Web portal Yahoo usually offers its millions of users a comprehensive guide to the Internet. But on Wednesday it was offering its loyal devotees something else entirely.
Yahoo users who clicked on the site's home page could download a coupon for a free ice cream to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the company's founding.
Back in March 1995, the Internet was still an obscure technological system that was unknown to even tech savvy geeks. Three years earlier British scientist Tim Berners Lee had drawn up the protocols to allow the easy transmission of interactive data between computers. Gradually, new-fangled browsers were starting to hit the market to allow even non-techies the ability to roam the thousands of web pages that were starting to appear.
That's when Jerry Yang and David Filo decided to form a company around the list of their favorite sites on the fast-growing net. They gave it the name Yahoo -- "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle," but Filo and Yang insist they selected the name because they liked the general definition of a yahoo -- as "rude, unsophisticated, uncouth."
Yahoo has since amassed an audience of 345 million people around the world, including 165 million registered users who rely on the company's Web sites for e-mail, e-commerce, news, entertainment, driving directions, matchmaking, weather forecasts, job leads and search results.
Now it is setting its sights on Hollywood, convinced more than ever that the golden age of convergence is about to dawn, taking it from one of the world's leading Internet companies to one of the world's leading media companies -- a destination and source for movies, shows and music that will reach its users over the Web.
The company's critics say that such visionary ideas have a history of leaving believers deeply disappointed and out of pocket. But that argument fails to convince Yahoo executives.
Veteran Silicon Valley watchers say that the high-tech hotbed is about to bloom afresh as venture capital pours in at rates not seen for five years. Inspired by the success of Silicon Valley stalwarts like Apple and Google, venture capitalists are pouring millions into companies aimed at the digital living room through devices and software that customize searches and content, and allow you to watch it on any device, in any place at any time.
"There's a buzz in the air again after many years of gloom," says longtime tech executive Daniel Thomas. "But there's a difference. People are more mature now. They know that companies need profits to survive. They've learnt the ultimate lesson of tech: that we underestimate the changes that new technology will bring, but also the time that it takes to happen."
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
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