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Yahoo's Geek Statue

Philipp Lenssen writes "Yahoo put up a life-size alpha geek statue in honor of the Yahoo Mail team, which they think beat the Gmail team. The statue's plaque says it's presented "in recognition of tremendous intellectual efforts put forth in order to defeat Gmail", and: "Not since the code breakers in Britain's Bletchley Park deciphered Germany's Enigma code during World War II has so much brainpower been focused on kicking an enemy's ass." Flickr has a photo." It's a nice little article on the difference between two of the net's superpowers.

13 of 349 comments (clear)

  1. Here, have a trophy. by Dubpal · · Score: 5, Insightful
    After reading the linked blog, I don't think Yahoo are claiming to have "beat" GMail, as the summary claims (what sort of goals have they set to do this?), rather they're congratulating the Yahoo Mail Team for the effort they've invested thus far in their quest to defeat Google.

    I'm sure a handshake and a smile would have been more fitting but hey, it is a nice statue.

    --
    If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever.
    - George Orwell
  2. As a GMail user... by fionbio · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I hope that Yahoo releases something competitive, maybe this will finally make GMail team add an option to GMail preferences so that I can receive these attachments... Well, I'm not a big fan of sending stuff as e-mail attachments, but a lot of people prefer this way, and not everyone is aware of GMail's attachment killing habits...

  3. This is Wrong by Ed+Almos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sorry guys, but the work at Yahoo doesn't come close to the efforts made at Bletchley Park to defeat the Germans. The teams at Bletchley were the finest British minds of a generation assembled to beat an evil empire whilst lives were at stake. Comparing this to a phoney war between two email applications is kinda insulting.

    Ed Almos

    --
    The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws. - Tacitus, 56-120 A.D.
    1. Re:This is Wrong by Woy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Insulting? It reveals a staggering smallness of mind! You rarelly "kick someone's ass" and brag about it. You do one or the other. And Yahoo has made its choice.

      It also shows how distorted one's world view can become if you live in an echo chamber. If everytime i went to the bathroom i had a group of lapdogs cheering me for it, i'd end up comparing it to the Manhattan Project too.

      --
      "If God created us in his own image we have more than reciprocated." - Voltaire
  4. Maybe it's just me... by slavemowgli · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe it's just me, but that doesn't exactly make me more inclined towards Yahoo. Quite the opposite - if I have the choice between a vendor who keeps on patting himself on the back and bragging about how great they are and one who actually focuses on making a good product, I'll always chose the latter. I just can't stand that kind of "w3 43r l33t!!!111" attitude.

    And FWIW, it sure seems to me that Google does have the superior product, too. But of course, I may be biased (heck, I *definitely* am), so if you're not sure yourself, do give both a try. I think you'll come to the same conclusion that I've come to, though.

    --
    quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
  5. The word you're looking for is "sophistry" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's like how the republicans do business. They first declare victory. Then they hire people to go to different places, at the same time, and call their opponants "Poor sports" and "losers" for disagreing with them. Through repitition through what appear to be different sources many are easily convienced that so many different people can't be wrong.

  6. Re:I've got news for them... by Kenneth+Stephen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not just that, but gmail has indeed changed the way the game is played. When you sign up for gmail, they have a short intro which begins with "GMail is different". They key is that they are not gratuitously different. They are different because they analyzed the email processing process and saw a way to improve it. All the mail clients that I've used before had different ways of arranging things on the screen, but the function that they offered and the paradigm that they supported was the same. It took a little bit for me to get accustomed to the new way of doing things, but now that I'm acclimatized, I'm not going back.

    --

    There is no such thing as luck. Luck is nothing but an absence of bad luck.

  7. Re:I've got news for them... by RealBeanDip · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How about GMail bringing back the good old DELETE button that we're all accustomed to instead of have it hidden in a drop down list. Sometimes different isn't better... sometimes we really do just want to DELETE something.

    --

    You know you're a geek if you've ever replied to a tagline.

  8. Re:I've got news for them... by altoz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What amazes me is that Yahoo has not asked users which they prefer.

    What amazes me is that they spent money on a statue instead.

  9. they beat google mail ???? by stud9920 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    gmail : 2.5 gig and rising
    yahoo : 1 gig and staying that way

    gmail : paid for by text ads which generally don't show up because I'm not in the target group.
    yahoo : paid for by pop up flashy irrelevant ads, and a SPAM trailer in the mails I send. Forget about using it for any serious mail.

    gmail : k.i.s.s. interface, allowing for rich text
    yahoo : no rich text possibilities found

    gmail : no spam
    yahoo : presents you with a botfilter with unreadable gibberish. Maybe you can't send spam, probably you receive lots

    gmail : ssl pop & smtp
    yahoo : had the features, removed them

    gmail : threads
    yahoo : no threads

    Yahoo beats google ?????

  10. Note to Yahoo!: Try "don't be evil" by metamatic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In April 2004, a Communist Party official told Chinese journalist Shi Tao how to report the upcoming 15th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square massacre.

    Shi Tao took notes at the meeting, wrote up what he had been told to write, and e-mailed a copy to a pro-democracy web site in New York.

    Unfortunately, Shi Tao used Yahoo web mail to send his e-mail. When the Chinese government approached Yahoo and asked them to reveal the personal information of the person who had signed up for the account, they gladly did so.

    Asked about this at a conference in China, Yahoo's Taiwanese co-founder Jerry Yang said:

    "To be doing business in China, or anywhere else in the world, we have to comply with local law."

    Since then, people have pointed out that the journalist hadn't been convicted of any crime. A Chinese lawyer--as in, a lawyer who actually practices law in China--has said that Yahoo was under no legal obligation to reveal the journalist's name. It certainly seems that no legal action was taken against Yahoo to force them to rat out the guy.

    It's a pity there's no Adolf Eichmann Award for Excellence in Only Following Orders, Jerry Yang would have a good chance of winning.

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
  11. Inappropriate by Secret+Rabbit · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "Not since the code breakers in Britain's Bletchley Park deciphered Germany's Enigma code during World War II has so much brainpower been focused on kicking an enemy's ass."

    And how is this comment appropriate?

    I've met and talked with math researchers. I keep up with the things crypto. I've worked in industry as a web developer. I must say, there is no possibility that the yahoo people have more brain power than the code breakers.

    I've been seeing this type of ludicrous statement more and more over the past years. I think it's just that these people know that they are losing and need to generate an over inflated sense of self to cover there inferiority.

    Likening corp. competition to WWII?!?! Seriously...

  12. Re:I've got news for them... by Schemat1c · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you actually have any input: put a fscking delete button on there NOW, how f-ing hard is it? I can't believe adding "auto-save drafts" was more important then a delete button!

    What is the big deal about deleting? Gmail is my primary email and I delete a lot of messages, it's never been a problem. Just move to trash and then every few days go to trash, click all, click delete forever and done. Geez, mellow out you 'one delete button' fanatics.

    --

    "Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better." - Unknown