Geocities Is Dead, Long Live Geocities

Today's the day: Yahoo has officially killed the once-ubiquitous free hosting service, taking down thousands of the ugliest and least-updated pages on the web. It's really the end of an era. A moment of silence, please. [ComputerWorld via Daily What]

Remainders - Things We Didn't Post

Verizon's Android Lineup Gets an Addition With HTC Sense...Yahoo Starts News Blog, Contributes to Death of Legitimate Journalism...Vuzix New Video Glasses Look Like Oakleys, Not as Hip as Wayfarers...AOL Hints at Some Mysterious Surprise, I'm Surprised AOL Still Exists... More »

Yahoo's "Hack Day" Lap Dancers Get the Web's Panties in a Twist

Ruh oh! Yahoo has been forced to apologize after hiring scantily clad dancers for its "Hack Day" in Taiwan last weekend. These pictures (pretty tame, but not necessarily SFW) are from a now-removed video posted on its Developer Network Blog. More »

Yahoo Hack Day Dancers Gallery

In the Online Equivalent of Crude Bathroom Graffiti, Is the Bathroom Responsible?

After her jackass ex-boyfriend created fake profiles on Yahoo! to persuade other men to call her repeatedly for sexual favors, Cecilia Barnes found little help from Yahoo! in having them removed. More »

Japanese Billboards Scans You, Display Stuff You Want to Buy

A new generation of billboards displays ads suited for the individual tastes of each passerby. I can't wait to walk by one of these and see commercials for cheeseburgers and useless Japanese gadgets. More »

Yahoophone Canned On Advice Of New CEO's College Daughter

Valleywag just discovered that Yahoo (with Motorola and AT&T) was working on a Yahoo Phone with Yahoo apps, but canned it partially because new CEO's college-aged daughter preferred another phone instead. [Valleywag]

Japanese Security Firm Yaroo's Logo Looks Suspiciously Familiar

Apparently China isn't the only place where popular logos seem to be mysteriously borrowed by other businesses. You don't have to search too far to find Tokyo security firm Yaroo's inspiration. More »

Britney Beats Obama In Web World Wrestling Combat

Another year, another demonstration of what's going to doom our species. If 2007 brought us iPhones and Anna Nicole Smith's boobs, global search in 2008 brings us Britney Spears and World Wrestling beating Obama.

Internet on Verge of Exploding: YouTube Now World's No. 2 Search Engine

Productivity is dead, the internet is going to explode. According to ComScore's August 2008 search engine rankings, YouTube is now the number two search engine in the world, surpassing Yahoo. More »

Suspected Sarah Palin E-Mail Hacker is the Son of a State Representative

Last week it was revealed that the Palin email "hack" was little more than a lucky guess and that a trail of evidence existed that would likely lead the authorities to an arrest. Apparently, this evidence has lead the FBI to the home of a 20-year-old student at the University of Tennessee named David Kernell. To make matters worse, David is the son of Democratic Tennessee state representative Mike Kernell. The apartment was thoroughly searched, but no criminal charges have been filed just yet. I suppose it goes without saying, but if Kernell is found guilty, this simple hack may bring both his life and his father's political career to a screeching halt. [CNET]

Sarah Palin's Email Hackers' Sloppy Work Could Lead to Their Arrests

By now you've probably heard about how the super-duper 1337 h4ck3r5 from anonymous busted into one of Sarah Palin's private email accounts and posted the contents for the world to see. Well, it looks like those h4ck3r5 aren't as 1337 as one might think, as they left themselves pretty wide open to get busted for what they did. More »

Intel's Latest System-On-A-Chip is For Web Enabled TVs, Set-Top Boxes

Only a month or so after announcing intentions to dabble in the SoC game for embedded systems, Intel's showing off its first iteration at the Intel Developers Forum. The CE 3100 (previously known as "Canmore" in Intel speak) combines HD video processing, "home theater quality" audio and 3D graphics with the internet connectedness to run widgets from Yahoo's Widget Channel on TVs and STBs like the mockup you see here. Great, another web-connected TV platform. More »

Yahoo! Music Store Will Compensate Customers For DRM-ed Music

Yes, Yahoo! Music Store's shutting down their DRM servers, but Big Purple's said that it'll definitely still be taking care of its customers. According to a Yahoo spokesperson, anyone who bought DRM music from the store “will be compensated for whatever they paid.” No word on timetables or what form the compensation will take, but possible options include cash back or an un-DRMed MP3 version of the same track. [Information Week]

Hands-On Google Talk for iPhone (Verdict: Stick with Installer.app)

Google's brand new Gtalk webapp for the iPhone is as crappy as I expected it would be. It has a nice design, and sending messages was easy, but at the end of the day it's still running in Safari—which means if you get a call you are signed out of chat. And unlike other web-based IM apps, Gtalk doesn't work in the background, so interruptions as simple as going to the home screen sign you out too. Also, there are no preference settings, so you are stuck looking at your whole contact list, online and off. Gtalk's AIM support is also curiously absent from this release. In short, this program sucks. If you're looking for a solid IM solution before the App store opens, I strongly recommend Agile Mobile's AM client recently released on Installer, which I've been playing around with. More »

Microsoft and Yahoo Continue To Tango, Re-enters Talks

Looks like Microsoft isn't completely ready to let its dreams of a deal with Yahoo die yet. Despite calling the purple giant's demands "excessive" and retiring its $47.5 billion bid just two weeks ago, Microsoft is now saying that it's discussing an "alternative transaction." Apparently something has changed enough in the last few days for Microsoft to resume negotiations, like a scorned lover lured back by a "I promise everything will be different, baby. I'll really try to make things work this time around!" [BBC]

Yahoo Still Yanging Onto Microsoft Deal

Yahoo founder and beleaguered CEO Jerry Yang decided yesterday that it was Microsoft's fault that the merger talks fell apart, even though Microsoft upped its bid from $31 to $33 in order to keep negotiations going. Yang wanted $37 per share—a far cry from the $24.37 it dropped to when Microsoft walked. Bottom line: Jerry finally figured out everyone hates him for screwing up a good thing, and now he's sitting there calling Microsoft's number over and over, bottle of Beam by his side, hoping beyond hope that Microsoft, and not Microsoft's angry mom, picks up. Actually, Jerry, from what we've read, we're not sure anyone's gonna pick up. [Reuters]

Microsoft Retires Yahoo Offer, Won't Try Hostile Takeover

Microsoft has retired their bid over Yahoo completely, citing "excessive demands" on Yahoo's part. They won't try to do a hostile takeover either, because "Mr Yang would "take steps that would make Yahoo undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft," according to Steve Ballmer. The potential nightmare/dream love story is over. Do you think this is bad for the world, given Google's almost monopolistic position? Or maybe it's good because Microsoft already has enough power? Tell us your comments after reading the rest of Steve Ballmer's farewell letter after the jump. More »

Microsoft and Yahoo in Actual Merger Talks

The month-long saga of the Borg (in FSJ's words) assimilating Yahoo might finally be coming to a close, with the two finally entering into actual merger negotiations, according to the NY Times. Microsoft has reportedly upped its original $44.6 billion bid by several billion. The deal might still fall apart, but they're actively doing the dance. Looks like this could actually happen, folks. [NYT]

Microsoft's Yahoo Bid Deadline Passes, World Doesn't End

Yahoo! and Microsoft have failed to agree on a takeover deal. The deadline for the deal was last weekend, and Saturday came and went without so much as a peep from either party. This means two things: a hostile takeover, which would mean kicking out the Yahoo! board at the shareholders' meeting; or Ballmer et al will quietly drop the proposal. So, will we be seeing the launch of Microhoo!, or has the fat lady just sung on the tie-up? [MacWorld]

Ballmer Says Microsoft Ready for Future Without Yahoo

According to Steve yesterday, that $44.6 billion offer to buy Yahoo is "a lot of money," which comes as no surprise to anyone. But he followed it up by saying Microsoft is "prepared to move forward alone without Yahoo." Is he threatening to walk away? One suggestion to explain this is that employees inside Microsoft are uncomfortable: online services staff are wary about job futures, and others are worried the take-over will divert manager's attention off the key Microsoft business itself. What do you think guys? Is this it for the deal? Or is it just another tactic in the game? [WSJ]

Yahoo Flirting With AOL Something Fierce, Microsoft Still On Doorstep With Flowers

An unnamed source (aren't they all?) confirmed a rumor that had been floating before: that Yahoo, in order to escape being grabbed by Microsoft, would hurl itself at the second-ugliest suitor in the room, AOL. The new details say that Time Warner would pay some cash up front for a 20% stake in a joint AOL-Yahoo program. The AOL side, valued at $10 billion, would include all properties (such as our worthy competitor Engadget) but not the dial-up service that your grandma and pretty much no one else still has. Microsoft still may get its way, though: Word is that it's teaming with MySpace-owner News Corp for some kind of a three-way proposition. [Reuters]

Flickr Adds Videos Long Photos

As of last night, Flickr/Yahoo has finally bit the bullet and added video support to their service. A cynical response might be that they clearly would like to compete with YouTube. But when reading through the FAQ and examining the system's limitations, it seems that they really are sincere in supporting "long photo" as opposed to real videos. The kind that come from your cameras, not camcorders. More »

Yahoo to Microsoft: Show Me More Money!

Jerry Yang has pulled a mix between Neo and Rod Tidwell in the latest round of corporate warfare between Yahoo! and Microsoft, showing them the finger and asking Steve Ballmer to show them more money. His complete jibba jabba after the jump. More »

Yahoo Flees Microsoft, Runs to Time Warner's AOL?

Microsoft hating is something of a national pastime, but Yahoo's desire to avoid a Redmond takeover has apparently driven them to seek a cozy relationship with Time Warner. Yes, some geniuses out there are actually concocting "a deal that would fold Time Warner's AOL Internet unit into Yahoo." I'm sorry, but hasn't history proven that working with Time Warner on internet stuff is the business equivalent of trying to conquer Russia in the winter? The joke is, we were actually relieved to hear that the same unnamed people familiar with this deal still think Microsoft's Yahoo buyout will happen. [Reuters]

Gmail CAPTCHA Cracked in Teams; Bots Get 'Tude

Cracking Yahoo's CAPTCHA human verification may have been a major security-breach milestone, but now bots have been tag-teaming in pairs to crack Google's Gmail human test too, which they currently can pull off one in five attempts. During the crack, they also appear, somewhat snarkily, to read Google's help pages, perhaps as a means of preventing a timeout. [Slashdot]

Poor People Use Yahoo, Richies Use Google

Hey, don't kill the messenger. But online marketing firm Hitwise has published a socioeconomic demographic rundown of Yahoo and Google users. And, without giving too much away, you might not want to tell your friends that you still use Yahoo (or that your Armani suit is a knock off). More »

Straight from the Department of the Highly Unlikely, the Scotsman (what's that?) reports that Apple may make a bid for Yahoo, the hottest company on the block. Hey, the Giants won the Super Bowl, I guess anything can happen. [Scotsman via MacRumors]

Yahoo Dumps Music Service, Sends Customers to Rhapsody

As if it hasn't been a rough enough patch for Yahoo, the company just announced that it would be ditching its iffy attempt at all-you-can-eat DRM music, Yahoo! Music Unlimited, and turn what subscribers it does have over to Rhapsody. This is good news for people who may have signed up for Yahoo before reading reviews; in our observations, Rhapsody is a much better service. The only thing that strikes fear in us, from the press release: "A simple process...will convert Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscribers' music libraries to Rhapsody." Uhhh, just don't call it ConvertsForSure, okay? Thanks. Press release after jump. More »

Spambots Can Now Fool Yahoo CAPTCHA Tests: Yes, Worry

You know those anti-spam tests that make you enter funny characters to prove you're a human? Well, non-humans can finally fake their way into systems using the "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart" too—even Yahoo's pretty secure system, according to new reports. More »

Pear Cables Make It to Yahoo's Worst Tech Products of 2007 List

While sifting through the umpteenth Tech Products of 2007 lists, we stumbled upon this Yahoo! Tech list that contains most of the usual suspects, except one of the entries interested us: Voted one of the 10 worst tech products of 2007 were Pear Audio "Anjou" speaker cables, those pieces of wire that cost $7,250 and that one reviewer inexplicably called "danceable." Yahoo referred to our report earlier this year that moved James Randi to offer $1 million to anyone who can tell the difference in a double-blind test between those cables and some run-of-the-mill Monster cables. Alas, while there was lots of talk and bluster, it turned out that Pear Cable wouldn't offer its cables for testing, and nobody was fool enough to spend the $7,250. Certainly not us. See Yahoo's list on the next page. More »