I opened my Yahoo! Mail page this evening to check my email and noticed there’s a whole new version of interface. Like everyone else they’re providing the opportunity to do more "social" stuff like updating a status. The general appearance and layout has been cleaned up and sharpened a bit too.

I’m still working on some in-depth feature improvements. Texting isn’t new, unless I can get it to really work this time then that would be an improvement. The discussion about what’s new with social networking stuff included a twitter icon and YouTube, but still working on what’s involved in that change.

A WordPress application is new. Being able to publish to a WordPress blog could be interesting. Tried to install the app though and there was some kind of error. Will try that again later.

Some other cool applications related to images are abundant: flickr, Photobucket, MyPhotos and even Picnik for editing all of those images. The list of applications starts to remind me of the early days of Facebook.

Still can’t figure out why they’re showing the twitter icon. Let me know if you figure it out.

Another great online application I was reminded of while at Blog World Expo 08 is picnik. I’m should be ashamed that I haven’t shared this site for you all yet. It’s a great app that does just about everything most users would want with regards to photo-editing, while all the time being FREE!

Tris Hussey showcased this little app during his "How to be More than a Blog: New Media Integration" session.

Check-out this list of features you can take advantage of in the completely free version of picnik:

• Fix your photos in just one click
• Use advanced controls to fine-tune your results
• Crop, resize, and rotate in real-time
• Tons of special effects, from artsy to fun
• Astoundingly fast, right in your browser
• Awesome fonts and top-quality type tool
• Basketfuls of shapes from hand-picked designers
• Works on Mac, Windows, and Linux
• No download required, nothing to install

Can you believe that? What else does 80% of the online population need in their editor?

The only drawback I can think of is that it’s online and not offline, so those surfers with a slower Internet connection may find the experience less than amazing. Those of us with broadband connections.

Perhaps even just as impressive is that you can use picnik to edit your photos even when they’re already on some of the most popular image hosting sites available for Internet users: myspace, flickr, facebook, photobucket, Picasa, webshots, freewebs, and of course those images you’ve already got sitting on your own computer.

Uncover the best, free online photo editing application on the web. Go have a picnik!

I thought it might be interesting to share a recent blog post by my friend Brian Layman, whom I work with at b5media. He has shared recently on his blog some correspondence between him and Yahoo concerning what appears to be a desired upgrade to one of their services.

Have you had this kind of service from Yahoo!? I’d love to hear your own stories, but let’s get this issue exposed and blown wide-open to as many people as possible.

Angry letter to Flickr/Yahoo by Brian Layman

We’ve all taken a piece of a paper and tried to fold it into something else. Growing up I used to make little paper frogs that would hop across my school desk. Once I was able to fold a crane, never to be able to repeat it again.

Richard Sweeney has taken the task of folding, cutting and creasing paper to an absolute high-art form.

The transformation of flat sheet material into three dimensional forms is my central motivation, and working with paper and synthetic sheet materials I take a hands-on approach. Using this process I can gain a better insight into the unique properties of a material, and utilise this knowledge to develop form-making techniques for hand crafted and CNC manufactured objects.

I’m highly influenced by natural form; structures in nature are very efficient, the maximum is achieved using the least material and energy possible. Growth patterns produce forms that appear very complex, yet have a basic underlying principle.

I often take an experimental approach to projects, whereby objects are created through the exploration of a particular process rather than specifying a predetermined outcome.

You can see more of his works on his flickr gallery.