Yahoo! Picks - bringing you the best of the Web since 1995
Tue, January 01, 2008, 3:13 am PST
Dear readers of Yahoo! Picks,
We're sorry to say that Picks has stopped updating. After 12 years, we're moving on to new projects and fresh ways of highlighting cool sites across the Web. We'll still be here in different guises, like on Yahoo! Green writing about eco-friendly sites, or Yahoo! Answers calling out cool questions, or on the Yahoo! Buzz Log, sifting through what people are searching for online. And the Yahoo! Picks archive will remain available to anyone who wants to wander in. Thanks for your support and attention all these years.
We leave you with Airborne Cats, one of our favorite Flickr photo collections—and a past Pick.
All best,
Yahoo! Picks
Mon, December 31, 2007, 3:00 am PST
As 2007 comes to a close, we're marking 12 years of Yahoo! Picks. To celebrate, we've called up some of our favorite features from the past dozen years. In 2006, we wrote about Long Awkward Pose. A year and a half later, the site's still slaying us. Here's our write-up:
It's a universal human experience: Your pal picks up a camera, and you obligingly assume a posing-for-the-picture stance. How long do you hold the frozen grin, though, before suspicion creeps into your mind? How long before you wonder: Hey, what's going on here? Shutterbug and comedian Katie Dippold reveals the hilarity that ensues when people start thinking that way. Katie has hoodwinked friends and pranked family. Now she invites you in on the hoax. "Tell your loved ones you would like to take their photo," she coaxes, and "then secretly videotape them." The clips she presents made us cry with laughter, and begged more questions than they answered:
- How many times will a husband say "cheese"?
- How long will a friend pose holding a football?
- And when will a man begin to say demandingly: "Do you really know what you're doing?"
Fri, December 28, 2007, 3:00 am PST
As 2007 comes to a close, we're marking 12 years of Yahoo! Picks. To celebrate, we've called up some of our favorite features from the past dozen years. Today's Pick, for Starship Dimensions, dates back to May 13, 2003. Four and a half years later, this mind-boggling sci-fi site remains dedicated to the belief that size really does matter:
"Hollywood has given us all sorts of mock starships, but if they were really built to scale, how large would they actually be? Jeff Russell rescues sci-fi fans by creating a site that uses a pixel-to-meter gauge for over 200 ships from "Star Trek," "Babylon 5," "Star Wars," and more. An enormous Boeing 747 dominates the 10x page—even the giant Plasma Bug from Starship Troopers is dwarfed by it. On the 1x page, you can drag down Star Trek's Galaxy class starship and place it next to the "Trek" Constitution class to compare the ships captained by Picard and Kirk, respectively. Things start to get really big at the -10x page. The Island Two space colony (a proposed NASA project) overwhelms even the giant Super Star Destroyer and the Borg cube. In the background of the -2000x page is the Earth's Moon. Only the Zentraedi Fulbtzs Berrentzs-class Home Base from the Robotech cartoon series can compare. The painstaking research behind this site certainly puts things like a Klingon Bird of Prey in its proper perspective."
Also check out our votes for the Best Picks of 2007. Enjoy!
Thu, December 27, 2007, 3:00 am PST
As 2007 comes to a close, we're marking 12 years of Yahoo! Picks. To celebrate, we've called up some of our favorite features from the past dozen years. Today's Pick, Kiddie Records Weekly, originally ran May 24, 2005. Except for the occasional addition to the bonus recordings section, the site is no longer updating. But its content is all available, and free, and as delightful (or Bozo silly) as ever:
"Before PlayStations, kids indulged in alternative media formats—like listening to albums. The mid 1940s to early '50s marked the golden age of children's records and saw releases such as "Hopalong Cassidy" and "Bugs Bunny in Storyland," which provided media companies with early cross-platform entertainment franchises while delighting youngsters. This collection of transferred 78s includes "Baby Snooks," played by famed comedienne Fanny Brice, and the controversial "Tales of Uncle Remus." Many of the records were meant to accompany picture books, which you'll also find here. Kiddie Records posts a new album each week, so don't forget to check back for such classics as "Woody Woodpecker and His Talent Show" and "Bozo Under the Sea." (That can't be good for hair.)"
Also check out our votes for the Best Picks of 2007. Have fun, kids!
Wed, December 26, 2007, 3:00 am PST
As 2007 comes to a close, we're marking 12 years of Yahoo! Picks. To celebrate, we've called up some of our favorite features from the past dozen years. Today's Pick originally ran August 6, 2002. Here it is again, still tracking that glorious mix of American star wattage and Japanese products:
"This site defines a Japander as "a western star who uses his or her fame to make large sums of money in a short time by advertising products in Japan that they would probably never use." Watch Hollywood stars from Dan Aykroyd to Catherine Zeta-Jones shill for Japanese drinks, cars, and other products. Madonna wields a samurai sword and claims she's "pure" in support of some clear, drinkable product. A half-naked Harrison Ford hangs out in a steam room and praises the taste of a good, cold frosty beer. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays mah-jong to promote "Genki" drinks. Leonardo DiCaprio pushes credit cards and cars. Winona Ryder gets giggly in bed with her Caffe Latte packaged drink. And there are three full pages of Brad Pitt—most clips find him hawking Edwin, which, we suspect, is a brand of jeans given how much the camera lingers on Pitt's posterior. Some might call them sellouts; we just call them entertaining."
Also check out our votes for the Best Picks of 2007. Enjoy!
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Yahoo!'s crack team of editors serves up the coolest, funniest, or quirkiest sites we encounter on the Web. Got a favorite new link of your own? Share it with us!
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