Dan Brickley's been a busy man.  We now have an updated, official FOAF spec that's got LOTS of cool constructs in it.  Time to pull up a chair, sit by  a lake and do some deep reading.  My favorite is the concept of Agents - which are people or groups that do something. [Marc's Voice] 
3:42:35 PM      comment []   trackback []  



WEB 2.0
Personal Broadcast Networks is starting to get some traction. Adam Bosworth (the CTO of BEA) is writing extensively about the Web Services Browser and Kevin Lynch (Sr. VP at Macromedia) has written a white paper on rich Flash applications that utilize Web Services (he calls them Rich Internet Applications).  Each takes a different approach to solving the same thing:  how to build new client (desktop PC) software that realizes the vision of Web 2.0?

What is Web 2.0?  It is a system that breaks with the old model of centralized Web sites and moves the power of the Web/Internet to the desktop.  It includes three structural elements:  1) a source of content, data, or functionality (a website, a Web service, a desktop PC peer), 2) an open system of transport (RSS, XML-RPC, SOAP, P2P, and too an extent IM), and 3) a rich client (desktop software).  Basically, a PBN puts the power of the Internet in the hands of the desktop PC user where it belongs. 

So far, we have made excellent progress on the first two elements necessary for Web 2.0, yet the remaining element has undergone an abortive development path.  The primary reason for this is due to Microsoft's dominance of the browser market which has resulted in stasis.  Additionally, both VCs and developers have been frozen in fear of fighting Microsoft on the desktop.  Regardless, the Web 2.0 desktop applications I had hoped for years ago haven't arrived in sufficient numbers.  Fortunately, the tide is about to shift.

Three development paths are now in contention.  The first is a desktop Web site approach (Radio).  A second is an enhanced browser method (Flash, see picture).  A third is a custom desktop application (.Net and nifty custom apps like Brent's NetNewsWire).  I suspect that all three approaches will gain traction over the next couple of years, but my personal preference (for a myriad of reasons) is to put a CMS (Web site content management system) on the desktop and leverage the limitations of the browser to provide an enhanced experience.  This makes it possible for a seamless transition for users from the Web 1.0 to Web 2.0.  Regardless, it is extremely nice to see motion. [John Robb's Weblog] 
3:37:16 PM      comment []   trackback []  



For Surfers, a Wave of Hotel Bargains
New competition among hotel booking Web sites is spurring improvements in all of them. By Bob Tedeschi. [New York Times: Technology] 
12:52:38 PM      comment []   trackback []  



RSS Is Amazing!
Here's an example of the power of RSS. I posted my "Bye, Bye VCR" entry at 6:16pm. Between 6:16pm and 6:26pm, Dave Winer picked it up in his news aggregator and linked to in on Scripting News. Dave's post made it into my news aggregator at 6:26pm. If that's not powerful, I don't know what is. [Dann Sheridan's Weblog] 
1:51:33 AM      comment []   trackback []  



Social Networks, Jobs & the Third Place
Joi Ito posts his reflections on strong and weak ties after reading Granovetter's original paper in the context of the job market. ...What I can see emerging is a way to amplify the strength of weak ties.
[Ross Mayfield's Weblog] 
12:28:44 AM      comment []   trackback []  



So true, it hurts: the best Nigerian spam scam yet: a parody on SCO
[Ars Technica] 
12:11:08 AM      comment []   trackback []