Consumer content

Why is Yahoo peddling old plug-ins?

It's hard not to pity Yahoo's very public decline, but that doesn't keep us from scratching our heads over the once-great Silicon Valley powerhouse's recent promotion of a plug-in that debuted a year ago and which its developers say is sorely outdated.

An early November post on Yahoo's Messenger blog promoted the Twitter-Sync plug-in, published by New Zealand developers WackyB.

Twitter-Sync, last updated on Yahoo's plug-in site over a year ago on September 6, 2007, is curiously said to sync Twitter and Yahoo status updates only with Yahoo Messenger 9.0, which was released … Read more

Puppy porn and otter obsession

I've been wanting to write about the phenomenon of animal Web cams for several years when I first learned that my good friend Susan was addicted to the sea otter cam at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Every time I would see Susan she would regale me with information about her favorite sea otter, Toola. Toola, who often serves as a surrogate mother to stranded otter pups, doesn't like to be weighed on the scale, she only leans on her right side and grooms her fur with both paws and feet, and she is very shy despite assuming center … Read more

Another label sees big digital-music growth

Warner Music Group, the label that represents such acts as REM and Green Day, is the second major recording company to report healthy growth in digital sales during the past quarter.

On Tuesday, Warner reported that digital sales in the quarter ended September 30 grew 27 percent to $167 million, up from $131 million during the same period last year.

Warner also beat Wall Street expectations by reporting earnings of $6 million or 4 cents per share on revenue of $854 million. Analysts had expected to a loss of 2 cents per share on $837 million in revenue.

Two weeks … Read more

Commit adultery in China, Web vigilantes will hunt you

A man cheats on his wife and after learning of the affair the woman leaps from her 24th-floor balcony. Before committing suicide, the wife blames her husband and his mistress for her death in a blog post.

The woman was a 31-year-old Beijing resident who has since become the face of what the Chinese call "human flesh search engines." The term is used to describe cybermobs banding together online to hunt down people who have committed perceived wrongdoings.

There's a fascinating story about these Web vigilantes from Beijing-based freelance journalist Chris O'Brien at Forbes.com. He … Read more

YouTube videos get widescreen treatment

YouTube has expanded the viewable width of all videos appearing on the site, creating an image that viewers will likely associate more with a movie theater screen or high-definition television.

The video-sharing site announced the move in a blog posting Monday evening:

We're expanding the width of the page to 960 pixels to better reflect the quality of the videos you create and the screens that you use to watch them. This new, wider player is in a widescreen aspect ratio which we hope will provide you with a cleaner, more powerful viewing experience.

The expanded viewing width will … Read more

Web suicide watchers tough to prosecute

A teenager lay dying in bed after swallowing a lethal does of narcotics while his suicide attempt is broadcasted to the Web. A group of concerned viewers attempted to intervene by alerting the authorities. Others however prodded the teen to take his own life with messages such as "do it."

Authorities in Pembroke Pines, Fla., are now trying to determine whether any of the people who encouraged the teen to kill himself violated Florida law, according to several reports. The incident began last week when the 19-year-old man Webcasted himself on Justin.TV and posted a message at … Read more

LinkedIn unveils new search platform

Updated at 7:15 p.m. PST to correct number of LinkedIn members.

Nearly a month after unveiling a new developer platform, business social-networking site LinkedIn took the wraps off a new search platform Monday night.

In a summary of the new key features, Esteban Kozak, senior product manager at LinkedIn, said the new platform is "redefining the way professionals go about finding talent, business partners, customers, or a former colleague."

The site, which has about 31 million members, examined more than a billion search queries executed by members to create new productivity tools, Kozak says.

With the … Read more

McCartney: Talks to get Beatles on iTunes stalled

Updated at 8:45 p.m. PST to add comment from EMI.

Talks to make The Beatles' catalog available on Apple's iTunes have "stalled," according to Paul McCartney.

Apparently the impasse is between the band's representatives and record label EMI, McCartney told the Associated Press in London on Monday. EMI, the smallest of the four top recording companies can't close a deal with iTunes or any new music formats without the authorization of the Beatles: McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the estates of the late George Harrison and John Lennon.

McCartney made the comments at an … Read more

Sony's Crackle.com to kick off new video 'season'

A Sony-owned online video entertainment site is expected to unveil its latest "season" of Internet programs on Monday, as the media giant moves to beef up its online entertainment content.

Crackle.com, which Sony bought in 2006 when it was known as Grouper, will showcase shows that include sketch comedy by The Groundlings and Anytime with Bob Kushell , a five-minute talk show hosted by a Hollywood writer, Reuters reported Sunday. Crackle has adopted the television practice of rolling out new programming in seasons instead of rolling out episodes when they are completed. Crackle's season begins December 1, … Read more