My Yahoo! Blog

The Year of the Ox will bring you…

One of my guilty pleasures, I must confess, is occasionally checking in on my horoscope. For me, it’s the same experience as opening a fortune cookie and seeing what’s in store. Naturally I’m intrigued by Chinese New Year, and because I was born in the Year of the Ox, I’m taking a keen interest in this cosmic forecast!

Did you know you can get your yearly horoscope on your My Yahoo! page? With all the buzz about the new lunar year, how could you miss out on seeing how your sign affects you this year? Check out Chinese Astrology page on Shine (brought to you by Yahoo!). After selecting your astrological animal, you can add the RSS feed to your page.

When you want to add an RSS feed to your page:
1. Follow instructions on the site to locate the feed URL (RSS icon) and copy it
2. In My Yahoo!, go to Add Content and then click “Add RSS Feed”
3. Paste the URL and click Add

Once you have the feed, try dressing up your page with the Chinese New Year theme. Click Change Appearance, and then from Choose Theme select Seasonal, and you’ll find it. Enjoy!

Adam
- My Yahoo! Marketing

Get a head start on your taxes.

As of Jan. 16, 2009, the IRS started accepting electronically filed returns. If you’re expecting a refund and file electronically, you could have cash in your pocket in as few as 10 days via direct deposit.

Now, if you think you’ll be writing a check to Uncle Sam, get a jump on filing your taxes before April 15 with tax tips and advice from these helpful sources.

About.com’s extensive Tax Planning feed and site covers the basics and offers articles covering an extensive list of tax topics.

This self-proclaimed tax geek from Texas wants to help you put more money in your bank account, and not the government’s, with her blog Don’t Mess With Taxes.

The Taxgirl is another source for tax advice. She loves to write and talk taxes, and even encourages people to submit questions.

Yahoo! News’s Filing Taxes feed surfaces the most-recent news related to filing taxes.

To help make sense of any tax changes, or if you’re just looking for practical tax tips and advice, check out CNN Money.com’s IRS Help, Tax Breaks and Loopholes and The Wall Street Journal’s Tax Report.

- Helen
My Yahoo! Editor

Auto-refresh your modules!

If you’re an avid follower of politics like me, you like to know the headlines when they happen. For the longest time, I would manually refresh each module on my page every time I came to My Yahoo! to make sure I didn’t miss anything. It took time, and frankly, was a bit of a pain…but there is a better way.

Did you know that you can actually alter the settings for your page so that the modules refresh more regularly? All you have to do is click the More Options button at the top of your page and select the Auto Refresh option. Here, you will find different settings that will refresh your tabs automatically so you get the latest information.

Check it out, it’s a great feature. Now, I know I’m getting the most up-to-date news, commentary, and insight on my My Yahoo! page.

Adam
- My Yahoo! Marketing

Living the New Year.

It’s now 2009 and if you’re like me, you’re hell-bent on keeping the resolutions you just made. Whatever your resolutions may be, here are some feeds to help you stay on the straight and narrow path to achieving them.

Get fit and healthy

If losing weight is one of your goals for 2009, the Calorie Counter app can help you manage your daily calorie intake. There’s also the Diet Tracker to help you track the progress you’re making.

If getting healthy and fit are on your 2009 to-do list, check out the tips and advice from the Yahoo! Answers community in the Diet & Fitness feed.

Eat Healthy

Getting healthy also means eating more healthy. Food that’s good for you, can still be delicious with recipes from Epicurious’ feed Healthy Dinner Tonight or from Cooking Light’s Food feed.

Happy New Year!

Helen
- My Yahoo! Editorial