Yahoo has a new pitch to email users: Forget about your password. Source: WSJ http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/10/15/yahoo-offers-password-free-login-for-email/ and… The new @Yahoo Mail app is out. There’s magic at every tap…and now supports Hotmail, Outlook.com and AOL Mail! Learn more here: Yahoo Tumblr
Read moreMaking a difference in the large corporate world
While chatting informally with some co-workers, I heard some of them talking about their frustrations about not feeling recognized for their work or working on projects they don’t think makes a difference. Corporations, which usually mean people in management roles, value those individuals who go beyond doing what they are told to do and look […]
Read moreFlickr Tab in Chrome brings beautiful images to every new tab | Flickr Blog
Flickr Tab in Chrome brings beautiful images to every new tab | Flickr Blog. Fast and beautiful!!
Read moreRe: HTML5 Dev Conf: JavaScript Programming Style and Your Brain with Douglas Crockford
Watch his talk on YouTube Programming is one of the hardest things humans do Programming uses Head and Gut, we don’t really know how we do it JavaScript: Good Parts. Bad Parts. It was done in 10 days and released to the wild JSLint : defines and professional subset of JavaScript JSLint will hut your […]
Read moreYahoo Open House on Node.js, Olympics, Personalization
’Tis the season to talk tech, have some drinks, and hang out at Yahoo! This Thursday we’re hosting our Pre-Holiday Engineering Open House and Good Time. If you made it to our first open house, then you know not to miss this one! We will be talking tech, serving cocktails + mulled wine + snacks, and […]
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1-liner setup for your development environment
ydev setup <anything> I did an informal poll at Yahoo, and also with candidates who interview with Yahoo. When they join a new team, how long did it take to setup their dev environment. It ranges from 30 minutes to a day, and even several days. I asked them what if I pour water on […]
Read morePicking Samsung Galaxy S3 over iPhone 5
In trying to pick iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S3 to replace my Blackberry. I was torn and have switched back and forth for the last 4 days. I finally found an old document written on November 1, 2011 7:52 AM in Evernote. I wrote this document when I had the Blackberry and why I actually […]
Read moreLink: zen habits: The Tiny Guide to Being a Great Dad
zen habits: The Tiny Guide to Being a Great Dad http://zenhabits.net/great-dad/ “vision without execution is hallucination” – https://tonytam.wordpress.com/
Read morelink: “Happiness Without a Good Work Ethic Is Pretty Impossible.”
http://happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2012/05/happiness-without-a-good-work-ethic-is-pretty-impossible/ via Byline Happiness interview: Hugh MacLeod. Hugh is a cartoonist with a wildly popular blog, gapingvoid. He is the master of capturing a large idea in a single drawing, and a great deal of his work focuses on happiness: how to find happiness in work; how to have the courage to be yourself, do […]
Read moreGoodbye Facebook, it’s been 3 months and I don’t miss you
Reasons I’m disconnecting from Facebook I don’t visit it often anymore, maybe 2-3 times a week It’s hard even for a technologist like me to keep track of new privacy settings that I have to actively manage It’s not something I’m proud to tell my child I’ve been on the fence about leaving anyways The […]
Read moreWhat Makes Us Happy And Motivated At Work?
It’s that time of year for me to reflect on why we are here working everyday. Please chime in with your thoughts. What motivates us to be happy and motivated at work? Money Recognition Being valued Making a difference in the world and self motivation Money is a great motivator, it’s an enabler for future […]
Read moreAs A Leader, Do You Communicate Enough?
Heads up… Do you communication enough with your direct reports? What about your peers in the same group? What about other peers across the company? And your management chain, 1 level, 2 level and ultimately up to your CEO? How often should you communicate? What is the most effective way to communicate (email, face to […]
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wow: Happy 17th Birthday Yahoo!
Yahoo! as a company is 17 years old today. I am very proud to be part of this ship for the last 13 years. Thank you for allowing me to join as employee ~900. I’ve learn so much from being thrown into the fire. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to build Yahoo! News. […]
Read moreWe Got Married!
Your Immediate Team Members Are What Matters
I love working for my manager, Cecilia. She is caring, funny, a good listener and a good person. I love working for my manager’s manager, my VP. He is strong, careful, a good listener and thoughtful. I love my co-workers, they are good, smart, passionate and caring. This is what makes me love my company, […]
Read moreHow To Lead By Influence And Trust
I have learned a lot from John Thrall. while working at Yahoo! in the last 3 years. John became the leader for Yahoo! Media during a transition of the leadership position a few years ago. From the point of view of the rank and file, he looked to be young, high energy but an unknown […]
Read moreWhy I’m re-energized to work at Yahoo! after Livestand iPad app launched
The Livestand from Yahoo! iPad app launched on Nov 2nd and became the #1 News iPad app and #2 overall app on the iTunes AppStore in 1 day. Today on Friday Nov 4th, it became the #1 app in 3 days on iTunes. You should try it yourself and compare it with Flipboard and Zite […]
Read moreLivestand from Yahoo! – #1 App on the Apple AppStore
Livestand from Yahoo! becomes #1 News App on Apple Store
On November 3rd, 2011 Yahoo! Livestand becomes the #1 News app on the Apple AppStore and #1 overall free App
Read moreLivestand T-shirt buys my loyalty
10 year anniversary of Sept 11th coming up i
I was the Yahoo! News engineers almost 10 years ago. Yahoo! News is working on a 10th year “9/11 Rmembered” http://news.yahoo.com/september-11-anniversary/ This was 5 years ago http://ycorpblog.com/2006/09/11/five-years-later/
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Making Annual Reviews Easier
Annual Reviews It’s one of the most important task people in large organizations need to do. But often we don’t spend enough effort and thought compared with the importance of annual reviews to their careers Most People Hate Reviews I’ve been doing my self review for over 12 years now at Yahoo! For the […]
Read more“What Did You Learn?” : asked Carol Bartz
Today my manager at Yahoo! held an all hands for her engineering group in Yahoo! Media and invited our CEO to take some Q/A. It was wonderful to have Carol there to talk about why what we are doing in Yahoo! Media is important to the company. It was inspiring to hear her long term […]
Read moreGoodbye to a valued co-worker: Carlos C.
Carlos was first hired in 2007 into the US News team as one of backend engineers to work on http://news.yahoo.com/. He joined when the team was in it’s growing phase (from 2 in 2001, 5 in 2005). He started off working on fixing bugs, adding features to the modules on the web site. Then helped […]
Read moreYahoo! Taiwan team worked for 5 weeks for a killer product
The team was here and finally finished the first phase of their product. We are all very very impressed. Wait for end of June to hear more!
Read moreGetting People To Change Is.. Impossible?
That was my thought last year… however, I have changed my stance. The most successful way to get children and adults to change is to model the behavior yourself consistently. If you want people to act a certain way you model it over and over again. Don’t ask them to change though, just act on […]
Read moreBe Prepare, You Will Win Most Of The Time
Be prepare for meetings ahead of time. You will be in the minority and you will get more of what you want Have an agenda ahead of time and send it, you will likely get more time If you want to a decision to go your way, anticipate the arguments, the fear, convince the decider […]
Read moreLatte Art 03/1/2011
Comic Strip Sunday March 20, 2011
From Evernote: Comic Strip Sunday March 20, 2011 C. and I did a time boxed 15 minute strip
Read moreC’s Comic Strip Sunday March 20, 2011
From Evernote: C’s Comic Strip Sunday March 20, 2011 C. and I did a timeboxed 15 minute strip
Read moreSelf Monthly Review: 3rd Month Of Being Solution Architect For Media
I have a reminder to myself to review whether I’m doing what my job description is defined as Here is the job description and how I rate myself from 1 (needs work), 2 (meets), 3 (exceed) • Evaluates new technologies; builds prototypes if necessary 1 : I barely do any of these right now as […]
Read moreMeasuring Value Of Time Part 1/4
Time is one of the most valuable asset a human being has. There is a finite amount of time each day. There is a finite of time in our lifetime. And once the moment passes, you can not get it back no matter who you are and no matter how much power or money you […]
Read moreCheck My Ego At The Door
In the abstract Today I reminded myself that I’m an average person. I often fall into the trap of being too wrapped up in my own head. As humans, we try to have empathy for other people. We try to put ourselves in other people’s shoes, but we then quickly get back into our own […]
Read moreNYTimes: Google and Mozilla Announce New Privacy Features
As a technologist, I like the proposal to use HTTP header to convey a preference. With any proposals, there will be people who have other ideas. I wonder first who made the decision, how did he communicate the process, and finally made the call. MEDIA DECODER BLOG: Google and Mozilla Announce New Privacy Features Mozilla […]
Read moreSolution Architect: 2nd week iteration on my job at Yahoo!
(Jardin des Tuileries) It has been an exciting 2 weeks for me in my new role as a Solution Architect for Yahoo! Media I have been meeting with a few of our customers which has helped me firm up my thinking of how to approach this role. I break it down into 3 areas. How […]
Read moreMy New Role At Yahoo! : Solution Architect
Today I have formally taken up the role of a Solution Architect to help Yahoo! properties on board with a new solution that I help create for Global News My role is defined as follows Solution Architect Expediter – identifies support needed Expert – determines the best solution for a given engagement Consultant – identifies […]
Read moreMondays : Thumbs Up Or Thumbs Down?
Do you look forward to Mondays ? If you do not look forward to Mondays, is it because you will miss spending time with family and friends? Or is it because you don’t look forward to going into work? If you dread going into work, perhaps you can actively look into how to improve the […]
Read moreProfile Of a Typical Yahoo! Engineer (2005)
The Typical Yahoo! Engineer from this point known as Y!E. (this is all my personal ramblings, if it doesn’t fit you, sorry.. it fits me) Y!E is someone who drools when his needs to design his software to work for 30 millions users. Potentially growing at 40% every year. Y!E designs software with no upper […]
Read moreDaily Life Of A Yahoo! Engineer (2005)
(Bringing back an old post from 2005) A Yahoo! Engineer (Y!E) is a very lucky person. Y!E gets into the office anywhere from 6:00am to 10:00am. If this was a bell curve, 80% fall under 9:30-10 Y!E gets to eat freshly cooked omelettes, hot cereal for under $3.00 Y!E gets free espresso drinks all day […]
Read moreWhy Am I Still Working At Y! News After 8 Years? (2007)
I have been getting the same question recently. Wow, you have been around for 8 years at Yahoo News? What makes you stay? I think I’ll have to write it down to clear it up for myself. The grass is not always greener over at Google, Amazon, the next startup. Look yourself in the mirror […]
Read moreSince I’m a Yahoo! Employee… (from 2008)
1. there is so much potential upside to the stock and for the company. It’s still the #1 (2008) web property in the world and lots of new projects and direction changes only can mean good things in the future 2. there is so much to do, for someone who can take the initiative, he […]
Read morePerspective On Work
I worked for SGI from 1993-1999 and was bleeding SGI blood. I was the cheerleader for the company and our group. I left SGI when the company just couldn’t deliver the financial results it promised. A friend from SGI mentioned to me that when I left SGI, I swore I would not be emotionally involved […]
Read moreHelp someone at work tomorrow
As we start the year, look around your work cubicles, these are the people you will spend every weekday with. Ask yourself what you can do to help your fellow co-worker. Some ideas: * Give constructive feedback how on she is running a meeting. * Send one less reply-all email to a plea for help, […]
Read moreWhy I Came To Yahoo! And Why I Am Still Here?
In 1999, I was working for Silicon Graphics but I decided to work for another company because SGI at that point was not performing well and I believed that the company was not financially viable any more. When thinking of which company to apply for a job, I looked to Yahoo! From the outside, Yahoo! […]
Read moreFlips and Jumps at Acrosports Gym in San Francico : My First Published And Paid Writing on Yahoo! Contributor Network
Yahoo! bought a company named Associated Content, which was recently changed to Yahoo! Contributor Network. I am the software architect on the backend content management system for Yahoo! Media and actively working with the engineer trying to integrate the great tools from Associated Content into the Yahoo! infrastructure. In order to truly understand the power […]
Read moreYahoo! Homepage gets a tablet version
I was very pleasantly surprised when I browsed to Yahoo! on my iPad and was redirected to a very clean page optimized to my iPad, with swipe action.
Read morePhotos from Google vs. Yahoo! Badminton Tournament
It was a fun day where employees from 2 companies met up to play our favorite game. I played in 3 events: Men’s Singles A, Men’s Doubles A, Mixed Doubles A and lost all 3 and went into consolation rounds and won the Mixed Doubles A consolation. It was fantastic to organize it and meet […]
Read moreMost Emailed News : 7 Years Ago
memory flash back. Y! News launched it’s Most-emailed stories and photos page back in Feb 2000 and New York Times wrote an article that we were the first ones to aggregate and show the data back to users Back then, we looked at what users were emailing, when we troubleshoot the system and noticed a […]
Read moreDream Big
Yahoo! News reached 40 million unique users per month recently. Today I was sitting around the conference with my co-workers chewing the fat. I was telling them that in my mind, we are at a second phase of Yahoo! News. It’s a phase of large numbers.In the next 3-5 years we can grow to 80 […]
Read morethe unthinkable, 57.5 mile drive to work
(photo is of the Dragon Beard candy from Koi Palace) Today I was driving into work from Berkeley after dropping off Kate at school. It’s a 46 mile drive if I went on a straight route along 880. Today 511.org said there where 4 accidents on 880 so I decided to take 580, 680 and […]
Read moreObsessed With Y!
I admit I’m a bit obsessed with working at Yahoo! I don’t work very very long hours but I spend a lot of my free time thinking about Yahoo! I don’t believe I’m a workaholic, just someone who loves his job. I used to apologize for being so obsessed, but now I’ve come to terms […]
Read moreObsessed with Y!
I admit I’m a bit obsessed with working at Yahoo! I don’t work very very long hours but I spend a lot of my free time thinking about Yahoo! I don’t believe I’m a workaholic, just someone who loves his job. I used to apologize for being so obsessed, but now I’ve come to terms […]
Read moreThe right way to say goodbye
Today a fellow Yahoo! engineer ping’ed me on IM and asked to shoot some 9-ball. While we were playing, he mentioned that he was leaving in 2 days for the greener pasture of smaller startups. While I was still taking in the news, I finished shooting in the first 7 balls straight and was about […]
Read moreSeeing Yahoo! From 10,000 Foot
(photo is from Barcelona) As an early engineer in the ‘trenches’ I saw Yahoo! from a 5 foot angle. I focused on what I needed to do immediately to keep the site running. As a 7 year veteran, I see things from 50 foot. I see the business, I try to see and understand the […]
Read moreY! Superstar J.B.
Yahoo has a superstar award every year. My manager won it this year… Here is why he deserves it. 1) always positive 2) never blames, never talk down 3) this year: bulit lots and lots of products Y! Tech, Sprint tool, 2005 Y! News redesign, part of many infrastruture product teams 4) embodies Y! Spirit: […]
Read moreTonight’s Munich Gamble: Ended In Disaster
After a very fillilng meal of traditional German food of fatty pork and dumplings for lunch, I’m up for some sushi. It’s 9:58 and I’m trying to find some good food here in Munich, a search for ‘munich late night dining’ found me this CNN article http://www.cnn.com/FOOD/restaurants/weissmann/world/munich.html#ASIAN Tonight’s gamble: Sho-ya-Sushi—Though the city offers a bounty […]
Read moreA YAHOO
Finally made it to DMV after 4 months and picked up my identity. Now I can be at peace.
Read moreGoodbye Dave Viner and thanks!
Dave Viner is leaving Yahoo! tomorrow and we briefly chatted in the hallway. I told him that he fought a long and uphill battle to make the engineering team better in Yahoo!’s Media Engineering group. I admire him for staying course and never giving up. Here is what I remember about Dave He was always […]
Read moreName That Princesses
Kate did a wonderful drawing and I forget which princess was which. Snow White, Cinderella?? , Auora? Jasmine (jumping out of a bottle), Sleeping Beauty, Ariel
Read moreYahoo! WiFi Bus
Another one of many perks of working for Yahoo! When commuting from San Francisco, I ride the Yahoo! WiFi bus straight to work. I can login while riding and last test I ran, I can get 312 kbps down and 46 kbps up. Granted I end up working on the bus, and it’s a better […]
Read moreOnly Room For 3
The first thing my manager said to me when he walked in was that he heard Yahoo! News retained the #1 spot again in December. I’m a bit obsessed with statistics. The first day I joined Yahoo! in 1999, that was the first thing I looked at, and I continued to dig through the data […]
Read moreBe Proud To Be A Yahoo!
Jeff posted a great list of product launches by Yahoo! in 2005 Read the list and be amazed at what fellow Yahoo! employees have accomplished http://boulter.com/blog/2005/12/26/yahoos-2005-the-year-of-the-product/
Read moreYahoo!’s History Matters, Damn It!
Sometimes software engineers forget the importance of history. I often sit in meetings at Yahoo! when someone goes on a rant about how bad some of the legacy Yahoo! technology was. I’m referring to HF2K and another technology known as idaho. Which were written almost completely in house and are the equivalent of PHP today. […]
Read moreYahoo!’s History Matters, Damn It!
Sometimes software engineers forget the importance of history. I often sit in meetings at Yahoo! when someone goes on a rant about how bad some of the legacy Yahoo! technology was. I’m referring to HF2K and another technology known as idaho. Which were written almost completely in house and are the equivalent of PHP today. […]
Read moreWorking In Yahoo! Santa Monica
The above is scallion+ginger fried rice, wonton soup (no noodles) and chilli pepper+salt fried squid, perfect HK style food. This week I’m working in the Yahoo!’s Santa Monica campus. I’m enjoying the change of scenery and I get to work side by side with George for a week. Some initial thoughts on this building. It […]
Read morePersonalized Plates: “A YAHOO”
Wanted to dress up my Honda Element with some personalized plates. I couldn’t believe “A YAHOO” was not taken. I’ve got ‘YHOONWS‘ and ‘YAHOONS‘ as well. DMV: Get yours here This is available as a kids plate
Read moreYahoo! Inc. Cheapness Pays Off
When I joined Yahoo! in 1999, back then it was still the near the peak of the bubble. I immediately noticed something very different about Yahoo! from the company I just left, SGI (formerly Silicon Graphics) Yahoo! was cheap with what they gave their employees. They gave me a white box PC from a Taiwan […]
Read moreWhat don’t you like about your job?
Someone asked me tonight. “You seem to like your job, now tell me one thing you don’t like about your job” I pondered that question and I can’t think of a single thing. I think I’m either in denial or I’m one hell of a lucky guy. I love the pressure of the working for […]
Read moreTony the Lifer
I was having ramen at Ryowa in Berkeley with someone I met who was a consultant. I told her I worked at Yahoo! for 6 years already, she was shocked at first then she said it’s ok, there are a bunch of “lifers” at her company as well. Somehow that didn’t make me feel better […]
Read moreBeginning of a new year at Yahoo!
Well our fiscal year 2006 started on Oct 1st. Here comes the annual reviews, quarterly objective for the next quarter. Every year I vow to be more organized and more accountable for my time at work. I vow to keep track of all the little distractions that keep me for focusing on the high priority […]
Read moreWork To Live or Live To Work?
Work To Live or Live To Work? It’s an age old question and people have different perspectives on this. Of course there is your family and friends who see a completely different side of you for like 4 hours a day and weekend time and of course those are the people who will always be […]
Read morePush Up Contest At Yahoo!
Over at the Vendor showcase day at Yahoo! they were doing of all things a push up contest. Everyone was getting me on to try it. The record was 201 push ups by a Yahoo! super stud. (Stu Y.) The rule was that you can rest on top or do a downward facing dog. I […]
Read moreNo, I Don’t Type The News Stories
It has happened to me so many times now I think I’ll just have to accept it and just go with the flow. Trying to explain what a software engineer does for Yahoo! News to people I meet or family members has been interesting. Here is a sample conversation with a friend I met. Friend: […]
Read moreTop 5 memories of Kate before she heads to school
Kate’s going to school next week, sniff.. now on to the memories She loves listening to Jack Johnson’s Sexy Plexy when she falls asleep, I would have it on for her to calm her down. When I was in Paris with her, we listened to that before she fell asleep. That one song always brings me […]
Read moreWhat/who can’t you live without?
Interesting question got me thinking: If I were to take one thing away from your life for a month, what one thing would you not want to part with? some type of food car mobile phone laptop toothbrush cable/satellite tv tivo your pet your gym home dsl/cable modem your spouse or partner (taken away on […]
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Daily Life Of A Yahoo! Engineer (archive 2005)
A Yahoo! Engineer (Y!E) is a very lucky person. Y!E gets into the office anywhere from 6:00am to 10:00am. If this was a bell curve, 80% fall under 9:30-10 Y!E gets to eat freshly cooked omelettes, hot cereal for under $3.00 Y!E gets free espresso drinks all day Y!E gets free pool tables, ping pong, […]
Read moreY!, how I love thee
My current yahoo id was registered on Mon Mar 24 17:41:20 1997. I remember when I was working at SGI back then and our lunch conversations were alway about how we thought Yahoo does it’s magic. How it was always up, always fast. We were a bunch of geeks in awe of what we saw […]
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Profile Of a Typical Yahoo! Engineer
The Typical Yahoo! Engineer from this point known as Y!E. (this is all my personal ramblings, if it doesn’t fit you, sorry.. it fits me) Y!E is someone who drools when his needs to design his software to work for 30 millions users. Potentially growing at 40% every year. Y!E designs software with no upper […]
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Spending The Night At Yahoo!
Tonight I don’t feel like driving home. I’m here with my 2 pillows and the Yahoo! blanket we got for 2003 Christmas. I’ll be spending the night trying to catch up on some work. It feels strangely very comforting to be here. Yahoo! has been like my 2nd home for the last 5 years. I […]
Read moreThe name of the widest pasta: pappardelle
I’ve always liked wide, flat pasta. I haven’t cooked in 3 years, and pasta with fresh herbs is my favorite. Today I had a craving for it but I didn’t know where to go for fresh pasta. So, when I passed by 4th and Harrison, I dropped by Whole Foods (1/2 block from my loft) […]
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A Retrospective On 6 Years Of Yahoo! News
I joined Yahoo! in May of 1999. I had my pick of either Y! News or Y! Sweepstakes. Lucky for me, I picked Y! News Very soon, we are about to launch biggest redesign of Yahoo! News ever and I wanted to look back at what I remember of the history. As I understood it […]
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What I Want For Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News is among the top 3 news web sites in the world competing with CNN and MSNBC for the #1 spot. It’s a pretty simple and barebones web site operating with a small team of engineers and editors. The goal is to partner with the major news wire service as well as some big […]
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