Nothing to Yahoo about

More than a decade ago, Yahoo was THE source of information. That's why you could expect Yahoo to come up with timely, relevant and groundbreaking news. Back then, if there was a current event considered "breaking news" that I'd like to be updated on, Yahoo would be where I'd go.

Honestly, it's been years since I've seen the Yahoo homepage. 

Today, I did. And this is what I see as their top story:

Really, Yahoo? This is now your version of timely, relevant and groundbreaking news?

Makes me wish I didn't see Yahoo's homepage today.

Positioning is everything

I saw this article on yahoo today, and couldn't help but notice that the writer looks like she's ogling at Phillip Phillips.

I'm not sure if the positioning was an accident or if it was premeditated, but I think the overall effect looks very clever.

Yahoo you?

Initially, I thought I landed on a parallel site that was trying to copy yahoo. But after checking out its partner sites, I found out that it was the real yahoo site I was looking at.

It just so happened that they changed their logo.

The logo change actually happened without warning nor fanfare, which added to the surprise. Maybe they're doing a dry run or a test to see how the viewers will take to the logo.

Personally, I like the new yahoo logo. It feels younger and more playful than the first one. It must be the typeface that's giving me this vibe.

Yahoo for change!

Oh, what a difference a letter makes

As my Journalism professor once taught me, it only takes a letter to change the entire story.

While reading an article on Yahoo regarding Benedict Cumberbatch, I ran across this paragraph. 

It looks fine when you read it, but when you pay attention to how it's written, I noticed that murder was committed on his hair.

Yes, there's a difference between dyeing and dying. The proofreader should know that by now.

What's with you, Yahoo?

With a mix of shock and sadness, I read an article on yahoo about the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. 

But as I went further down the article, it became even more shocking and sadder due to the number of grammatical and spelling errors.

The line that should read "with difficulties in Vienna" had an extra "a."

While in another sentence, there were 2 "ats" at a time.

Yahoo is such a huge company, I'm sure they can afford to hire a proofreader.

More proof for more proofreaders

As much as I try not to pay too much attention to it, I guess my background in Journalism makes my eyes hypersensitive to errors on the printed word.

Take for instance this caption that I saw on a Yahoo article on the Inaugural Ball of the President of the United States.

Looks pretty normal, until you get to the part when they talk about what the FLOTUS wore.

I think they meant to say "wear red during the Inaugural Ball," and ended up with two "thes" in one sentence.

If they had a proofreader, I'm sure he or she have spotted that.

Ultimate joy

It's actually quite strange. I really enjoy organizing surprises (much to the chagrin of Mark,) but I don't like getting surprises.

In the past few years, I've been successful in organizing a number of surprises. Among them were my parents' surprise 40th anniversary wedding, Dad's surprise 70th birthday party, Ate Lissa's surprise 40th birthday party, my surprise trips to Japan to surprise Mark, as well as the surprise birthday parties of Bonique and Rona.

So it comes as no surprise that one of my favorite shows on-line is yahoo's Ultimate Surprises. It's a wonderful program featuring real people getting real surprises that change their lives. Some lives change that moment, and some change for a lifetime. And for some, it's both!

(video courtesy of youtube.com)

I remember when I went to Tokyo last June for another surprise visit to Mark. We were looking for something to watch on the computer and I told him that I wanted to watch Ultimate Surprises. He just rolled his eyes and said: "Seriously. Ultimate Surprises?" Harhar.

Why am I not surprised at that reaction.