My Yahoo! Blog

How green are you?

My awareness of green initiatives and eco-friendly lifestyles has grown significantly in the last few years. One of the most effective education tools I’ve seen for this topic is surfacing interesting facts and familiar ratios. For example, a coffee mug with “60.5 billion liters” printed on one side, and “Water saved in one year if everyone in the U.S. stopped using paper coffee cups*” printed on the other. Cool huh? Well, now you can have tips and information like this on your My Yahoo! page.

With the Green Lifestyle App, you’ll get daily “Green Facts.” These tidbits will make you the enviro-expert amongst your friends. Also, enjoy the “Daily Quiz” and challenge your friends; mine are just starting so I’m off to an early lead!

My favorite feature is you can actually plant a tree right from the App! This App was created through a partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme and Mokugift, allowing you to plant trees for friends or for a cause. You get to select how many trees you want (they’re $1 each) and where the tree will be planted. Chose from a list of 11 countries in Africa, Central America, and Asia. When you select a location, the App will give you information about your area: number of trees needed, number planted, etc.

So what are you waiting for?! Add the Green Lifestyle App to your page and make a difference with My Yahoo!…your friends will be green with envy, so to speak .

Adam
- My Yahoo! Marketing

*Figure from www.papercalculator.org

What’s new on My Yahoo!?

We’ve launched the new version of the Today App that we told you about a few days ago. This App updates constantly throughout the day so check back often to stay on top of what’s going on in the world. Add it to your page now.

The new Today App changes the number of stories it displays based on the column width the App is in. Remember, you can adjust the column width with column sliders.

We have also added a “My Yahoo! Updates” link into the header of the page. This will help you stay informed about new My Yahoo! features, blog updates, and more!

For those of you with Yahoo! email accounts, your Yahoo! Mail Preview App has a handy new link on it: Compose (you’ve been asking for this one for awhile). Add it now!

That’s it for now. More new features coming soon!

Michael
- My Yahoo! Team Lead

Suddenly people are yelling?

Anger is the emotion that really gets under my skin. And suddenly it seems as if ordinary people are getting angry every day at these town hall meetings around the country.

I’m confused and troubled by the extent of this outrage and its emotional intensity. I’m also curious about it, which is where My Yahoo! has been incredibly helpful.

MSNBC’s reports are always rich and current, providing information on the fast-changing situation. I’ve also followed how sites on the left like the Huffington Post’s and the right like Newsmax are reporting on the controversy.

Politico is a very smart source of footage from the town halls, as well some of the most informed commentary.

When I want to put these events in context, I look at Yahoo’s politics wires, where stories come together to paint a bigger picture of the nation.

Knowledge is the best response to anger in my experience, and My Yahoo! is one great resource for gaining understanding.

- Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial

Coming soon, new Today App!

If you’ve seen the new Yahoo! Homepage, you’d be familiar with the fantastic new design of the Yahoo! Today App that showcases content that keeps you on top of what’s happening. In a few days, we will adopt this new design and automatically upgrade the current My Yahoo! Today App. Even better, you’ll be able to use all the great My Yahoo! customization tools you currently enjoy to tailor the App for your page.

Since you can adjust the width of the columns on your page, you’ll be able to expand or contract the column the Today App is in to change how many stories display. It’s up to you! Check it out…

Another feature for the new Today App (and my personal favorite) is that you’ll be able to watch many of the videos featured in the App without leaving the page. That’s a big deal for me because I’ll be able to tune into a video while browsing my other feeds on the page!

Stay tuned as this upgrade will be released in a few days. If you have the Today App on your page already, you don’t have to do anything but sit back, relax, and enjoy the new App. If not, be sure to add it to your page. We’ll re-post to let you know it’s live and tell us what you think!

Adam
- My Yahoo! Marketing

The World Weird Web

My late grandfather witnessed in his lifetime the spread of radio, TV, cameras, cinema, Betamax, microwave ovens. One day I went to show him this exciting thing called the Internet. He asked me “how is this different from all the other technological wonders of the past 100 years?”

Well we can all agree that a 2-minute video of a cat playing piano watched by millions of people is different .Not necessarily better or worse, but a new way to collectively find ourselves bored or entertained or just wasting time. I take in on the weirdness of the Web through a number of sites that I trust to find the viral and conspicuous bits of content for me.

Yahoo! Buzz offers almost too much good stuff, if one is trying to lead a productive life, but many of the gems of the online world can be found here first.

You can follow some of the Web’s strangest phenomena at your own pace, like LolCats, UFO fanatics, footage of wacky stunts, or rumors about TV shows.

Sometimes I like to dip into some of the Web’s esoteric subcultures, like a comic book fan message board, a group of people who focus on the political implications of what they eat, or motor scooter enthusiasts.

Some general blogs that do even more of the work for you include Boing Boing, Top 10 Viral Videos, and the Slashdot . Please leave us a comment on any other feeds you think are great for following what’s unique about the Internet.

- Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial