Mike Krumboltz has seen a lot of questions over the years.

In fact, since November 2004, his entire role has been to look over questions submitted by users, choose one interesting query each day, and then hunt down the answer. His job was to write for Ask Yahoo!. Haven’t heard of it? That’s probably because Ask Yahoo! is now a thing of the past…

Ask Yahoo! was started in 1998 as a way for Internet users to pose questions to a team of Yahoo! surfers who would then search the Net to find answers. Mike’s tracked down answers on everything from dog saliva to impact of bovine gas on the environment to the order of succession for the office of POTUS. But ever since Yahoo! Answers launched and grew in popularity, Mike has had to deal with a minor identity crisis. Was Ask Yahoo! obsolete? What would Mike do if Ask Yahoo! went away?

A solution arose: give Mike a featured spot in Yahoo! Answers where he can continue to show off his mad cyberspace research skills. That’s the birds and the bees on how “Ask Mike” was born.

To ask Mike a question, you’d have to email him at y_answrs_mikek@yahoo.com, but he was nice enough to grant me some exclusive Q&A time.

You only just moved to Yahoo! Answers a few weeks ago. Do you miss Ask Yahoo!?
I do miss Ask Yahoo!, but writing for Yahoo! Answers is fun because it’s more challenging. I’ve opened myself up to more feedback – sometimes it’s positive, sometimes it’s really negative, and other times, it’s just really weird.

How’d you get this job in the first place?
I went to Miami University in Ohio. When majored in psych at Miami University in Ohio, I knew that I didn’t want to do anything with that. I lived in New York for a while, came back to the Silicon Valley, and got a job in Yahoo! Shopping as a production assistant on Video and DVD shopping. A year later I got moved to surfing, and from the moment I started in surfing I knew I wanted a shot at editorial work. Finally after two years they let me try my hand at Ask Yahoo!.

What’s the most common question you’re asked?
I get sent a lot of really inappropriate questions. People know we’d obviously never use them, but they are pretty funny to read.

Most controversial question you’ve ever answered?
Surprisingly the question about why so many people are afraid of clowns has had huge response.

What’s the toughest question you’ve ever had to research?
I remember one I did about the voice that says “please hang up and try again” on the telephone. That took a long time, but I finally found the woman and it was quite rewarding.

Have you ever been wrong?
Yes, I have been wrong. What comes to mind is a question I answered about Seinfeld. Someone asked what Kramer’s job was. I wrote that he didn’t really have one, but that he did take part in lots of schemes. I got lots of email saying I was wrong, that Kramer actually worked for a bagel shop, but was on strike the entire series. I ended up quietly correcting the answer.

Favorite types of questions to answer?
I really like word origin questions. Also I love researching urban legends and longstanding myths. I like writing about search trends too. I definitely put science as my least favorite question type; I peaked in 8th grade with that subject.

What are your best Internet search tips?
Putting quotes around search terms is really helpful when trying to narrow down search results. Also, use the minus sign.

What does that do?
Say you’re searching for a restaurant and your results are all about a movie with the same name. You can type -movie in your search to help eliminate results that include the movie title.

So if “Ask Mike” is work, what are your hobbies?
Well, I love to sleep. I love movies.

Are you one of those awesome-memory movie buffs who remember every plot detail, actor, trivial quotation?
Yes, yes. I amuse and annoy.

Ever make a movie of your own?
Yes actually! I was a finalist in the Radio Alice’s Three Minute Film Festival in San Francisco inspired by a comic urban legend.

That’s some great Mike Krumboltz trivia right there. Now see if you can go stump him.

Doreen Bloch
Yahoo! Intern

Eh, what’s up Doc? Can’t get enough of that lovable wabbit? First, hop in celebration of Bugs Bunny’s 67 years, and then check out what we’ve hared up!

• Slideshow mania: Flickr just added enhanced its slideshow feature – perfect timing for your summer BBQs. Now you have the option of viewing all your search results in a slideshow (look for the link in the upper right of the search results page) and when you link to a slideshow from a photo page, it will start with the photo you were looking at (not at the beginning of that set). Want to switch it up? Play the slideshow backwards! Read more here.
• It’s showtime: We’ve got a new Movies module and more page layout options on My Yahoo!. Add the new Movies module here and start browsing for showtimes and new movies at your local theater by sorting box office ratings and opening times. After you’ve decided what movie to watch, do some redecorating. Choose from six different layout options, now with narrow or wide column choices to freshen up your My Yahoo!. More from the team here.
• Video remix!: We’ve revamped our Music Videos section with shiny new pages for the Yahoo! Music beta. We’ve got featured videos, personalized video recommendations (what we think you’ll enjoy), video charts that show what you’ve played, and customizable video playlists (accessible from the My Music bar on the right side). Happy dancing, er, watching.
• Get ZoneTagged: ZoneTag now works on Nokia Series 60 (3rd edition phones) or phones with built-in GPS. If you don’t ZoneTag already, now you can upload and tag your Flickr photos directly from your phone. Install it now or read more about it here. Go forth and ZoneTag!

Subscribe to the RSS feed (or add it to My Yahoo!) to get this Product Pulse every week.

They did it again. Yahoo!’s annual Design Expo has surprised and delighted the senses all over again with student projects that ranged from moaning calla lilies to game platforms that encourage you to yell on your mobile phone. So, there weren’t any edible interfaces this year, but much in the spirit of the Design Expo, the student design projects provided great insight into the future of user desires and technology uses with a multi-sensory twist.

Design Expo mastermind Joy Mountford (vice president of User Experience Design at Yahoo!) has been gathering the brightest and most creative student designers, concepts, and community together for the past 18 years to foster “out of the box” thinking among the design and technology worlds. Over 2,000 students have participated in the program so far and have all helped to push the envelope on the future of product design.

Students from seven different universities around the world, including the Indian Institute of Technology, Academy of Media Arts (Germany), Royal College of Art (UK), UCLA, NYU, California College of Art, and University of Illinois, were tasked with designing prototypes that captured the physical, social and media experience. The best of the best were asked to present their projects in a big black tent at Yahoo!’s Sunnyvale campus this week, ranging from the inspiring to just plain bizarre.

Here are my faves:

• Cube it: The CubeBrowser is a 3D six-display cube that acts as a browser for Flickr photos. Turn the cube and discover new photosets on the computer screen.
• Incognito: The Identity Protection System allows you to hide or reveal your photo image by simply wearing a big green sticker. Wherever the sticker was placed, the image on the screen blurred out. James Bond anyone?
• Go go go!: MegaPhone allows you to play a game with random people using your mobile phone in a public space. Players call in to initiate and move their avatar through various keys and audio sounds. Perfect for downtime at the movies or airport.
• PG-13 flowers: Visually stunning Whisper generates a woman’s moan from below, which echoes through the calla lillies. What follows are a lot of embarrassed giggles and confused smiles.

That’s not all. Take a look for yourself (sorry, you can’t touch) as Joy gives you the grand tour. (This photomontage video was created using an internal prototype called Storytellr, created by our Media Innovation Group. Read more about it here.)

Julie Han
Blog Team

Talking ain’t what it used to be.

Average-Joe chatterboxes used to be the talk of their towns, but now their voices can be heard the world over as they become bonafide political scuttlebutt suppliers, celebrity gossip givers, and technomaniacs. Why? It’s all thanks to blogs.

Like last summer, I got together a group of Yahoo! interns for a podcast. The mission: blab about blogging. Our intern brood chatted on everything from communicating with faraway friends via blogs to Tim O’Reilly’s Blogger’s Code of Conduct to how effective presidential hopefuls like Barack Obama really are in reaching our demographic by having a blog. We also got into the concept of digital wills and the role a blog can play in the afterlife.

Want to eavesdrop on our conversation?

• Click here to listen to (and download) the discussion.

• Click here for the full transcript.

(L to R): Tica Wakeman, Chris Martin, me, Rahul Malik, Emily Tse, and Brian Krausz

When I was eight, I think I was into Barbies, Lite Brite, and monkey bars. Jaide Ramirez-Jennings is busy running the non-profit she started in kindergarten. And she’s using it to make a difference for the Earth.

This remarkable third-grader from Topeka, Kansas, was inspired by Yahoo!’s Be a Better Planet campaign to encourage Topekans to use reusable shopping bags at the grocery store. Her grandmother contacted Yahoo! to see if we could help jumpstart her campaign.

As part of our Purple Acts of Kindness program, we sent Jaide 900 (purple) canvas shoppings bags. She’ll sell them for $5 a piece at local supermarkets to raise money for organizations that preserve the environment and improve the lives of kids, including Keep America Beautiful, the Topeka School Fund, and the American Heart Association.

Yahoo! also donated a Web Hosting account to help her set up a website for her Kids in Care of Kids charity so she can receive donations.

Imagine where she’ll be in thirty years. (Yes, I feel wholly inadequate.)

UPDATE: If you want to buy one of these purple totes, they’re now available in our online company store by popular demand.

The Yahoo! Company Store is all dressed up for its online debut. The site, which showcases the new summer collection, is the destination for all things purple and yodelicious.

The site sports cooler, cleaner designs than the old Yahoo! Gear site. You’ll note that the Y-Bang (you know, the “Y!” logo) is the reigning motif. Emoticons are très chic this season. And, of course, purple is always en vogue.

Have a hankering for schwag? Come check out the array of more than 150 items. Merchandise includes games and gadgets, stuff for your pets and kids, bags and luggage, stylin’ Ts and jackets, and cubeland essentials. No clue what to give that special someone? A gift certificate is always a safe bet. (Apologies to those outside the U.S. — no international shipping yet.)

While pet stuff, yo-yos, and flip-top USB drives fly off the shelves the fastest, what’s more fun (and funky) are these items:

• Got slobber? Grab a “Burp me, I Yodel” Bib.
• Who needs a boring QWERTY rig when you can have a squishy and flexible purple keyboard?
• A smiling emoticon every time you go to scribble? Pencil toppers make a grin-worthy tchotchke.

Now, don’t get us wrong — our physical Company Store locations still have open arms. But they’re not quite as welcoming when you’re in your PJs. And just so you know, all those shiny, happy models on the site are real Yahoos and their kids. Yeah, we’re that cheap.

BTW: The Yahoo! Company Store is hosted by the Yahoo! Small Business e-commerce platform called Merchant Solutions, which means whether it’s soap, soda, sofas, or cellophane, anyone can create a site as spiffy as this one.

Doreen Bloch
Yahoo! Intern

Did you know the Braille version of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” will be approximately 1,000 pages long in 10 volumes, weigh about 12 pounds, and stand more than a foot tall when stacked up? Or that it costs about $63 to produce each copy? Thanks to supporters of the National Braille Press, it won’t cost a dime more than the regular retail price. And for the first time since the Harry Potter series hit the shelves, the Braille version of HP7 will be available the same day (not days or weeks later).

Two groups of Harry Potter fans, who also happen to be Yahoo! users, have launched fundraising efforts to help the Press generate the funds necessary to print a record press run of 1,400 copies.

• Walking Wizards — a team of blind children, Adam Roberge and Ashley Bernard, have committed to raise $10,000.
• Harry Potter for Grownups (a Yahoo! Group) — co-moderator Linda Huang is spearheading an effort to raise $7,777 (”a powerfully magical number”).

When we caught wind of this, we decided to help them match their goals. If you want to make sure blind kids and adults have the same access to this international phenomenon, please help support these Muggles. That outta help ward off He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Wicked!

Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor

Before you sacrifice your queen to honor International Chess Day, check out the shiny pieces we’ve put on the board. Checkmate!

• It’s beta-licious: The new beta homepage for Yahoo! Music now comes with a whole new look and fun features that’ll get you stompin’ your feet. The “What’s New Today” module pulls up the best picks (think videos, news, interviews and spotlights on artists) twice daily, ranging from popular to new to just bizarre. We’re getting personal too, with a new module that recommends music videos, songs, and artists, all based on your ratings. Check out what else is new here and stay on beat with the team here.
• Got an iPhone?: Get instant access to your and your pals’ events through Upcoming on your iPhone. Here’s how: Go to getleaflets.com on your iPhone, create a Leaflet account (to store preferences), sign in your Upcoming screen name, and voila! Instant access to all your Upcoming info. Aching for more? Check out the other handy applications optimized especially for iPhones on Leaflet (including Flickr and Del.icio.us)! Read more here.

Subscribe to the RSS feed (or add it to My Yahoo!) to get this Product Pulse every week.

Ypulse Mashup 2007 concluded on Tuesday night after two days of intense discussions, panels, and presentations all about how marketers can better target… ME! Just kidding, sort of.

Anastasia Goodstein brought together media professionals, marketing folks, and non-profit do-gooders at San Francisco’s Hotel Nikko to talk all about targeting the teenage demographic I’m a part of. Experts and industry leaders spoke on everything from using mixtapes to get brands in front of hip, urban communities (Tina Wells in conversation with journalist Adisa Banjoko) to Harry Potter fan culture on the Net (keynote conversation with MIT’s Henry Jenkins and USC’s danah boyd) to growing your brand virally by partnering with large social networks (RockYou! CEO Lance Tokuda).

The portion of the day I found particularly fascinating was the “Totally Wired Teen Superstar Panel,” moderated by Smashface Productions‘ Zadi Diaz. It was so energizing to hear about the experiences of four young Web entrepreneurs. One speaker Aseem Badshah, president of Scriptovia.com and rising sophomore at the University of Washington, discussed the academic tools his company gives students and answered questions about dealing with plagiarism. Martina Butler, host of Emo Girl Talk, talked about getting sponsorships for her weekly podcast from big brands like Acuvue, GoDaddy.com, and soon, Covergirl. Whateverlife president, Ashley Qualls, explained how she got her start creating a site centered around MySpace page designs, and how she got her family and friends involved in the project too. And, MyYearbook.com’s Catharine Cook, who will be attending Georgetown in the fall, spoke about school-work balance, or lack there of with the crazy 40-hour work week plus school schedule she said she maintained when they were just starting up the company.

It seemed all the Ypulse attendees echoed my excitement for these four talented fellow youth. It was a wonderful conference and I’m so glad Yahoo! sponsored. I’m sure the forward thinking and great conversations will continue — especially considering Ypulse’s Tween Mashup is fast approaching.

Doreen Bloch
Yahoo! Intern

Photo from freshelectrons

Yahoo! has an innovative product on the market that makes fantasy baseball and football much more addictive — Yahoo! Sports for TV.

As an intern at Yahoo! and a fantasy football widow myself, I struggled with how I felt about this product. On the one hand, it’s an application that my fiancé and his friends would love. He could use it to watch live games, check his fantasy stats, and get game updates all on TV using his remote control. On the other hand, it would allow him to be a total couch potato and become fully immersed in his fantasy sports leagues.

Was this something I wanted him to know about?

After some soul searching, I decided I wanted to be the first to tell him about it (he’d find out sooner or later). As expected, he was really excited about it and loved that it’s free. Yes… FREE. All you need to get started is a TV, a Windows Media Center Edition PC, and about sixty seconds.

Judging by how excited my fiancé and his friends were, I knew there were other fantasy sports fans out there who would love to hear about this cool product. It’s available now for fantasy baseball and a new, enhanced version for fantasy football will be released later this year.

To see for yourself that Yahoo! Sports for TV is the coolest Yahoo! product you’ve never heard of, check out this (cheesy) video. Special props to Yahoos Ramsey Ksar, Larry Quinn, and Ken Quan for letting us turn them into beer-drinking stereotypes (and sorry about the hair, Larry).

Sandy Tam
Intern, Yahoo! Digital Home