Yahoo hasn’t got much right over the past decade, but one of the best decisions it made was to buy the photo-sharing site Flickr. Alas, like many of the other once-excellent services in its portfolio, Yahoo has allowed Flickr to stagnate to the point where the only reason to keep using the site is the size and talent of its user community.

The Flickr homepage looks like its designers went on strike in 2003, its uploading facilities are basic and it simply doesn’t display your photos in their best light.

For months I’ve been looking for an alternative to Flickr, and at last I think I’ve found it: 500px.

Although I only stumbled upon it recently, 500px isn’t a new site: it’s been around since 2003, if its About page is to be believed. Yet, it looks and behaves like a thoroughly modern and attractive site.

That’s partly because the whole site is created in HTML5 (or “handmade using ecologically sustainable code”, according to the witty slogan at the foot of the site). That means it not only works well on desktop browsers, but also on tablets – even the iPad.

The site is working on an official iPad app, but it also publishes its own APIs, so third-party developers can produce their own 500px-based apps, such as the excellent ISO 500 for the iPhone.

500px has two features that, for me, set it apart from Flickr. The first is the Editors’ Choice, which, as the name suggests, is a curated pick of the best photography on the site.  The quality of photography on display here is awesome — and somewhat intimidating for an enthusiastic amateur like me.

The second is the free photo Portfolio that is available to any signed-up member of the site.  There is a range of classy themes to choose from – I’ve opted for the Minimal Pitch Black –  which look stunning in the default full-screen view, and works equally well on the desktop as it does on touchscreens.

You also get a dedicated URL based on your username (in my case http://bazzacollins.500px.com) so that you can easily point people towards your work, as well as the option to fill in Biography and Contact details.  You can even publish a free blog via the site. For photography enthusiasts – and potentially even professionals – 500px could spare you from the hassle of setting up your own website. More designs, custom URLs and Google analytics are available to users who sign up for a $50 a year premium account.

There are a couple of things to watch for on 500px. As with Flickr, the photo uploader can be erratic, especially with larger files  – which partly explains why my own portfolio is currently so slim. The “Popular” section of the site – the photos that have earned the most reader votes – is also top heavy with portraits of naked women, so you might want to untick the Show Nude tickbox at the top if you’re viewing the site at work.

But with a thriving community (three million unique users last month), stunning design and plenty of free tools for photographers, I think my long search for a Flickr successor is finally over.

When Carol Bartz was unceremoniously fired from Yahoo earlier this week, one thought popped into my head: please, don’t let people say it’s because she’s a woman.

Thanks at least in part to the intriguing details surrounding her departure — being fired over the phone, returning fire with some very unpolite four-letter words — the issue of her gender has been, thankfully, a non-issue.

Until today, that is, when computer scientist Dr Sue Black ruined it for me. To be clear: I think Dr Black is fantastic — she’s an intelligent, wonderful, passionate spokesperson for the industry, whether you’re male or female. IT needs more people like her.

But in a piece for the Huffington Post UK, Dr Black (as part of a larger argument) said:

Carol Bartz, until this week CEO of Yahoo, has been fired by the company board. She received the news via a phone call from the Chair of the Yahoo board. Charming.

Does this have anything to do with the fact that Carol Bartz is a woman? If she were a man would this have ended the same way? Would enforced quotas for women on boards have helped this situation in any way? I believe that they would.

Personally, I think the answer to those three questions is: no, no and no. She wasn’t fired over the phone because she’s a woman — reports suggest it’s merely because she and the entirely unclassy chairman Roy Bostock were both travelling that day, and Yahoo didn’t want the news to leak before Bartz was notified. That’s not nice, but it’s not, by default, related to Bartz’s gender.

Dr Black adds:

[Much] is made of Bartz swearing and having the balls to make aggressive cuts within the company, would that be reported so disparagingly if she were a man?

Hell, yes. Imagine Mark Hurd giving such a rude interview on his departure, or Steve Jobs swearing up a storm? And maybe I’m biased — I’ve even shocked cursing-expert and PC Pro editor Barry Collins with my filthy language (sorry mum) — but most of the reporting on Bartz’s clearly-angry post-Yahoo interview seemed pretty awe-filled to me.

Dr Black goes on to note that Yahoo’s profits have increased since Bartz’s arrival. That may be so, but its share price is roughly the same, its revenue is largely flat, and it’s hard to argue that the web company is succeeding at the moment.

Arguably, no CEO in the world could pull Yahoo out of its current spiral, so I’m not saying it’s Bartz’s fault, but she’s not been a roaring success; the board clearly thinks she hasn’t done enough. And that’s really my point: I don’t know if sexism played a role in Bartz’s firing, and neither does Dr Black. But there’s nothing to suggest it did — Bartz hasn’t made the claim, and she’s outspoken enough that you know she would; she’s reportedly already lost $10m for “disparaging” Yahoo — and no woman will ever be treated seriously if every time high-flying females are fired, gender is cited as the reason. Who would risk hiring a woman, if they couldn’t fire her?

Quota considerations

Dr Black also says corporations — specifically in the tech industry — need legally enforced quotas to force more women into top jobs.

Such quotas very likely do have positive knock-on effects when it comes to evening out gender imbalances in the workforce, encouraging more women into tech companies, or normalising the idea of a female CEO, but contrary to Black’s assertion I don’t think such quotas would have changed Bartz’s fate: Yahoo wouldn’t — or shouldn’t — keep a CEO because of a legal requirement.

Indeed, in this case, as Yahoo is under no such legal requirement to hire women in top jobs, we know Bartz didn’t win the role two years ago because she’s a woman, and so we can guess she didn’t get fired this week because she’s one, either.

And that’s what we — desperately — need more of: companies that choose of their own volition to ignore gender, sexuality, race, and whatever other unimportant details and hire the right person for the role, and women like Bartz — and Dr Black — who step up with the skills and intelligence to get hired either way.

Aside from her lesbian dalliance with fellow wallflower Lindsay Lohan and her propensity for setting fire to the hair of ex-girlfriends, Ms Semel  is best known as the daughter of former-Yahoo CEO Terry Semel. All of which makes it rather lovely that she thought her best chance of escaping the handcuffs being slapped around her well-pampered wrists was Google, rather than Daddy’s-own Yahoo.

Terry is reportedly now so sick of his darling daughter’s antics that he’s cutting off her trust fund completely. A fact she will no doubt read about on Google news.

On a dreary Monday, Courtenay Semel has cheered me up no end and I can’t help but feel that here, all packaged up in garish garb, is the solution to all Yahoo’s problems. Put Semel Jr in charge and I guarantee Yahoo will be relevant once again.

You want Yahoo employers coming up with wacky off-the-wall ideas again? Let Semel cater the meeting. Want an immediate Flickr hits boost? Let Semel upload her personal photo collection. Ads? Semel will sell ads. She’s a one-woman keyword factory. Just splash her latest debauched antics over the front page and people will be clicking in droves.

So there it is. Yahoo’s saviour. And if you’re still in doubt, follow her advice and Google her.

Most embarrassing event of the year

The will they, won’t they, courtship between Microsoft and Yahoo was just about the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen. Yahoo couldn’t resist Microsoft’s bedroom eyes, but didn’t want to appear cheap, while Microsoft made the old lover’s mistake of seeming overeager. Microsoft proposed, Yahoo said no… for a bit, then yes, but it was too late, Microsoft was shunned and not coming back. Yahoo’s share price is now somewhere south of hell, Yang’s out of a job and Steve Ballmer needs a new plan. Worst first date ever.

Brilliant thing of the year

Tough one this. There were a few brilliant things shortlisted for this award, including Fusion Man’s flight across the channel on a jetwing, the Sony eBook reader and MI6’s decision to advertise on Facebook. The winner, though, is Dropbox. Nothing’s made this much difference to the way I work since the introduction of minimum wage. I work on a file in the office, forget about it, go home and there it is waiting for me. Marvellous stuff. It just works. No fiddling, or hassle. It’s everything technology and innovation is supposed to be, but never quite manages.

Weirdest moment of the year

Stephen Fry is awesome. Simple fact. One moment he’s a silver-tongued sophisticate, charming birds out of trees with prose soft enough to fall asleep on, and the next moment he’s a foul-mouthed fury, breathing fire at Vista in language that sends sailors scurrying back to their bunks. And doing it on Twitter, no less. If anybody says they saw that coming they’re a liar and a brigand, sir, a brigand.

Most soul destroying moment of the year

The destruction of my pen drive. The realisation that I hadn’t backed anything up for three years. The complete lack of sympathy from… well anybody. Lesson well and truly learned.

Thing that nearly made my head explode in 2008

The devil that is my work PC came close, as did those ridiculous self-service machines in Tesco. Ultimately though it was the outrage at the Prime Minister’s comedy dismissal of the Jeremy Clarkson for Prime Minister petition. It was a bandwagon with David Cameron at the wheel, and half a million people with nothing better to do clinging on for dear life. Brown could have appeared at a press conference wearing a Panda’s head for a hat, and it wouldn’t have stoked up such strong feeling. It was funny people. Get a grip.

Me VS the World moment

If you’re going to take a kicking, you might as well make it worthwhile. So, it was with my Gary McKinnon post, which expressed in no uncertain times my utter lack of sympathy for the alleged hacker. Other people, vocal people, have quite a lot. Some of the opinions were eloquent, others were… erm, less eloquent… but none of them have changed my mind. If you put yourself in the way of a car, expect to get run over.

Thing I was utterly wrong about this year

Facebook. Again. Year after year I predict the demise of Fadbook, and year after year, it carries on growing, despite the fact that I’m still not entirely sure what it’s good for. This year, I almost escaped its prodding, pushing, ninja-attacking clutches, only to go on holiday and have all my new-found friends post their snaps on the damn thing. So, I’m back, again, and hating myself for it. The mafia would be easier to leave than Facebook.

But then a certain Google went and changed everything and Yahoo has struggled to maintain a foothold ever since.

It still is, by the look of things. Yesterday I attended a Yahoo 2009 preview event, held in modest surroundings in London’s East End, where the firm was showcasing upcoming developments and changes. The key message seemed to be that a) we’re still big in search and b) we’re going to be more ‘open’. In fact I encountered the word ‘open’ in its various forms more than 20 times during the various presentations (I was keeping tally, just in case you were wondering).

This new spirit of openness involves the firm opening up its various APIs so that third parties can develop widgets and ‘applications’ for the various Yahoo services, allowing users to aggregate content from other companies’ web services – yes, even Google’s – and even allowing people to hack into and play with the search engine itself.

Some of the other stuff being demonstrated was pretty interesting. The mobile service – OneConnect – which allows users to aggregate contacts from several different services, including social-networking sites, and the prospect of being able to send IMs or email automatically, depending on whether they’re online is definitely an appealing one.

The search improvements certainly look good – the firm says it is focusing on users’ “intent” when they search rather than simple keywords, offering suggestions as you go and rich media content within the results – with inline YouTube video playback a particularly interesting development.

There are other refinements in the pipeline to its homepage, its popular Answers service and others.

But none of it grabs me as being particularly groundbreaking. Google, as we all know, is already into ‘open’ search in a big way, and its services are much more broad, refined, effective and speedy than Yahoo’s, though its mobile offering has big gaps that need to be filled.

If Yahoo wants to grab back lost ground, it really needs a big announcement, a launch to grab the attention of the general internet-consumer. But as the recent launch of Chrome shows, Google, has the market cornered on this front, too.

Toby Coppel, managing director of Yahoo Europe and Canada, perhaps unwittingly, summed it all up very well in his opening address when he said: “we can’t possibly keep up or have all the best ideas”. Fine, but surely Yahoo can do better than this?

Basically, you can use Yahoo’s SearchMonkey technology to tart up your web searching or at least that’s the idea. The Beta version of the Yahoo Search Gallery has been launched, and this features a whole host of plug-in enhancements that are meant to make searching a better looking experience.

So you get enhancements from the likes of LinkedIn, IMDB, Epicurious, WebMD and the like to provide additional wrappers for your search data: want ratings by your movie hits, or perhaps maps next to restaurant listings, well that’s the kind of thing to expect.

Yahoo itself says that SearchMonkey lets programmers package search results on the site with more sophistication, opening up the web search concept to third party developers in order to bring a richer and more semantic web approach to the where the heck is it party. Of course, Yahoo’s own in-house developed stuff is switched on by default for your Yahoo search, or at least 3 of them are: a video player, hotel info application and a Flickr viewer. The most popular, however, appears to be the LinkedIn plug-in that shows LinkedIn profiles alongside search results.

And why do I not approve of this advance, of this added functionality, of this extended search concept? Because all I really want are results that are accurate and relevant, that get delivered as quickly as possible, and which are not buried within a screen full of fancy wrapping. No matter which SearchMonkey extensions are running it slows down the search process because you have to wait, in effect, for all those additional little web pages within your web page to load before you are presented with the full picture. It does nothing to improve relevancy, just brings a load of frankly irrelevant waffle into the search arena. That plug-in will bring less relevant results to the top, pushing them at you and crying ‘but they look nice’ as a defence.

I am not buying it, in fact I am pushing for a return to the early days of Google when all you got was a search box to start with and a text based list of accurate and relevant results to finish. Which is probably why I find myself using the text only, totally stripped back to basics, mobile Google search more and more these days.

One of the features it was gagging to show off was that the search engine now guesses what you’re going to enter as soon as you start typing in the box.

So, for example, our demo man revealed, I simply enter the letter W and, lo-and-behold, what does Google think you’re most likely to be searching for? www.yahoo.com apparently.

Cue slightly embarrassed silence and (no doubt) a volley of internal emails urging the developers to rethink their strategy on the letter W.