Hack new Yahoo Mail!

Yahoo Mail is back with a Bang! 

By now you must have heard that Yahoo have launched much cooler Mail

However, to make it much usable, I'm trying with few Hacks.

* Increase the Message Read Pane Area (stretch)

In Mailbox vertical split, Inbox area is hardly using 65% of my screen width, and right most ~20% of the area is unused (Ads, Banners!). Moreover, my content viewable area is quite small.

1. Check if you have Greasemonkey or Tempermonkey installed in your browser.
2. Install the following script there:

1. // ==UserScript==
   // @name       Ymail stretch
   // @namespace  http://vishnu-agarwal.blogspot.com/
   // @version    0.1
   // @include    https://in-mg0.mail.yahoo.com/neo*
   // @description  stretches the new YMail Inbox area
   // @match      https://in-mg0.mail.yahoo.com/neo/*
   // @copyright  2012+, You
   // ==/UserScript==
   
   if(ele = document.getElementById('shellcontent')) ele.style.width='1300px';
   

Done!

Will update the post with more tweaks!

References:

1. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tampermonkey/dhdgffkkebhmkfjojejmpbldmpobfkfo

2. http://vishnu-agarwal.blogspot.com/2010/03/introduction-to-greasemonkey.html

3. http://yahoo.tumblr.com/post/63462971435/yahoo-mails-sweet-16-is-sweet-a-brand-new-view

YUIDoc JavaScript documentation generator released

Today was the official release of the new YUIDoc JavaScript documentation generator. YUIDoc is a Node.js application that generates API documentation from comments in source, using a syntax similar to tools like Javadoc and Doxygen. YUIDoc is currently powering the API documentation for YUI and has been actively updated over the last year.

YUIDoc provides:

• Live previews YUIDoc includes a standalone doc server, making it trivial to preview your docs as you write.
• Modern markup YUIDoc’s generated documentation is an attractive, functional web application with real URLs and graceful fallbacks for spiders and other agents that can’t run JavaScript.
• Wide language support YUIDoc was originally designed for the YUI project, but it is not tied to any particular library or programming language. You can use it with any language that supports /* */ comment blocks.

See the blog post for more details:
http://www.yuiblog.com/blog/2012/05/09/yuidoc-0-3-0-is-official/

Yahoo mail moving out of Beta

Today Yahoo! announced that Yahoo! Mail will move out of beta and become generally available for millions of users in the coming weeks.  With this latest version of Yahoo! Mail (available in multiple markets and multiple languages), Yahoo! offers a faster, safer, easier and constantly connected experience across all devices that keep the conversations going — anytime, anywhere.

• Faster : Yahoo! put an emphasis on improving performance and delivered an experience that is at least 2x faster than previous versions. Whether you are on DSL, cable or dial-up, you’ll notice a dramatically faster Yahoo! Mail.

• Safer : Yahoo! upgraded our SpamGuard system and Mail Anti-Phishing Platform (YMAP) to reduce spam and phish-laced emails by an additional 60% -- that’s on top of the billions spam messages Yahoo! block each month. 

• Easier : Yahoo! introduced even easier ways to connect and to share, organize and store online conversations and media content. Yahoo! added the ability to quickly reply to your Facebook friends, view inline photos and videos to engage and delight users, deeper integration with Yahoo! Messenger to support multi-mode scenarios, and new Apps like YouSendIt and All My Purchases to extend our eco-system.   

• Constantly Connected : And Yahoo! has made sure that these are seamless experiences that travel with you – allowing people to engage with Yahoo! Mail on a PC, iPhone, Android or tablet device. 

The end result is a personally relevant communications experience — one that drives deeper engagement with consumers, excites advertising partners, and allows the teams to deliver continued innovation rapidly. 

Delicious has a new owner, AVOS - founder of YouTube

	Yahoo! is excited to announce that Delicious has been acquired by the founders of YouTube, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. As creators of the largest online video platform, Hurley and Chen have firsthand expertise enabling millions of consumers to share their experiences with the world. Delicious will become part of their new Internet company, AVOS. To continue using Delicious, you must agree to let Yahoo! transfer your bookmarks to AVOS. After a transition period and after your bookmarks are transferred, you will be subject to the AVOS terms of service and privacy policy. Reasons to let Yahoo! transfer your bookmarks • Continue uninterrupted use of Delicious. • Keep your Delicious account and all your bookmarks. • Enjoy the same look and feel of Delicious today plus future product innovations. What happens if you do not transfer your bookmarks • Delicious in its current form will be available until approximately July 2011. • After that, you will no longer be able to use your existing Delicious account and will not have access to your existing bookmarks or account information. About AVOS AVOS is a new Internet company founded by Chad Hurley and Steve Chen who, in 2005, founded YouTube, the world’s largest online video platform. Before YouTube, Hurley and Chen were early employees at PayPal, a leading online payment service that is now part of eBay. Delicious will become a part of AVOS, based in San Mateo, California. Learn more about moving your bookmarks. Thank you for using Delicious. Yahoo! has appreciated having you with us, and we are pleased to be able to transfer Delicious to an incredible new owner -- you're in good hands. The Yahoo! Delicious Team

Monster acquired Yahoo! Hotjobs for $225 million

After Yahoo! search, Yahoo! Hotjobs is also sold. Monster, one of the best known in online employment websites, announced about the acquisition of Yahoo! Hotjobs for $225 million. These two giants now have a 3 year traffic deal as part of the acquisition.In a statement "The sale of Yahoo HotJobs to Monster, and the three-year traffic agreement with Monster, represent an attractive opportunity for Yahoo. The transaction will provide Yahoo with an upfront cash purchase price of $225 million; the ability to focus more on its core business and delivering exceptional experiences to its users, partners and advertisers; and the opportunity to drive longer-term value through the traffic agreement by allowing Yahoo to continue to generate revenue from the online recruiting space while continuing to provide users with valued online career and recruiting services."
Monster is one of the largest in terms of traffic and user world wide, while Yahoo! has brand associated with its product. Yahoo seems to be selling some of its less strategic assets, as last month Yahoo! also sold Zimbra to VMWare, though still has some of the Zimbra technology.

Improve Web Page Performance

There are a lot of articles available over the internet for the same. But I found few handy for me & It will surely help the developers who are not in much of it yet. Few of the points specified over here are based on the assumption that CDN is used for the static contents, while other may work without CDN requirement.

So let me do it point vise:

1. Make fewer HTTP Requests

• Make appropriate Sprites. CSS Sprites are the preferred method for reducing the number of image requests. Combine your background images into a single image and use the CSS background-image and background-position properties to display the desired image segment.
  
• Use combo handlers to reduce the http requests
  
• Use inline code if code is small (JS/CSS)

2. Reduce DNS Lookups.

3. Use a CDN for static components.

4. Add an Expire Header

5. Compress / Gzip appropriate components.

6. Put CSS at Top.

7. Put JS at Bottom.

8. Avoid much JavaScript/CSS code as Inline.

9. Minify Javascript.

10. Avoid Redirects.

11. Optimize the images

• Use optimized favicon (favicon cann't be served from CDN)
  
• Use SmushIt.
  
• Check for unnecessary use of high quality images. eg. 45KB 300x200 dimention.
  
• Remove duplicate images.
  
• Use background-repeat CSS property for the continous images with gradient, by picking up appropriate slice of image.
  
• For the continous images without gradient, use CSS background-color. For the rounded corner use CSS properties or corner images.
  
• Avoid empty space while making sprites.
  

12. Do the Post-loading of the components, which are not in visible area intially. eg. which can be seen only after scrolling down.

13. Use AJAX to fatch the components, which are not visible in page initially. eg. tab like structure

14. Make AJAX cacheable.

Yahoo! is the clear leader in the Research for Performance. That's why I always prefer to give reference from Yahoo! sites. Like for the more performance tips in detail please refer Yahoo! performance rules.

Enjoy improved performance.

Call Ezee Receives Strategic Investment from Yahoo!

Bangalore, December 18, 2008: Info Network Management Company Pvt. Ltd. (INMAC) today announced a strategic investment from Yahoo!, a global internet leader. Chennai based INMAC is more popularly known by its consumer brand, Call Ezee. With this investment, Yahoo!’s Dutch subsidiary acquired approximately 30% stake in INMAC, along with representation on INMAC’s Board.

Call Ezee is a telephone directory search service currently covering 14 cites across India, including the 6 largest cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Consumers can call the local Call Ezee number from any mobile or fixed line phone and request contact details of any business, or a list of businesses that offer the product or service they are looking for. INMAC expects the funding provided by Yahoo! to enable it to continue to develop its team and technology as it seeks to triple its reach across India over the next two years.

Since its inception in 2006, Call Ezee has gained the loyalty of both businesses and consumers by fulfilling their advertising and directory needs. Small businesses focused on Return on Investment (ROI) find Call Ezee to be efficient in generating new sales leads, while consumers appreciate the ability to receive instant information on businesses in their local area, free of cost. Indian businesses can also contact Call Ezee to be listed on the directory without any charge, although sales leads are charged on a premium listing or ‘pay for performance’ basis.

INMAC plans to continue to differentiate itself from competitors with its in-depth knowledge of local markets, advanced data collection abilities and new product launches aimed at increasing advertisers’ ROI.

About INMAC

INMAC is a large tele-information services provider present in 14 cities across India with another 6 cities expected to be added in the near term. With unique access numbers, detailed database of listings and a large sales force across most major cities in India, INMAC is today poised to transition to the next stage of growth. Within 2 years of launch, INMAC has garnered strong market share in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, and has demonstrated excellent growth in newer markets such as Mumbai and Delhi. INMAC aims to replicate its success across more cities inIndia and become a nationally recognized brand for directory services. INMAC has been promoted by Mr. TS Narayanaswamy who has nearly two decades of experience as a leading sales associate for large multinational banks.

About Yahoo! Inc.

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! is focused on powering its communities of users, advertisers, publishers, and developers by creating indispensable experiences built on trust. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com (http://pressroom.yahoo.com/) or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal (http://yodel.yahoo.com/).

Breaking news: R3 and StickleBack Yahoo tools Open Sourced

Two of the most important Yahoo’s platform tools have been published to the Open Source world for your pleasure:

• r3 allows developers of web applications to customize and translate their UI for different languages, markets and uses. It allows developers to modify existing functionality and add new plug-ins via the Stickleback extension engine.
• Stickleback is a general purpose plug-in framework. It ships with tools that allow developers to build and extend PHP command-line and gui applications. It forms the basis of 'r3', a web app customization and localization engine.