Yahoo! Mail Blog, UK and Ireland

This time I’m not talking about unlimited storage. I’m talking about our mascot Liam – and boy he’s a big one. Think New York’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade big.

see more pics on Flickr

To celebrate the fact that we’re removing beta from Yahoo! Mail Beta, the team at Yahoo!’s campus in Sunnyvale celebrated with an enormous, inflatable Liam. Over 40 feet tall and able to float over tall buildings in a single bound, the celebration was meant to be as big as all the features we’ve been able to pack into the new Yahoo! Mail.

Consider these features:

• Unlimited storage
• Drag and drop
• Preview pane
• Select multiple messages
• Right-click
• Keyboard shortcuts
• And more….

Coming soon
The term “beta” will be removed from Yahoo! Mail Beta in a short while. We’ve all worked very hard to bring you the best mail product available, and will continue to work hard to keep it the best.

Why’s he called Liam?
Well, he’s actually based on a real person on the Yahoo! Mail team. But his name was chosen for a good reason. Can you guess it? Read it backwards…

Happy emailing
Andrew – Yahoo! Mail Beta Team (soon to be just Yahoo! Mail Team )

Reading through the feedback that you send us here on the Yahoo! Mail Beta team, I see a lot of comments/questions about how best to send photos through Mail. One suggestion that I can offer is – in fact – not to send Photos through mail. A much easier, robust and fun alternative exists, and it’s right at your fingertips. It’s called Flickr – the award winning photos sharing site – that just happens to be another great Yahoo! site.

So how does it work?
Simple really. Just log into Flickr with your Yahoo! ID. (If it’s your first time logging into Flickr you get to choose a screen name which can be different from your user ID). At this point you can upload a photo, or if you have a whole bunch of photos you can use one of the Flickr uploading tools. When you’re finished uploading, you can change the title, enter a description or add a tag.

Once you’re finished uploading, find the link on the bottom-right side of the page called “Send to a friend”. Enter an email address, or two, or three. Write a witty message. Then click send. That’s all there is to it.

So why is this good?
This way is an excellent way to share photos for so many reasons it’s going to be hard to list them all here. But what the heck, I’ll give it a go:

• Your photos aren’t constrained by size
• You don’t overstuff your friends’ inboxes (hey, we know not everyone uses Yahoo! with unlimited storage – but you’ll change that right? )
• One link gives them access to all of your photos
• Create groups in Flickr for your friends and family and when you upload new pictures they can be alerted right away.
• Your friends and family can leave comments and everyone can see the comments (sure beats reply-all)
• You can place your photos on a map (how addictive is that?!?!)
• And so much more

A fun way to get started with Flickr is by just exploring. It’s fun, addictive and a great way to share photos with friends, family and a world-wide photo community.

Happy snapping!
Andrew – Yahoo! Mail Beta Team

To celebrate unlimited storage here in the Yahoo! offices we brought in some big (and I mean big) food stuffs. Who doesn’t like a cheese wedge that’s almost 5 feet tall? I’ve snapped some pics and uploaded to Flickr – our favorite photo sharing site. You can see all the pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ymail_uk_team/.

Free, unlimited storage means that Yahoo! Mail is the only email address that grows with you and lasts a lifetime. So now there’s no longer any excuse for letting your photos, files and other digital media collect dust in a cardboard box at the back of a cupboard somewhere.

Yep – and that’s me next to the giant sundae. And boy was that one whopper of a brain freeze.

Happy emailing!!
Andrew – Yahoo! Mail Beta Team

For a change of pace today, I wanted to take a minute to let you know what’s happening with another great Yahoo! site – Flickr*. If you haven’t seen it before, Flickr* is an award winning photo sharing site that has been called “completely addictive”. And for the amount of time that I spend on it, I believe every word of it. Check it out.

How We Are NowOriginally uploaded by
Tate Gallery.

For the very first time, the Tate gallery is inviting members of the public to contribute to the content of an exhibition. How We Are: Photographing Britain (Tate Britain, 22 May — 2 September 2007) takes a unique look at the journey of British photography, from the pioneers of the early medium to today’s photographers who use new technology to make and display their imagery.

If you join this Flickr group* your picture could be on display at the Tate and also on their website. Your photograph can be submitted anytime until 25 July 2007. You can add up to 4 photos to the group.

But before you add your photograph
Please make sure your photograph:
• was taken in the United Kingdom
• illustrates and is tagged with one of the four themes of the exhibition: portrait, landscape, still life, documentary.

Check out the Flickr group for full details and the Tate’s slideshow to see the pictures which are on display so far.

And if you get one of your photos selected, please come back and let us know.

Andrew - Yahoo! Mail Beta Team

*Disclaimer:
Please note that Flickr is a US website and its contents and activities are subject to US law which may be different from the laws of the United Kingdom. The Terms of Service of Yahoo! Inc applies to material on the Flickr site.