Diwali, also known as the “Festival of Lights”, is a very significant Indian festival that symbolizes the victory of good over evil. This year it falls on October 17th.
Many Indians living outside of their home country will be calling home to wish their friends and family a happy Diwali. If you’re one of them, Yahoo! Messenger is a great way to stay connected not only during Diwali, but any time.
If your family and friends are already using Yahoo! Messenger, you can make high-quality PC-to-PC calls for free. And with the new video calling feature in Yahoo! Messenger 10, you’ll feel like you’re right there with them. Get great quality video, synched audio, even a full-screen mode.
If your friends and family aren’t using Yahoo! Messenger, you can still call them using Messenger, and enjoy great savings. Sign up for a Yahoo! Messenger Phone Out account and you can make calls to any landline or mobile phone in India for just 7.9¢ a minute – right from your desktop.
You can also send free SMS text messages from Messenger to your friends and family in India if they are on the following carriers: Vodaphone Essar, Airtel, Spice, Escotel, Reliance. Their replies come right back to you in Yahoo! Messenger. Find out how to SMS from Messenger.
Even if you just plan to IM friends this weekend to celebrate the festival, you can dress up for it. Head over to Yahoo! Avatars and search on “india” to find Indian-themed clothing and backgrounds. Or add a little Diwali with a custom display image. Click on one of the designs below to make it your display image (you need to be signed into Messenger before you click):
From the looks of Diwali pictures I found on Flickr (see slideshow below), the festival is bright, warm and colorful. Lamps (called “diyas”) are lit in homes, fireworks are set off, sparklers color the night air, gifts are exchanged and people eat all kinds of delicious Indian sweets and snacks made specifically for the festival. To learn more about Diwali, head over to diwalifestival.org.
Every year, Yahoo! gets into the spirit of Earth Day and educates our users about what they can personally do to make a difference for the environment. This year, our focus is on how to be green at home and still save money. There’s a common misperception that helping the environment can weigh on your wallet, but that doesn’t have to be the case.
The Yahoo! Green Earth Day site has tons of advice, tips and tricks for saving the earth and your pennies. Browse the virtual house on the homepage to find affordable ways to go green in every room of your abode or check out their helpful buying guides on cleaning products, water filters, and energy efficient products. Plus find out which household appliances have earned the nickname “energy vampire“.
While you’re thinking green, why not get your Avatar in the mood too? Head over to the Yahoo! Avatars website to get decked out in fun Earth Day apparel. Then help spread the word about Earth Day (April 22) to all your friends on Messenger!
Have questions about the new Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 that we released recently? Join us for a live, moderated Workshop on Monday, October 6th at 3pm Pacific time (time zone converter).
At the workshop you’ll be able to submit questions directly to Yahoo! staff members about our latest 9.0 version. We’ll answer as many questions as we can during the workshop, and we’ll post the transcript from the Workshop here on the blog afterwards.
Unable to attend on October 6th but still want to participate? You can pre-submit your questions before the Workshop by going here: http://forums.prospero.com/yh-event001
Melissa Daniels
Yahoo! Messenger Community Manager
Usually hack days are for Yahoo! employees only. But this event is a wide open, public hack day where people with a passion for Yahoo! products can come together to build and share their best ideas for extending, re-shaping and mashing together our products and features.
We’ve profiled a few Yahoo! Messenger hacks here on the blog, but if you’ve got one in mind and want to bring it to life, come to our Hack Day. You’ll be surrounded by other hackers working on the next great Yahoo! idea. Your hack idea doesn’t have to involve Yahoo! Messenger, but we sure would love it! To sign up for a Hack Day invitation, visit http://www.hackday.org.
Looking for inspiration? Check out the brief video for Hack Day below, or take a look at some of our past articles on Yahoo! Messenger ideas that have come out of our internal hack days.
Diwali, also known as the “Festival of Lights”, is a very significant Indian festival that symbolizes the victory of good over evil. This year it falls on October 17th. 
Yahoo! turns 14 today – Happy Birthday! 
To sign up for a Hack Day invitation, visit 