Flickr Shuts Down Forum Discussion On Obama-Joker Image

Oh, this just gets better and better. Or perhaps sadder and sadder.

In a post earlier this morning we discussed Flickr’s questionable decision to remove a photoshopped image of President Obama that makes him look like the Heath Ledger (Joker) character from The Dark Knight. In that post we quoted Flickr’s director of community Heather Champ who said “We very much value freedom of speech and creativity” in an explanation about why the image was removed from Flickr. We called B.S.

Now Flickr has shut off further comments on that forum post, which was most definitely not headed in a pro-Flickr direction. In his message shutting off the discussion, Zack Sheppard reiterates how important political discussion is to Flickr:

Political discussions and expression are definitely allowed here on Flickr. We don’t want to squelch political discussion, but if something is in violation of the Community Guidelines or copyright law and it’s reported, it will be taken down whether it’s a kitten, a sunset, or something political.

It looks like this thread has devolved into antics and gone off the rails so I’m shutting it down. The OPs question has been answered here. This image was removed because the Yahoo! Copyright Team received a complete Notice of Infringement.

This is fantastically absurd. Yahoo is quite literally trumpeting that they support political discussion in the very message they are sending to close down a political discussion.

The Truth: What’s Really Going On With Apple, Google, AT&T And The FCC

Apple has responded to the FCC’s request for information around its rejection of various Google and third party iPhone applications for the iPhone.

In short, Apple denies that they rejected the Google Voice application, but they go into great detail about how the Google Voice application hurts “the iPhone’s distinctive user experience.” All of those statements are either untrue, or misleading, or both.

The first part of Apple’s argument, that they never rejected the application, is “a total lie,” according to many sources with knowledge of the Google Voice application process.

The second part of Apple’s argument, that the Google Voice application hurts the iPhone’s distinctive user experience, is seriously misleading. I know this because I’ve become intimately familiar with the Google Voice service and applications over the last few months. See here, here, here and here, for example. I haven’t used the Google Voice app for the iPhone specifically, because it never launched. But I have been briefed by the Google team on two separate occasions on how the app would work over the last couple of months. Also, I’ve demo’d the Blackberry version of the app, and now use the Android version of the app.

Here’s the key language from Apple’s letter, with my comments:

Apple: “Contrary to published reports, Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study it.”

Reality: One third party Google Voice app developer disclosed to us in July that Apple SVP Phil Schiller told them that Google’s own app would be or already was rejected. Google also confirmed this to us later. There is overwhelming evidence that Apple did in fact reject the application.

Apple: “The application has not been approved because, as submitted for review, it appears to alter the iPhone’s distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone’s core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voicemail. Apple spent a lot of time and effort developing this distinct and innovative way to seamlessly deliver core functionality of the iPhone.”

Reality: This strongly suggests that the Google Voice app replaces much of the core Apple iPhone OS function. This certainly isn’t accurate, and we believe the statement is misleading. More details below, but in general the iPhone app is a very light touch and doesn’t interfere with any native iPhone apps at all.

Apple: “For example, on an iPhone, the “Phone” icon that is always shown at the bottom of the Home Screen launches Apple’s mobile telephone application, providing access to Favorites, Recents, Contacts, a Keypad, and Visual Voicemail. The Google Voice application replaces Apple’s Visual Voicemail by routing calls through a separate Google Voice telephone number that stores any voicemail, preventing voicemail from being stored on the iPhone, i.e., disabling Apple’s Visual Voicemail.”

Reality: Not true and misleading. The Google Voice application has its own voicemail function, which also transcribes messages. But it only works for incoming Google Voice calls, not calls to the iPhone. The Google Voice app in no way “replaces” Apple’s voicemail function.

Apple: “Similarly, SMS text messages are managed through the Google hub—replacing the iPhone’s text messaging feature.”

Reality: Not true and misleading. The Google Voice app doesn’t replace or in any way interfere wtih the iPhone’s text messaging feature. If someone sends a text message to your Google Voice number, the Google Voice app shows it. If it is sent directly to the iPhone phone number, nothing is different.

Apple: “In addition, the iPhone user’s entire Contacts database is transferred to Google’s servers, and we have yet to obtain any assurances from Google that this data will only be used in appropriate ways. These factors present several new issues and questions to us that we are still pondering at this time.”

Reality: Complete fabrication, way beyond misleading. The Google Voice app can access the iPhone’s contacts database, like thousands of other iPhone apps. But the Google Voice app never syncs the contacts database to their own servers. There is no option for users to do this. However, Apple offers the ability to sync iPhone contacts with Google via iTunes. So not only is Apple’s statement untrue, but they also provide this exact feature themselves via their own service.

So how did Google answer the same question in their own separate letter to the FCC, also made publicly available today? We don’t know, because Google requested that the answer be redacted. But my guess is that the answer, which the FCC has and can compare to Apple’s response, tells a significantly different (approximately the exact opposite) story:

Yahoo Recommends Firefox Users To Switch To The “New, Safer IE8″

Not sure when this started occurring exactly, but Yahoo is apparently now letting Firefox users know that they’d be better off switching to the “new, safer Internet Explorer 8″. Apart from this tweet sent out yesterday, we haven’t noticed anyone noticing, so we suspect it’s fresh and a direct result of the recent Yahoo and Microsoft love-fest.

How ironic. About a year ago, following a failed acquisition attempt by Microsoft, Yahoo ran a very different recommendation from their front page, advising Internet Explorer users to switch to the “NEW safer, faster Firefox 3″ instead.

Apparently, Yahoo recommends browsers based on what their latest business alliances are. (update: or as Michael puts it, Apparently The Safest Browser Is Whoever Is Paying Yahoo The Most)

Maybe they should just develop and market their own browser and rid the confusion?

WOW. Microsoft Offers $44.6 Billion To Acquire Yahoo

It’s been rumored for a long time, but now it’s reality.

Microsoft has made an unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo. The bid, which would consist of cash and Microsoft stock, values Yahoo shares at $31 a share, a 62% premium on Thursdays closing price.

Michael stated during his appearance on Fox Business this week that Yahoo could face a takeover by Microsoft as part of an ad play, and he was right. Microsoft cites online advertising as being one of the key benefits of the acquisition, saying that “resulting benefits of scale along with the associated capital costs for advertising platform providers make this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today this market is increasingly dominated by one player. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a competitive choice while better fulfilling the needs of customers and partners.”

The emphasis is mine but it’s another key point: Microsoft + Yahoo = a stronger competitor to the Google borg.

Microsoft has previously shown an interest in Yahoo, with reports in May 2007 saying that Microsoft had approached Yahoo about a friendly takeover.

As follows, the letter from Microsoft to the Yahoo board, there’s also a conference call at 8:30am EST where we hope to get more details.

January 31, 2008

Board of Directors
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Attention: Roy Bostock, Chairman
Attention: Jerry Yang, Chief Executive Officer

Dear Members of the Board:

I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of Microsoft to make a proposal for a business combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!. Under our proposal, Microsoft would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 based on Microsoft’s closing share price on January 31, 2008, payable in the form of $31 in cash or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock. Microsoft would provide each Yahoo! shareholder with the ability to choose whether to receive the consideration in cash or Microsoft common stock, subject to pro-ration so that in the aggregate one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be exchanged for shares of Microsoft common stock and one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be converted into the right to receive cash. Our proposal is not subject to any financing condition.

Our proposal represents a 62% premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock of $19.18 on January 31, 2008. The implied premium for the operating assets of the company clearly is considerably greater when adjusted for the minority, non-controlled assets and cash. By whatever financial measure you use - EBITDA, free cash flow, operating cash flow, net income, or analyst target prices - this proposal represents a compelling value realization event for your shareholders.

We believe that Microsoft common stock represents a very attractive investment opportunity for Yahoo!’s shareholders. Microsoft has generated revenue growth of 15%, earnings growth of 26%, and a return on equity of 35% on average for the last three years. Microsoft’s share price has generated shareholder returns of 8% during the last one year period and 28% during the last three year period, significantly outperforming the S&P 500. It is our view that Microsoft has significant potential upside given the continued solid growth in our core businesses, the recent launch of Windows Vista, and other strategic initiatives.

Microsoft’s consistent belief has been that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! clearly represents the best way to deliver maximum value to our respective shareholders, as well as create a more efficient and competitive company that would provide greater value and service to our customers. In late 2006 and early 2007, we jointly explored a broad range of ways in which our two companies might work together. These discussions were based on a vision that the online businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo! should be aligned in some way to create a more effective competitor in the online marketplace. We discussed a number of alternatives ranging from commercial partnerships to a merger proposal, which you rejected. While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! that we are proposing.

In February 2007, I received a letter from your Chairman indicating the view of the Yahoo! Board that “now is not the right time from the perspective of our shareholders to enter into discussions regarding an acquisition transaction.” According to that letter, the principal reason for this view was the Yahoo! Board’s confidence in the “potential upside” if management successfully executed on a reformulated strategy based on certain operational initiatives, such as Project Panama, and a significant organizational realignment. A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved.

While online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers. Synergies of this combination fall into four areas:

Scale economics: This combination enables synergies related to scale economics of the advertising platform where today there is only one competitor at scale. This includes synergies across both search and non-search related advertising that will strengthen the value proposition to both advertisers and publishers. Additionally, the combination allows us to consolidate capital spending.

Expanded R&D capacity: The combined talent of our engineering resources can be focused on R&D priorities such as a single search index and single advertising platform. Together we can unleash new levels of innovation, delivering enhanced user experiences, breakthroughs in search, and new advertising platform capabilities. Many of these breakthroughs are a function of an engineering scale that today neither of our companies has on its own.

Operational efficiencies: Eliminating redundant infrastructure and duplicative operating costs will improve the financial performance of the combined entity.

Emerging user experiences: Our combined ability to focus engineering resources that drive innovation in emerging scenarios such as video, mobile services, online commerce, social media, and social platforms is greatly enhanced.

We would value the opportunity to further discuss with you how to optimize the integration of our respective businesses to create a leading global technology company with exceptional display and search advertising capabilities. You should also be aware that we intend to offer significant retention packages to your engineers, key leaders and employees across all disciplines.

We have dedicated considerable time and resources to an analysis of a potential transaction and are confident that the combination will receive all necessary regulatory approvals. We look forward to discussing this with you, and both our internal legal team and outside counsel are available to meet with your counsel at their earliest convenience.

Our proposal is subject to the negotiation of a definitive merger agreement and our having the opportunity to conduct certain limited and confirmatory due diligence. In addition, because a portion of the aggregate merger consideration would consist of Microsoft common stock, we would provide Yahoo! the opportunity to conduct appropriate limited due diligence with respect to Microsoft. We are prepared to deliver a draft merger agreement to you and begin discussions immediately.

In light of the significance of this proposal to your shareholders and ours, as well as the potential for selective disclosures, our intention is to publicly release the text of this letter tomorrow morning.

Due to the importance of these discussions and the value represented by our proposal, we expect the Yahoo! Board to engage in a full review of our proposal. My leadership team and I would be happy to make ourselves available to meet with you and your Board at your earliest convenience. Depending on the nature of your response, Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!’s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.

We believe this proposal represents a unique opportunity to create significant value for Yahoo!’s shareholders and employees, and the combined company will be better positioned to provide an enhanced value proposition to users and advertisers. We hope that you and your Board share our enthusiasm, and we look forward to a prompt and favorable reply.

Sincerely yours,

/s/ Steven A. Ballmer

Steven A. Ballmer

Chief Executive Officer

Microsoft Corporation

New chrome beta reflects bigger Google challege

Features that Google brought to its developer preview version of Chrome--themes, a revamped new-tab page, a tweaked Omnibox for searching and entering Web addresses, and support for HTML 5 video--have now arrived on the browser's better tested beta version intended for broader use.

Individually, these new features are niceties. Collectively, they show Google is steadily moving ahead with its browser project, which was ambitious even before Chrome OS arrived on the scene. Fighting for a piece of the browser market is tough, but offering an operating system solely for Web-based applications is a lot tougher.

Google's Chrome ambition is to improve the Web as a foundation for applications and more generally to get people to do more online, and speed is of the essence. That's why the shiny new features such as Chrome themes actually are less interesting to me than some of the fine print in Google's announcement of the new beta...

Paypal targets students, parents with debit cards

PayPal on Tuesday is introducing a new service for parents with kids who are in high school or college. Called Student Accounts, it centers on the use of a special PayPal-branded Mastercard debit card that's tied to a parent's PayPal accounts. The parent acts as the provider and can funnel money in whenever they feel like it at predetermined dates, or--at what will most-frequently happen--the behest of their kids.

Some of the perks include no overdraft fees and the use of a debit card that's not tied to a particular bank account, meaning the balance can come from a variety of sources.

The system has more of an allure for parents though. It's easier for them to dole out cash and track where it goes. In other words, your kid can have the $20 they said they needed for gas money, but if it ends up being for the late-night beer run, you're going to know about it.

The other design behind the card, and one that goes far beyond tracking beer money spending, is to create an ecosystem of PayPal users that become acclimated to handling their finances within the service's confines. Considering parent-child money transfers may happen long after college attendance is complete, PayPal has incentive to get both parties used to dealing with its system.

A good example of this is that these students will one day have the option to "graduate" to having their own full PayPal accounts that they manage on their own and that includes a complete history of transactions they made when they were in school. Don Fotsch, who is PayPal's VP of user experience and design, told me that you cannot currently do this--but that it would be worked in by the time some of the early users reached that point. PayPal will also be working on a way to let students integrate any outside income they're getting from an after or during school job to be able to continue using that debit card on other purchases.

Samsung LCD new camera

JAGUAR JX preview

On the heels of the 2010 Jaguar XJ unveiling in London, and preceding its North American debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance this weekend, Jaguar showed the new XJ off at small events in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Along with a select number of auto journalists, Jaguar invited design school students to take a look at the car. The new XJ represents a radical revamping of a 40-year-old design, and with so much history, the new look is a little hard to accept. In fact, it is difficult to think of it as an XJ at all. Its lines are modern, making it look similar to other cars on the road. But designer Ian Callum includes a few touches to make it stand out, such as the strange back glass that appears to wrap around the rear of the car. In the cabin, there's no mistaking its modernity. Not only does it have a touch screen on the stack for navigation, phone, and music functions, but it also uses a completely virtual instrument cluster, a TFT screen showing representations of analog gauges.

Apple Introduces iPhone OS 3.0 Beta 3 and New SDK to Developers

Apple today seeded the third beta version of iPhone OS 3.0, along with a new build of the software development kit (SDK), to developers. World of Apple republishes the seed notes for the SDK, detailing a number of changes to various components, including Xcode, Interface Builder, and Dashcode, and notes that applications targeting pre-OS 3.0 devices are unable to be tested on the latest beta.
No visible changes in the new version of the OS have yet been detailed. The last beta was seeded to developers on March 31st.

Apple today seeded the third beta version of iPhone OS 3.0, along with a new build of the software development kit (SDK), to developers. World of Apple republishes the seed notes for the SDK, detailing a number of changes to various components, including Xcode, Interface Builder, and Dashcode, and notes that applications targeting pre-OS 3.0 devices are unable to be tested on the latest beta.
No visible changes in the new version of the OS have yet been detailed. The last beta was seeded to developers on March 31st.

AT&T Iphone Expires in 2010

The Wall Street Journal reports that AT&T's exclusive offering of the iPhone will expire next year but that AT&T is working with Apple to extend it to 2011.
The exact length of exclusivity has been a bit murky with initial reports claiming as far out as 2012 but the most recent reports corroborating the 2010 date.
AT&T has benefited from the exclusive iPhone offering attracting 4.3 million iPhone subscribers in the second half of 2008 with about 40% of them being new to AT&T. If the agreement does expire, this could open up the iPhone to become available with other U.S. carriers. This may, however, require some variations in hardware in order to accommodate other networks.

Getting Traffic from Yahoo Technology Post

With Yahoo! Pay-For-Review this model may be relatively easier to enter the site in the directory but you get traffic from the list of the entire story is different. And with the new annual recurring payment policy you must be extra careful when submitting your site for review.

Here are 8 things to remember when submitting your site to Yahoo!

1) Selecting your domain name is the most important step in getting top ranking in Yahoo! and also other directories such as Dmoz and Looksmart.

Make sure your domain name is "Keyword Rich". You can make your domain keyword rich enough to enter hyphens to separate words in your domain name. Yahoo! provide more relevant to their site with keywords in the domain name.

We take the domain name for example: http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com/. This consists of 4 different in high-demand keywords: "Home Based Business", "Home Business", "Home Business Opportunities", "Home Based Business Opportunities."

While the name of your domain, you should even try to keep your domain name, such as consisting of one, 2-4 word main or "parent" keyword, which in turn consist of 2-4 in high demand "child" keyword. You may or may not get the highest ranking for all keywords, but you can be sure to get a main or parent" keyword (If you do all the rights of others). Even if you must get a separate domain name for this, GET IT! This is really important for your ranking.

2) Sites that are placed higher in the directory structure given more relevance of the site that placed a lower or depth.

For example a site that is listed in the category - B2B/Business Opportunities will give more relevance of a site that is listed in the category - B2B/Business Opportunities/Directories. Here's a great tip to select the category that most trafficked website for you.

Once you've short-listed 2 or 3 categories to place your site in, check the cost of the Sponsor Listing categories. It’s really simple. Visit the following URL: https: / / ecom.yahoo.com / fast / sponsor. Enter the URL of any web site listed in the category you want (must be the same as the URL that appears in a category must be commercial, and category).

Please note that Yahoo! Sponsors receive a listing only to certain commercial categories and so this tip may or may not work for the category. You will be prompted for your Yahoo! ID. After you submit your information, you will be given to the cost for a Sponsor. Repeat the process for the remaining short-listed categories.

Now compare the price of all short-listed categories. Natural that one with a higher price is one of the most trafficked!

3) Yahoo! considers keywords in the directory while the rank structure.

For example, if someone searches for "Directory of Business Opportunities", a web site listed in category -- B2B/Business Opportunities/Directories will give more relevance of the web site listed in the category - B2B/Business Opportunities

4) Yahoo! NOT a spider web to determine the ranking. It ranked sites based on keywords in the domain name, title and description. So having a META tag does not make any difference to your listing.

5) DO NOT try to stuff as many keywords into the description. Yahoo! editors cut down the information if they feel even the least hype. Try to avoid words like - no.1, proven, turnkey and fun etc.

Also, make sure that the titles of the same page with the information you give to your site. There is no confusion in the mind of editors’ review your site.

6) Make sure your domain name and business name is the same since Yahoo! known by using the business name as a title for your listing.

7) Make sure your website is "Content Rich". This is especially important for two reasons. One - to get your site received by Yahoo! and two - to maintain the list and get higher.

Yahoo! determines the popularity of a website by the amount of time visitors spend on your website. If you do not have that big, they hit the "back button" from their browser as soon as they hit your website, you can kiss up to your dreams may be higher than the list. Once you get a lower list, it can be very difficult to make as a visitor will not be able to find your site easily.

After getting a site accepted into the directory, Yahoo! ranking is based on the popularity of keywords in the domain name, title and description. But as time progresses, it is ranked based on the popularity of the website itself. We ignored this and we are listing down drastically in a few days after getting accepted!

8) Prior to the website, a website that actually research rank higher for keywords that you target (Especially the "Most Popular" sites in the directory). This will give you a rough idea about what should and what is not included in your website.

Why Domain Yahoo is Popular

Domain yahoo is one of the most popular in the world and has become market leaders by providing much needed access to various services for customers. The first thing you can benefit from the establishment of an email ID which will go far in launching you into a world where communication can occur easily. You can open a communication link via yahoo messenger and other benefits are that you have your own space for albums and store your files where you can see them from space. You can get a domain and start the process that has a web site on your own.

Yahoo domain name has brought and continues to bring a world of difference by providing a free service. Yahoo domain through you will get to see all the products and the products mentioned above is a yahoo widget, yahoo travel, yahoo tool bar, yahoo small business, yahoo shopping, yahoo search, yahoo real estate, yahoo photos, yahoo music, yahoo mobile, yahoo message board, yahoo local, yahoo groups, yahoo finance, yahoo bookmarks, yahoo autos, yahoo 360, and many other products. Yahoo also provides other services that are important regarding the domain. Domain locking is the prevention of unauthorized transfer to another registrar. Domains registered through yahoo can access this service.

You can get access to much more information through a domain and some of the most common questions are asked is how to lock and unlock your domain, and the effects of locking. People also want to know how to create a domain name and have all the information for you to read. First, the domain name should be good according to a clear and simple. People should not have a problem and remember, he must indicate the type of business you do. The domain name is very important and therefore will come with a unique address, you'll need to spend time and make sure you have the right name. Please note that the domain must contain letters, numbers and hyphens.


You are advised to back corner of the domain name you if you find that it is already in use. This is also good to think where you register the domain and ensure that the goal of serving you. In a domain, you will find a private domain registration which will help you keep your personal information from the public. This is because a lot of domain owners who have their contact details because the people affected by the information required by the internet governance body. But, to be sure that before people access information, you will be alerted first by their business partner Melbourne IT. You will be overwhelmed by the possibility yahoo domain has to offer. Sometimes take and read about the domain and discover more, you will find a service you want easily. Name that will continue to be violated as a new base is becoming increasingly popular for many customers.