I like to have a clean address book. Today, it seems, however that the tools I am using on a regular basis cannot achieve this simple task.

Let’s take Yahoo! For example:
I have friends on Yahoo! 360, I have contacts on Yahoo! Messenger and I have my Yahoo! Mail address book. Why should they all be merged? In the classic version of Yahoo! Mail, deleting a contact from the address book will also delete it from Yahoo! 360. This is not the case with Yahoo! Beta but adding a contact in my Yahoo! 360 network will still automatically add it to my address book.

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So the big news yesterday was the release of Yahoo! Photos 3.0 I had a look at it during the beta and it is now available to the general public.
In just about 5 minutes I have experienced 3 bugs!!

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OK I know this will probably displease my readers but…

I am working on a new theme (*hiding and blushing*)

OK OK granted this is getting really insane. Now at least I have learned two things:
- I will never ever be satisfied with any design. I just have to keep that in mind.
- I am more enjoying simplistic designs.

I am looking for a simple straightforward 2-column theme. In this sense I like the one used on PaulStamatiou.com.
I am starting to think that, the simpler, the better.

Also yesterday I found this funny Web 2.0 logo generator. And then I realized it looks pretty good on a white page.

So I set up a demo site to try new stuff that I might used over here. I am currently editing it.
As always, feedbacks are appreciated.

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Few days ago, I noticed a new security feature at Yahoo. Phishing has become a widespread problem and Yahoo! is trying to fight against those fake websites by letting people create seals to make sure they are signing into an authorized Yahoo! properties. Let's analyze the new tool. The seal can be created with words or pictures. You can upload a photo and even customize the color background. The process is smooth and fast. I think this idea is smart because not only is this a security enhancement it is also a way to personalize your login page. This is what my current loging seal looks like:

As a result, anytime i want to login the Yahoo! network, my picture will be displayed. Well almost...

 

I had a really weird dream last night. I even think it was sort of disturbing. I usually do not remenber what passed through my mind at night but, for some reasons, this time I remember pretty much everything. To me, this only is quite important enough to write it down.

People reading my articles knows that I like to digg into webservices and especially the big ones like Yahoo! or Google. Also, I have been thinking about getting a Mac machine for quite a while now and I decided to seriously save money to get one of those. I like to learn about the stuff I am trying out or about the products and brands I am going to buy or use on a regular basis. Therefore I have been watching lots of mac related shows those past few days. I have been watching several MacExpo/MacWorld/WWDC videos as well as useful tutorials so as not to feel like a noob once I get the laptop.

My dream was a mix of bits of news I read few days, weeks or months ago, of details that caught my attention in those videos. In the end, those flashbacks took an interesting twist in my mind and seemed to imply one thing: Google is to Apple what Yahoo! is to Microsoft. OK, I warned you, this was a dream!

Also, and more importantly, I remember some of the key elements that shaped this vision.

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Yesterday I went back on the Yahoo! Tech site. I had a quick look at it few months ago when it launched but I wasn’t sure to have analyzed all the options. I like the fact we can rate products and write reviews. In the past, I used to browse the articles on Epinions and Ciao, and I even wrote few articles. It’s really helpful to read people’s opinions when you are about to buy a product. In fact I tend to believe this is one of the greatest ideas that has made the Internet so useful.
However, I believe Yahoo! Tech could even more useful.

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So I am actually writing this entry with Windows Live writer. At first I was like: “what? a software to blog??? that’s so has been!!!!!” Well actually it is… So let’s see what’s really innovative in here that would prevent me from thinking that Microsoft was actually completly unable to come with a Webeditor à la Writely.

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Let’s be honest: even though I try to convince myself that I certianly would not want a Mac machine i secretly save money to get the brand new MacBook Pro 17′ display… ok that part is done.

Now I went few times to an Apple store and play around with the latest OS, Tiger. Once, I saw that we could display the widgets with the middle mouse button. One simply needs to press it to make them appear on the screen and press a second time to make them disappear. I love the idea.

Unfortunately, Yahoo! Widgets, formely known as Konfabulator, does not let me choose to set up a mouse button shortcut. Instead I have to create a keyboard shortcut. So I have to find a way to trick the engine and emulate that keyboard shortcut with my mouse button.

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 I read a very interesting thread at the Yahoo! Mail group. Few members have had their Yahoo! Mail beta build upgraded with lots of new features. A member was kind enough to post some screenies in the photos section. This new build show us a preview of the new Calendar features.

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Voice Recognition…mmmm I don’t know if i’d use it. I think i would not really trust it. For me it’s like those automatic translator software: are they smart enough to understand the context of the situation in order to find the good translation?
Anyway, Microsoft obviously did not got it right.
That’s a funny video I found on My Mac Blog which shows that Microsoft is facing (yet another) problem for its demo. The result is funny.

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About two or three years ago, I was invited to test Windows XP Media Center. They sent me a PC and all the stuff to plug-in. Honestly, I played with it for about two weeks, and quickly got bored. I still have all the stuff over here though!
I was looking at the Apple website and saw this awesome Front Row interface. I suddenly felt the need to look around for free media interface software.
I stumbled upon this website. However, the software is not really good. I have found way to many bugs, it should have been in alpha. Let’s hope Sarah Media will be better in the future.

Then someone linked me to Media Portal. A dream comes true.

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Tara Hunt wrote a very interesting article titled R.I.P. Browsers
I think this point of view is going a bit too far. It is true that surfing on a new generation website gives the impression to have “an OS on an OS”. Take Yahoo! Mail for example, many people are amazed to see its resemblance with Outlook Express. Then why can’t the application just open up without a browser?
There are many examples in which web content is displayed on your PC without the need of a web browser. In this sense, widgets can basically show you anything as long as the content provider offers a feed to subscribe.

So let’s analyze how that’d be not to have a browser anymore.

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Those past few months, I have been helping Ouriel Ohayon with Techcrunch France by translating and adapting Michael Arrington’s Techcrunch.com articles. I decided to go at a slow pace at the beginning (about two or three articles per week). Not only is it a good way for me to work on translations - I’m preparing a certificate to be an English teacher in France - it’s also a lot of fun to discover new webservices everyday.
I am starting to hate this “web 2.0″ label. I am amazed to see that no one is able to clearly define it. I guess my labelling this trend as “new web generation” doesn’t mean much either actually. However I just find it more simple and less formal.
Over at Techcrunch, Michael Arrington has a 20-minute interview with CEOs from several new web companies : Aaron Cohen (Bolt), Scott Milener and Steven Lurie (Browster), Keith Teare (edgeio), Steven Marder (Eurekster), Joe Kraus (JotSpot), Jeremy Verbaa (Piczo), Auren Hoffman (Rapleaf), Chris Alden (Rojo), Gautam Godhwani (Simply Hired), Jonathan Abrams (Socializr), David Sifry (Technorati), Matt Sanchez (Video Egg) and Michael Tanne (Wink).

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Yesterday, a Zdnet article encouraged me to write on WebOs and briefly review some of the most famous. Well this one came up in various tech sites: Desktoptwo. This is by far the best I have yet tested.
I found the speed really amazing compared to YouOs. It has lots of built-in applications and interesting settings options. It is a breeze to actually upload a file from your desktop PC to the platform.

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In his last article, Richard MacManus, of the Web 2.0 Explorer blog, is asking an open question

Do you think WebOS products have a future?

I have tried few webbased operating systems including Goowy, YouOS, EyeOS as well as a demo account for Fenestela. Before answering this question let’s have a quick look at those products.

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