Is Yahoo! Mash Gone? (Answer=NO)
Is Yahoo! Mash Gone? (Answer=NO) magnify
UPDATE: Thanks for taking the time to check things out and send on error messages for me! At least there was a legitimate bug alert that others could see. I checked Mash this afternoon and the issue seems to be fixed. The page is working as if nothing happened. Also, thanks Edie for doing the graphic test. I had some hope for that glitch, but we'll see how it goes in the coming "2nd half of '08".
Anyway, you all are great. I'm going to get some rest now so I can get more energy to finish working and then get back to visiting my friends. LOL! SMOOCHES FOR EVERYONE!
See below if your Mash page has decided to run away from home (temporarily).
On Firefox 2, I get a blank page when going to
http://mash.yahoo.com. On Internet Explorer 7, I get the "HTTP 500 Internal Server Error". That hasn't happened before, it's been a few days, and I know it's not just me who's experiencing the issue. My Mash page is
http://mash.yahoo.com/kee_mash. You have to be a member to see it (when it's working).
The only thing to do is contact Yahoo! Mash via their Help form, which I've done. Feedback can be sent via their Feedback form.
So, if your Mash page has disappeared into the ether, let me know because I'm curious. Also, I'd like to know if the glitch regarding sending graphics and media through 360 message has been fixed. If you've been able to do that recently, please let me know as well. If so, I'll update my 360 glitches blog entry. I think hearing from you might be quicker than testing it out myself.
If Yahoo has canceled this beta service without some warning, then that's really bogus. I'm not too surprised as it is a beta project, nor do I care all that much especially since 360 is still chugging along. Yet it's one thing to say that the Universal Profile System will include Mash aspects, but it won't be Mash as we know it. It's another thing to just scrap the project without any official notification.
I can only hope that it's a temporary error, although I'm not too broken up if it's not. Many people who I know on Mash, I know through 360. Maybe the others will find me on here, although in the last few months I haven't heard from or seen any activity by most people on Mash. That's part of the reason I don't feel much in regards to the loss of the service. Although it was nice to see graphics from friends and have another outlet to be creative through Mash.
Work is calling, even this early in the morning. I'm completing tasks so that's freeing up a bit of time (i.e. to check out Mash & post this blog). Still I'm not going to be able to answer anyone individually until maybe the end of this week (except thanks Edie for your message about that ).
Tags: y!mash, 360news, kee, rumor
Monday May 12, 2008 - 03:26am (CDT) Permanent Link | 7 Comments
Autoplay Videos Using the Dizzler Player
Autoplay Videos Using the Dizzler Player magnify
I had seen the Dizzler player displayed on other 360s and mentioned on Yahoo! Answers, but I never took the time to check it out thoroughly. Robert b really wanted me to try it as he was using it on Yahoo! Mash, so I did.
Dizzler is one of several free widget/players that use streaming technology. I already knew that this player had distinguished itself by having lots of skins (meaning different versions of its player's display). For example, there's even a Naruto anime version (yes, that plug was for RonMamita). Yet I was more interested in functionality than aesthetics. I figured out that making simultaneous multiple playlists wasn't possible. Its search feature had difficulty finding some old R&B cuts. I wasn't impressed and a bit frustrated. However, I realize that I was probably hasty in my initial assessment.
This became evident to me after spotting the Dizzler's Sidepod player design on Morgan M's Mash page, which had been playing videos automatically. (NOTE: Mash pages can only be seen by members). While I often see music players set to autoplay in 360, I've never seen embedded video set on autoplay. This was the aspect that caught my attention on Morgan's page.
As you've been reading this, you've probably noticed that the Dizzler player below (in the style of an Apple iPhone that I don't have in real life) has started to play video automatically. I understand that there are autoplay haters out there. After all, it's annoying to try sneak on 360 and Mash pages while at the office and almost get busted because Justin Timberlake starts singing "My Love" right when the page loads. This is especially troublesome if you forgot that the volume was at maximum on your computer. Also, it's annoying to stop by pages that have media on autoplay but not on shuffle, so you hear the same songs in the same order each time you visit. While I feel empathy for such significant web-browsing issues, the testing and sharing must go on.
Dizzler has expanded beyond music streaming, delving into radio and games. You can embed Dizzler in your 360 space or download it for use on your computer's desktop area so that you can access major streaming content through one source. You can connect directly your YouTube account's favorites list and send what's in your player to friends to view online. Embed means the usual: Make sure to type some text before or after clicking the "View HTML Source" box on the blog entry's toolbar. Paste the embed code (from the blue "Embed" button on the bottom right or the orange "Embed" button on the top left of your screen) in that HTML code view, then save.
Besides the song selection and lack of a multiple-playlist saving feature, I dislike that they've disabled the ability to manually arrange your songs. Perhaps they are working on improvements and that issue is temporary. I noticed that they are trying to implement the ability for you to upload your MP3 files to the player. Also, I had a problem where my "hearts" disappeared. They appear on the right of each item upon mouseover and you click on them to add the item to your list. I sent in an e-mail to support and clicked on the "missing hearts" option under the player's menu several times. The hearts returned in a couple of days. For more information regarding how to use Dizzler see the F.A.Q. If the service can add the features mentioned and further improve customer service, this player might become the one to beat.
As promised last year when I started my Mash page, this player features some funny video clips.
* The first video should be the second version of the "Can I Be Your Tennis Ball" song. I had posted the first version on my Mash page back in September 2007 . It's listed on the playlist if the video is still available. The rest of the videos should be on random shuffle.
* If you want to see the videos in a larger view, click "Menu" on the top right of the player and choose to view the player's contents in "Full Screen". Also, you can click the Ctrl and Enter keys at the same time.
* Click the "back" button on the player to see the full playlist.
* By the way, the "Can I Get Your Number?" scenario in the eatery has happened to me exactly like that many times. It will be doubly hard not to laugh now that I've seen this skit.
* NOTE: If you decide to set up an embedded player to autoplay, it will do so on the blog page that the entry resides. If you have other media on that blog page that you want to share (autoplay or not), then you'd have to cut off autoplay on the prior player. Otherwise, the sounds will overlap or you'll force the user to find the autoplaying player in order to pause it.
Tags: 360tips, vids, comedy
