Stories by John P. Mello Jr.

  • Can Yahoo pump new life into a dead horse?

    It takes more than an exclamation point at the end of your name to create excitement. Maybe Yahoo! is finally waking up to that. At least there were signs of it at the company's press event held today at its headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.

  • Twitter fixes its 'bad' homepage: The critics weigh in

    Twitter's update to its homepage, that stresses community and multimedia content, is a welcome change to the staid site. Of course, when you impose order and elegance to Twitter's current lackluster homepage, you're going to get more kudos than questions. Still, you'll be hard pressed to find a dissonant voice in the chorus of opinion about the redesign of world's favorite micro-blogging site.

  • America becoming nation of apps

    More and more Americans are downloading applications for their mobile phones, and even if they don't know what to do with them, the programs are becoming an important part of the technology world of cell phone users.

  • Google goes loco with logo

    With the frothing anticipation usually reserved for an Apple press event, the Web has been buzzing in recent days about an announcement Wednesday by Google that will change search as most people know it.

  • iPhone gets a social news app

    Flipboard broke new ground when it launched its flashy iPad app last month that "socialized" the news by turning feeds from Facebook, Twitter, and such into a slick electronic magazine. Now Blancspot Media is promising to bring the pizzazz of social news to the iPhone with its new Blancspot software.

  • The web is dead. Who cares?

    No doubt many netizens of cyberspace were surprised to hear this week that the World Wide Web is on death's doorstep while the Internet is alive and well and ready to be the platform for an electronic Camelot. That's because for many folks the Web and the Net are synonymous. They use the words interchangeably in their daily lives, and they're likely to continue using them that way even if the prediction of the Web's fade from glory becomes a reality.

  • Softcore porn star linked to former HP CEO's resignation

    Last Friday Mark Hurd resigned his post as CEO of computer maker HP over "inappropriate conduct" with a contractor working for the company. Monday it was revealed that the contractor was Jodie Fisher, who starred in such soft porn movies as "Sheer Passion," "Body of Influence," and "Intimate Obsession."

  • Can Windows Phone 7 save Microsoft's mobile bacon?

    Windows Phone 7 is inching closer to market. Microsoft has sent the operating system for its brand of mobile phones to the labs of carriers for testing, as well as to developers of applications for the phones, which are expected to reach the market in time for holiday shoppers.