Month: June 2010

Yahoo Does Search: is that a question or a declaration?

Bob Page3 Comments

Ah, poor Yahoo!.  Half their revenues come from search.  They desperately want people to use Yahoo! Search.  But the world is under the impression that Yahoo! has abandoned search, because they are (or will soon be) using Microsoft’s search index.   The distinction is too subtle for most people, who simply think “Yahoo! uses Bing” .. which isn’t the plan at all.

So imagine my reaction when I read, in Yahoo! News, an article called How to Scope Someone Out Online — basically “web stalking 101” — a sentence that states:

[…] it’s always wise to start with a basic Google or Bing search.

I know, it was just a feed from a PC World article, not written by Yahoo!.  But it does go to show what even the tech world is thinking when the number 2 search engine has fallen off the side of the road.  I suspect Yahoo! has a lot of PR work to do if they want to be seen as serious about search.

 

Yahoo Does Search: is that a question or a declaration?

a handy iPad tip: quickly toggle day/night screen modes

Bob Page2 Comments

A little tip on using your iPad in dark places (bedroom, airplane cabin, conference cavern, whatever).

You may know it’s possible to reverse the black and white, so you’re looking at white text on a black background rather than the normal black text on a white background. The setting is part of the Accessibility preferences (under General). It does mess up the colors, but I find it superior to simply reducing the screen brightness, especially when dealing with text.

The real gem is that you can easily switch between normal and reverse modes without having to leave whatever app you are in. Once again in the Accessibility preferences, look at Triple Click action. Set that appropriately.

Now when you triple click the home button, it toggles the screen. I just discovered this setting and already it’s part of my workflow.

a handy iPad tip: quickly toggle day/night screen modes