Author Archive

We all know the Web is a treasure trove of zany stuff, but it’s easy to forget just how much fun it can all be. This week, learn how to get animal photos, Irish words, movie news, and physics mysteries daily.

In honor of Pi Day, follow wild math and physics facts.

As Bernard Madoff pleads guilty, stay aware of all kinds of scams.

Thailand celebrates elephants day. Honor a different critter daily.

Get the Hollywood drama, both onscreen and off.

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a new Irish word every 24 hours.

March Madness is here, but so is the recession. See where sports and money mix.

Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial

A few months ago, we added a Customize Colors feature to My Yahoo! that allows you to start with one of the built-in themes and make it your own by choosing colors for different parts of your page. We received a lot of great feedback on this feature, including many requests to be able to use your own images. I’m excited to announce that this week we’ve enhanced the feature to let you do just that!

To reflect its broader capabilities, we’ve renamed the feature Customize Theme. You can find it by clicking the Change Appearance button at the top of your My Yahoo! page.

Just click on the background area for either the top of the page (what we call the Page Header) or the background of the main part of the page (what we call the Page Background). In either case, you’ll see that you now have a choice of an image or a color for the background. We’ve set things up so you can either upload an image from your hard drive or pull in an image from your Flickr account, if you have one.

A couple of tips for the page header area:
• An image that isn’t too busy works best.
• The ideal image is about 150 pixels high, so you’ll be able to see most of it (a larger image will be cropped).

Please check out our detailed Tutorial and Online Help on Customizing Colors and Backgrounds to guide you through using this new feature. Please let us know what you think.

–james
My Yahoo! Product Lead

This week, winter ends, flowers begin to bloom, beloved TV shows say goodbye, and new opportunities for hobbies and financial freedom beckon.

As flowers start to pop out of the ground, get daily plant advice.

Wikipedia is filled with tons of amazing information and images. Take a peek.

“Battlestar Galactica” ends, but science fiction news lives on daily right here.

Quilters celebrate this time of year, so consider news of this inexpensive, beautiful and practical hobby.

In time for the Figure Skating Championships, keep up with the hot, yet frozen sport.

Find deals on products as well as strategies to save.

Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial

From the wacky realm of cryptozoology (mythical animals) to the serious world of job hunting, just add a feed to your page and see how helpful these tips can be. Please let us know what you think in the comments section of this blog.

Feed your investor know-how from a premier financial source.

These jewels of the U.S. can mean a cheap vacation.

In honor of new spooky films, enjoy news of mystery critters.

Get tips on saving resources.

Wisdom on your career quest, delivered to your page.

Shows are ending, shows begin. Get the scoop.

Celebrate architecture’s annual prize with profiles of great buildings.

Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial

Get inspired and stay informed on the topics that you care about. Maybe that means riding your bicycle, or reading about classic rock. Or maybe you just want a good daily riddle. All these possibilities are at your fingertips.

Spring is here, time to get your bike out of the garage.

Get a morsel of rock history from a great music personality.

Here are questions to tickle your brain.

It’s SAT score season. Keep track of the changing world of education.

Lots of films open this week, but don’t forget the old gems.

Baseball season is here! Follow your team and more.

Follow Washington from the perspective of the Web and privacy.

Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial

The IRS is probably on your mind right now, so we have some tax tips for you. In addition, there are some fun and useful ideas for you to try. If you have ever been interested in writing poetry, collecting stamps, improving at a video game, or just looking at bizarre optical illusions, check these out.

It’s never too soon or too late to think about taxes.

A daily trick of the eye can amuse and stimulate your mind.

Advice can help you pursue being a poet or fiction writer.

Now that there are Simpsons postage stamps, maybe it’s time to start collecting.

This may be the perfect time to catch up on gaming news.

Follow top news through captivating photos.

Gain insight into religious events from a respected USA Today blog.

Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial

Here are six topics for you to check out, from music to running. Feel free to share areas of interest that you would like to see featured here.

Who needs an outdoor concert when you can listen to a new song everyday?

Those spring cleaning chores can be simpler with some advice.

As we remember national tragedies, stay abreast of vital stories.

If the Boston Marathon doesn’t inspire you, maybe this running blog will.

Get daily updates on celebrity birthdays (like Queen Elizabeth’s).

Companies are announcing their quarterly earnings. Get help making sense of the numbers.

Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial

Instead of organizing, consider optimizing. How about something that helps improve your life in ways you haven’t thought about? For example, you might know that you like science fiction films, but how about exposing yourself to a trailer you may never have heard of?

Can you judge a film by its trailer? Take a look.

It was “take your kids to work day”, but here is advice on how not to bring your work home with you.

You know what? Maybe you haven’t filed your taxes yet. This may help.

For guests and everyone else, tips on modern matrimony.

Check out Yahoo! Buzz, where other people vote for the stories they find most compelling.

Heathcliff, that trusty and silly comic strip about a cat, can cheer you up daily.

Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial

You never know what will happen, but you can position yourself for a smarter, more healthy response. A fact a day can help condition your brain for life’s little surprises, and office humor is a great source for a positive attitude.

The best preparation for uncertain events like the recent flu outbreak is current information from around the world. And what better way to deal with surprises than the TV show “Lost,” which always defies expectations?

If “Lost” is more than a TV show to you, you’ll fit right in here.

Crisis or no, keep up on health concerns around the world.

One way to recognize May Day: Funny things heard at work.

Online advice may be just the thing for your hairy troubles.

Frequent tips on the financial sector from a leading blog.

Daily doses of fun data can keep your brain happy.

Capture the fun of basketball through this bouncy blog.

Jay
My Yahoo! Editorial

Last month, we continued our themes upgrade by adding the ability to upload an image or select a Flickr photo to be used as a background image (see Your Photo as Page Theme). We’re so pleased that you are enjoying the feature! Zoom! Personally, it’s great to walk around the Yahoo! office and see how many of my compatriots have personalized their My Yahoo! pages with Twilight, Hello Kitty, Star Wars and their kids dancing in fairy costumes. Stay tuned because we have more personalization goodness coming this year… Actually, this month… TEASE!

After reading through your comments on the blog, there are a few questions that I would like to answer:

1) Mike Crisler asks how to make My Yahoo! his homepage. Mike, enough people wanted to start their day with My Yahoo! that we created a simple step by step guide for setting it as your homepage. Just click here and follow the steps.

2) Dave wants to know if he can get My Yahoo! on his phone. Dave, I’d recommend starting here to find out which solution is best for your phone. I have an iPhone and use the Yahoo! app daily. I highly recommend downloading that one. Under ‘My Interests’, I can see most of the My Yahoo! apps I’ve added to my page but not all of them. We’re continuing to work on improving this.

3) Krystal, Joni and Cori can’t seem to find the image selection option. Well, it is a little bit hard to discover right now… we’ll work on that. Until then, click “Change Appearance”, then “Customize Theme”, and select either “Page Header” or “Page Background” from the little mini-page and the option to “Change Image” will be there.

4) Some of you have had trouble uploading photos… Make sure the image is the correct file format and is not greater than 256k in file size. A general rule is smaller images = smaller file size. We plan on offering some image manipulation tools in the product to make all of this easier. Look for those soon.

That’s it for now. My Yahoo! has been the #1 personalized start page since its inception and you are the ones that have made it so. Thanks for your support and we’ll keep trying to make your life a little easier to manage and a little bit better each day.

Michael
- My Yahoo! Product Lead