Web Talk

A few days ago I spoke about a nice trick which let you set Gmail as Firefox default e-mail client. Today I want to speak about a similar trick which lets you set Yahoo! Mail in a particular way, so that next time you click on any e-mail address link while surfing websites and blogs, Firefox will prompt you to use such an e-mail client. Here is the procedure to follow:

1. In Firefox 3 and further versions got to Tools.
2. Click Options.
3. Click on the Application tab.
4. Highlight Mailto and select Yahoo! Mail.
5. Click OK.
6. Done!

The endless dance between Microsoft and Yahoo seems to be finished in a little nasty surprise (for Microsoft). As a matter of fact, while Microsoft was still exploring Yahoo universe trying to determine if anyone was interested in its bunch of money, Yahoo itself released a press stating that Microsoft’s proposal to buy Yahoo had ended without a resolution. Hours later, to Microsoft’s disbelief, (I am pretty sure about this) Yahoo announced a search-advertising partnership with Google. The Yahoo-Google partnership, which should last four years with options to extend to 10, will clash Google ads and Yahoo search results together. The money coming from this deal will be divided between the two companies, while Yahoo will keep its search engine and ads separate from Google. Yahoo stated that the arrangement will add $250 million to $450 million to its cash flow in the first year. This partnership won’t be locked anyway. In fact, Yahoo stated that they are looking for other search partners who are interested in this new business. If you want to know more, read the whole news directly from Yahoo News. Here are the previous articles speaking about Microsoft and Yahoo:

• Microsoft continues to explore Yahoo
• Microsoft pulls bid for Yahoo
• Yahoo response to Microsoft: more bucks please
• Yahoo says no thank you to Microsoft offer
• Microsoft wants to purchase Yahoo

What? Do you remember when it looked like the big soap-opera was drawn to an end thank to Yahoo! big requests in terms of money? Do you remember how happy and careful we were after we got that fantastic piece of news? Well, I don’t want to freeze that smile on your face while you are remembering all this but…Look what I found out on Microsoft Website dedicated to “information for journalists”:
“In light of developments since the withdrawal of the Microsoft proposal to acquire Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft announced that it is continuing to explore and pursue its alternatives to improve and expand its online services and advertising business. Microsoft is considering and has raised with Yahoo! an alternative that would involve a transaction with Yahoo! but not an acquisition of all of Yahoo! Microsoft is not proposing to make a new bid to acquire all of Yahoo! at this time, but reserves the right to reconsider that alternative depending on future developments and discussions that may take place with Yahoo! or discussions with shareholders of Yahoo! or Microsoft or with other third parties.

“There of course can be no assurance that any transaction will result from these discussions.”

A few days ago Yahoo launched, in collaboration with McAfee, its new service called SearchScan. This web application, integrated in the Yahoo’s search engine, is a site advisor malware scanning product. But what does it do? Well, apart of warning you from potentially dangerous websites, it simply removes those sites which are really dangerous and could harm and damage your computer or steal your sensitive information. The new service is available in the following countries: USA, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. SearchScan warns you in three different ways:

• Dangerous websites which install malware on the fly (it is sufficent to open them to get malware).
• Dangerous websites which want you to download dangerous software such as: infected screensaver, games etc.
• Dangerous websites which use fake web addresses or fake emails to convince you they belong to big, famous companies.

At last the big drama was drawn to an end! As a matter of fact, after months spent by Microsoft trying to convince Yahoo to be purchased, the last episode of this soap opera has seen Microsoft pulling its bid for Yahoo. Just in case you don’t remember how it started you can read everything here. In the end, the software giant said it failed to convince Yahoo’s board of directors to accept its bid, even after offering more and more bucks (around $54 billions). Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, in a recent statement said: “After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo do not make sense for us, and it is in the best interests of Microsoft stockholders, employees and other stakeholders to withdraw our proposal” On the other hand Roy Bostock, Chairman of Yahoo! Inc, replying to the Microsoft’s statement said: “We remain focused on maximizing shareholder value and pursuing strategic opportunities that position Yahoo! for success and leadership in its markets. From the beginning of this process, our independent board and our management have been steadfast in our belief that Microsoft’s offer undervalued the company and we are pleased that so many of our shareholders joined us in expressing that view. Yahoo! is profitable, growing, and executing well on its strategic plan to capture the large opportunities in the relatively young online advertising market. Our solid results for the first quarter of 2008 and increased full year 2008 operating cash flow outlook reflect the progress the company is making. Today, Yahoo! has:

• a refined strategic focus to drive enhanced volume and yield;
• reorganized to focus its efforts on its most promising products and services;
• invested in innovations designed to revolutionize display advertising and facilitate closing the competitive gap in search; and
• enhanced expense and resource management to support improved profitability.”

Jerry Yang, co-founder and chief executive officer, Yahoo! Inc. added, “I am incredibly proud of the way our team has come together over the last three months. This process has underscored our unique and valuable strategic position. With the distraction of Microsoft’s unsolicited proposal now behind us, we will be able to focus all of our energies on executing the most important transition in our history so that we can maximize our potential to the benefit of our shareholders, employees, partners and users.”

Do you remember the big saga which started some months ago when Microsoft offered something like $44.6bn (£22.4bn) to Yahoo? Do you remember the “No, thank you” response from Yahoo!? Well, it looks like the last episode of this soap-opera has just seen its last episode (maybe) today. As a matter of fact Yahoo! wrote a reply to a Microsoft 3 weeks ultimatum (stating Yahoo! had to agree a deal or face a proxy battle) where it states: “Our Board’s view of your proposal has not changed. We continue to believe that your proposal is not in the best interests of Yahoo! and our stockholders.” … “Furthermore, as a result of the decrease in your own stock price, the value of your proposal today is significantly lower than it was when you made your initial proposal.” So, after all it looks like the war is about to start! We will see what will happen in the future. In the meantime read the whole letter here at Web Talk! Continue reading »

This nice website is 1 year old but, to tell you the truth, I didn’t know about it at all. But what is Yahoo! Pipes? Basically it is a place where you can set your fantasy free and try to create nice widgets for your blog (TypePad, Blogger, WordPress, iGoogle). To start using it you need a Yahoo! account. The thing you don’t need to start playing with it, its the hard-to-get-without-studying-hard programmer’s knowledge. As a matter of fact, you can start creating nice widgets from scratch in a few steps, and without knowing any piece of code. The way it works is rather simple. Once you are in, click on “create a pipe” and a white page will appear. On its left there are lots of buttons describing what they do or the functions they represent (most of them are related to feeds. The application itself is based on a fetch-feeds system). Drag them on the screen, link them to each other, debug the widget created and you are done! The widgets you create are available in one of these three combinations: the widgets show you a list of infos such as news, the widgets show you results on a map, the widgets show you pictures. Is it too easy to be good? Watch the video and get an idea about what I am talking about.

Just in case you missed the news, Microsoft offered Yahoo about $44.6bn (£22.4bn). You can read the whole news here. Yahoo reply didn’t make itself long awaited and it was “No, thank you”. In fact, it seems that despite the fact that Yahoo is struggling to survive, its guys are not interested in the amount of money offered saying that it was not enough. I am pretty sure that this won’t mean the end of the game and Microsoft will try to increase the bid to make it more tempting. More news will come up during the next days. Stay tuned.