Yahoo Stuff
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Don't be a stranger... (The Unofficial Yahoo Weblog)
As you may have read in Brad's post, Joe and I will be moving over to the Download Squad blog.
Don't worry, you'll still get to see the fanatical obsession of new Y! builds and services that you've come to know from us (in fact, I noticed today a new Y! Mail build...)
I'd like to thank everyone that's read my drivel here and taken the time to comment on the posts.
So, come on over to the new location -- we'll be sure to have cold one's in the fridge for you...Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Time to get a new calendar (Yahoo! Cool Thing of the Day)
The big news for today is that we've launched an exciting update to Yahoo! Calendar that finally pulls it into the 21st century, adding AJAX-y goodness, support for open calendar standards, and a slick zoom interface for viewing monthly vs. daily events. So I hear, at least -- I forgot to sign up for the internal beta and now I'm stuck on the waiting list. *blush* But you can follow along with me as Herbert the Calendar Guru soothingly puts the new calendar through its paces.
Larger version available here
Stocks are on a roll (Yahoo! Cool Thing of the Day)
I'm sure the last thing that you want to be looking at right now is a stock quote page, especially if it happens to be one that you own. However, if you do poke around, you might get lucky and spot the fairly awesome new stock ticker that Yahoo! Finance has been bucket testing for a while. I just happened to stumble across it, so I figure it's fair game to mention -- where you used to only have a boring page header, you can now get up-to-date scrolly information about any quotes that you've recently checked out, or about the market as a whole. It may not distract you from your imminent financial ruination, but at least you'll be able to quickly see that everyone else is in the same boat.
Not really sure how widespread the bucket is, so apologies if you're unable to see this feature.
It?s like MTV that I?ll actually watch! (Yahoo! Cool Thing of the Day)
Personally, it's always fun to see Yahoo! mentioned in places that I don't expect. As I was reading a press release about Weezer's record-setting new music video, I noticed that the premiere was actually being exclusively presented by Yahoo! Music -- in fact, we have an entire video premieres hub devoted to showing hot-off-the-press music videos from a number of high profile artists. All you videophiles out there should be sure to keep an eye on the schedule of Upcoming Premieres to make sure you don't miss out on the latest and greatest.
Got the whole world, in your tab (Yahoo! Cool Thing of the Day)
We increasingly affirm around here that Yahoo! needs to be a global company -- our next 500 million users won't be coming from the US, for instance. Doubly true in this current financial climate. :P If you do ever wonder how global Yahoo! already is, though, you can check out our international hub at http://world.yahoo.com. It's not really much more than a fancy collection of links to our various home pages, but I'd never realized that a page for that existed and it is kind of fun to check out how Yahoo! looks to the rest of those countries out there (conclusion: different!). Who even knew that we had coverage in Turkey? Thanks to Ms. Tse on devel-random for the heads up.
Going blinds (Yahoo! Cool Thing of the Day)
It's Friday and I'm not even in the state*, so I'll keep this short. If you've ever had trouble concentrating on a piece of text in a vast sea of white space, try closing the blinds, using some awesome YUI magic. Chris Heilmann goes into meticulously gory detail in the linked post, which is a very cool read. Sadly, it doesn't work on all sites...like this one...but it's still pretty neat when it does.
* Well, I'm in a state. Just not my usual one.
Getting the picture, faster. (Yahoo! Cool Thing of the Day)
Members of our Exceptional Performance team aren't just here to optimize all of our internal sites -- they're trying to make the whole web a better place. That's why you get publicly-available tools like YSlow for grading and improving site performance, and now Smushit, a cool web-based image optimizer. As Chris Heilmann describes over at the Y! Developer Network, Smushit encapsulates all of the research that Nicole Sullivan and Stoyan Stefanov have put into file size optimization for images -- mostly removing metadata from a vast array of image types -- and sticks it an easy-to-use web interface (or Firefox extension, if you like) versus the myriad command line programs you'd have to use otherwise. So, Portage Daily Register, no more excuses for 1.4MB HTML-resized article images, y'hear?
Elevator music (Yahoo! Cool Thing of the Day)
Okay, as I said, I'm still not sure how I feel about the Start Wearing Purple marketing campaign, but...well, yeah, this Purple Prank is actually pretty funny.
Elevator Music: Tanda @ Yahoo! Video
Election results (Yahoo! Cool Thing of the Day)
One step up from enhanced results in Yahoo! Search is...well, enhanced results pages. Similar to the Breast Cancer Awareness theme that was introduced last week on breast cancer related searches, queries related to the upcoming US presidential elections -- like Obama or McCain -- will return back an election-themed results page with a "Vote" icon pointing back to our elections hub, as well as whatever informational module applies. It's a fun way to draw attention to important events and hopefully will remind a few people to get out there and vote.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month (Yahoo! Cool Thing of the Day)
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and as such, it's probably a good idea for you to raise your awareness a bit. Search for information about it, if for no other reason than to see a pink results page. Add the Search for a Cause Searchmonkey application to contribute to a cure just by shopping online -- in fact, we'll be donating up to $25,000 to the cause if you just add the application. And read more about all the ways that we're trying to help out here.
?Interesting? (Yahoo! Cool Thing of the Day)
Flickr does a great job of surfacing beautiful photos on their Explore page, which is certainly no easy task given the millions of photos they have to sort through. You might think that there's a complicated algorithm based on how many views, comments, favorites or whatever that each photo gets. And maybe you'd be right. But maybe the answer is...fuzzier.
Like, a-panda-vomiting-a-rainbow-of-interesting-photos fuzzy.
Of Pandas and Rainbows, by The Searcher
I don't know much more about it than what I've read online, but it's certainly interesting, you've got to admit. I'll let you know if I hear any more details about, say, why there's a panda throwing up on Flickr.
Zamzar, convert any files online (WebScratches)
/>A little story…
Tim and Louise both work all day long. From time to time, during their 4pm break, they would email each other.Those messages often have an attachment.Sometimes it’s a picture of the place where they intend to spend the following week-end. Sometimes it’s a music track which means something very special to both of them. Sometimes it’s an office document created on a word processor, a slideshow maker or a spreadsheet editor.
There is one problem however:Louise uses a Mac while Tim works on a Windows-powered system.
As a result, some of the files they receive are not compatible with their machine. This is the reason why they both use Zamzar
(more…)
Taking a break (WebScratches)
Alright I would like to tell my readers that I am going to put this place on hold for a little while.
I have a lot of work coming up and I obviously will not have time to update WebScratches. Lately I have been receiving several translation jobs proposals.
In addition to freelance translation, I should be doing freelance writing for French Tech Magazines. Starting July, my French visitors, should be able to read me both at Vnunet.fr and Zebulon.fr.
Just so you know, Vnunet.fr is in association with several popular paper tech magazines in France like PC Expert, SVM or SVM Mac.
Zebulon.fr put the emphasize on tips and tricks to optimize your operating system.
Have a nice geeky summer!
No TagsMowser, the Internet in your cellphone (WebScratches)
/>A little story…
Tim often has to work out of town. He’s constantly on a plane or in the train to move from one city to another. When he does not have a project to review or a book to read, he usually gets online on his mobile phone to either send a nice quick email to his wife or to read his favorite websites. Some of those websites have a mobile version to make it easier. However some only are readable with a desktop web browser. This is for example the case of his brother’s and sister’s blogs. For those, he uses Mowser.
(more…)
Living offline? (WebScratches)
Sorry for the lack of updates. I am having troubles with my internet connection.
It’s getting really hard to live offline and I’m currently in a cyber café.
I’ll be back as soon as I can
No TagsKyte, or how to moblog your videos (WebScratches)
/>A little story…
Next August, Dave and some of his friends are going to spend a couple of weeks traveling around Spain. Dave is quite excited about those holidays as he intends to take a lot of photos and videos. He has been searching for nice places to visit and the city of Barcelona looked quite interesting to him. His little sister, Fiona is a bit jealous, but her parents think she’s too young to take a trip abroad. Dave promised to send as many pictures as possible on his weblog via Flickr so that she would be able to to have an idea of the spanish culture. Dave has a 2 megapixels camera-phone which actually does nice shots. He can also take some videos and is now looking for a way to share them automatically on his blog.
(more…)
How to create a GTalk alias (WebScratches)
/>In order for users to avoid spam, Yahoo! enables the users to create “alias”. An alias is a nickname attached to your main ID with which you can log in the messenger and the whole network. The only difference is that alias are not attached to your mailbox. Anyone trying to send you a message to your alias will receive a failure report. My Alias on Yahoo, for example is imguillaume, no one however, will ever know the main ID to which it is attached.
Well guess what? Google actually lets you create aliases as well! Right now the process is not quite official and there fore a bit hidden but really it’s worth mentionning!
In order to do so, go to PicasaWeb. Click on “Settings” in the top right corner. From there you’ll be asked whether you want to create another nickname.
Once create, you will be able to log in the whole Google network - GTalk and Gmail included - with your password. No one, however, will be able to send you any email.
Technorati tags: Google - Talk - Chat - Alias - Nickname - Messenger - ID.
Giving Joost invites (WebScratches)
Hi all!
Just a note to let you know that I have got Joost invites
Simply reply over here with your email adddress if you want one.
I have been playing around with this Web TV and I like it a lot. I just wish they had more tech related content (of course!) like a TechTV channel for example. Also I think it would be great if I could subscribe to webTV podcasts to get more personnalized content and therefore create sort of personal channels. I’m currently watching the Reuters channel… very interesting!
No TagsConcept: Yahoo! Reviews (WebScratches)
Finally I am back online. Those two weeks have been pretty hard!
Here is a little concept that I have made few days ago. It’s called Yahoo! Reviews.
Objectives :
To develop a popular social service
To make Yahoo! Search more relevant with humanized results.
Case study 1:
Mr John is looking to get a new cell phone. He would like to read about few models and get a smart comparison. Mr John type ?cell phone reviews? in Yahoo! Search
Yahoo?s goal = to get Mr John on the Yahoo! network
Case study 2:
Mr John is looking to get a new cell phone. He still hesitates between a Nokia or a Sony Ericsson unit. Mr John types ?Nokia ModelName? VS ?Sony Ericsson ModelName? in Yahoo! Search and crosses his fingers as he hopes the comparison has already been made.
Yahoo?s goal = to get Mr John on the Yahoo! Network in order to read a contest on Y!Reviews or to invite Mr John to create this contest.
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs at D 2007 (WebScratches)
Badger, Deeply integrate external RSS feed on your website. (WebScratches)
A little story…
Louise has two weblogs. One is written in French and deals about trends, fashions and comic reflexions about her daily observations. It is hosted on Blogspot. Based on Wordpress, the second one is more of a personal weblog, a place written in English which mainly helps her share her personal life with her brothers, sisters and friends living abroad.
Now Louise would like to have a domain name. She could choose to forward this domain to one of her blogs but instead she’d like to have a landing page presenting the two places.
Here a good solution to display the RSS feed of any blogs on your webpage.
(more…)
Yahoo! Pingbox lets you chat with your blog guests (BigBlueBall Forums - 147,148,154,156,163,180)
When Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 was released last week, it came loaded with a new user interface and some brand-new capabilities. Among those new features is the Yahoo! Pingbox.
What is Pingbox? Basically it's a chat applet or gadget you can add to your own website, blog or many popular social network profiles (like MySpace). You customize it on the Pingbox creator site, then copy and paste the appropriate code into your site, blog or profile. Guests to your website or profile can chat live with you, when you're signed into Yahoo! Messenger.
One nice added benefit is that your visitors don't even need to have a Yahoo! account -- they can still chat with you as guests.
Here's an example of what the Yahoo! Pingbox looks like. If you catch me online, feel free to give it a try and say hello!
LinksDownload Yahoo! Messenger 9.0Create your own Yahoo! Pingbox
Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Released (BigBlueBall Forums - 147,148,154,156,163,180)
After a long wait, Yahoo! has released the final 9.0 version of its messenger.
Features List:Instant message with one friend, or conference in a bunchSend text messages (SMS) to friends’ mobile phones for free*Join a chat room to meet new friends while you discuss your favorite topicsMake free PC-to-PC calls and PC-to-phone calls for as low as 1¢ a minute (plus free voicemail!)Use the built-in media player to watch web videos and view photos with friendsShow your style with emoticons, Avatars, audibles and IMVironmentsShare securely with automatic file scanning for users of Norton AntiVirus or Internet Security 2007/2008Features - Yahoo! Messenger 9.0
Yahoo! Messenger - Chat, Instant message, SMS, PC Calls and More
Windows Live Wave 3: Separate Installers available now (BigBlueBall Forums - ...
For those of you who want to try out the latest betas of Windows Live Wave 3, separate installers for each application are now available (so you could just download and install Windows Live Messenger 9 only, if you wish). The apps include Live Mail, Messenger, Movie Maker, Photo Gallery, Toolbar, Family Safety, Outlook Connector, and Writer.
Clicking this link will take you to the Windows Live site where you can choose which beta you'd like to install. More detailed info regarding the WLM9 Beta can be obtained here.
Windows Live Wave 3 beta goes public (BigBlueBall Forums - 147,148,154,156,163,180)
Have you been drooling over the latest screenshots of Windows Live wave 3? Now get yourself in on the action. Microsoft is launching the official Windows Live Wave 3 beta today.
Watcher of all things Microsoft Live, LiveSide.net has the links to the official downloads from Microsoft, that include the latest versions of Live Messenger, Movie Maker, Mail with Calendar synchronization, Writer, Photo Gallery, Family Safety and the Outlook Connector. These downloads have been confirmed as functional, and in the case of Windows Live Messenger will install "Version 2009, build 14.0.5027.908"
Download: http://g.live.com/1rebeta3/en/wlsetup-all.exe
Here's a list of changes and new bits in the new Windows Live Messenger 9 Beta (14.0.5027.908) that went live today Change your dashboard background ("scenes"), big inbox icon to the right, Personal Status Message separated from "music you're currently listening to", colored display picture frames to show current status, new buddy list icons, What's new feed and relocated promotional tabs. Favorites and Groups features, left-aligned display pictures in the convo window, added Segoe UI font New discoveries:
Hover-over contact options menu (Send an IM, send an e-mail, etc.) New Layout tab in Tools > Options allows you to customize the appearance of your contact list window (screenshot). New (softer) sounds for contact signing in, new e-mail, incoming/outgoing voice or video call, new Windows Live Alert and nudge. System sounds now have the same editor as signature sounds. Links in display names are not clickable. Those in PSMs are. Say goodbye to "Out to lunch", "In a call" and "Be right back". The Messenger statuses are now limited to "Available", "Away", "Busy" or "Appear offline". New "What I'm listening to" icon. Chat history button added to conversation window. Sharing folders feature makes room for Windows Live Skydrive: Click Files > Publish files online in the conversation windows. NOTE: Clicking "View your online files" in the hover menu on your own Display Picture opens a faulty link (skydrive.live-int.com instead of skydrive.live.com) New Display Picture options for webcam owners: Webcam snapshots and Tile with moods. Clicking your Display Picture in the main window allows you to change your Display Picture again (in 8.5 this just showed your contact card). Word wheel now offers Search for profiles and Live Search options. Invites you to add MessengerTV@live.com, the Messenger TV bot, to your contact list
Digsby update is faster, lighter and more LinkedIn (BigBlueBall Forums - 147,148,154,156,163,180)
A new update for Digsby has been released, with support for LinkedIn and a much-improved memory footprint.
The update to the popular multi-network instant messenger and social networking tool was released today, and I'm impressed. I've been a fan of Digsby since it first came out earlier this year. My only complaint has been the memory it uses. It was -- to put it politely -- a bit of a hog. This new beta is the result of several months of code optimization, bug squashing and even a few new features, and the results are great.
To compare, I checked the memory footprint of the last version of Digsby (build 15142) and it was using 92MB of RAM. The new version of Digsby is using only 49MB of RAM -- a significant improvement. This alone is reason to upgrade, or to check it out if you haven't already.
The Digsby update also adds support for the LinkedIn social network for professionals. Of course, Digsby already supported MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.
I asked developer Steve Shapiro what was next for Digsby. "We worked hard to optimize the code on this version, making Digsby more efficient and faster. Now we're ready to focus on the Mac and Linux versions."
"We're also ready to begin adding more features, including support for more social networks and group chat," said Shapiro.
There's still no public dates on when we'll see versions for the Mac or Linux, but for Windows users, Digsby is a fantastic product. It's free, with no advertisements, and great connectivity.
The update for this version requires you download from the Digsby site. This is because the update size is bigger than the installer, and there are bugs with the previously released updater component that would cause it to fail.
Check out Digsby:Official announcement from the Digsby blogOfficial Digsby websiteDirect download link (15.2 MB; Windows only)
Chat live with the Yahoo! Messenger Team (BigBlueBall Forums - 147,148,154,156,163,180)
>Ever wanted to talk directly to the folks responsible for your favorite instant messenger? If that IM program happens to be Yahoo! Messenger, you are in luck. This coming Monday, October 6, 2008 Yahoo staff members will be conducting a live, online workshop to answer your questions about the recently released Yahoo! Messenger 9.0.
The free, online workshop begins at 3pm Pacific time (time zone converter). To join, just visit this link at the appropriate time on Monday.
Be sure to say "hi" from BigBlueBall!
Attached Images
Asterisk & SER based VoIP Billing Software launched by Ascent Telecom (BigBlueBall Forums - ...
Ascent Telecom has announced launch of it’s “VoIP Billing Software” that is Pre-Integrated with Asterisk & SER Switching & PBX Telephony Platforms. Ascent’s VoIP Billing Software is a Real-Time Rating, Billing & Customer Care Management Solution that is tightly integrated with Asterisk & SER Softswitch & PBX Telephony platforms. Essentially, this makes the whole integrated solution an end-to-end VoIP network platform that lets the Service providers offer a range of VoIP Services at very low cost of ownership.
The whole platform is capable of supporting range of VoIP services – PC to Phone, Device to Phone, Phone to Phone, Calling cards, Callshops, Wholesale Traffic Termination, Traffic Routing, Incoming DID. It boasts-off features & functionalities including, but not limiting to:Real-Time Calculations for all the functionalities100% Web basedMultiple web interfaces for multiple entities like Admin, Agent, Retailer, Customer, Prepaid AccountFull Customization & Modular ArchitectureFully Automated LCR, Carrier & Routing web interfaces integrated with Asterisk & SER at the backend.Prepaid & Postpaid CapabilitiesIVR Support for IVR based calling servicesIn combination with Asterisk & SER, this VoIP Billing Software forms a complete end-to-end VoIP platform that is completely software based. Add-on future services can be integrated by simply integrating the add-on components in to existing network.
The solution is meant for “Service providers” who intend to offer range of Private Labeled VoIP services, in their desired market segment. Service Providers benefits with: Lowest TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) - Asterisk & SER are free and so the only charge that the service providers incur, for setting their VoIP network, is of the VoIP Billing Software. All of these software gets installed on standard Intel based hardware machines.Instant Implementation - All the software components (Asterisk, SER, VoIP Billing, Softphone) are pre-integrated and benchmarked. These software gets installed on standard, readily available, Intel based hardware machines. All of this translates in to instant implementation.Total Support for end-to-end network from single point - All the required support for Asterisk, SER, VoIP Billing and Softphone are provided by Ascent Telecom. We act as a single point of contact for all your network related queries and saves you from hassles of running from pillar to post.Feature Richness - Asterisk is the most feature rich switching platform that you would find. Our VoIP Billing software is an 8 year old proven feature rich piece. It is extremely flexible, modular in architecture. All of this, makes the platform future-proof, whereby existing features make it rich presently and future new requirements can be incorporated easily.Customization / Personalization - Most potent tool that one can have, in a software or set of software, is that it can be customized as per the specific needs of the service provider. Keeping this mind, our offerings are always 100% customizable as per the customer needs.Please visit ascent telecom
ABOUT ASCENTAscent Telecom is a Global provider of VoIP Software Products, Solutions & Services to “Service Providers”. Founded in year 2000, Ascent Telecom has more than 300 customers presence in over 30 countries. Ascent sell it’s offerings either by selling it’s software or by providing an option of Hosted VoIP Softswitch & Billing, to it’s targeted customers (Service Providers). Ascent has full range of VoIP Software, including but not limiting to – SIP Softphone, VoIP Billing & Class 5 SIP Softswitch (SIP Proxy Server & Media Proxy Server). These software collectively, lets the service providers offer a full range of VoIP services to their customers. Please visit us at ascenttelecom.com for further information.
ABOUT ASTERISKAsterisk is the world’s leading open source telephony engine and tool kit. Asterisk can be configured as the core of an IP or hybrid PBX, switching calls, managing routes, enabling features, and connecting callers with the outside world over IP, analog (POTS), and digital (T1/E1) connections. Asterisk runs on a wide variety of operating systems including Linux, Mac OS X, OpenBSD, FreeBSD and Sun Solaris. Asterisk's architecture is designed for maximum flexibility and supports Voice over IP in many protocols, and can interoperate with almost all standards-based telephony equipment using relatively inexpensive hardware. Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs), competitive local exchange carriers (CLECS) and even first-tier incumbents have discovered the power of open source communications with Asterisk. Feature servers, hosted services clusters, voicemail systems, pre-paid calling solutions, all based on Asterisk have helped reduce costs and enabled flexibility.
NOTE: About Asterisk text has been taken from asterisk.org
ABOUT SER (SIP EXPRESS ROUTER)SIP Express Router (SERi) is a high-performance, configurable, free SIP server licensed under the open-source GNU license . It can act as SIP (RFC 3261) registrar, proxy or redirect server. SER can be configured to serve specialized purposes such as load balancing or SIP front-end to application servers, SEMS for example. Together with the RTPproxy software it can act as media relay or Session Border Controller. SER features complete support of RFC 3261 functionality, a variety of database backends (mysql, oracle, postgres, radius, text-db), management features (remote management via XML-RPC, load-balancing), NATi traversal, telephony features (LCR, speeddial), multidomain hosting, ENUM, presence, and even more.
NOTE: About SER text has been taken from iptel.org
AEC & Call Monitoring for VoIP (BigBlueBall Forums - 147,148,154,156,163,180)
SoliCall released two new features to its personalized noise reduction technology: Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) and Call Monitoring. In addition to improving the quality, the PBXMate – the company’s commercial solution for VoIP/IP PBX systems – can now write statistics of the call. These statistics include information regarding the quality of the call - e.g. jitter, noise leveland delay. The PBXMate works out-of-the-box with any SIP PBX, including Asterisk, Nortel, CISCO etc.
A-Patch for Windows Live Messenger 9 Wave 3 Released! (BigBlueBall Forums - 147,148,154,156,163,180)
A-Patch is a lightweight program designed to enhance your Windows Live Messenger experience. It does this by giving you a multitude of options, over 56, which allow you to customize the look and feel of Windows Live Messenger, even change some functions.
Current Version for Wave 3: 1.42 (build 3) ~ WLM
Updated: 21/9/2008
Supported Versions: 9.0 (14.0.5027.0908)
Total Features: 56
Download:
A-Patch for Windows Live Messenger, MSN Messenger & Yahoo! Messenger