Out of all the chat clients out there, and I have tested them all, Pidgin might be the best total package. Simply put, it is the easiest way to keep all your instant messenger friends in one place. You can connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk, Jabber and more all in one place.
Tag Archives | Yahoo
Best All-in-one IM Client
Tried of Search Engines? Try a Find Engine!
Tired of using your classic search engines? InstaFound claims to be able to remove the search from the search engines out there. How is this done? It helps you avoid the time wasting you do now with regular searching by taking you to the page you are looking for right off the bat.
So how does it work? The InstaFound web site works by taking content from sites like Google, Yahoo, Bing and more and combines each result to give it a site score. It then uses the best score to decide which page they should show you.
Another Domain Information Tool
Looking for a way to get an entire social web site profile of your domain name via one simple online tool? Buildstats is another domain information tool that does just that. All you do is insert your domain name, and then you will be taken to a page with tons of information about that previously entered domain name.
Some of the details you get per domain include:
- Number of pages indexed via the various search engines
- Page information
- Your rank via Pagerank, Technorati, QuantCast and more
- Social popularity and graphs
Here is the example search I came up with for mitchelaneous.com:
It is a simple web site, that does it’s job well. Check out Buildstats.com to lookup information on your own domain name of choice.
Search Engine Webmaster Tool Collections
Where Google used to be alone in giving you tools to see how they are indexing your web site, each of the three big search engines now have their own set of webmaster tools.
The newest kid on the block, Bing gives you access to keyword research tools, a robot.txt validator, and a HTTP verifier tool right out of the box. Once you get your site listed, you get details like your domain score, feedback on any crawl issues Bing might have had on your site, your top five pages and a lot more. I have to say, Microsoft really impressed me with their tool set.
Poor Yahoo!, does have a site explorer, and it does pay to sign up and list your web sites on it – just to confirm that Yahoo! is watching you. The problem is that they don’t offer much when it comes to tools you can really get much use out of. Also, why do they think I want a badge to show everybody how many people are linking to a page?
Google’s webmaster tools selection is still top dog as far as features and ease of use. They give you a wide selection of diagnostics tools, your top search queries, keywords, subscriber stats, and more. You can also add a new tab to iGoogle to get instant access to all the tools they provide right on your start page.
Which webmaster tools set does the best job? I think Google still wins hands down, however Bing’s selection of tools for webmasters is rather impressive. I am afraid though, that puts our friends at Yahoo! in third place. With that said though, I suggest you sign up for all three so that you can keep tabs on how well your site is being indexed in each.
The Rise and Fall of Geocities
Over on the Web Hosting Show, I have been talking all week long about our good ‘ol departed friend, Geocities. After looking back at what went wrong, and what was or was not done, one thing can be said for certain. The main reason Geocities fell is because they failed to innovate.
If you too want to follow the rise and fall of this free hosting giant, check out these articles and be sure to download the accompanying podcast too.
You might have heard of Geocities in passing, however if you are new to the Web, or the way things once were – all this concern about a free hosting service might be a little confusing. So I figured, what better way to pay tribute to the web host that once was, than to give you a history lesson in Geocities.
Saving Geocities for Future Generations
In an effort to save the content that was on Geocities, a group calling themselves the Archive Team is working hard to save the Web that way it once was. Time to pack away the animated gifs, blinking text, and web rings into their own individual boxes, so that someday we can look back what was once considered, “cool” in web site design.
Alternatives to Geocities Hosting
With the word that Geocities would be closing, “sometime in 2009” many of the Geocities users are looking for other places to host their content. Even though Geocities is closing the door on it’s free hosting, there are still many free hosting alternatives to Geocities.
The reasons as to why Yahoo! dropped the ball with Geocities will be a great debate over the next year or so. However, I feel the main reason Geocities ended up fading off into the sunset is that Yahoo failed to evolve the product into what people needed.
For more web hosting podcasts, interviews, tips and more be sure to check out WebHostingShow.com. It is tons of fun!
Yahoo! Web Analytics?
Looks like Yahoo is following Google into the web analytics game. If you visit http://web.analytics.yahoo.com/ you will see that IndexTools is now well, Yahoo! Web Analytics. What was Index Tools? I don’t know either.
They are promising a powerful and flexible web site stats package. Not much is known yet due to the only thing we have to go by is the web site. I am excited to see that they are promising to get detailed reporting within minutes after and action occurs on your web site. With other similar tools, you usually have to wait till the next day to get the best results. Other features include:
- Dashboards
- Custom Reports
- Advanced Campaign Management
- Real-Time Segmentation
- Scenario Analysis… and more!
So when can you sign up for this new tool? Yahoo! Web Analytics will be made available to a wide range of Yahoo!’s customers, partners, developers and advertisers in stages throughout the rest of 2008 and into 2009.
Maybe my glass is half full, but I am excited about giving this a shot.
Using Del.icio.us to Backup Bookmarks
If I ever lost my bookmarks I would be totally lost.
From projects to cool sites to those darn dancing badgers – I need my bookmarks to survive. With that in mind, I have been backing up my bookmarks early and often using these steps and I thought I would share them with you. When it is all said and done you too will be able to use del.icio.us to backup your bookmarks.
There are only two steps you have to take to backup your bookmarks from your browser to Del.icio.us:
Step One: Export from Browser – The first thing you need to do is export your bookmarks from your browser. I use Firefox, so we will stick with that for now. In the Firefox menu bar click on “Bookmarks” and then “Manage Bookmarks” to pull up your bookmark manager.
Once inside of there, go to “File” then “Export…” and save the “bookmarks.html” to your desktop.
Step Two: Upload to the Web – Login to the del.icio.us web site and then click on the “Settings” link at the top. Under the “Bookmarks” section click on the link for “import/upload”. The rest of the steps from here are easy to follow. Read the instructions and upload your “bookmark.html” file you backed up earlier.
As a tag, I usually use “bookmarkbackup” but you are free to use whatever you wish. Just make sure it is unique so you don’t get them mixed up with your other saved items if you use del.icio.us for multiple reasons.
There you have it. Now your bookmarks should be saved and you don’t need to worry – just in case the worst might happen to your browser, computer and/or house. Del.icio.us to the rescue again!
Switching from Yahoo! Mail to Gmail
Well I spent Saturday morning making the big switch from Yahoo! Mail (who screwed me over royally with the ad-fest they started) to Gmail. I really had not used Gmail that much since the launch – so I was happy to see they have improved it greatly since then. My overall reaction over the move? I am happy thus far.
Step One – Getting Ready for the Move
First thing I did was move all my Yahoo! Mail message from my folder into my inbox. I deleted a lot of old crap I really didn’t need anymore. I’m not that much of a pack rat when it comes to e-mail so this might be easier for some than others.
Step Two – Setting Up Additional Accounts
Second thing I did was setup all my e-mail addresses up in Gmail so that I could start the switch. This could not be easier. I also set my old Yahoo address up to go there as well – so I wouldn’t miss out on a thing.
Step Three – Configure Gmail’s Settings
Third, I went through and configured the Gmail settings and imported my e-mail from Yahoo! to Gmail. This was easy enough, because it picked up on everything that was in my inbox at Yahoo! and brought it right in.
Step Four – Get Things Labeled, Forget the Folders
From there I setup my labels and got e-mails archived. That’s it! Now things are going smoothly and the one thing I have been most impressed by is the spam filtering that Gmail does. It might take a little training but in a whole it is leaps and bounds over what Yahoo! Mail provides.
Yahoo! Mail Gets “Ads” Upgrade
+ Remove These New Yahoo! Mail Beta Ads!
Well I guess it finally happened sometime last night. The nice sleek and clean interface of Yahoo! Mail became ad-tastic. As an AT&T DSL customer I was getting the “plus” E-mail pack with my Web mail from Yahoo. I have been over this story before though.
I don’t mind ads on Web sites that are more “general” – that isn’t what bugs me. I just don’t like ads in my applications – such as Web mail, feed readers, ect.
Here is some feedback from others who don’t like being in the same boat:
I am on the phone with Yahoo At&T right now and they maintain that this is a part of their world class service. They are actually telling me that over the phone! It does get better, they are trying to give me a case ID that….you guessed it….they cannot send via email! I am a mail plus customer as well, no way I am sticking around and paying for something like this. Off to Google and GMail.
I’m a paid AT&T/Yahoo Mail, and first the very fist time I’ve found it being “decorated” and “laced” with all sorts of ads. I suppose I’d just have live with them now.
The ads hit my inbox tonight. Unacceptably obtrusive and annoying. I cannot believe paying DSL customers are being treated this way. No way I’m gonna send AT&T/Yahoo more money for an ad-free “plus” account. That is part of what I’ve been paying for the past several years. Time to change my homepage to Google and set-up a G-mail account.
So looks like I have two options that I’d consider going with. Go out and find a Greasemonkey script to take ‘em out or go give my money to Google for their apps service. I’m starting to lean towards the Gmail option – just got to find the time to give Yahoo a swift kick in the rear and a wave goodbye.
Yahoo Unlimited E-mail Storage = Ads for Everybody
Yahoo is paying for the unlimited E-mail storage everybody is going to get with more ads. Paid Yahoo Mail users or not – we are all going to get this “new feature” called advertisements.
Want the good news? Yahoo is going to give us unlimited E-mail storage soon. The bad news? If you haven’t been seeing ads – you are about to get them back – even if you have been paying for your E-mail service! I have enjoyed the perks of having the “paid” version of Yahoo Mail since I am a AT&T DSL customer. When I moved over to DSL I signed up with SBC Yahoo! DSL. One of the perks I liked the most was that there were no ads on the E-mail application.
Here is a copy of the E-mail I got from Yahoo:
Dear AT&T Yahoo! Member:
AT&T and Yahoo! have a history of providing our members with award-winning, industry-leading Internet products and services at a great value.
As more members are using AT&T Yahoo! Mail to send and receive photos, videos, and music, we will begin offering unlimited email storage in May to both existing and new members. Your service will continue to include all the premium products you already enjoy including video, LAUNCHcast Plus, and an all-in-one security suite.
Additionally, within the next few weeks you will begin seeing graphical advertisements in your AT&T Yahoo! Mail service. These advertisements will be integrated into the AT&T Yahoo! Mail experience, and we hope you will find the advertisements useful. Advertising such as this allows us to continue delivering new and innovative elements to our service and helps us keep prices competitive, while we continue to provide the high level of service that you have come to know and trust.
We strive to provide you with the best online experience possible and to address all your needs on the Internet.
Sincerely,
AT&T Yahoo! Member Services
I love how they push the advertisements as an additional feature to look forward to. Shame on you Yahoo!
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