Changing message format in 9.0 Beta

[This tip was included as a link off an early article on Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Beta, but I wanted to highlight it again in case some of our 9.0 Beta users missed it the first time around.] When we first launched 9.0 Beta, we received complaints from users about how we changed the way a conversation [...]

A webcam wedding celebration

One of our team members, Mazi, got married last month under the rotunda at San Francisco’s City Hall. His wife, Mariana, is from Argentina and her family was unable to fly up for the wedding. So at their reception, Mazi and Mariana hooked up their laptop and webcam, signed into Yahoo! Messenger, and shared their [...]

Now hear this: Mac version has voice

We know you’ve waited a long time for this… The new version of Yahoo! Messenger for Mac Beta now has voice calling! With this new version, you can make free PC-to-PC calls or sign up for a Phone Out account to make calls from your Mac to regular or mobile phones worldwide for as low as [...]

March Madness in Yahoo! Messenger

It’s that time of year again when students, alumni and fans around the country put on their favorite college colors to cheer on their team in the NCAA College Basketball tournament. Grown men will cry, women who don’t normally follow sports will become rabid with NCAA fever, and productivity in offices will take a hit as [...]

Stars Without Makeup - Oh, the Horror!

People love to pick up tabloids that include pictures of stars without makeup. The public has some kind of fascination with seeing stars at their worst. Perhaps it's because they like to know that without gobs of makeup, the stars don't look that much better than everyone else.

Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling And Parting the Gender Curtain - A Quiz for Success-Minded Women

Corporate America's infamous glass ceiling is REAL. So what should all women in business know as they survey and strategically crash through that glass barrier toward the positions and salaries they deserve? Why does the centuries-strong Gender Curtain that still awaits become tougher to part the higher you go?

Women's Retreat Themes Must Be Designed to Attract Busy Gals

Women's Retreat Themes should be well thought out. They should be instantly of interest to a wide spectrum of potential attendees; easy to transform into posters and other publicity pieces, and robust enough to inspire decoration ideas, coordinating food options, pre- or -mid retreat skits, and other retreat development components.

Video made easy in 9.0 BETA

One of the handiest features of the new Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 BETA is the inline video player. Unlike older versions of Yahoo! Messenger, 9.0 BETA automatically plays videos from YouTube and Yahoo! Video right in the IM window while you chat. No longer do you have to click the link that a friend sends you [...]

We’re retiring versions 5.5 & 5.6

As Yahoo! Messenger gets older (we’re up to version 9.0 now!), so too do some of the “vintage” versions that are still in use by a few people. In an effort to provide the best experience for our users and maintain high security standards, we will officially retire Yahoo! Messenger 5.5 and 5.6 on April [...]

Smiley Award winners

Back in September 2007, we told you about a celebration at Carnegie Mellon University that honored the Emoticon. Twenty five years earlier, Professor Scott Fahlman was the first to use the text version of the emoticon with his colleagues on a computer message board. To mark the anniversary, Professor Fahlman and his colleagues teamed up [...]

Emoticon audibles

Ever wondered what the the devil’s laugh would sound like when you send the emoticon? Or wished that you could send a loud emoticon smooch over to your sweetie on Yahoo! Messenger? Then you’re in luck! A few of our favorite emoticons have found a second career as audibles. Audibles are animated characters [...]

Grooving with audibles

We got an email in our inbox recently from Bogdan Nasgodineanu, a Yahoo! Messenger user who lives in Constanta, Romania (see pics on Flickr). Bogdan has worked for several years in the Romanian music industry, but recently turned his focus to composing and producing his own music. Yahoo! Messenger is very popular in Romania and [...]

In the MIX with Yahoo! Messenger for Vista

This week, our Yahoo! Messenger for Vista team is at the Microsoft MIX conference in Las Vegas (March 5-7). The MIX conference is a chance for developers utilizing Microsoft platforms to discuss new ideas and technologies, as well as share what they’ve created. Last year our team hosted a couple of sessions on Windows Presentation [...]

What’s new in Avatar Towns?

Back in November, we told you about a new place you could visit to outfit your digital self: Avatar Towns. The team recently added some new shops and features. Drop in on the “Pet Pals” store to find just the right animal to hang out with you. The gorilla and iguana are my favorites, but there [...]

A hidden feature in Yahoo! Messenger for Vista

Here’s the story, of a lovely lady…” If you grew up in the U.S. in the 1970s, you’ll know that’s the opening line of the theme to the television show, The Brady Bunch. It also served as the inspiration for a hidden feature in the last release of Yahoo! Messenger for Windows Vista that we’re [...]

Dolly Parton Sing My Song - Please

I'm too young to be this old. Conversely you may think I'm too old to feel this young. But I'm a woman of a "certain age" and am proud and happy. Sing my song with me, loud and clear. Don't worry about the tune, it'll just come to you naturally.