Yahoo Mail: Update now to downgrade the experience

Clueless as always Yahoo is a few days away from forcing the latest version of it's web-mail interface on users. To call this an upgrade is a real joke.

Touted as two times faster (but only for inbox listing load time according to the small print on the Yahoo Mail upgrade teaser page), email messages, which are what most users are actually interested in, now load about four times slower. They have decided to truncate the incoming mail address displayed but still show the user's complete address (like we don't know our own address) and have relegated email headers to a stupid little popup window.

Yes the new interface has shiny new (dare I say web 2.0) buttons and is a lot more colorful. After a few days of use those are the only good changes I can see. Let's face it, when an old web standard like SquirrelMail is faster and more usable you need to wonder what Yahoo was thinking, or if they actually were thinking at all.

At one point Yahoo was the king of the social internet, however over the years they have truly excelled at doing one thing well... slowly ruining the best parts of it's most important social offerings, first with massive changes to their Yahoo Messenger user rooms (they closed the most used categories and removed the ability to create user or private rooms) in what they claimed at the time was response to "advertiser concerns".

What is missing? User based input. I doubt that any user testing was involved in their latest email system design decisions, it looks more like a "we need to do something to the interface" corporate decision rather than any attempt to give users what they truly need or to enhance the experience of those using it.

How about letting users select the features that we want? Where is the real innovation?

Over the years I have resisted the urge to switch to Google as my primary online email provider. In my opinion the label-tag/search paradigm is simply inferior to folders. It's a whole lot easier to move a message to a folder than it is to type labels over and over. I like having all of the mail from a particular person or site grouped together in one place.

Now I seriously need to reconsider my choice of web-mail providers.

Perhaps Yahoo and HP should merge. Then we can watch as they fumble and screw-up their businesses together.

Doctor Oz Investigates Arsenic in Apple Juice

On today's show Doctor Oz investigated high arsenic levels found in Chinese sourced apple juice concentrate and calls the FDA out on it's lack of any limit on the arsenic levels in apple juice widely available in the United States from from Gerber, Mott's, Juicy Juice and others.

The FDA and all of the juice companies he personally contacted refused to appear on the show.

It looks like time to BOYCOTT APPLE JUICE.

For more information on this issue visit: http://www.DoctorOz.com

Once Again: Back in the Music Business

In August of 2007 after a major mess-up by one of my business partners I exited the sound reinforcement business leaving with only a modest amount to compensate me for all of the preparatory work I had done. Shortly thereafter, completely disenchanted, I terminated all of my music related business and removed all production references from my company website.

I have always had this love-hate relationship with the music business going from the highs of seeing a promising band hit the stage for the first time to the lows as musicians argue, fight and destroy everything just as they are beginning to get noticed.

I have been in and out of the music business all my life. It seems to come in cycles.

Well... here I go again. A few weeks ago I received a call from a soon to be named indie-music client asking me to get involved in helping them with their project once again.

Now this is a real deja-vu moment as it was this very band that dragged me back into the music business in 1998! That began an 9 year period of working with musicians, bands, and venues all over New York City. During that time I produced the first post-911 indie-rock show south of Chambers Street in May of 2002 called "Downtown Rocks", as well as all-day Sunday shows with 8 bands for just $2.00 at Kenny's Castaways later in that year.

I seriously enjoyed my two year vacation from the music business. I have taken the time to address other issues in both my private and professional lives. Production is a high stress world and the occasonal free time is cleansing to the soul.

Who knows what this latest involvement will bring.
So.. Just wish me luck. I'm really gonna need it!

High gas prices and rising airfares can be a good thing.

The media of late is ablaze with dire warnings about a "fundamental shift" in the in the ability of casual vacation flyers to afford the quick rising airfares for their middle-class family vacations. I say... so what.

Give the average American some free time and suddenly it's time to leave, fly to some distant place and enter a world of make believe. To do nothing constructive and accomplish nothing while wasting resources... we call it a "vacation". It is high time we found a better use for all this pent up energy, not to mention all the cash we waste each year to live a few days like rock-stars.

Camp out in the backyard. Paint your ugly home (4 people, 5 days, 9 rooms, no problem!). Fix those defective brakes. Buy new tires. Throw a party and "GASP".... invite your neighbors! Do something nice for someone. The list is infinite.

Travel is an artificial need fueled by the relentless advertising of airlines, cities, states, casinos and other mouse-like establishments. Surely we can sell the airline/travel industry short and make a quick fortune while simultaneously reminding OPEC that there need not be a supply if there is no demand.

So to this brave new world I offer a slogan: Dream globally, vacation locally.

Remember.... you heard it here first.

Abraham, Martin, John... and Bhutto

With the sudden violent assassination of Benazir Bhutto at the age of 35, the world has (once again) lost a peaceful voice who might have changed the world a little bit for the better.

In a heroic attempt to bring about positive non-violent change, and quite aware of the great personal peril involved, Bhutto had recently returned to her beloved country of Pakistan full of the kind of insightful hope that illuminates far to few of us. Her personal quest echoed that of Nelson Mandella in it's scope and Mahatma Ghandi in it's heart.

Once again we are faced with the perplexing question of what a life might have been, what changes might have occurred and even what yet unknown future eddies and currents of history might have been modified, altered or shaped by her hand had she lived out her life.

While her death will certainly invigorate Pakistan's current political
struggle (consider what the influence of a female leader of Pakistan would have meant to the mid-east peace initiatives or even the global war on poverty), a person's sphere of influence, the people they touch and inspire, is much greater than what we can see in a glance at any one point in time. It is truly unmeasurable.

Bhutto's murder makes me sick. I am ashamed to be a member of the planet's ruling species. I try to believe that some (probably too little) good will come of this. I yearn for the heart of a monk, able to forgive unconditionally, yet I am unable to leave my feelings of loss, regret, and yes even anger behind.

My sincere condolences go out to her family and all that ever knew her personally or were ever touched by her, either in person or at a great distance (as I was), as we add her name to a "little list" that has become morbidly long and grotesquely written in our own blood.

It is said that humans learn by repetition. Exactly when will we begin to learn?

Mars goes high-tech with custom M&M's

It seems that candy company Mars has taken one of my favorite confections high-tech with custom ordering.

Featuring custom messages and 17 colors to choose from what more could you possibly want?

Finally a technical advance I can truly understand.

Order some for yourself, your friends, enemies, whatever.

Note: The message melts in your mouth, not in your hand.

Go to: www.mymms.com

Smaller isn't better: Verizon spits out smaller Yellow Pages

Posted here for your amusement... a picture showing the difference between the full size 2006 Verizon Yellow Pages for Brooklyn, N.Y. and the silly looking smaller 2007 offering.

While the new model is much easier to stand upright on it's edge for such silly pictures as the one above that is the only real "advantage" that I can find. The all important interior typeface is smaller and harder to read, no doubt done in an attempt to force seniors and the visually impared to use their overpriced directory service.

And it looks really silly between the full-sized 2007 Verizon White Pages and their 2007-08 B2B directory.


I find it hard to believe that Verizon saves any money with the smaller books considering that they dumped at least twice the number of directories in the lobby as there are apartments in this building. Maybe some company accountant proved that by making it smaller their advertisers got less and they made more?

KraZyMike