Apr 20

Yahoo to retain search data for 18 months, says it’s in your best interest

Posted in: privacy, Today's Chili, Yahoo

We’ve heard this one before: a seemingly well intentioned corporation makes promises to uphold user anonymity, but when market pressure proves too much to handle, it’s left to weigh the benefits of privacy over profit. Well, it looks like Yahoo’s not immune to such goings on, as it’s just announced that it will renege on its previous data retention promises and hold on to raw search data for 18 months. That’s a pretty significant change, as the previous policy boasted data retention limits of only 90 days. If you ask Yahoo, though, it’s just good business. In a post to its policy blog, Anne Toth said “we will keep our log file data longer than we have been – offering consumers a more robust individualized experience – while we continue our innovation in the areas of transparency and choice to protect privacy.” We suspect “more robust individualized experience” actually means more aggressive targeted ads, but we’ll just have to wait and see. The new policy goes into effect this July.

Yahoo to retain search data for 18 months, says it’s in your best interest originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AP  |  sourceYahoo Policy Blog  | Email this | Comments

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Apr 09

Yahoo! Mail Adds Ymail and Rocketmail Domains

Posted in: Today's Chili, Web Sites, Yahoo

This article was written on June 19, 2008 by CyberNet.

rocketmailDid you need another new email address? We didn’t think so, but you may be still interested to know that Yahoo has decided to add two new domains to their mail service. Today around 12:00 PM (Pacific), they will introduce Ymail and reintroduce RocketMail as new domains their users can use to register for new email accounts.

If RocketMail sounded familiar to you it’s because it was one of the first major webmail services available when email first became popular. It’s been too long, but I almost think at one point I even had a RocketMail account. Eventually Yahoo acquired them in 1997 and used their technology for Yahoo Mail. Now they’re reviving RocketMail by allowing users to sign up for an email account under the domain.

Why has Yahoo chosen now as the perfect moment to add two domains to their mail service? An article from the AFP points out how right now Yahoo is trying to prove to their followers and their investors that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Yahoo Mail is already the most popular web-based mail solution out there with millions of users, but adding new domains has it’s benefits. They say, “adding new domains is intended to let users who have outgrown or never really liked their yahoo.com email addresses to have chances at better choices.“

Isn’t it a little ironic that they chose one of their domains to be Ymail, like Gmail? At least Ymail is short and sweet unlike Rocketmail which seems a little long, doesn’t it? While Hotmail is a little long, Microsoft introduced the @live.com domain not that long ago which is short and sweet as well. It’s also worth pointing out that Yahoo has used Ymail before for an email service for mobile devices.

Remember, today at 12 PM Pacific, you’ll have a chance to scoop up the address of your choice. If your current user ID is something long with a bunch of numbers attached to it, it’ll be a great opportunity for you to get something better. They say 70% of adults prefer an email address which includes their names, so here’s your chance to get your name without a string of numbers attached.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Apr 08

Zoho Now Accepts Google & Yahoo Logins

Posted in: Google, Today's Chili, Web Sites, Yahoo

This article was written on May 14, 2008 by CyberNet.

zoho google yahoo.pngZoho took a pretty big leap today, and it will likely pay off in big ways for them. What they decided to do is leverage Google and Yahoo’s rapidly growing user base to help attract new users. How so? Instead of having to create a Zoho account new (and existing) users can simply login using their Google or Yahoo credentials.

This is a smart move because now users don’t have to worry about going through the sign-up process, and then having yet another login/password that they have to remember. I’m sure a fair amount of Google Docs users haven’t jumped on the Zoho bandwagon for exactly that reason.

Already have a Zoho account? No problem… here’s what the Zoho blog has to say about the new system:

  • If you already have a Zoho account with your Google or Yahoo! email address, you will be logged in to the Zoho account automatically.
  • If you do not have a Zoho account with your Google or Yahoo email address, then you have the option to either associate the Google or Yahoo email address with your existing Zoho account (under Accounts) or you can create a new one.
  • If you add your Gmail and Yahoo email addresses (under ‘My Email IDs’ section) and confirm them, you’ll be able to login to your Zoho Account with either your Zoho Account, Google Account or your Yahoo! Account.

If the unified login process isn’t enough of a benefit then maybe you’ll like the fact that you can import contacts from both Google and Yahoo to your Zoho account. I tried this out and it was literally a 10-second process: go to your Zoho Accounts page, select Contacts, click Import, and select the service you want to import from. Done!

The next logical step for Zoho would probably be support for OpenID, but in my eyes they were smart for starting with Google and Yahoo accounts. Right now OpenID is still only known and used by the slightly more tech-savvy crowd, whereas most people already have a Google or Yahoo account.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Mar 31

The Best Apps for Baseball [Video]

Posted in: apps, Today's Chili, top, Yahoo

Today is opening day! Now you can cry that baseball is boring or that there’s too many games or that all the players take steroids but I could care less. There are few things that make me happier than watching the Dodgers on a slow midsummer day. More »

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Mar 24

Yahoo Revamps Search

Posted in: Today's Chili, Yahoo
yahoo direct search.jpg

Yahoo’s search for meaning in a post-Google world continues this week with the introduction of Search Direct, a new feature aimed at speeding up search results and “giving you the answers you’re looking for right there in the search box as you type.” It’s certainly similar to Google Instant–a fact we’re not the first to point out.

Begin typing a query into the search box over at search.yahoo.com (where the feature is currently live), and a dialog box will drop down. The left-hand side offers up search suggestions as you type, and right-hand side offers links and related content–begin typing “weather,” for example, and the local forecast will pop up.

The company is banking on the new feature to help give it a leg up in a field dominated by Google–and, increasingly, Microsoft’s Bing, which has actually been providing back end search results for Yahoo for the past two years.
It’s a cool feature, certainly–we advise you to go over to Yahoo to take it for a spin. The feature alone, however, likely won’t bring too many back to Yahoo’s side.
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Mar 23

Yahoo intros Search Direct, takes on Google Instant with insular effect

Posted in: hands-on, search, Today's Chili, Yahoo

Remember Google Instant? Now, Yahoo’s got something like that — it’s called Search Direct — and like Instant, it consists of a search box that quickly and automatically suggests results as you type. Unlike Instant, however, it won’t update the entire results page to reflect the outcome of your potential search, but rather just an enlarged search box like the one you see above, providing up to ten suggested queries and three suggested results. That makes it a little bit speedier (we were able to use it on our 3G phone connection quite easily) but also fairly limited in comparison. It’s also a bit… ahem… self-serving, as any search that happens to include the same letters as one of Yahoo’s own services will promote them above all others in the results — in fact, only five letters of the alphabet presently bring up anything but a Yahoo website as the first result when typed in solo.

  • I = iTunes
  • J = Jennifer Lopez
  • Q = QVC
  • X = Xbox 360
  • Z = Zsa Zsa Gabor

Some of the improved functionality is pretty useful, though, as that Xbox query will instantly bring up prices for the console, and you can type in “movies” or “weather” and your zip code to immediately plan your night out. (“Restaurants” and “food” don’t work, though.) Anyhow, Search Direct is in beta. Why not give it a go?

Continue reading Yahoo intros Search Direct, takes on Google Instant with insular effect

Yahoo intros Search Direct, takes on Google Instant with insular effect originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Mashable  |  sourceYahoo  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 22

ComScore: Microsoft becomes second for online video in one month

Posted in: Google, Microsoft, Online, stats, streaming, streaming video, StreamingVideo, Today's Chili, video, Yahoo, YouTube

Earlier this month, we got word that Bing had surpassed Yahoo! as the world’s second most used search engine, and now Microsoft’s solidifying its place as runner-up, coming in behind YouTube as the internet’s number two provider of streaming video, with 48 million unique viewers in February. According to ComScore’s latest ranking of online video providers, the software giant went from number seven to number two in just one month, bumping Yahoo! down to third place. Of course, YouTube is still way out in front, with over 140 million visitors, but given the speed with which it leaped ahead, we’d say Bing is doing something right. Check out more online video results after the break.

Continue reading ComScore: Microsoft becomes second for online video in one month

ComScore: Microsoft becomes second for online video in one month originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 22:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PCWorld  |  sourceComscore  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 10

Yahoo Mail gets IMAP patch, Windows Phone 7 data consumption catches a break

Posted in: Email, Microsoft, problem, Today's Chili, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone7, Wp7, Yahoo

Yahoo had been pegged a few weeks ago as the culprit behind excessive data usage on Windows Phone 7 devices, sending far more information in replies to requests from the phone than necessary — not really a big deal for those on unlimited data plans, but a legitimate cause for concern if you’ve got a data cap and overage to worry about (as more and more customers on AT&T do these days). Well, turns out Yahoo went ahead and updated its IMAP servers at some point in the last few days, fixing the issue and more or less obliterating the ravenous gobbling of kilobytes. If you don’t use Yahoo… well, this is of little concern, but for the rest of you — whether you’re on a Windows Phone, an iPhone, or pretty much anything else with a limited bucket — this should be music to your ears.

Yahoo Mail gets IMAP patch, Windows Phone 7 data consumption catches a break originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 23:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceWithin Windows  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 09

Yahoo Stock: How Low Can It Go?

Posted in: Microsoft, Today's Chili, Web Sites, Yahoo

This article was written on May 05, 2008 by CyberNet.

yahoo down.pngHow low can Yahoo stock go now that Microsoft has formally withdrawn their bid to acquire Yahoo? Thus far, Yahoo stock is down to $23.90, a drop of about 16% and the day has just started. Here Jerry Yang, Yahoo’s CEO was adamant that they were worth $37 per share! He’ll certainly be in the hot seat today when he comes strolling in the door to work and has to answer to all of his employees who are still in shock that Yahoo didn’t accept Microsoft’s upped offer.

Wait a second, I guess we should back-up and go-over what happened between Friday and today. On Friday, Microsoft at the very last minute decided to up their bid to offer Yahoo $33 per share, or another $5 billion dollars. On Saturday, Yang flew to Seattle with Yahoo’s other co-founder David Filo to talk to Ballmer. They were going there to tell him in person that they wouldn’t accept anything less than $37 dollars per share. You would have thought that at a face-to-face meeting like that, they would have been able to negotiate something but they didn’t. Shortly thereafter, Microsoft withdrew their bid.

Lots of Yahoo employees have stock-options, so they were clearly invested into the happenings between the two companies. Kara Swisher interviewed about a dozen Yahoo execs over the weekend to try and get an idea of where they stand and how they feel, and her article titled “I Need Some Prozac” explains it all. One exec who chose not to be identified said, “Having to face my staff tomorrow will not be so much fun and I need some Prozac, since I don’t know what I can say to them about how our leadership is going to get our company going again.”

So now what happens from here? Well, Yahoo stock will likely continue to tumble unless they act quick and try to make some last-ditch efforts to save their stock like partnering with Google or merging with AOL. If it continues to tumble and Yang isn’t able to prove that Yahoo is worth at least $37 per share, we could see Microsoft come marching back to Yahoo with a much lower offer. Yahoo would almost be forced to accept it with the backlash they received from rejecting a Microsoft offer previously, fresh in their minds.

Did Jerry Yang just make the biggest mistake of his career and will this ultimately lead to his replacement as Yahoo CEO? He’s doing his best to smooth things over right now and posted a blog titled “Ok, so now what?” In it he says, “We’ve emerged a stronger, more focused company with an even greater sense of purpose.” Unfortunately, at this point they haven’t emerged stronger and some are predicting it’s all downhill from here.

Any thoughts?

Note: If you’d like a great re-cap of what happened over the last several months, take a look at Paul Thurrott’s article titled “What might have been: A look back at Microsoft/Yahoo! coverage in WinInfo.” It’s really interesting to go back and see how all of this unraveled.

Thanks to all who sent in tips!

Sources: Here, Here, and Here

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Mar 02

Gadget Lab Notes: Apple Wasn’t The Only One Making News Today

Posted in: concept, gaming, Google, Miscellaneous, olympus, Today's Chili, Yahoo

The TOUGH TG-810 is the first camera crushproof up to 100kg

Gadget Lab Notes is an eclectic roundup of gadget news briefs and intriguing products that catch our eye.

Olympus TOUGH TG-810 Claims to be the First 100kg Crushproof Camera
Accidentally step on the Olympus TOUGH TG-810? Not a problem, as long as you weigh less than 100kg (about 220lbs). The 14 MP TG-810 is shockproof, waterproof up to 10m, and freezeproof up to -10 C. It features a 3-D shooting mode, 720p HD recording, underwater scene modes, and a variety of other modes and filters to enhance stills and video.

Tough TG-810 [Olympus via TechRadar]

Thermaltake Level 10 Super Gaming Modular Case, an Epic Home For Your Gaming Rig
For $280, you can get the Thermaltake Level 10 Super Gaming Modular Case, whose design was inspired by the work of BMW Group Designworks. The case will prevent overheating through the use of 4 cooling fans and optional water cooling, and sports a hinged side panel, 6 USB ports (two USB 3.0, four USB 2.0) and a variety of other ports. It’s got 5 hot-swappable hard drive bays and also features improved cable management for hiding extra cords at the back.

Thermaltake Level 10 Super Gaming Modular Case [Thermaltake USA via Uncrate]

GoPro Battery BacPac Ensures Over 5 Hours of Video Recording Adventures
GoPro, purveyor of wearable, mountable HD cameras, has outed the BacPac, a clip for the HD Hero camera that provides over 5 hours of recording capability. That’s right, for $49.99, you can keep snowboarding, skateboarding, backflipping, or doing whatever other extreme activity you want to document with first person video, for over 5 hours.

Battery BacPac [GoPro via Crunchgear]

Grown-Up Battleship: You May Pass Out Before You Finish the Game
Honestly, I’m surprised this wasn’t created sooner: a Battleship Drinking Game, with shotglasses perched on each “ship”. So now cries of “You sunk my battleship!” are accompanied by a chug of your favorite poison.

Battleship Drinking Game [Core77]

Bing’s Global Searches Outnumber Yahoo’s For the First Time
In February, Bing searches accounted for 4.37% of the global market, while Yahoo held only 3.93% of the global search market. Neither search engines are making Google sweat though—the search engine giant maintained 89.94% of the global search market. In the US, the proportions played out a bit differently: Google leads with 79.63%, followed by Yahoo and Bing with 9.74% and 9.03%, respectively.

Global Stats [Statcounter via Slashgear]

Floor Plan Light Switch Makes it Easy to Light the Right Room
If you’ve ever fumbled around with a light panel of 3 plus switches as you enter a dark house, you know it can be a pain to try to illuminate the right area. The Floor Plan Light switch would display a glowing layout of the floor; just press the room you want to light, and voila! Hopefully it could also scale to a single room that has multiple light areas, like kitchens and bathrooms often do.

Floor Plan Light Switch [Yanko Design]


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