Yahoo melding into social networking

Yahoo introduced a revamp to several of its online products Monday as part of a broader effort championed by outgoing CEO Jerry Yang to make Yahoo more like social networking sites and provide easier access to products created by outside developers.
Some of the planned changes:
Yahoo Mail: Users will be able to organize messages so those from friends and family are at the top.
MyYahoo: Users will be able to add products from a handful of outside developers.
Yahoo TV and Music: Users will be able to automatically see ratings and comments that friends post.
Yahoo Toolbar: An upgrade will let users get e-mail via the toolbar from various providers including Yahoo and Google Gmail, as well as access to outside services, such as eBay.
- Verne Kopytoff

Google seeks quicker loading over others

In a reversal of its public proclamations, Google wants to pay telecom companies so that its Web sites load faster on users' computers than the competition's, according to a Monday Wall Street Journal article.
That would mark a major retreat for Google, which has espoused the principle of so-called network neutrality - the delivery of online data at the same speed for all Web sites - as a cornerstone of the Internet that must be preserved.
Only problem is that the article was "confused," Richard Whitt, Google's Washington telecom and media counsel, said in a blog post. Instead of violating network neutrality, he said that Google is simply trying to negotiate a deal with telecom companies to locate its servers in their data centers to speed the delivery of its online products.
Called edge caching, it's a practice that has been used for years and has nothing to do with network neutrality.
In response to the article, Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, a public interest group that is pro-network neutrality, backed Google and its contention that it is sticking to its network neutrality doctrine.
- Verne Kopytoff

Deceased get recognition on list

If you've read obituaries online, chances are you've run across Legacy.com, where you can sign a virtual guest book for the deceased.
On Monday, it released its own Top 10 list for 2008, of the celebrities with the most entries in their guest book. They are:
1. Bernie Mac (13,170 entries): actor and comedian
2. Tim Russert (4,630 entries): journalist, lawyer and moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press"
3. Hudson Family (4,270 entries): mother, brother and nephew of Oscar-winning actress and entertainer Jennifer Hudson
4. Madelyn Dunham (3,900 entries): grandmother of President-elect Barack Obama
5. Heath Ledger (3,290 entries): award-winning actor
6. Bill Keightley (3,280 entries): three-time NCAA champion and equipment manager for 48 years for the University of Kentucky men's basketball team
7. Meredith Emerson (2,720 entries): young hiker kidnapped in the mountains of Northern Georgia
8. Richard Wright (2,710 entries): pianist, keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter for Pink Floyd
9. Paul Newman (2,560 entries): actor, director, entrepreneur and humanitarian
10. Skip Caray (2,550 entries): sportscaster and son of legendary baseball announcer Harry Caray
According to the site, it receives nearly 800,000 guest book entries per month - or one about every 2.5 seconds.
- Suzanne Herel
This article appeared on page D - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Item Reviewed: Yahoo melding into social networking Description: Rating: 5 Reviewed By: Sakura District, Inc

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