Stories about: Decker

Yahoo was criticized by some shareholders on Friday for the way it handled Microsoft's attempted acquisition, but in the end there were fewer fireworks at its annual meeting of stockholders than some had expected.

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang will face a tough crowd at Friday's shareholders meeting, but the expected tongue-lashing is likely the least of his worries as he stares at the towering list of promises he has made and must fulfill.

Yahoo reported a modest revenue increase and a considerable drop in profit for its second quarter, along the way missing Wall Street's expectations in both categories, results that are unlikely to please its nervous shareholders.

Normally, in a time of crisis, an "amateur" is not the first person you might call. But when communications networks go down, amateur radio operators -- or hams -- and their gear can get communities connected to the outside world via the radio waves.

Under fire from angry shareholders and rocked by a stream of high-profile executive departures, embattled Yahoo on Thursday announced another reorganization, its latest attempt to snap out of its years-long technology and financial funk.

It's over, finito, kaput. The fat lady hasn't merely stopped singing, she's taken off her girdle and waddled home. There are now so many forks stuck into the Microsoft Yahoo deal that it looks like a cutlery display.

In an open letter to Yahoo's board of directors Wednesday, billionaire investor Carl Icahn expressed his dissatisfaction with Yahoo and CEO Jerry Yang and likens them to "self-destructive doomsday machines."

Like many people, I "own" a few personal domains for my blogs and a few old business ideas that never got off the ground. And, like many people, they have been parked at Yahoo Small Business, partially because I already had a Yahoo account when I registered them a few years ago, and partially because I was lured by the US$1.99/year offers for new domains that they had running at the time. The rate increased to $9.95 after the first year, but I was OK with that. I was able to reserve the domains and set up redirects to my blogs, and have the option of building real sites if I ever get too frustrated with Google's Blogger service.

Comments by CEO, Jerry Yang, and president, Sue Decker - pressured by a sliding stock price and grumbling shareholders - seem to indicate Yahoo may be willing to return to the bargaining table to make the deal happen while their seats are still warm.

Despite the hype surrounding VoIP and the technology's proven benefits, some organizations are still taking baby steps toward converged networking.

Businesses presenting their stories at last week's VoiceCon Orlando 2008 found that unified communications can increase productivity, reduce costs, speed up customer service and even do good things for the environment.