How to easily enable the Hidden Yahoo Messenger Matrix Mode in Windows Vista?

Did you know that there was a Hidden Matrix mode in Yahoo Messenger when you use it over Windows Vista? Well, even I wasn't aware of it until I recently read a report about the same at Yahoo's Blog.

Matrix mode provides the user with an easy option of dealing with all the conversation windows. It gathers them all together in a single box so you don’t have to fill your desktop with all of them. I would say Wonderful!!

Check out the screen shot below and I guess that'll summarize what I meant by the Matrix mode.

To activate Matrix Mode, start a few IM conversations and then be sure to condense them into one window as tabs. You can do that by dragging the bottom tab of one window into another, or hitting Ctrl + , (ctrl plus comma) on your keyboard. Once your conversations are in a tabbed window, hit Ctrl + Alt + Shift + b to enter Matrix Mode(Any more key combinations would have resulted in me taking my family member's help). Simply press Pressing Ctrl + Alt + Shift + b.

Hope you found this feature interesting as ever!! But sadly it works only on Windows Vista for now.

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How to make Use of the Free Yahoo Mail's SMS Functionality?

The all new Yahoo Mail has a wonderful new SMS feature that enables all the new Yahoo Mail interface users to send messages straight on a mobile phone. But wait a sec - this new SMS feature is available only to Yahoo users from US, India, Canada and Philippines. However, I guess it'll be only a few days/months before Yahoo upgrades all the Yahoo Mail accounts to the final version of the new technology(includes SMS features).

So let's see how you can enable this new functionality. First of all, the SMS function is available only to the users of the final version of Yahoo Mail so, if you're still addicted to the classic version, you must switch to the latest version. Also, your account must be set-up in one of the countries mentioned above. Once you full-fill all the above criteria. All you need to do is click on Options / Mail Options and press the 'Try Now' button placed near the new Yahoo Mail announcement.

Please note that the function does not work if you're not logged in into your in-mail Yahoo Messenger. As you may already know, Yahoo has sometime back integrated its instant messaging client into the interface of the mail technology so, in order to be able to send SMS messages, you have to be connected to Yahoo Messenger. After you connect to the chat application, a small arrow should appear near the 'Compose' button, allowing you to select the SMS option. Cool right!!

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Yahoo! SiteBuilder 2.4 :: A Freeware Website Builder

Yahoo! SiteBuilder puts powerful web site design and customization capabilities at your fingertips. With a new Site Creation Wizard and more than 330 web site templates, it's never been easier to build the site you want.

Plus, once you have created your site, you can easily publish it online with a Yahoo! Web Hosting or Yahoo! Merchant Solutions plan. You don't need any special software or have to worry about organizing files. It does everything for you in just a few clicks.

Drag-and-drop tools make it easy to add new pages, change layouts, switch colors, edit text, and more — on the fly. The best thing is that this full-featured software runs offline, on your PC.

You can download Yahoo! SiteBuilder 2.4 for FREE at Yahoo's Website.

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Yahoo Photos Alternatives : Transition before it shuts in September

The deadline for the Final Transition from Yahoo Photos to the new Flickr starts from today. Sometime back Yahoo had announced the closure of Yahoo Photos and all the users were being forced to upload their photos onto Flickr. Yahoo Photos has now put up a date that it is closing on September 20, 2007. This is what the official notice reads...

We're sorry. Yahoo! Photos is closing on September 20, 2007 so we are no longer accepting new accounts or allowing users to upload photos if you don't already have photos in your account. We've decided to focus all our efforts on Flickr - the award winning photo sharing community that Time Magazine has even called "completely addictive".

But if you don’t intend to move your photos to Flickr, you have several other options where you can easily store all those beautiful images online. You can upload them on Kodak Gallery, Shutterfly, Snapfish and Photobucket, which do offer similar services and also the same functions.

You do have another choice of downloading the entire collection but, as far I can see, it is quite difficult because you're forced to download only one photo at a time, which means you have to spend a lot of time incase you have a huge collection. Moreover, you can buy an archive CD with all the photos published in your Yahoo Photos account - But that's gonna set you back by $6.95 for 700Mb of photos.

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How to easily set up Microsoft Outlook to receive Email from Yahoo and other mail servers?

Here's how to easily set up Microsoft Outlook to receive Email from Yahoo and other mail servers:

1. From the Tools menu, choose "Accounts."
2. Select the "Mail" tab.
3. Click the "Add" button.
4. From the Add menu, click "Mail."
5. In the text box labeled Display Name, type your name and click "Next."
6. In the Email Address box, type your Yahoo! Mail address (be sure to include "@yahoo.com") and click "Next."
7. Under "My incoming mail server is a…" select "POP3."
8. Type "pop.mail.yahoo.com" in the Incoming Mail (POP3, IMAP, or HTTP) Server box.
9. Type "smtp.mail.yahoo.com" in the Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server box.
10. Click "Next."
11. In the Account Name box, type your Yahoo! Mail ID (your email address without the "@yahoo.com").
12. In the Password box, type your Yahoo! Mail password.
13. If you want Outlook Express to remember your password, check the "Remember password" box.
14. Do not check the boxes labeled "Log on using Secure…"
15. Click "Next."
16. Click "Finish."
17. Select 'pop.mail.yahoo.com' under 'Account,' and click 'Properties.'
18. Click the “Servers” tab.
19. Under “Outgoing Mail Server” check the box next to “My server requires authentication”
20. Click the 'Advanced' tab.
21. Under “Outgoing mail Server (SMTP)”, check the box next to “This server requires a secure connection (SSL). Enter port number “465” in the “Outgoing mail (SMTP)” field.
22. Under “Incoming mail (POP3)”, check the box next to “This server requires a secure connection (SSL)". The port number in the “Incoming mail (POP3)" field should automatically change from 110 to 995. If it doesn’t, make sure the port number is set to 995.

You're Done :) Now you'll receive all the mails in your Outlook!!

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Yahoo Photos will be Shutdown shortly!!

Yahoo Photos, the service from Yahoo that allowed users to upload and share their pictures with other Internet users will be shut down in the coming months. That's because Yahoo wants to move all the clients to the recently acquired platform - Flickr. According to TechCrunch, the migration will be enhanced by a new Yahoo function that will allow users to transfer all their photos to Flickr with a single click. It seems that other services will be also supported so, if you want to move your pictures to Photobucket, Snapfish, Shutterfly or Kodak Gallery, you can do it with ease. Flickr was bought in March 2005 and was updated several times by Yahoo.

According to TechCrunch, Yahoo Photos is the largest photo sharing solution on the Internet, having no more than 2 billion saved pictures. Flickr topped the Yahoo service in traffic, but the recently acquired service owns only 500 million images. It seems like Flickr is growing very fast and managed to attract 28.5 million visitors while Yahoo Photos lured 31.1 million. However, the giant portal Yahoo is currently the owner of both services so the company is not challenged by any of its rivals.

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The Best Yahoo Messenger Alternatives - A Review

Today, I'll present you the most powerful alternatives for Yahoo Messenger that allow you to communicate with your friends from other applications but with the same support for Yahoo Messenger. In fact, by using one of the following programs, you'll be able to communicate with every contact from your Yahoo list but with some other functions and interface.

Gaim : Gaim is a powerful Yahoo Messenger alternative, being recently renamed to Pidgin after some federal problems with more famous companies. However, Gaim is still available for download in version 2.0 beta 6 but you're also required to install GTK+ for Windows as an add-on for the stand-alone program. Gaim offers support for most of Yahoo Messenger functions, including file transfer and emoticons but it also includes some new tools that can be very useful for the chatting experience. For example, the Psychic plugin helps the users find out when another client of Yahoo Messenger starts to type a message even before he presses the enter button.

Trillian : Trillian is probably one of the best Yahoo replacements, helping users to connect to multiple networks including the giant’s portal. The program allows you to send files to your Yahoo contacts but it provides a different set of emoticons and sounds. The interface is 100 percent changed because Trillian enables you to customize the appearance by using different styles or themes. At this time, the developers are working on a new version of the application that will include support for many of the Yahoo Messenger editions and made them fully compatible with your client.


I think these two programs are the most powerful in their category so, if you want to use an instant messaging client other than Yahoo Messenger download them at the links provided (Click on the orange names above).

However, if you still want to chat even easier, without having to install any application, you can use one of the web-based clients that help you communicate on the Internet from an online Interface. Although Yahoo's Web Messenger is regarded as an easy way to do that, you can also use Meebo, a solution that supports a lot of messaging protocols.

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Yahoo India Maps :: Definitely better than Google Maps

Yahoo has brought out a better mapping product for India - which will surely compete with Google Maps. The offer is Yahoo India Maps and Yahoo India Our City, two products that will help visitors view high resolution photos of most Indian cities.

Yahoo India Our City provides instant access to 20 cities from India such as Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and some other locations. Yahoo India Maps is more developed than Google Maps because it displays pictures from 170 cities, 4785 towns and 220 villages from the entire country.

Yahoo Cofounder David Filo has recently acknowledged the contribution made by the India Development Centre. The team in Bangalore ranked on the top of the table compared to other centres in technological development. Nearly 20 per cent of the engineering inputs for Yahoo came from Bangalore it seems.

However, it is extremely difficult to fight with Google Earth and Google Maps because the two search giant's solutions are very powerful and are periodically improved with new tools able to bring the company in the spotlights. For example, Google revealed today a new improvement for Earth by adding two new layers to enable users to view the structures of the most famous building in the US.

Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Yahoo Lyrics :: Song Lyrics Website from Yahoo to be launched soon!!

Yahoo plans to release a new solution that will attract an important number of users because there are no legal alternatives to this kind of product. Yahoo Lyrics will be especially designed to show the lyrics of more than 400.000 songs in comparison with other websites that are displaying the text without copyright owners' approval. According to MSNBC, Yahoo hopes to represent the biggest licensed database of lyrics because most of the similar pages currently available on the Internet are working without owners' authorization. The new Yahoo product will share the revenues with the providers of the lyrics so the company will obtain the authorization to publish the text with ease. Although the parent company Yahoo plans to promote the upcoming solution, it seems like the biggest investments will come from its own funds as the giant portal wants to display numerous adverts.

The database and licensing deals were cobbled together over the past two years by Gracenote, a digital media management specialist. Gracenote, formerly known as CDDB, is best known for developing technology that automatically recognizes the tracks on compact discs — a feature that is included in Apple Inc.’s widely used iTunes software.

Yahoo Lyrics will include 400.000 songs and more than 9.000 different artists of all times. Until now, almost 100 music publishers announced their contribution to the service, Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Warner/Chappel Music being the most important companies on the list. At this time, the number of similar websites is quite huge but the giant portal plans to fight with them using a clean website, without spyware, Trojan files or other infections and only with a small number of advertisements.

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Can your Yahoo Password be hacked easily?

Yahoo's password can be used with any Yahoo account including Mail, Messenger, Bookmarks or Search. Because the account is compatible with numerous other Yahoo products, it is extremely important to keep it private and use a complex password. The instant messaging client(Yahoo Messenger) is often attacked by a lot of malicious users trying to steal others' passwords by using different techniques.

If you're a Yahoo Messenger user, you have surely received mass messages, usually sent to the entire list and able to exploit some members' naivety. As I said, the most used technique to steal a password is the sending of malicious links that usually try to install an ActiveX control on your computer and send your password to a remote address. It is very important to avoid clicking on dangerous or unknown links as well as refusing to open websites sent from unknown users.

It is often said that some hackers are able to steal a Yahoo Messenger password straight from their computers and using a remote connection. Wrong! No one is able to find a user's private data unless he allows for it. That's why it's very important to block any malicious attempt to connect to your computer as well as any anonymous remote connection.

The main question is: is it possible to steal a Yahoo Messenger username and password? Theoretically, yes. Practically, it's impossible. OK, so my password is safe but some friends are claiming their passwords were stolen by hackers. What happened? Usually, the users might think their account was stolen if they're unable to connect but there are numerous reasons for this error: bad connection, Yahoo temporary downtime or even a ban applied to the account for multiple reasons.

So, are we safe enough to use Yahoo Messenger without any threat? Of course not, but all you need to do is to block any unknown connection that might harm your computer and steal your private information. How? Using a firewall that gives you full control over your incoming and outcoming traffic...

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Alpha - A new Search Engine from Yahoo revealed

Alpha is the code name of a new search engine revealed by Yahoo. It is still in beta stages and incorportaes a very innovative technology for searching the Internet.

The new Alpha search engine is based on the concept of Federated Search where users can very easily find files on the Internet. The Federated Search concept is used by the Internet portals that are based on numerous databases which are used to display the information. The Federated Search technology is used to link two or more databases and return information from all of them according to the search query entered by the user.

“Alpha is a new beta product from Yahoo! that introduces the concept of Federated Search. With Alpha, you can search across many different search indices all on one page. Also, if you have a Yahoo! ID, you can log in to personalize your experience by moving the search sources around to suit you, or adding completely new ones of your own,” Yahoo said in the description of the product.

According to the giant portal, the new search engine uses the OpenSearch technology that allows the product to collect information from any other location configured by the user. Alpha is currently accessible with a Yahoo account and is able to receive news through OpenSearch RSS technology.

As far I can see, Alpha represents a test technology able to reveal all the new features meant to be included in Yahoo Search - very similar to Searchmash owned by Google.

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Superfast Yahoo Widgets Engine 4.0 Released

Yahoo Widgets Engine is an interesting application developed by Yahoo that helps Windows and Mac OSX owners place widgets on their desktops. The widgets represent tiny tools with an attractive interface able to add a simple function or to display only one type of information (CPU info, weather, calendar), being based on the main platform designed by the company. Because they are able to make the desktop more attractive, numerous users are already using Yahoo Widgets, the application that was previously named Konfabulator.

Some time ago, the giant portal announced its teams are now working on the 4.0 version that is meant to be more powerful and efficient than ever. This morning, Yahoo finally released the product, making it available as a free download.

Yahoo Widgets 4 is compatible with both Mac and Windows and contains several important improvements added by the company: increased speed for the functionality of the downloadable application, a mini widget sidebar able to include all the gadgets currently available, allowing you to preview the tiny tools, numerous widgets developed by the company and a lot of tiny improvements to make the product work better.

As far I can see, Yahoo Widgets 4 works quite fast because it requires a very low amount of memory on both Windows and Mac. Although I started 10 widgets, the computer was still working very fast so I guess the improvements are quite efficient. The company also improved the appearance of the page, changing the design according to the new features implemented in the 4.0 version of the application.

If you want to download Yahoo Widgets 4.0 and give it a try. Click here.

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Page Bull :: A new Visual Search Engine for the web

Because Google is the best search engine on the Internet, it is extremely difficult to release a new similar technology to attract an impressive number of users. In the past, I tried to present some of the latest innovations on the search engine market but it seems many of them are still anonymous technologies as most surfers prefer to use Google Search. Today, I'll present you another interesting search engine that promotes an innovative idea to help users find information on the Internet.

Pagebull is a visual search engine that is based on a simple idea: instead of numerous links provided as search engine results, the service returns thumbnails of the websites that match your query, helping you find a certain page easier. Every screenshot highlights the keywords entered by the users and can be configured to multiple sizes.

Pagebull's sophisticated search process gives you actual screenshots of the search results. Most search engines simply list the site. You have to click on them to find that the site is not quite what you wanted. With Pagebull, you can see the front page, allowing you to sort out the most helpful pages for you. And Pagebull helps you to avoid harmful content, so you can surf the Internet more securely.

Although the idea is quite interesting, the search engine is not so useful as Google's technology because it doesn't allow users to perform fast searches and find information quickly. In the FAQ published on the official page of the product, the developers sustain you must own a powerful Internet connection because the results might be loaded very slow so I guess it is not quite a well-developed solution.

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Yahoo Mail Beta released finally to ALL!!!! Try it out

The powerful new Yahoo! Mail beta will open up for general use starting today. The new product will roll out to all users in 18 countries over the next two weeks. There’s a lot of cool new features, but GMail still stands apart in some important ways. You can now try out the beta at new.mail.yahoo.com.

In addition to adding RSS subscription functionality inside your email inbox, which as MacManus points out will probably make Yahoo! Mail the most widely used RSS reader on the planet, there are many more new features to watch for.

The big picture is that Yahoo! is aiming to use ajax to make it’s mail client function like a desktop client. Email messages can be dragged from one folder to another, multiple emails can be open at one time in tabs inside Yahoo! Mail and there’s calendar integration tied to Yahoo! Maps. Blog posting, possibly to a Yahoo! domain that will run more of the company’s ads, and IM both appear to be available through the webmail client as well. These sound like powerful new features.

What’s Gmail got to offer that could top that? A number of things, actually. Yahoo! Mail doesn’t offer the tabbed conversations Gmail does, doesn’t appear to allow emails to be tagged and will still have to prove itself in spam protection and mail search. I don’t know whether Yahoo! Mail allows attachments like PDF and Excel files to be viewed as HTML, but that’s a very nice GMail feature as well. There’s no word yet whether Yahoo! will increase the storage of free accounts from 1GB to something closer to GMail’s 2.5+GB or increase the 10mb limit on attachments.

In other words, I think there’s still plenty of reasons to stay with GMail for now, but those for whom Yahoo! Mail is well suited are likely to be quite happy with it. Several of the new features, like RSS, drag and drop organization and calendar/maps could become a new standard in future offerings from other companies. It’s a good product that will change how hundreds of millions of people experience webmail and RSS.

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Yahoo Messenger Launches Free Group Conference Calls

Yahoo Inc. is offering free group conference calling services from Vapps Inc. to the roughly 80 million users of Yahoo's instant-message and Web telephone-calling service, the companies said on Monday.

The service, called ConFreeCall, will be available for download through Yahoo Messenger with Voice service, allowing friends or families to hold free conference calls to complement Yahoo's existing text, voice and photo-sharing services.

Vapps, a supplier of conference-calling services and equipment announced a similar deal in June with Skype, the international market leader in instant message and Web-based phone calling services with more than 100 million users.

Vapps—short for Voice over Internet Applications—says it can offer free conference calls with high voice quality for up to 500 simultaneous participants per call—enough to handle an extended family reunion.

A moderator can control call volume control, muting, announce participants and recording, among other features.

Closely held Vapps, of Hoboken, New Jersey, has a plan to offset the cost of providing free conference calls by offering related premium services, including conference call recording, playback and 24-hour operator support for arranging calls.

Yahoo Messenger with Voice subscribers can find the ConFreeCall application in the Yahoo Messenger plug-in gallery (http://us.gallery.yahoo.com/messenger). The service is also available directly from Vapps at http://www.confreecall.com.

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How to get Yahoo Mail Beta

To get Yahoo Mail Beta, just switch your content preference to Germany, France or UK. Then you will be asked if you want to join the beta when you log into your Yahoo Mail. Say yes, and join the beta. Then from the options menu, change your content preference what it was before. Then go to Yahoo Mail again. You should see Yahoo Beta. If you don't see it, go to options and click "Try Beta" button. That's all.

Okie, now that was just too much... So I'll explain it step by styep for you to easily follow:

• Log in to Yahoo Mail
• Click Options
• Select Account information from the left panel
• Go to Member Information, General Preferences, Preferred Content
• Select, for example, Yahoo UK* click Finished
• Go to Yahoo Mail
• You'll see a page that says "It's the New Yahoo! Mail Beta... and you're invited."
• Click on "Try Beta Now".

But I must confess, that it really worth it.... on the other hand, I've been using a similar interface with my FREE AOL Mail account for more than a year now.

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