Tag: yahoo

Yahoo! Podcasts

Post ImageI’ve been so busy lately that I missed the launch of Yahoo’s new podcast directory. I had read about it last week, but only got a chance to finally look today. What can I say? It is very much a directory and nothing else – but at least it’s a very good directory.

The directory has a section where Yahoo! editors pick the podcasts they like and display them. There is also a “what other people like” section that can be viewed by “Most Popular” or “Highly Rated”. Finally, you can browse around on your own if you’d like by category and tag. Once you find a podcast to look at, you can either listen to it or subscribe and download (using a third party application or Yahoo’s Music Engine). You can rate the podcast, add comments and reviews, and also tags.

Yahoo’s Podcasts directory is put together very nicely, I think. The layout and organization make intuitive sense, and the search functionality seems to work quite well also. They currently have an information section called “Publish a Podcast” which contains information on how to get started. Makes me wonder if they might one day add some sort of publication tool.

I’m not sure how many podcast directories we need, but I’d have to say that Yahoo’s is a welcome addition to the bunch.

Read: Yahoo! Podcasts

Google turns 7, hides index

Post ImageDid you know that Google is now seven years old? Yep, their birthday was yesterday I believe, and the front page is still sporting the birthday logo. Here’s what the official Google blog has to say:

Google opened its doors in September 1998, and we’ve been pursuing one mission ever since: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. For our seventh birthday, we are giving you a newly expanded web search index that is 1,000 times the size of our original index.

Google also no longer displays the number of documents in their index on the front page. John Battelle explains:

I asked Marissa [Mayer at Google] that since Yahoo claims 20+ billion documents, and Google claims to be three times larger, might not folks simply presume that Google has 60 billion documents in its index? The answer goes to the heart of the index debate in the first place: Google does not count the way Yahoo seems to, so the comparison is apples to oranges. Google is counting one way, Yahoo another. So the numbers don’t add up.

…Google is forcing the debate back to relevance, where, honestly, it really belongs.

Well said. We need more relevant search results! Who cares if there are 22 million matching documents. What matters is showing me the ten or twenty most relevant right away.

Read: tech.memeorandum

Why the WebOS won't happen!

Post ImageInteresting post by Jason Kottke on a so-called “WebOS”. Speculation about such an operating system, that is powered over the web, has always been around but seems to pick up whenever Google releases something new, like Google Desktop 2 last week. Granted, Jason does talk about having local applications too, but then I question how things are really different than what we currently have.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – it’s not going to happen! So, whenever you feel the urge to dream about an operating system powered completely over the web, just refer to this handy list of realities:

  • We don’t have “wireless everywhere”, so sometimes you need to be able to take content offline.
  • Games need horsepower – processors, memory, graphics, etc.
  • I can do a lot with photos on Flickr, but it’s not even close to replacing Photoshop. Applications like Photoshop need (extensive) local resources!
  • One interface is dumb! What about viewing my content on a mobile device? Or on a device with a tiny screen? Or in my kitchen? Or in my car? Accessing everything through a browser is absurd. Web services solve this problem by allowing many rich interfaces to use the same data, with a high level of code re-use.
  • Security, security, security! It’s a lot harder to secure everything when it’s all online!
  • Privacy, privacy, privacy! How can you really be sure no one else is looking? If the OS is on the Web, there’s no longer a power switch.

There are probably more reasons! Have any you’d like to add?

Read: Jason Kottke

Google Talk

Post ImageGoogle has certainly been busy as of late. They launched another new program recently, this one called Google Talk:

They say talk is cheap. Google thinks it should be free. Google Talk enables you to call or send instant messages to your friends for free-anytime, anywhere in the world. Google Talk is in beta and requires a Gmail username and password.

Another instant messaging client? Last thing I need, let me tell you. But curious as I am, I downloaded it tonight and tried it out (Dickson did too, so I’d have someone to chat with). Interesting enough, and simple to install, but largely a waste of my time. Here’s why:

  • This has got to be the most basic IM client in the world! Dickson created a better one for his class project last year.
  • You can’t change anything. Not your display name, not your font, not your font color, nothing.
  • No emoticons! Just colored text instead.
  • The application looks and feels like a web page – no doubt by design.

The program also has voice chat, and that feature appeared to work quite well. Essentially what it boils down to though is that it’s not good enough for me to replace my main IM client. I use MSN Messenger (feel free to add me, mastermaq@hotmail.com, just don’t email me there). Google Talk is an interesting experiment, but it doesn’t come close to being good enough to replace MSN, nor does it look like it will anytime soon. Heck, Skype and Yahoo Messenger are both light years beyond Google Talk. And that’s to say nothing of the fact that all of my contacts would need to have Google Talk too.

I suspect the only reason this program was created is so that Google staff can talk to one another using their own network, nothing more. Unless the second beta looks amazing, you won’t find me on Google Talk anytime soon.

Read: Google Talk

Tomorrow's Syndication and HiveCasting

Just
listened to the “Tomorrow’s Syndication” session here at Gnomedex,
hosted by Steve Gillmor, Dave Sifry, and Scott Gatz. Here’s a couple
notes:

  • Dave Winer made the point that no one uses attention.xml, so what’s
    the point for Yahoo to support it ? (It does support attention.xml in
    myYahoo)
  • Actually this session was kinda funny because Yahoo was made out to be “the old Microsoft”
  • Basically, a major vendor won’t play ball with a technology like attention.xml on a small level simply because of economics

Yeah I didn’t take too much away from this session, but it appears
that some people did, so that’s good. As I am writing this, B.
Honeywell (dressed in a bee costume) just took the stage to explain
“HiveCasting – the Future of Communication”. Some details:

  • HiveCasting enables hive to hand communication
  • Bee communication is improved by outfitting bees with radios and antennas (some funny pictures on the screen now)
  • Then communication went one step further, by integrating a circuit board into a bee hive
  • Now there’s just a barrage of slides, I can’t keep up, but this is pretty funny 🙂
  • Ah now there’s two audience members dressed as bees, asking questions and making comments. Priceless!

Ah that was refreshing, and good call Chris, a little humor goes a long way!

Read: Gnomedex

Yahoo destroys the RIAA, iTunes, Napster

All I can say is, thank you Yahoo. Your new $5/month Music Unlimited subscription service will be the end of the RIAA, as Mark Cuban reports:

The RIAA can no longer claim that students who are downloading music are costing them thousands of dollars each. They cant claim much of anything actually. In essence, Yahoo just turned possession of a controlled music substance into a misdemeanor. Payable by a $5 per month fine.

The Music Unlimited site looks nice, but sports this little warning on the right side:

If you’re an iPod user with a Windows-based PC, you can transfer music you already own to an Apple iPod using the Yahoo! Music Engine. Unfortunately, iPods are not currently compatible with the Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscription service.

Maybe the beginning of the end for iTunes too, though speculation of an iTunes subscription service has become more common lately. Even Hilary Rosen, yes the former head of the RIAA, who blogs at Huffington Post is calling for Apple to open up the iPod. With music that cheap available from Yahoo using Microsoft’s technology, it doesn’t look so good for Apple.

Yes, it’s interesting to note (or not) that Yahoo is using Microsoft’s DRM technology. Russell Beattie at Yahoo expressed concern about that, but Scoble replied “we only win if you do.” So true! Yahoo, Napster, and basically everyone except iTunes is using the Microsoft technology. I don’t see how iTunes and iPod can remain on top.

Speaking of Napster, things are not looking so good for them following the launch of Yahoo’s new service either, as techdirt explains:

Napster made a big deal earlier this year in advertising how much “cheaper” they were than Apple (though, many questioned the math). Of course, when you pitch yourself as the “low cost” alternative, you have to have a plan in place for the time when (not if) someone else comes in with lower prices. It appears that Napster’s plan is not to plan at all.

Pretty amazing if you ask me. With the launch of a single service, Yahoo has caused problems for three major players in the music space. And made things look very promising for Microsoft indeed.

Read: Yahoo! Music Unlimited

Search Engine Compromise

Imagine you need to look something up on the web. Probably happens all the time! Which search engine should you use? Google might get some fast results, but Yahoo might better deliver what you want. Decisions, decisions!

Stop the madness! Compromise, and use YaGoohoo!gle, at least until it gets shut down.

Read: MetaFilter