• Let there be sound: Yahoo! Messenger gets Mac-tastic with the launch of the latest Mac Beta version, now with voice calling. Now you can make free PC-to-PC calls, make calls from your Mac to regular mobile phones (worldwide!) for as low as one penny a minute, and let your friends call you on your Mac from any phone. That’s not all — you get a free voicemail, so pals can leave a message when you’re away or not logged into Yahoo! Messenger. If you’d rather take all your calls, make use of the forwarding feature to send incoming calls to any regular or mobile phone number (you’ll need a Phone Out to do this). Download it here and read about the other handy phone tricks for your Mac here.
• Be there in a Dash: GPS devices just got juiced up with Internet connectivity. Dash Express (created by Dash Navigation), the first two-way connected GPS device, is now available on Amazon.com . It offers you the most accurate traffic and destination info, all from the comfort of your car – no wires necessary. (Think live info gathering and sharing from other commuters on the roads during peak commute times and an auto-update to software, maps, and historical traffic data.) Just be ready to fork out $399. And the best part? With a touch of a button, you can find everything from the nearest bakery to the cheapest taqueria with the power of the Internet, including Yahoo! Local search results.
• Popcorn time!: Nothing beats surround-sound theater speakers and that extra shot of butter on your popcorn. Now keep tabs of all the latest movies and showtimes at the theaters you want by adding the Movie Showtimes module on your My Yahoo! page. Add the module and click “Edit Module Preferences” icon to update your start page with movie screens in your hood.

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• Mobile March Madness: Now you can keep tabs on all the latest college hoops action wherever and whenever from your mobile phone with three new tools. You can get up-to-the minute news, scores, schedules and images on the dedicated mobile NCAA page, the new Men’s College Hoops mobile widget (you’ll need Yahoo! Go 3.0), and specially-configured Yahoo! oneSearch results, with specialized men’s college basketball content from Yahoo! Sports and Rivals.com. No need to be tied to your computer screen to keep score. More here.
• Team spirit: We’ve got more Audibles to cheer your NCAA team on Yahoo! Messenger. Whether it’s to jeer at your friends’ alma mater or boo a bad play, we’ve got Audibles (like a referee calling an offensive foul) and new avatar gear (find jerseys from more than 25 schools) to show your team pride. Make sure you’re using Yahoo! Messenger 8.1 or 9.0 beta to get your spirit on.
• Staying on topic: You may have heard about the “New with Me” profile page on MyBlogLog that pulls together all your activity across the Internet and shows people what you’re up to (like a feed of all your updates and your friends’ updates). We’ve just added a new Tags page that combs through your “New with Me” page into relevant pages called Topics. What does this mean? Not only can you see an aggregation of your friends’ Internet whereabouts in one place, now you can find what your MyBlogLog community is saying, doing, thinking about any topic you find interesting quick and easy. BTW: Find out what the Easter chatter is here.

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• And the nominees are: It’s the final day of nominations for the Yahoo! Video Awards, so get your favorite videos into the line up. We’ve got it all — videos about zombies to Weird Al’s childhood. There are categories for all your interests including Best Indie Music Video, Best Internet Personality, Best Series, and more. And don’t worry, it’s okay to just vote. You may want to wait until Monday after all the nominees have loaded up their videos. Read more here.
• Getting foxy: Through our new friendship with FoxyTunes, we have a brand new version of FoxyTunes 2.0 for IE (freshly beta) to let you control any media player while surfing the web. What’s new? Now you can change the appearance of your FoxyTunes by installing custom skins (we’ve already got 11 skins available) and down the road you’ll be able to create your very own. We’ve even added a FoxyTunes Mini, basically a universal desktop widget that’s a customizable, collapsible, and skinnable version of its big bro. The best part — there’s a timer and alarm clock feature that lets you set your media player to your favorite song. The best part of waking up.
• Retiring in style: As Yahoo! Messenger turns 9.0, we’ve decided to retire our vintage versions (5.5 and 5.6). After April 1, if you’re using version 5.5 or 5.6, you will no longer be able to sign in. We know change is hard, so we’ve got two alternatives to help make it easier. You can download the new Yahoo! Messenger 8.1 or the 9.0 beta, or try our Yahoo! Messenger for the Web. Both options offer better protection from spam, advanced features like voice calling and SMS, and the addition of your friends on Windows Live Messenger. And rest assured, your existing friends will follow up when you make the move! For more info go here and stay dialed into what else the team’s got up their sleeve here.
• Luck of the Irish: Whether you’re Irish or not, green beer and green cheer is just around the corner. So make it official by greening your My Yahoo! page with our new St. Paddy’s themed layout (complete with shamrocks, peeking rainbow, and blue skies). Go here and click on “Seasonal,” then go with the “St. Patrick’s” option.

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• Everything in one place: Imagine being able to link practically any kind of Web content to your phone (think news feeds, web sites, videos, images, emails, search queries). Yahoo! onePlace works like a smart mobile bookmarking tool and brings all your favorite content in one place with one click. You organize it how you want it and it dynamically updates itself (like flight status). It’s also designed to link to your personalized content on the Yahoo! network (My Yahoo!, Flickr, del.icio.us) and other sites too (like Yelp and Digg). One caveat: it’s coming out in Q2 2008. So keep those fingers ready!
• Test-drive worthy: Yahoo! Maps just got juiced up with new neighborhood data, expanded worldwide coverage (especially throughout Eastern Europe), and some new stylistic improvements like lighter map tiles and hybrid road colors. The coolest part is the new lower zoom levels and view into 12,000 new neighborhoods like the “Lower East Side” in New York. We’ve even added new “points of interest” info like schools, rest areas, and ski resorts. There’s more to come, so stay tuned and read more here.
• All things digital: If you’re addicted to Kara Swisher’s daily “BoomTown” chatter, we’ve got the perfect addition to your My Yahoo! page. The new “All Things Digital” module lets you stay on top of the Valley tidbits with the latest tech commentary and analysis from Kara, Walt Mossberg, and John Paczkowski. Add it here.
• The eagle has landed: Well, for developers that is. For Web, mobile, and desktop developers that haven’t yet gotten wind of the news, Fire Eagle (our new open location-based platform) has beta launched so you can build cool applications that hone in on a user’s location. How does it work? Users share their location (in a secure and safe way) so that you can create cool ways for them to discover the world around them. It’s invite-only, so make sure to ask for an invitation and keep tabs on the team’s updates.

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• Send a loud smooch: If you’ve ever wanted to make your Yahoo! Messenger emoticons come to life (with sound), now you can! Choose from eight audible emoticons like the cowboy, happy face, the devil and more. Here’s how. Once you have an IM window open, click the audibles icon (the one with the lips) right above your text box (works only on Yahoo! Messenger 8.1 or 9.0). Click the “More Audibles” button on the right, select “See All Audibles,” then choose the “emoticon” option, and let er rip! Yeehaw! Read more here.
• Ultimate fighting: Not the spandex-wearing kind, think mixed martial arts fighting with grappling holds and kicks. On March 1, sports fans everywhere can view the Ultimate Fighting Championship event, UFC 82: Pride of a Champion live via pay-per-view on Yahoo! Sports (we’re the new online distributor for UFC, so more of these to come). Who will be crowned the champion – PRIDE Champion Dan Hendersen, or UFC Champion Anderson Silva? That much you’ll have to tune in to find out.
• For you suits: No more ink on your fingers from reading the Wall Street Journal. Now add the new Wall Street Journal module to get all your in-depth business news and financial info all day long right from your My Yahoo! page. For WSJ.com subscribers, the module keeps your top business stories above the fold and for the rest of us, we get access to free daily articles and free video links. Check out the other modules you can add here.
• Pick’em good: If you’ve ever been on the fence about Fantasy Sports, we’ve upped the ante on Yahoo! Sports. For this year’s college basketball Tourney Pick’em, a perfect bracket pick for all 63 games could land you $5 million (thanks to KFC). And for all you stat skeptics, for the very first time we’re guaranteeing $10,000 to the entrant with the highest scoring bracket. We’ve even added some new feature like customized scoring, a public group directory, and a user-generated Popular Picks bracket. Happy pickings.

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• Strolling through Avatar Town: If you haven’t already visited Avatar Town, now’s the time to make a trip. From the latest bling bling to your very own exotic pet, outfit your digital persona by checking out all the new shops and accessories to look your best in the virtual world. Don’t forget to make an appointment for a new hair cut at the Ocean Breeze salon. Just hover over the items you want and choose “Add to Favorites” and it’s an instant makeover. Read more here.
• Spreading good vibes: If you’ve ever wanted to track and see how one kind act leads to another, you were destined for the Yahoo! Vibes application on Facebook. Both big and small acts count. Have a friend who’s having a bad day? Or you just want to wish your sister good luck on her exam? Send some good vibes and watch in real-time as people around the world are sharing their kindness to others. And make sure to read up on what else the team’s vibing up here.
• Your votes count: Can’t start your day without My Yahoo! or you’re a social bookmarking addict? Well, now’s your chance to tell the world how much you love and count on our products by voting for your fave Yahoo! products that have made the cut as finalists (including Yahoo.com, My Yahoo!, Yahoo! Mail, Zimbra, Flickr, deli.cio.us, Yahoo! Groups) for the 2008 Webware 100 Awards. The community decides who wins in each category and we’re counting on you to help us take the winner spot! Just hold tight until Feb. 25 when the voting begins!
• Tips and tricks: My Yahoo! has gotten a new “Tips” page to help you quickly and easily make you’re start page just right. Want to change the theme or color of your page? Need to add or drag & drop modules? Take a look through all the tips and tricks to help organize your page just the way you like it.

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• Popcorn not included: We’ve added one more reason for you to cozy up with your sweetie. Add the My Netflix module to your My Yahoo! page and get instant access into your Netflix account without leaving your page. You can see what the “Top Rentals” are or what’s new and hot for a special evening. Or get a status update on what movies are on their way to your home. Read more here.
• New and improved: Yahoo! Video look a little different to you? Not to worry, you’re not going crazy. We’ve made some changes to make the site the one-stop shop for all video on Yahoo!, whether it’s news, sports, movies or music. You now get a wider and cinematastic (16:9 player view in fact) viewing experience, bigger files so you can upload higher quality files (up to 150 megabytes), and also curate your own video experience beyond embedding your own individual videos to your blog or site. There’s more, read about it here.
• Putting the My in MyBlogLog: Just think, how cool it would be to personalize your site with your MyBlogLog community. With the new MyBlogLog plugin you can now instantly display members from your MyBlogLog community on your site. The plugin lets you display a widget of your most active MyBlogLog members, helps you to manage a members’ list page, and view a detailed members profile page. Just think of all the social bookmarking opportunities! One caveat, the plugins only work if you’ve already got a Yahoo! API key, but not to fret if you don’t. You can apply for the beta at developer.yahoo.com/mybloglog . Check out what else the team’s brewing here.

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• Getting mousy: On your My Yahoo! page, that is. Now you have the rest of the year to sport the Chinese New Year theme on your start page to remind yourself of all the good fortune to come. Just click “personalize this page” then “change color” and pick “seasonal” and ratatouille!
• Letting the world watch: We’re still in the beginning phases, but man, is it oh so cool. Yahoo! Live is the latest experiment from our Advanced Products team which makes it possible for you, yes you, to broadcast your life via a live video experience. The rest of us get to live vicariously through what you’re doing in real time. We’ve even got something for developers. Check out the preview of our API and embeddable components to add your personal touch. And read more here.
• All prettied up: Our Yahoo! Media Player has gotten a new look and feel. For instance, when you first load it up, it comes up minimized rather than half-open, so you can actually do other things on your page. No more flickering when you scroll on the player and now there’s a link to search on text related to the current track playing, which opens up in a new window (this link used to open in the current window, interrupting playback). We’ve even got a new homepage haircut, which has been smoothed out so you can easily find all the important points to get started rather than distracting you with dynamic features. Read more here.

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• Personal paparazzi: Gossip, scandal, and style tips – get it all in one place by adding the new People Magazine module to your My Yahoo!. Now you can be the one to tee off the water cooler conversations.
• Plug in your answer: Try the new updated Yahoo! Messenger plug-in that lets you search, browse, read, answer and pose questions on six different versions of Yahoo! Answers from the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, and more. Just pick the country of your choice and start answering away. Talk about global knowledge!
• Photo soup: This cool visual word puzzle has humble hack beginnings straight out of our Yahoo! Research team in Barcelona. Players create word search puzzles with pairs of tagged Flickr photos. The photo is the clue and the tag is hidden, and whoever finds all the tags can claim winner status! Start souping it up here.

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Tag, you’re history: Important moments in history made their debut on Flickr through a pilot project with the Library of Congress called The Commons. They’ve added more than 3,000 photos from two of their popular collections — American Memory: Color photographs from the Great Depression and The George Grantham Bain Collection, images from the daily news scene nearly 100 years ago. Your job is to tag them and leave comments to add even more depth to these important archives. More here.

Fearless files: You’ve had that moment of hesitation when being asked to “accept file” when IMing a friend. (Hey, anybody can get a virus.) Fear no more. By teaming up with Symantec, Yahoo! Messenger can now automatically scan files with Norton AntiVirus (if you have Norton AntiVirus 2007/2008 and Norton Internet Security 2007/2008 installed on your computer). More over here.

Of flab and football: January can only mean two things: diet resolutions and football mania. That’s why you need to head to My Yahoo! to add the Diet Tracker module and Football Page. The Diet Tracker doubles as your personal trainer and guilty conscience, letting your track your daily weigh-ins against a target date. The Football Page is just that — a pigskin-filled tab with nothing but news, stats, photos, blogs and more. Pass the (low fat) chips.

Music blog remix: Yahoo!’s Media Innovation Group just released an experimental (“possibly dodgy”) desktop application that lets you mix together blog posts and MP3s from your favorite music blogs. Save your favorite posts on various music blogs, build your personal remix, save the results for future reference, make it into a playlist, podcast, or feed, or just share what you’ve mixed together with pals. It’s a proof of concept for now, but a cool concept nonetheless… more here from the developer himself.

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• Totally wired: If you missed CES, we’ve launched some pretty mobilicious updates to help you stay connected on your crackberries. To start off, the Yahoo! mobile homepage has gotten a New Year makeover with added juice to make the mobile web experience all about you. Make sure to check out the customizable content modules called Yahoo! Snippets for previews of news headlines that interest you, and a new update (since your last visit) of the latest photos on Flickr, recent emails, and the status of your Yahoo! Messenger friends. Also get instant results for your oneSearch queries, including content from Yahoo! Answers and Wikipedia. Jerry highlighted in his keynote that we also launched Yahoo! Go 3.0 (beta) with easy access to news, email, and services you want (think widgets that let you mobile bid on eBay or stay on top of celebrity chatter from MTV News). Developers and publishers, listen up. We’ve opened our mobile platform so you can create widgets for Yahoo! Go 3.0 and essentially any mobile browser – write it once and run it everywhere. I did say these were mobilicious updates, right?
• Homeowner’s delight: At no cost to you, brokers and franchisors nationwide including Prudential Real Estate and Realogy Corporation (who owns CENTURY 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA and Sotheby’s International Realty) will be sharing their full catalog of property listings on Yahoo! Real Estate. You now have access to the widest range of real estate information possible online, for free. Not to mention a straight shot to all sorts of new guides for home buyers, sellers, and owners, a cool School Search that helps you find the right school through a map interface, a Foreclosures Center with trends and tips on foreclosure properties, and a Neighborhood Search that gives you the skinny (demographic, housing, education stats, maps, local shops) on the hood you’re moving to.
• e-Post-Its: Stop using crumbled napkins and the backs of receipts to jot down your important thoughts. Add the new “Note to Self” module on My Yahoo! to log your ah-ha moments or reminders to buy milk on the way home. The best part is that you can do it while you’re multi-tasking!
• Music with one line of code: The latest Yahoo! Media Player can be added to your web site or blog to play music from whatever media application your readers already have installed on their computers to play back files – all this with one line of code. Add the Yahoo! Media Player JavaScript to your HTML and the media player will identify and insert play buttons next to any audio links on your page. When you press the play button, the Yahoo! Media Player will appear and voila, music to our ears. Read more here.
• Will this be the year of sequels?: Get some popcorn, grab a seat, and take a looksee at the most anticipated movies of 2008 and their trailers on Yahoo! Movie’s new Year End lists. Or just take a look back at last year’s top ten movies, most popular trailers, and movie stars that shined the red carpet throughout 2007 .

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• Avoiding holiday traffic: Now you can skip the congestion on the main freeway or take the scenic route for your holiday travels on Yahoo! Maps. When you get your list of directions and see that it takes you on a freeway or road you aren’t familiar with or want to avoid, just drag and drop the route to your preferred route on the map and it will instantly readjust itself. You’ll also see the difference in distance and time of your preferred route against Yahoo! Maps’ fastest route to gauge what makes the most sense. Talk about the road less traveled! Read more here.
• Faster, better, fresher dater: All you have to do is sign in to Yahoo! Personals to experience the brand new look and feel of the refreshed homepage. Get easier access to more search results and saved profiles (bigger profile pics don’t hurt) via a new carousel feature, flirt like never before with quick access to your mail, and know exactly who is checking you out with the “Who’s Viewed Me” feature. No more dilly-dallying folks, go forth and find your match!
• Remixing holiday cards: Want to know what you get when you jumble Yahoo!’s yodel, Master P and Romeo, and a drag and drop feature? You get a musical, remixable, and customizable holiday e-card. Think you can throwdown the best mix? Take a looksee and create your own to send to friends and family this holiday season.

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• It’s a Picnik: Get rid of that dreaded red eye or crop out your ex with a click of the newly integrated Picnik photo editing tools on Flickr. Just select “edit photo” located above your Flickr photo to instantly do things like resize, sharpen, or just “auto-fix” to get a more brilliant photo — without ever leaving Flickr. Whatcha waiting for? Be a Flickr Picniker and see some before and after examples.
• Entertainment central: Want to know what movies to skip this weekend? Curious which hip hop album to buy for your friend? Or just need the latest 411 on Britney? Find all your Hollywood news at our new Yahoo! Entertainment page, including games, celebrity news and photos, TV listings, and Upcoming local events — all in one place! We’ve even added a new blog module with posts from RogerEbert, TV Guide and E! Online, and a shiny new “Top 10” section that gives you the quick fix of hottest box office movies, songs, and searches. The best part is that you can move modules up or down so your interests stay above the fold. That’s right, Paris, I’d rather play Sudoku.

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• Vista from the ground up: It’s just a pre-beta version now, but Yahoo! Messenger just got its full Vista-cred from the bottom up with new features like drag and drop tabs for your conversations, emoticons with a little extra oomph, options to change skin color for every IM window (for the color-conscious) , and sending files (fun photos or work documents) larger than 2G to friends and coworkers. That’s just the start, there’s much more we’re planning and testing, so try it out and tell us what you think. And stay tuned for the next release here.
• Take us on your trip: We’ve launched a new “My Travel” experience on Yahoo! Travel so you can keep track of all your trip plans, user reviews, photos and recent searches. You can also use this anthology to share your travel interests with other Yahoo! Travel users. There’s even an interactive map that can be personalized with all the places you’ve been to and places you want to go. The best part? The Yahoo! FareChase will automatically monitor and pull up price drops for flights to your dream locations. Talk about reminding yourself to take a vacation! Start your profile page now so you can take us with you on your next journey!

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• Widgets galore: Yahoo! Widgets 4.5 makes its debut, bringing you a more powerful and secure platform so you can make the most of existing Widgets or create your own using code you’ve already written or with partners like Clearspring, MuseStorm and Netvibes. We’ve also updated the Yahoo! Widget Gallery with a bunch of new features that make sorting through our more than 4,300 Widgets a cinch, including better searches and improved ratings and reviews. Not to mention more new Widgets for you to test out and love, like the Yahoo! Finance Widget and Widgets from our friends at the NBA and RockYou. Download it here.
• My Facebook: If you find yourself checking Facebook more than once a day, you may want to add the new Facebook module on your My Yahoo! page to stay on top of new messages, new friends, or quirky gifts being sent your way. Or just add the Facebook RSS feed so you’re on top of the latest super poke war without leaving your My Yahoo! page.
• History at its best: Forgotten who you’ve called using Yahoo! Voice or not in the habit of writing down phone numbers? Now you can recall your full call history by going to the Yahoo! Voice website and clicking “My Call History” in the top menu bar. View by month or full list of outgoing or incoming calls (dates, times, numbers, location, duration, and charges are all included). We’ve also customized the auto-recharge option for your Phone Out account so you can specify either $10 or $25 as your auto-recharge option. No more excuses for not phoning home!

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• People, places, photos: We’ve mentioned Flickr’s vision to be “the eyes of the world” before. Now you can view that world through photos like never before. Our new “Places” page is now live, letting you browse photos by location. How do you contribute your photos? When you upload your photos to Flickr, add your photos to a map using Organizr (open the Map tab to find the place you took the photo and then drag/drop your photo). The more photos you stick on the map, the more interesting and fresher photos you’ll see. We’re also playing around with a new experimental map that displays breaking news through photos (think weddings, the latest geek fest, or something paparazzi-worthy).
• Taking back your inbox: We’ve overhauled the Yahoo! Mail Security site with new tips and tricks to help you protect your inbox from malicious phishers, get the latest digital vaccine against bad attachments, and clean the clutter of pesky spam. Happy intruder-free emailing!
• Outta beta: The new Yahoo! Music has ditched its beta stature. New editorial sections include a tally of our best picks of videos, music, photos and lyrics, and Music Blogs, where you’ll hear from both our in-house and industry bloggers. We’ve also juked up the backend technology to bring you the music you want on the homepage with videos, songs, albums and artists, all personalized just for you. Ditto that for the new music video page. And a new upcoming concerts module that’s hip to your local hood to help take your music offline. There’s so much more — read all about it on the team’s blog.
• Gobble, gobble: Whether you’re still working off your tryptophan-induced food coma or breaking out the holiday decorations, deck your My Yahoo! with a Thanksgiving or winter-y theme. Talk about getting into the holiday spirit!

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• Searching for your plus-one: Have you tried online? Yahoo! Personals has gotten a winter makeover so you can find that someone special in time for your New Year’s kiss. We’ve updated the page with a simple view of potential dates through profile cards and enhanced searching and matching features like “We Match” and “I Match” that pair up the most suitable profiles. We even added a two-column profile display that allows you to organize profiles, send email, and icebreakers all from the search results page. Go on, be a multi-tasking dater!
• Let the shopping begin: Cutting through the clutter of gift options just got easier with some new holiday shopping features on Yahoo!. Check out the new Green Holiday Gift Guide on Yahoo! Green. It offers expert-recommended Earth-friendly ideas for your eco-diva sister, gadget geek father, or green grandparent. Over on Yahoo! Shopping, a new social shopping feature lets you swap and share coupon deals and experiences with other shoppers. And don’t miss the new product category browse pages that integrate buying guides, reviews and ratings, price comparisons, and Yahoo! Answers all in one place to help you find that thoughtful gift.
• IM plus MY: Now you can IM your pals while you’re checking out your My Yahoo! page. Noticed that there will be back-to-back reruns of “Grey’s Anatomy” according to your TV listings module? Invite the gang over via Yahoo! Messenger for a marathon run of McDreamy and Chinese take out — all from your My Yahoo! page. It’s a lightweight version of Yahoo! Messenger, so you may not see all the bells and whistles you’re used to. But you can drag and drop the module wherever you want so you can keep everything you need above the fold! Add the module here.

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• Courtside seats all season: Now get all your NBA video highlights from every regular and post-season game on Yahoo! Sports (better than just the post-season action we had last year, eh?). We’ve even added on-demand access to expert analysis from our NBA analysts Kenny Smith, and game previews during post season. Get a comfy chair, you’ll need it.
• Of weather and money: My Yahoo! has improved two key tools, just in time for winter travels. The currency converter now features a customizable grid that lets you compare multiple currencies (from more than 150) at once so your head won’t hurt when you plan treks to many countries. And our new weather module lets you get the current climate report for your destination by letting you choose from three modes (full, classic or compact). You can also get detailed forecasts by mousing over your city, get more readable three-day forecast, and set up alerts. Making multiple stops? Search for additional locations right within the module.
• Calling all bloggers: Think you’ve got what it takes to show you’ve got the best blog community? If so, join the MyBlogBlog Problogger contest to win a bunch of prizes and tools to make your blog the best it can be. Blogger snacks for the grand-prize winner include a pro MyBlogLog subscription, a $500 Yahoo! Search Marketing credit, and a complete blog redesign. All you have to do is be the community that grows the most (that’s gross total from now to November 30, 2007). See the official rules here and read more about the contest here.

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• Fancy signatures: If you’ve got a MyBlogLog profile, you can now create an email signature that shows friends and colleagues all the Web 2.0 services you use and have profiles on (must be services you’ve entered into MyBlogLog). Think instant access for your friends to your del.icio.us, Jumpcut, Technorati, and Facebook profiles with a click of the icons in your email signature. Go to “edit profile” on your MyBlogLog account to create one.
• Don’t forget the popcorn!: As winter rolls in, our 2007 Holiday Movie Guide will become your one-stop-guide for your seat at the megaplex. The guide has a browse-able movie carousel, a user-ranked top movie list, video playlists of movie trailers and clips, photo galleries, and access to fun factoids like “Bet You Didn’t Know.” Make sure to vote on the Bix poll for your all time fave holiday flick!
• Healthier living: Yahoo! Health has a new look and feel, making it easier to find answers to your health questions on diet & fitness to conditions & diseases (there are 75 topics across five categories). With the improved search capabilities, you’ll also find both articles and videos to help you take charge of your health.
• That’s classic: For those who haven’t switched to the new Yahoo! Mail, you may have seen some of the updates we’ve made to Yahoo!’s Classic Mail. We’ve added auto-save to your email drafts, so no need to worry about computer malfunctions losing your work. With the new flag column, you can easily flag important messages with one click. And get more organized by renaming or deleting personal folders within the folder view. We’ve even deleted some of the features you told us were not as useful. For visually impaired users, we’ve enhanced our screenreader capabilities with easier navigation, html headings to help navigate the page, more shortcut keys, and hidden text that lets users know when there’s a picture or attachment in the email. Check out all the changes we made
  and read about what else the team has been up to.

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• Mortgages get localized: Tracking down the best rates for home loans just got easier with an improved mortgage rate search feature on Yahoo! Real Estate’s Home Loan section. Just type in the name of your stomping ground, select the loan amount, the type of loan you’re interested in, and your FICO score (that’s your credit score). And presto, a list of local lenders come up, which you can refine based on points, fees, and term parameters. See for yourself.
• Making room: My Yahoo! now offers a “small search box” setting to help minimize the search box up top. It even moves everything up a bit higher, so you have more page to fill with what you want. We’ve also added a time stamp option at the top of the page so you know exactly when you last made an update to the page. One less thing to keep track of. Read more from the team here.

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Last week, we had the great pleasure of welcoming the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank to speak at our Sunnyvale campus to share his journey as the “banker to the poor” and discuss the important role information technology plays in society. He imparted that it’s not about where technology is taking us, but rather where we want to go with it — a powerful message and reminder of the opportunity Yahoo! has to positively impact the world and inspire change.

As a microcredit (small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans) pioneer, it’s not surprising that the Bangladesh native questioned the value of economic theories and PhD’s as people just around the corner were dying of hunger. After seeing the ruthlessness of money lenders and the plight of poverty-stricken families trying to obtain their loans, he knew there was a simple solution to this difficult problem. He would be part of the solution.

His first loan consisted of $27 in total, which Dr. Yunus used to help 42 basket weavers regain their dignity and independence from creditors (who charged exorbitant interest rates and yielded mere pennies in profits). What followed was a lifelong pledge and journey of an educator turned banker, who arms the poorest of the poor with the tools and means to become financially independent. He firmly believes that poverty is not created by the poor, but rather is a system we have created. To prove this point, he has given loans to nearly 100,000 beggars and has seen 10,000 of them completely stop begging and 90,000 of them transformed into entrepreneurs in their own right. The Grameen Bank has the highest recovery rate of any banking system in the world with 98 percent of the loans being paid back.

How does technology play a part? Grameen’s “phone ladies” are widespread across rural communities in Bangladesh, offering the use of mobile phones for a fee. By loaning out cell phones on a per call basis and putting them in the hands of the rural poor (many of whom have never seen a telephone before), these women become the central access point to information technology and the rest of the world. So, what’s next for Dr. Yunus? Imagine “Internet ladies.” Talk about making technology work for you.

Julie Han
Blog team

• A window into Flickr: Windows Live Photo Gallery beta users just got another Flickricious reason to load up their photos. Now you can get your photos off your camera, tag them, make simple corrections, and load them up directly to Flickr. It even has the option to stitch together multiple photos auto-panorama style. If you’re a Windows XP or Vista user, check out the beta here. And then read more from the Flickr team.
• Upcoming in your next search: If you liked the streamlined search results on Upcoming, then you’ll love finding all your fave Upcoming local events by doing a Yahoo! Search. Type in “events in San Francisco” and get instant access to SF events this weekend, next weekend, or popular ones to come.

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• Plugged in locally: Yahoo! Messenger users can now get real-time local news updates while chatting online with friends. Just think — while you’re finalizing party plans with your buddies, you can check the weather and traffic reports to avoid being late and then get the latest headlines to educate your cocktail chatter – all from Yahoo! Messenger. Here’s how. Click on “actions” in the menu bar, select “choose a plugin,” select “Yahoo! Local News,” and you’re set!
• My trick and treat: Whether its candy, goblins, or spooky tales that get you in the mood for Hallow’s eve, My Yahoo! has the treats and tricks to make it all your own. Try out the Halloween-themed layout for your page or add on creepy modules like Ghost Droppings for a guide to all things creepy. Add the Candy Blog to find out what treats you should hand out to the kiddies. Read more here.
• Liam gets ghostly: Don’t have a clue what you’ll be for Halloween? We’ll give you a $3,000 (first place prize) reason to dress up as one of the eight costumed Liams here. Make sure to submit a photo of yourself in costume then tell your ghoulish pals to vote for your pirate or mummy Liam (they have until Nov. 14) to win the bragging rights and the moolah. More details here

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• Carpal thumbs?: Well, give them a rest by downloading the latest Yahoo! Messenger for the Web. Not only can you access Yahoo! Messenger now from any Internet browser, you can send text messages (SMS) to your pals on their mobile phones (just US, India and Canada for now) for free. And don’t worry, if they respond, you’ll get the reply back via Messenger. We’ve even got brand new, local language versions for Thailand, Indonesia, and new languages for India (nine of them in fact!). Read more here.
• Geeks get rewarded: Got all the (best) answers to questions about consumer electronics, computers and the Internet? Yahoo! Answers may have an iPhone for you as part of their Best Answer Sweeps. Give it your best shot here before October 12th. There will be ten winners and even runner-up prizes for top contributors, so it can’t hurt to try (keep in mind the five entry limit per person). Random prize drawings will take place a week after the sweeps end. Check out the tips on how to get a “Best Answer” status before you start dishing your know-how. Read more here.
• Doh! Another 4-year-old: Happy belated to Upcoming. At least we can rely on you to keep good time! Cheers to another event-filled calendar year.

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• Sorting A-Z: We heard ya loud and clear. For the gregarious Flickr-ites, now sort your many groups on Flickr by recent activity or in alphabetical order. And if you missed out on the Talk Like a Pirate Day pillage, check out some of the photos here to get yer limey fix.
• Looking for a new image?: Not only can you access many Flickr images by using Yahoo! Image Search, you can now do it in more than 25 different countries, regions, and languages (see full list here). And we’re now using Flickr metadata (tags, comments, titles) to surface photos (“public” ones, of course) for Yahoo! Image Search users. We’ve also introduced the Explorer Bar at the bottom of your image results page so you can see what related images others are searching for. For example, type in “Brad Pitt” and you’ll see that others are looking for photos of Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, Orlando Bloom, etc. (only available for entertainment and location-related photos for now, but more to come).
• Idling with purpose: No more excuses for idle time checking out friends’ profiles when you should be looking for a job! Now do both (without the guilt). Download the Yahoo! HotJobs application for Facebook here and start searching for jobs, vote someone as the “most likely to quit the corporate world and move to Tibet to become a monk,” see where your friends have worked, and list out your top 3 fave companies. Or just refer your friends!
• Viva los Hispanos!: If you haven’t already heard, it’s Hispanic Heritage Month and Yahoo! Telemundo has unveiled two mini-sites to celebrate the successes and contributions of Hispanics across the U.S. Mosaico Hispano is a tribute site to those living the American dream, featuring video profiles and stories of remarkable individuals. Battle of the Bands will showcase the musical talents of 10 new U.S. Hispanic bands, featuring videos, interviews and an opportunity for you to vote for your favorite. Check them out, the sites go down after Oct. 31.
• The new Fall line: Need a refreshed look for the new season? My Yahoo! has a new background theme to add some autumn-ous spirit to your page. Check it out here or try one of the other seasonal themes on for size.
• Yummy preschooler: A quick shout out to del.icio.us for turning four this week! Cheers to being able to feed yourself, brush your teeth and combing your hair all on your own!

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• Woot woot!: Calling all bargain shoppers to aisle three! Yahoo! Shopping now offers an exclusive “Woot Deal of the Day,” a one-item special that posts at 10 pm PT everyday for 24 hours (it could sell out any time, so don’t dilly dally). You never know what you’re going to get (think gadgets, gizmos, collectibles and more). Already a loyal wooter? Now get two great deals a day since Woot will have a different deal on their site. Read more here.
• Fantasies from the couch: We’ve been offering the fantasy baseball version of Yahoo! Sports for TV for a while now, but now you can also track your fantasy football league while you’re watching the game on the boob tube. The best part? The service is free! So get comfortable! Watch the game, check multiple game stats, and track your league – all without leaving the sofa! One catch: You need a Windows-based PC (with Windows Media Center Edition, Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate). Read more here.
• Nissan, Yahoo!, and MTV: Missed your favorite artist on Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music? Make sure to catch them again on MTV Networks’ Music High-Definition channel every month as a 30 minute concert segment (including interviews with fans). First up: Rascall Flatts on Monday, September 17. Check out the full listing here.
• Not your daddy’s cricket: Twenty20, a juiced up version of cricket (each team bats 20 overs a side and the innings last 80 minutes each) is in full swing (ends September 24). So read, see, hear all the action on the tournament microsite powered by Yahoo! India to get the exclusive cricketing news, views, and match updates straight from the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa.

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• Tasty redesign: We’ve launched a limited preview of the new del.icio.us redesign to hear what you think before the big ta-da (think interface makeover and a new and faster search engine). The invite list is full at the moment (sorry!), but if you’re interested in being added to the preview list, add your username here. We’ll be adding more openings, so stay tuned. Read more here.
• Mac Messenger: Get it hot from the oven. All Mac users, welcome to the new Yahoo! Messenger for Mac 3.0 Beta 2 (for Mac OSX 10.4 or later). Now with tabbed IM windows (chat with two or more friends from a single window, just tab over or drag it out to make it its own window), chat rooms, message archiving, improved webcam and file transfer, and the best part – more emoticons to send, share, IM! After you’ve downloaded it, read up on the other new features here.
• Getting bullish: If you haven’t noticed, Yahoo! Finance has gotten a refresh (with easier info finding and portfolios on the main page) and some new features, including a “Newsworthy” tool that lists companies based on how frequently they are covered in the news, and a “Community Sentiment” tool that lists out all “bearish” and “bullish” stocks based on message board discussions. Go ahead, take a looksie.
• Benz-ing your way around: Cool enough to be driving a 2008 C-class Mercedes-Benz? Not only do you get to show off your new ride, it also comes with instant directional karma. With their new “Search & Send” feature, drivers can send driving directions directly from Yahoo! Maps (click the “send to car” icon) to their car. Once you’re in your car, push the i-button and voilà! Your GPS prompts you to start your route or save it for later. No more missed exits trying to read the print-out! More here.
• Ticker-tastic!: My Yahoo! has brought the Company News module back, now juked up with new options and multiple views. Add it to get breaking news on the companies you care about via customized lists or by expanding individual tickers — the number of headlines you see is your call!. A portfolio investor? See news related to the portfolio’s ticker, grouped and sorted in reverse chronological order (means your eyes are always on the latest). There’s more — read all about it here.
• Fizz, football, fan gear: The football frenzy has started, so break out the chips, guac, and soda pop. Before you recycle your trash, make sure to check for a “Call Your Play” code on various Pepsi products to see if your “play” wins you some cool NFL gear and memorabilia. See how it works here.
• And the winner is…: Stay on top of all the cool Bix news at its new blog, including the latest news and product updates, exclusive interviews with the contest winners, and chats with the staff. We’re even putting the spotlight on you through weekly member profiles, so come by, visit often, comment, and tell us what you think.

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• Friendly rivalry: If you missed the memo in June, Rivals.com is now part of the Yahoo! Sports family, now with new, deeper college and high school sports content integration. Not only can you find links to Rivals.com in Yahoo! Sports’ navigation bar and read what their experts have to say on the NCAA league pages, also find Rivals team pages in our catalog of college teams as well as team news (including stats and schedules), recruiting news, and message boards. And don’t miss exclusive video of Ashley Russell and her Rivals Minute clips. Read more here.

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• For faster search, turn here: Our Search team just unleashed three new Yahoo! Shortcuts to help you say “Eureka!” in just one search. Into drugs? New medical shortcuts draw from content in Yahoo! Health, Groups and Answers to provide narrowing for medications and medical conditions. Shopping for gadgets? Search for consumer electronics keywords and get a shopping result shortcut with brands, popular products (reviews included), and buying guides and tips. And just in time for the first pigskin kickoff, the NFL shortcut serves up an insta-snapshot for all players. Read more here and here.
• Lyrical groupthink: Ok, people, join hands and get busy in the first-ever virtual songwriting project. Now’s your chance to contribute to the next hot track for Def Jam artist Ne-Yo through Yahoo! Music Lyricmakers project. The theme is Love so start feeling romantical. Users vote each week though September 28th on their favorite lines until Ne-Yo has six verses, which he’ll record and perform. Read more here.
• Flashy and new: For all you ever wanted to know about Flash (think mash-up of Yahoo! Maps), check out the newly revamped Flash Developer Center, with tools, articles, tutorials, and information such as ASTRA, the ActionScript Toolkit for Rich Applications (Yahoo!’s collection of Flash and Flex components, libraries and toolkits). The team has even launched a Flash blog so you can keep tabs on what’s next.
• Styling for promotion: A Yahoo! HotJobs and Banana Republic survey says your wardrobe can make or break your chances for advancement. So we’re giving you the styling know-how (fall fashion tips) and some spending money so you’re primed for that promotion. Enter the sweepstakes (one winner every day until Sept. 30) for a $1,000 shopping spree at Banana Republic here.

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