The display name in Windows Live Messenger (MSN Messenger) is used as a more personal way of identifying users rather than the unique email address. While some users mainly display their name or nick, others use it to convey their emotions, message and etc. So how do you use the display name?

This is what I do:

James Ooi 黄衍发 THU 7 FEB 2008: 292 days left

Guess what does this display name mean? The dog () and the cat () in the first half of my display name indicates that we all should be friends even though we may be different. The icon is what MSN claims will donate to charitable organizations for every message sent. In this case I put the *help tag where the donation goes to Stop Global Warming. And of course James Ooi 黄衍发 is my name in English and Chinese respectively.

The second half of my display name indicates the date of the next Chinese New Year and the countdown in number of days to Chinese New Year which I update manually each day. And the sun () or rather sunrise indicates a new beginning every new year.