-biz]

WhatsApp Has a Problem With New Numbers. Here's How to Fix It.

Photo: Eliseu Geisler / Shutterstock.com (Shutterstock) Phone numbers are a finite resource. So when one goes out of a service, there’s a good chance telecom companies will reuse it for a new phone plan. That can be a big problem on WhatsApp. In some cases, if you get your hands on a phone number that was tied to an existing WhatsApp account, you can hijack it and assume that users’ identity,…

[techfeeddata]

WhatsApp faces outage, outage for thousands of users

WhatsApp faces outage, outage for thousands of users

Meta-owned instant messaging platform faced a major global outage that prevented users from sending and receiving text and video messages WhatsApp faced problems on Tuesday with thousands of users complaining of outages on Twitter. Meta, which owns the popular messaging app, said it had fixed the glitch and that the service is back. Service restoration has been confirmed by users. The outage also…

[sinchwhatsapp]

Innovative WhatsApp Business Solutions

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, businesses are constantly seeking new and innovative ways to engage with their customers. One platform that has proven to be highly effective is WhatsApp, particularly through its business solutions. WhatsApp Business API provides a robust platform for companies to communicate with their customers in a seamless and efficient manner. Here, we'll explore some of the most innovative WhatsApp Business solutions available, focusing on how a WhatsApp Solution Provider can help businesses leverage these tools.

[hanasnx]

Waaaaitttt I saw the Hayden suggestions and I’ve unashamedly thought about the very top one many many times cause I’m embarrassingly craving that y/n moment and I’ve gone to a decent amount of cons and met a fair amount of celebs I’ve debated about using one of the pheromone perfumes to meet Hayden. But like yess he sees you during the photo op and he’s instantly drawn to you. He doesn’t pay much attention to that thought cause he’s got a long line to get through and photo ops are fast paced but then when you go up to get your autograph that’s when he can sneakily make a move. When you get an autograph the handlers write your name for the celeb on a sticky note and usually the celeb doesn’t take it off so like I’m thinking he quickly scribbles his number on it and you’re so star struck you don’t notice it until you’re away from his table..but that’s how you end up in his hotel room that night with your legs up over your head.

-Bimbo Baggins

MINORS DNI 18+ NOTES: i gatekept this message it was so good

HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN tries to stay in his lane. Over the years he's gotten exceptionally good at minding his business, minding his manners, and staying out of trouble. Mixing business with pleasure is a very steep cliff, one he rarely dares to approach. However, you had caught his eye in a way that hadn't occurred in a very long time. To give everyone fair treatment during these photo ops, his attention is solely on them during, and he did not mind at all holding your gaze when you shook his hand politely. Habitually, when you'd leaned over in front of him to give one of the attendants something he didn't care to look at, he snuck a generous glance at your ass. As soon as you stepped back to stand next to him for the picture, he accommodated you, moving aside so you could tuck under his arm, and scolded himself for giving in to the temptation.

"Can we do a sort of Anidala-wedding scene pose?" you had asked with such hope, gazing up at him with stars in your eyes. He took too long to answer.

"Of course." He nodded as soon as he got a hold of himself. "Can you show me what you mean?"

Gently, you directed him, handling his broad shoulders to turn him towards you so you could look deeply into his eyes for the picture. For one second, he could swear his heart skipped a beat. Next thing he knew, the picture flashed and you were saying your thank yous and goodbyes. A seed of disappointment grew in his chest, but he moved on.

Only to find himself eager sitting in his seat at the sight of you in the autograph line. A grin spreads on his features as you approach his booth.

"Hi again." you exhale, beaming.

"Good to see you." Hayden replies, pointing out the obvious humor of coming across you twice in a row. He's thankful, scribbling his signature onto the picture frame you'd bought earlier right after your photo op with him. A split second decision is made and it gives him no time to second-guess it when he's adding his number to the sticky note. It's his WhatsApp, just to stay safe, but you don't get time to even look at it, your attention solely on him when you thank him again. He nods at you, and watches you walk away. Once more, his eyes flash to your behind and how it sways in your little cosplay outfit.

It's not always about instant attraction for him, he has to get to know the person to know if he truly likes them, but there's something about you that draws him in. He wants to get to know you, even if he might be compromising his privacy. The ball is in your court, all he has to do is wait for you to notice the gift he left on your sticky note.

"What's that?" your friend asks, pointing to your picture frame in your hand. You grin widely at them.

"Hayden Christensen signed my picture with him— Look!" you exclaim, raising the item into view only to see what your friend was actually referring to. Your expression drops at the sight of ten numbers in a recognizable pattern. A phone number. You face away from your friend in an instant, keeping it to yourself and shielding it with your body. "No way. No fucking way—"

"Is that a phone number? Lemme see—!"

You pinch your shoulder, jerking it away from their touch as you ogle at the sticky note. "There's no way..." It's a dream, it's a fantasy, you're going to wake up any second and then have to get ready to go to con to meet Hayden Christensen for the first time.

"Relax! It's probably the staff member that wrote your name on the sticky note!" your friend reasons, poking their head around your neck and through your hair to sneak a peek. "'Sides, he's like a thousand years old."

"Be quiet for a second, lemme think." you say as you stride away and out of the exit area, scanning your surroundings for a place to chill out and sit.

"If you're that bothered, we should test it! C'mon."

"Okay, okay. Let me find service I have to download an app."

You don't even know how it happened, all of it was a blur. One moment you were texting to verify the number was who you thought it was and ignored your gut feeling when you were texted back two simple words: "Call me."

With all the power within you, you tried to remain as calm as possible while on the phone with him. Constantly, you reminded yourself that "He's just some guy." So you could fathom having a real conversation with him. It turned into him inviting you out, somewhere respectful and secluded to talk after his panel, snowballed into visiting his hotel bar, and then up to his room to sit on his balcony.

"You mind if a smoke?" he'd asked. You shook your head. And it was the first time you'd tried a cigarette. The end still wet from his lips around it, and he cupped his big hands around the mouth of it so he could light it for you.

It must've been the alcohol, or the long day, but when you'd kissed him you were sure you were possessed. His lips were soft like silk, warm and plump, and he slid his hand behind your neck to make sure you couldn't run away. Tongues coated in nicotine curled against one another, experimenting as if afraid to turn the other one away.

Taller than you, you had to crane your neck, but he held you so carefully. Gentler still even when he draw you away while your lips were still pouted and pliantly awaiting his return. "I'm sorry, I apologize. I don't know what came over me." he exhaled, releasing you. But you didn't listen, clutching onto collar of his jacket to draw him right back in.

"Oh, right there. Right there!" you plea, clawing at the hotel pillows above your head as Hayden rolls his hips into you. Big hands tuck into the crooks of your knees, folding your legs over you to hit that spongy spot inside you. Cunt up to the sky, he's slamming into you like he's done it before, a sheen of sweat to his forehead. "That's so fucking good, Hayden," you draw out the words in a sultry whine, and for one second you can't believe that you get to say those words right now. Quickly drawn back in to the moment as soon as he bottoms out for the umpteenth time, screwing your fanatic brains out.

"You feelin' good? Yeah?" he exhales, and his tongue forms over his upper lip as he splays a hand under your ass. It feels so big on you as it lifts your hips up into his thrusts. "Keep those legs up for me." You do as you're told, replacing his touch on your thighs to make sure, and you overlay one of his hands. A strangely intimate and endearing detail he takes to heart, watching your little fingers grab at his in the crook of your knee while he's yanking your cunt up by your asscheek.

"Please don't stop, please!" You want to stay here all night, all next day, forever. You want to live in this little bubble.

In a way, he helps you to achieve that by giving you his real number when it's time to leave his hotel room, and makes you promise to take his call whenever he's in the area again.

[westmeath]

lol since i was asking before about social media alternatives and what people like to use i went to look up two old ones i had likeee probably in 2015/2016 but never used which was ello and peach and it turns out ello died last year and the peach app is like... apparently people still use it but it's "not available for [my] device" on the play store, their twitter hasn't updated since 2019 and when i go to their website it redirects to this. interesting

anyway for my own resource i'm putting a list of other ones i'm aware of here. if any of you use these and have any thoughts on them feel free to let me know i'm interested in this :]

mastodon - having countless different "instances" that all require a different login is confusing. i made accounts in 2018 on mastodon.social (the main one) and one on mastodon.cloud and i don't even know what the second one is or how it's different. also can't change your username so i have a danganronpa one forever

bluesky - another twitter clone. just fine idk

cohost - i Like This One because it's cute and does something different (i.e. isn't just twitter again like the others LOL) more blog-like i find which i enjoy. and fun personalisation where i think you can do almost basically whatever you want with html/css? it seems to have a much nicer atmosphere among the userbase than mastodon and bluesky do too

the only thing i really don't like atm is how the likes/shares on posts are completely invisible even on your OWN posts... like whatever about other peoples posts that's fine but i'd like to see on my Own Post if it's being shared around with someone else's comment on it or something? i dunno... it'd be nice if it was an opt in/out thing but idk if they'd ever even do that since having that stuff be invisible is their Whole Thing

telegram - ?? i have no idea about this one. i thought it was just an instant messaging app like whatsapp but i've seen people talk about it like it has some kind of feed so....? dunno!

plurk - been around much longer than the others (2008) yet i've never seen anyone talk about it before. based in taiwan so a rare non-american social media site which is always a plus. i made an account last night out of curiosity but i find it a little hard to navigate and it has an.. interesting layout

^ using this guy as a way to break up the post a bit. heart emoji

then there's the art-based social media apps.. i think there's probably quite a few of these but the ones i Personally know are cara.app, sheezy.art (cheers janssi JDNJDF), artfol.co

i don't know if artstation counts but i didn't like how professional that one felt LOL bit too scary for me. cara kindaaaa gives off that vibe too but i haven't had more than a cursory glance at it so! i have an artfol account but i would always forget to update it so it's not been used for 2 years.. i WILL make a sheezy so soon just been busy/lazy

anywaysssss idgaf about the others i mentioned honestly but I REALLY LIKE COHOSTTTTT MAKE AN ACCOUNT AND FOLLOW ME ON COHOST

[beardedmrbean]

A seaside hotel and former bank offices on the Isle of Man have been used by scammers conning victims in China out of millions of dollars, a BBC World Service investigation has found.

The dining room and lounge at the Seaview Hotel in Douglas were packed with dozens of Chinese workers, we have been told, on computers hooked up to fast broadband. A specialist wok hob had also been delivered to the hotel’s kitchen.

The deception, which happened between January 2022 and January 2023 according to Chinese court documents, used a method known as "pig-butchering". It is so-called because the process of “fattening the pig” - gaining the victim’s trust - is vital to its success.

The BBC spent nearly a year establishing how the investment scam was carried out from the island, which is a British Crown dependency with an independent government.

We also uncovered other details, such as how bosses had big ambitions to build a state-of-the-art office complex overlooking the Irish Sea.

As well as obtaining court papers, we have accessed leaked documents and spoken to company insiders.

One former member of staff, Jordan [not his real name], told us he had no idea of the murky world he was entering when he arrived on the Isle of Man. He says he was relieved to have found what he thought was a stable administrative job.

He did notice, however, that his new employer seemed quite secretive - for example, he and his colleagues were forbidden from taking photos at company social events. What he says he didn’t realise was that many of his Chinese colleagues were actually scam artists.

In late 2021, nearly 100 people had been transferred to the Isle of Man to work for a company which Chinese court documents refer to as "MIC". They had come from the Philippines where they had worked for another scamming firm. The BBC has discovered that MIC stands for Manx Internet Commerce.

On the Isle of Man, MIC was part of a group of associated companies - all with the same owner.

An online casino, run by King Gaming Ltd, was the most prominent. In mainland China, gambling is illegal. Setting up halfway around the world meant the group's founders could target Chinese customers, but also take advantage of the Isle of Man’s low gambling taxes.

A few months after being based at the Seaview Hotel in Douglas, the MIC workers were moved to former bank offices on the east side of town.

And this is where Jordan says he would hear sporadic cheering from his new colleagues - who worked in groups of four. He now believes they were celebrating moments when they had successfully scammed another victim, some 5,000 miles away.

Six people who worked for MIC in Douglas have now been convicted - upon their return home to China - of carrying out investment scams against Chinese citizens.

The cases, heard in late 2023, detail the illicit money stream. Victims were lured by the defendants and their accomplices from bases on the Isle of Man and in the Philippines, according to the Chinese court papers.

They say the defendants would work in teams to pull Chinese investors into chat groups on QQ - a popular Chinese instant messaging service similar to WhatsApp. One scammer would play the role of an investment "teacher", and others would pretend to be fellow investors.

The BBC has seen evidence - including in the court papers - that many of those who arrived in Douglas from the Philippines were engaged in the scams. All used the same computer equipment, depended on QQ for their work and, with the exception of a few managers, all held the same job title.

The fake investors would build an atmosphere of hype and excitement around the money-making skills of the "teacher", who would then tell the victim to put money into a particular investment platform, the Chinese court found.

Dazzled by the hype, the victim would comply, only for their funds to be syphoned off by the scammers, who actually controlled these platforms and could manipulate them from behind the scenes.

The Chinese court said it was difficult to verify the victims' total losses - but it said 38.87m renminbi (£4.17m/$5.3m) had been taken from at least 12 victims.

Relying on evidence including the defendants’ own confessions, as well as travel and financial records and chat logs, the court found the six defendants guilty.

This was not only a profitable but also a sophisticated scam, say the court documents, requiring front line teams to deploy the "pig-butchering" techniques with persuasiveness and skill.

The BBC has discovered the identity of the companies' sole beneficiary. His name was hidden behind layers of administrative paperwork.

MIC and its affiliate companies were all held by a trust set up by an individual named "Bill Morgan" who, documents show, was also known as Liang Lingfei. Employees called him "Boss Liang", says Jordan.

The Chinese court papers refer to a man called Liang Lingfei being the co-founder of MIC on the Isle of Man - which it described as "a fairly stable criminal organisation established in order to carry out scam activities". Mr Liang was not one of those prosecuted or represented at the hearings.

The court stated that Mr Liang was also co-founder of the scamming organisation in the Philippines. The BBC has seen evidence that many MIC employees worked there before being transferred to the Isle of Man.

Our investigation has also found that Mr Liang obtained an Isle of Man investment visa and attended multiple company events on the island. His wife also owns a home in the town of Ballasalla, near the island’s airport.

The group of companies on the Isle of Man was ambitious, having signed a planning agreement late last year for a glitzy "parkland campus" headquarters on the site of a former naval training base. A spokesperson for the developers described it as the "largest single private investment in the Isle of Man".

Architects’ images show office buildings set on a hill above the seafront in Douglas. Inside would have been penthouse apartments, a spa, multiple bars and a karaoke lounge.

The campus was to be used by MIC staff and those working for MIC's "affiliate" companies, including those involved in online gambling, planning documents state.

Conservative estimates put the global annual revenues of the "pig-butchering" industry at more than $60bn (£46.5bn).

"This is the first such case we've seen of one of these [pig-butchering] scam operations setting up in a Western country," says Masood Karimipour, South East Asia representative at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Trying to stop the scams is like a "game of whack-a-mole", he says, and it is a battle that "organised crime is currently winning" as criminals engage in what he calls "jurisdiction shopping" where they perceive there to be legal loopholes and little oversight.

Any ambitions the group of companies may have had on the Isle of Man - legitimate or otherwise - appear to have come to an end.

In April, police raided the former bank offices. They also targeted an address next to the island's Courts of Justice building - using a ladder to enter through a first-floor window in the early hours of the morning.

In a statement released shortly afterwards, police said the raids had been in connection with a wider fraud and money laundering investigation in relation to King Gaming Ltd IOM. Seven people had been arrested and released on bail, they added.

Since then, a further three people are known to have been arrested.

Receivers were appointed earlier this month for companies in the group - including MIC and King Gaming Ltd IOM - at the request of the Isle of Man's attorney general.

The island's gambling regulator has stripped MIC's gambling affiliate companies of their licences.

The parkland campus site was cleared of trees and signage went up - but the redevelopment is now on hold indefinitely.

The BBC has made repeated attempts, via several methods of communication, to contact the companies involved - as well as Bill Morgan/Liang Langfei and company directors - but has received no replies.

We have also attempted to contact the Seaview Hotel, but have received no response, though there is no suggestion that anyone there was aware of any illegal activities taking place on the premises.

[tsreviews]

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