Category Archives: look and feel

Yahoo and Google Shoot-out: Local Search

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Filed under Google Analytics, Reviews, look and feel

It is interesting to watch Yahoo and Google jockeying for position in the search engine wars. Google often comes out on top, but Yahoo makes some good gains with some of their offerings that give Google a run for their money. Comparing http://local.yahoo.com and http://local.google.com I’d say Yahoo may have one this one. The yahoo interface has a more elegant interace with more comprehensive results. Both had the obligatory ads, map, and listing of the company. Yahoo added immediate return of additional web results which was very handy. Also, with Yahoo, clicking on the company link gave much more information including an opportunity to post a review about the business. Yep, I think I’ll be using Yahoo local for my yellow pages/find a business searches.

Nine Year Old Daughter Reviews MS Office ‘07

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Filed under Easy to use, Microsoft, Reviews, look and feel

This weekend I installed my complimentary copy of Microsoft Office 2007 on my desktop at home. As a developer, Microsoft gave me a full version copy at the Vista Launch. I haven’t really spent much time w/ the new app yet, but my daughter has. Tonight when I walked in the door she shouted, "I love Microsoft!" I don’t share quite the same enthusiasm as her, but it’s been fascinating to watch over her shoulder as she dove into Word and is creating documents with very unique formatting. She intuitively learned some of the latest features with zero training from her dad. I just let her go. I imagine that she, unlike many adults, took Word much farther as she’s less inhibited in the learning curve. She certainly does not have the comparison of the way it used to be syndrom that plagues most adults. Sure the new app will require some re-learning, but I think M$ got it right on this one. I wonder how much product testing Microsoft does with nine year-old children. Probably a good idea.

New Logo for Thought Sparks?

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Filed under Just for Fun, look and feel, new website

New logo idea for ThoughSparks. Once I settle on the logo, I’ll develop out the look and feel of the site. If I go with this concept, it will be fairly easy to find a Word Template that I want to use and develop out the graphics. I like the energy and pseudo retro feel of it. Bright and chipper. I’d love feedback positive or negative and any other "bright" ideas you may have. Once I’ve anchored down those elements I’ll tweak the graphics and transition the blog officially to thoughtsparks.net hosted on my 1and1.com account. Let me know what you think!