Downloading Yahoo data
Comment: Much cool stuff but for a simple download of stock symbol and last closing price put this string in URL browser window:
http://download.finance.yahoo.com/d/quotes.csv?s=ABBV+ABT+AMLP+CA+CAG+CLX+COP+CSCO+ED+GIS+GS+JNJ+KMB+KO+KR+KRFT+MRK+MSFT+PG+PULB+STT+STX+SYY+TGT+WM&f=sp
Recently, an attacker uploaded a subset of hashed passwords from LinkedIn to an online security forum, requesting help with cracking them. That was swiftly followed--apparently, by the same attacker--with similar requests for passwords purloined from dating website eHarmony and music-streaming website Last.fm.
This week, question-and-answer website Formspring said that 420,000 of its users' passwords had been compromised, leading the company to reset passwords for all 28 million users. Meanwhile, a hacker or hacking group known as D33Ds Company leaked about 450,000 email addresses and passwords associated with Yahoo Voices, formerly known as Yahoo Contributor Network. The motivation, according to D33Ds, was simple: it was sending "a wake-up call" to whoever was in charge of Yahoo Voices about the need to get serious about security.Comment: Click image for larger. I use the Yahoo finance service. Also associated is an email account that I formerly used and is still active. I had three contacts in the contacts DB and SPAM was sent to at least one of them. Honestly I had a weak password (shame on me!). Yahoo notified me on their logon page (screen shot above). Note access from Japan!
Facing Free Software, Microsoft Looks to Yahoo
Excerpt:
Now comes a new rallying cry: software wants to be free. Or, as the tech insiders say, it wants to be “zero dollar.”
A growing number of consumers are paying just that — nothing. This is the Internet’s latest phase: people using freely distributed applications, from e-mail and word processing programs to spreadsheets, games and financial management tools. They run on distant, massive and shared data centers, and users of the services pay with their attention to ads, not cash.
While such services have been emerging for years, their rapid adoption has been an important but largely overlooked driver of the $44.6 billion hostile bid that Microsoft made to take over Yahoo this week.
That proposed deal would give Microsoft access to Yahoo’s vast news, information, search and advertising network — and the ability to compete more squarely with Google.
But a merger would also allow Microsoft to adapt its empire to compete in a world of low-cost Internet-centered software.
Yahoo’s huge user base could provide the audience and the infrastructure for Microsoft to change how it distributes its products and charges for them.
Comment: I doubt that corporate american will adopt "cloud computing" in my career life. Every workstation at ________ (where I work) has Office Professional. For my personal life, I am aiming for "cloud computing". Although just this week I upgraded Kathee and my MacBooks to Office 2008.
What would a combined Microsoft - Yahoo look like?
Comment: Fast blogging here ... read the article. See earlier post: How to ruin Yahoo . Remember how Hotmail and Yahoo mail were so "hot". Well now there not! Gmail! Google Apps! Google calendaring! Google email hosting! Google mapping!
Other busts: Sears & K-Mart / A.T.&T bought NCR systems
