Daily Bits

Yahoo Messenger 10 Finally Leaves Beta, Boasts 5 Killer Features

Arnold Zafra — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:52:29 +0000

Before I shifted to Mac from PC, I was testing Yahoo Messenger 10 beta on my Desktop PC. Back then I was already impressed by the many features that Yahoo’s IM and chat client has to offer and wondered how far it has gone to. YM was the first chat and IM client I used (yup I never tried IRC). Too bad Yahoo Messenger does not support Mac OS X as a stand-alone application. You can only run it through a Mac supported IM client such as Adium. I will surely miss using Yahoo Messenger, most especially now that its version 10 is finally a full version.

If you’re still on PC and using Yahoo Messenger here are the key features that you should look out for in Yahoo Messenger 10:

high-quality video calls with synced audio
real-time streaming of your contacts’ updates via ” Y! Updates”
hover menu for quickly sending IM to friends
updates are displayed inline in the conversation window for easier threading
new language menu for shifting from one language to another

Ready to download Yahoo Messenger 10? The link is right here.

Yahoo Messenger 10 Finally Leaves Beta, Boasts 5 Killer Features

Tech-Related Employment Data Still Not Looking Good

Arnold Zafra — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:01:40 +0000

This piece of news should serve as a precaution for non-U.S. information and technology workers who are planning to migrate to the U.S. in the hopes of landing a good job. According to a WSJ report, it seems the technology sector has not yet recovered from a slump. This is despite some promises by local companies including Google and Cisco that they would beef hiring this year.Silicon Valley for one, covering San Mateo, San Francisco and Santa Clara showed continued decline in employment rate in the technology sector. Among the tech-related fields which have slow job growth are internet-related, computer manufacturing and software sector.

And guess which tech-related field managed to maintain a steady employment growth rate? – iPhone app developers, clean technology specialists and Internet workers.

That goes to show how profitable Apple’s application business is for programmers. As for clean technology, it is pretty obvious that demand for people in this field should grow given the growing concern over the environment. Any idea, who those Internet workers are? Bloggers perhaps?

Google introduces lockable SafeSearch

Andy Merrett — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:49:35 +0000

Google’s SafeSearch, while not completely safe (depending on what you define as “safe”, that is) is certainly a great tool for helping to keep kids from viewing inappropriate material online, but it has suffered from being easy to unlock — even without a child actively trying to circumvent it.

That’s why Google has just announced an updated version of SafeSearch that requires a password in order to be removed.

The look of SafeSearch has changed, so when it’s engaged a set of big coloured Google balls are displayed top-right. This makes it easy for a parent or teacher to quickly see that it’s still engaged.

Of course, this is just one thing and won’t block dodgy sites on its own, but it’s a start.

Google introduces lockable SafeSearch

Facebook Photo Tagger App Goes Public

Arnold Zafra — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:33:11 +0000

Face.com’s Photo Tagger app in Facebook is now open to all. This app scan a Facebook member’s photo albums on the site and allows him to identify faces that he knows. While photo tagging is already a feature of Facebook Albums, this particular apps does it differently by grouping multiple shots of a member to make it easier to tag the photos and also for letting you tag photos of other people.

The good thing is, the app will send notifications to the owner of the photos (via Facebook also) for that person to approve the tag or not. Face.com’s photo tagging feature uses facial recognition technology which recognize facial resemblance even in ordinary daily photos.

Now here’s the most interesting part, Face.com’s photo tagger feature also has Face Alerts. This feature notifies you whenever new public photos of you are uploaded by your friends. Think of Face Alerts as something similar to the email alerts service of Google. The notification is sent to you via Facebook or email.

Check out Face.com’s Photo Tagger app here.

Facebook Photo Tagger App Goes Public

Google Maps adds Hawaii to Street View

Andy Merrett — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:01:51 +0000

Google has announced that it has now added the fiftieth state to Google Maps Street View.

If Hawaii is a bit far, and expensive, for you to travel, you can at least experience it virtually via Google’s excellent street level imagery.

You could even use it to plan a vacation, or inspire you to start saving!

Check out a gallery of Hawaii beaches.

Google is also on the lookout for suggestions of other places to enshrine on Street View, and is running a vote this month.

Make your selection of parks and trails, university campuses, malls, theme parks and zoos, and landmarks.

Via

Google Maps adds Hawaii to Street View