Author Archive

How are you preparing to celebrate New Year’s Eve? I’m planning to greet the New Year with good friends at a wine tasting party. Whether you’re spending the New Year with friends, family, or Dick Clark, here are some fun ways to usher in the New Year.

Countdown to the New Year

It’s not too late to plan a get-together to celebrate the New Year for just a small circle of friends or family. Make merry by throwing a party with simple potluck appetizers and drinks.

Making merry wouldn’t be right without raising a glass of sparkling cider, champagne, or some festive holiday cocktail. To find recipes for the latter, check out Webtender’s Recipe Exchange Forum.

For a daily list of delicious appetizer and snack recipes, check out All Recipes Daily Recipes for Appetizers and Snacks for their droolworthy tidbits.

Enjoy!

Helen
-My Yahoo! Editorial

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

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

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

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

Many of you write in and request that we share more tips and tricks for using My Yahoo!. So I’ll start by sharing how I customize the appearance of my feeds to my liking. I do this by using the Options feature, which you can see by clicking the wheel icon . It’s smart enough to detect the kind of feed I have and shows as many as four display options.

For some of my feeds like this one from Zappos.com, an online store, I find an Image Only display to be the most useful.

If an item catches my eye, I hover over it with my mouse to read the summary. I’ve found Image Only displays to be a great way to conserve space on my page.

For other topics, I prefer to view the summary instantly, so I’ve set my preferences accordingly. An example is my Stock Markets News feed from Yahoo! News. With this view, I can quickly catch the headlines when I’m short on time.

Go ahead and play around with the feeds you already have on your page. We’d love to hear about the tricks you use to get the most out of your page. Comment on this blog post with your tips if you want to share a tip of your own.

Eve
Yahoo! Marketing

Let’s call this the Week of Heavy Topics. As if Charles Darwin’s anniversary, Friday the 13th, and Valentines Day weren’t enough, My Yahoo! offers unusual takes on politics, bargain-hunting, and more.

In honor of Darwin’s anniversary, dive into fun science facts.

Even Friday the 13th’s bad mojo can’t spoil these lucky lotto winner stories.

Savor the Valentine’s sentiment all year with daily love poems.

The Daytona 500 is only one reason to follow NASCAR action.

As stars leave “Grey’s Anatomy,” get advice from fellow TV lovers.

Stay on top of the new administration’s changes with informed political analysis.

Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial

Drama falls on almost every day this week, including the Oscars and the NFL Scouting Combine. But fans of gardening, astrology, and astronomy will also find information that will provide insights on events this week and into the future.

NFL Scouting Combine drama is only one part of the NFL saga.

Keeping your garden beautiful is easier with year-round advice.

See Oscar winners now, get Hollywood news every day.

Follow space spectacles like this month’s planetary conjunction.

Meet your need for a daily dose of U.S. history.

Enjoy rumors, finale reactions and more for the TV sensation.

As Pisces becomes a sun sign, read up on the zodiac daily.

Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial

As we enter March in a tough economy, here are some useful tips to help you with savings, your home, and more. These features can also be vastly entertaining, whether you follow Tiger Woods back on the course or just want a daily dose of cute puppies.

Take control of your own economy with budget and stock tips.

Get info on how the housing crisis affects you.

In hard times, photos of puppies can be the best medicine.

Watch Oscar winners and hidden gems on video.

In honor of Casimir Pulaski Day, check out unusual holidays daily.

In the wake of the octuplets story, keep up on pressing news about parenting.

As Tiger Woods returns, follow all the players and results.

Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial

With winter storms and financial worries, everyone deserves a break. From superhero films to healthy eats and March Madness previews, enjoy yourself with My Yahoo! this week.

As ‘Watchmen’ comes out, follow all the hot superhero movie news.

Cooking is healthy, cheap, and more fun as spring nears.

See the world through the lens of the very wealthy.

Sometimes you just want a fact that makes you go ‘wow.’

It’s a wild time for the car industry. Ride along.

Ready for March Madness? Get a head start.

Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial