Yahoo! Toolbar Gets to Know RSS

Yahoo! Toolbar for IE (v5.6) now detects RSS/Atom feeds just like its toolbar sibling for Mozilla Firefox.

The toolbar uses RSS Autodiscovery to detect feeds. To make sure feeds on your web site are detected, just add the following to the of your web pages:

And when we say FEED TITLE we mean the name of your site PLUS the specific area of your site (e.g. Engadget: Gaming). When a user clicks the button it will say something like "Subscribe to Engadet: Gaming."

Get To Know Your Toolbar
Here are some other power user features that are useful for many folks:

Drag and drop any text on the page into the toolbar search box to search the web.

Press Alt-S to instantly put the cursor focus into the toolbar search box.

Right-click any toolbar button or menu item to open its destination in a new window.

Use Search This Site button to get results only for the current web site. See Toolbar Options

Enjoy!

Duke Fan
Yahoo! Toolbar Product Manager

Can Google mop up with Ajax?


Search giant shows that rich Web applications can be built from older tech. At risk: Flash, Java and even Microsoft. Read more here.

Can You Outsource Innovation?

BusinessWeek is asking interesting questions about outsourcing innovation in this week's issue.

"R&D used to be treated as one big black box," says Vivek Paul, CEO of Indian info-tech services giant Wipro Technologies (WIT ), whose contract R&D service employs 8,000 engineers. "Now, companies are deconstructing the whole R&D chain, sorting out what's strategic and what's not."

To help provide answers, Parametric Technology (PTC), a Needham, (Mass.) producer of collaborative design software for 31,000 clients worldwide, commissioned a study of a typical R&D workforce of a typical electronics company. It concluded that about 30% of the jobs were "portable," meaning companies could shift them offshore. (From: R&D Jobs: Who Stays, Who Goes?)

Is there a point of no-return with offshoring and outsourcing?

Flexible-screen phone in 2007...

Or so they say. Philips Polymer Vision is reportedly making great strides in producing a flexible screen for phones. When you want to view a larger screen than the tiny external display on your phone, you can unfurl your phone's flexible screen like a scroll. Not only will this scroll screen be a boon to wizards, it can also provide a 320 x 240-pixel image, making it better (but not entirely good) for viewing documents and web pages on your phone. Rumor has it that this new screen could be ready in as little as two years. We think it'll show up around the time that your refrigerator begins talking to your dishwasher via Bluetooth and all of your monetary needs are taken care of by the Intergalactic Federation.

Future Now: Wrist Video

So, it took us 40+ years to come from Dick Tracy's imaginary wrist radio to Israeli Army's very real wrist video, developed by Tadiran Spectralink. The screens display video shot by unmanned airplanes. "We are fulfilling the science fiction movies that we see," said Itzhak Beni, chief executive of the Elisra Group's Tadiran Electronic Systems and Tadiran Spectralink companies.
-- Associated Press via Engadget

Adverting Robots

A Japanese firm Flower Robotics has developed a mannequin robot that can strike a pose for customers - and spy on who they are and what they're buying.

"Mannequins have been static but this will pose for the nearest person by sensing his or her position," robot designer Tatsuya Matsui told a news conference. The robot would be able to judge the age and sex of shoppers and even identify the bags they are carrying and pass along the information to stores for marketing purposes.
--tvnz.co.nz

iPod People

Andrew Sullivan's written an interesting piece about how isolated and lonely we seem to be these days. He wonders if we've turned into the iPod People, as he describes a recent stroll through New York:

There were little white wires hanging down from their ears, or tucked into pockets, purses or jackets. The eyes were a little vacant. Each was in his or her own musical world, walking to their soundtrack, stars in their own music video, almost oblivious to the world around them. These are the iPod people.

I noticed this when I went skiing this past week, especially obvious were the iPod teens on the ski lifts, staring into space like zombies, seated next to me.

Can a product change a society so fundamentally, or is this product showing us something about our society that was always there?

Mobile networks seek turbo boost

Third-generation mobile (3G) networks need to get faster if they are to deliver fast internet surfing on the move and exciting new services.

The "digital divide" between rich and poor nations is narrowing fast, according to a World Bank report.

The World Bank questioned a United Nation's campaign to increase usage and access to technology in poorer nations.

Lead; Follow - Get Out of the Way!

Could Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs be thinking about more than just inducing a few PC enthusiasts to switch to the Mac? He claims not to be interested in the Media Center concept, noting that the cable industry is a monopoly. However, he is also famous for misleading analysts.

Firefox Keeps Gaining

"If ever there were a sign that Firefox is gaining markeshare, here you have it. Yahoo has released a PC Firefox version of its toolbar, and plans to add Mac support soon."

Further evidence: the B2 Website's tally of browser now has Explorer's share at 73% and Firefox at 10%.

Fiorina out!

Carly Fiorina, one of corporate America's highest ranking female executives, has stepped down as chairman and chief executive of Hewlett-Packard.

UPDATE: Who said incompetence doesn't pay off.

The Business Of Nanotech

There's still plenty of hype, but nanotechnology is finally moving from the lab to the marketplace. Get ready for cars, chips, and golf balls made with new materials engineered down to the level of individual atoms.

Yahoo launches 'contextual' search

Yahoo is offering a new search service designed to help people find more-relevant content online.

RFID: Plenty of Mixed Signals

Despite Wal-Mart's push for radio-frequency identification, skeptical suppliers are still foolishly slow to embrace the new technology.

New Yahoo tool sends business info to mobile phones

Yahoo began offering on Thursday a new tool that allows users of its local search service to send restaurant or business information in the form of a text message from a computer to a mobile phone.

Amazon search pictures your destination

Amazon.com is mapping the streets of the United States in an ambitious digital photography project to drive people into local businesses.

Sun poised to take open-source Solaris

Sun Microsystems is about to take the next step in its plan to refurbish the reputation of its Solaris operating system in the eyes of a small but crucial group: programmers.

CES 2005

Which gadgets will come out of CES 2005 to capture the hearts and dollars of consumers?

Bezos offers glimpse into space project

Blue Origin, the secretive space exploration company founded by Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, on Thursday, Jan. 13th, quietly announced plans to build a testing facility on a remote ranch in western Texas.