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Dienstag, 30. August 2005 |
Biofeedback music. Developed by Sonic Studio, BodyRest is a wearable device (PDA + headphones + sensors) that produces customized music for relaxation. Thanks to the bio feed-back system, music changes in real time according to the listeners physiological parameters, i.e. stress level.
This music does not have a beginning or an end, and sounds different from time to time and is composed as it is needed âo[base "] the developers call it just-in-time-composition.
The concept of BodyResT is based on a biofeedback technique that trains individuals to improve their health by listening to their own bodyâo[dot accent]s signals. The prototype will measure the individualâo[dot accent]s stress level through a physiologic parameter. This will then be reï¬[not equal]ected in the music. The continuous feedback between the music and the individual enhances relaxation response.
In the �rst prototype the heart rate is measured by a sensor attached to the ear lobe. The sensor is connected to a small EIS (Embedded Internet System) platform with Bluetooth capabilities. Sensor data is sent via wireless connection to a software application which controls a music generating sound engine.
In the next generation of BodyResT we will measure a second physiological parameter.
Movie presentation on the website. [we make money not art]
3:33:08 PM 
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The future of search. This Time article looks at the future of search engines."You land late in the evening in a city where you know nobody.You did not have time to book a hotel,your luggage has not turned up on the carousel--and the plane's air conditioning gave you a sore throat.What to do?With your cell phone,you first Google your suitcase--it has a small implanted chip that responds to radio waves with a GPS locator--and it turns out that your luggage has been deposited 200 yds. away in the next terminal.As you walk over,you search for a hotel room;the screen of your cell shows you pictures of several hotels in your price bracket,with views from individual room windows.Your search engine gives you a list of pharmacies that are still open at this hour,and tells you that your favorite blues band will be playing at a festival in the city's park over the weekend.The engine can search your desktop back home,and it reminds you that a college friend e-mailed you a year ago to say he and his wife were moving to this city (you had forgotten).You decide to invite them to the festival.What you have just tasted is the future of search".
On the Frontier of Search
[Smart Mobs]
1:08:32 PM
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Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 8-14 August 2005. sponsored by:
Onfolio is offering R/WW readers a coupon code entitling the bearer to $30 off a
purchase of Onfolio Professional
before August 31st (a 30% saving off the normal $99.95 price). To use the coupon, enter
it at the time of purchase. Coupon Code: RM857202
This week: RSS branding, More Web 2.0 definitions, Spam and fake blogs, MBAs learn about Web 2.0, Techie post of the week.
RSS Brand Morphs Into Feeds
A lot of interest this week in how the label 'RSS' is being usurped by 'feeds' or 'Web
feeds'. Once the accepted brand name for syndication technologies, the big 3 Internet
companies are all now using the
term 'feeds' (or 'web feeds' in Microsoft's case) as their preferred method of
promoting RSS technologies to their mainstream users. Most other RSS-related companies
are doing the same: Feedburner, Six Apart, Bloglines are just a few high profile examples.
And judging by all the comments on my initial post about this, a
majority of people feel that 'feeds' is a better brand name for Web syndication
technologies than 'RSS'.
But still, the term 'RSS' won't go out of usage amongst the geek set. RSS 2.0 is the
dominant feed format - and is likely to remain so, unless Google can push their preferred
Atom format onto the masses. And the RDF-derived RSS 1.0 will continue to have its fair
share of disciples. Feeds is the way we'll be promoting all of these formats to
mainstream users, but it won't stop us geeks from continuing our religious battles over RSS
vs Atom and so forth :-)
Web 2.0 Definition Rolls On
There were some very interesting discussions about the meaning of Web 2.0 this week,
sparked by Web legend Tim Bray's post entitled Not Web 2.0. Tim
O'Reilly replied to
Bray's post - see also the fascinating comments thread. I especially liked this comment
made by someone called "pb":
"Web 1 was the period up to the dot bomb. Web 2 is what has been emerging, what has
been succeeding, since that big implosion. I believe that this is the way most "average"
people -- if not the technical elite -- will perceive the terms."
I'll be writing LOTS more about all this in the near future (that message brought to
you by the Subtle Hint Department). For now I just want to point out that the term 'Web
2.0' seems to be generally accepted now. There still isn't a canonical definition,
despite the best efforts of the Wikipedia
contributers. But the conversations about Web 2.0 are helping everyone grok the
term.
Spam and Fake Blogs
Dave Sifry has been running a series of
thought-provoking posts on the "State of the Blogosphere". I particularly liked the 4th
in the series, on the topic of Spam and Fake Blogs. The two most contentious posts I've
ever written on R/WW were on this touchy topic, because it riles people up (including
me!).
Dave wrote that Technorati has been "tracking an increase in the number of people
who are trying to manipulate the blogosphere." He goes on to say that spam and fake blogs
are almost always created by automated programs, not by people. They're driven by
affiliate or advertising money and high search rankings. So Dave and others are working
hard to "eliminate economic incentives" for these types of blogs.
Of course I heartily endorse and applaud this action by Dave, because as I mentioned
in my (in)famous Bots post - these automated spam or fake blogs are polluting the Web and
cluttering up search engine results.
MBA Blogging Success
The results are in for Bud Gibson's recent blogging bootcamp for Michigan MBA students. Over 6 weeks the students created and maintained blogs that competed with "cleaning and restoration services" websites. The results are interesting. All of the blogs ended up with a Google PageRank of 5, which was better than three of the old school websites. According to Bud, this suggested "that bootcamp sites would come out ahead of these two sites in searches where their content is equally relevant". The blog sites also had encouraging results in keyword tests.
Bud concluded:
"The bootcamp results demonstrate that with moderate but systematic effort bloggers can achieve search visibility that outperforms established local players for relevant searches."
This is what could be termed The Good Side of blogs for businesses. The Dark Side is the spam and fake blogs I wrote about above. It seems to be relatively easy nowadays for both sides to gain search engine ascendancy over old-school websites.
Nevertheless, it is great that up and coming business people are being taught the value of blogs and social software. You may've noticed that in my Weekly Wrap-Ups, I try to highlight non-techie manifestations of Web 2.0 as well as the geeky stuff. If the Web really is a platform, then we want to encourage as many people as possible to build on it.
Techie Post of the Week
Instead of a single post, this week I'd like to give a shout-out to the TechCrunch blog. Their regular profiles of Web 2.0
companies is exhaustive and wide-ranging.
They also have a weekly review of Web
2.0 news, modelled on my own Weekly Wrap-Up. But whereas I generally pick a few topics or a theme and drill down, the TechCrunch weekly provides broad coverage. So I think we complement each other in that respect. OK yes, we did have some friendly words about the
name of their weekly review - but we've sorted that out now :-) I recommend you add TechCrunch to your RSS Aggregator.
That's a wrap for another week!  [Read/Write Web]
1:03:58 PM
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Web as Platform Mash-Ups. There have been a lot of excellent posts and articles this week about APIs, the Web as
Platform, web sites as software companies, and so forth. Here's my own mash-up of some of
the highlights:
The Philosophy of Web 2.0
To set the scene, let's consider what the essence of Web 2.0 is. Peter Merholz has been thinking
about this: "The point isn't the features, it's the underlying philosophy of
relinquishing control." He pointed to Barnes & Noble's failed attempt to replicate
Amazon's features and also cited Blockbuster trying to copy Netflix.
New blogger Sergey Schetinin has a 2.0 twist on
an old theme: The Web
is Atomic. I particularly liked this remix of
Paul Miller's words:
"Web 2.0 presages a freeing of data, allowing it to be exposed, discovered and
manipulated in a variety of ways…
Web 2.0 permits the building of virtual applications, drawing data and functionality from
a number of different sources…
Web 2.0 applications work for the user, and are able to locate and assemble content that
meets our needs as users…
Web 2.0 applications are modular …
Web 2.0 is about sharing; code, content, ideas…"
So the philosophy of Web 2.0 is to let go of control, share ideas and code, build on
what others have built, free your data. It's actually a difficult philosophy to live by,
when you consider how capitalistic Western society is. But more on that in another
post...
btw, I've gotta love a new blogger that puts me on their v0.1 blogroll alongside just
3 other people: Clay Shirky, Kevin Kelly, Tim Berners-Lee. :-)
Mash-Up Theory
ZDNet is calling the current generation of the Web the "recombinant Web". Although that term is
too much of a mouthful to catch on, the explanation is spot on:
"...the recombinant Web, Web mash-ups, Web 2.0 or just the next phase of Web
evolution heralds the use of the Web as a platform for creating new kinds of user
experiences and businesses. Jon Udell calls it remixable Web
applications."
In a CNET article entitled Catching up to Web 2.0, Martin
LaMonica gives us his definition:
"Now programmable Web sites are becoming more widespread, a change that unleashing all
sorts of intriguing combinations, or "mash-ups." Some people call that Web 2.0."
LaMonica wrote more on that theme in a follow-up CNet article entitled
From Web page to Web platform. His bottom line:
"Experts predict Web site owners will increasingly resemble software companies: To
generate traffic and sales, they will encourage add-on products and Web services."
Hmmm, there is an overarching theme developing here. In CNET's words:
"The effect is to put a great deal of power in the hands of outside individuals and to
transform Web sites into programmable machines."
Web sites as software companies, programmable machines... I like that way of
expressing the power of Web 2.0 sites/entities such as Google and Amazon.
Web as Platform implementations
The second CNET article also has a paragraph devoted to eBay's use of APIs. Apparently
20% of eBay's listings come from the APIs - mostly for "high volumes". There are now
18,000 people in eBay's developer program, up
from just 300 in 2003.
Robert Scoble
recently visited eBay and was so impressed he was moved to comment:
"I think we're about to see a revolution in retailing. Someone could build an
interesting new store using a combination of Google Maps or MSN Virtual Earth, Amazon,
eBay, and other Web services."
But as usual, Robert's commenters had some interesting counterpoints. Developer Morgan Schweers said:
"There are some questions to be asked about the openness and design of eBay's API.
[...] As for the people who are making $1Mil/mo., they are most likely spending
$750+K/mo. to make it."
On the topic of implementations of API services, Feedburner has just released its FeedBurner Feed
Management API. It's described as:
"...sort of like a universal remote control for FeedBurner services. You can create,
manage and remove feeds in your account without ever visiting feedburner.com."
The quintessential Web 2.0 application
According to Rashmi
Sinha, the quintessential Web 2.0 application is Flickr. She explained:
"Its data and metadata is contributed by its users; while the
interface is its own. Its API's are used by developers who tend to use its data, but not
the interface (such as Mappr, Color Pickr)."
Flickr is certainly a great example of a small company using Web 2.0 technologies to
its advantage, although on a larger scale I don't think you can go past Google, Amazon
and eBay as quintessential Web 2.0 entities. I also liked this line by Jon in the comments to Rashmi's post: "When
web sites start acting like software companies, then you have your Web 2.0."
The Future of the Web, according to its Creator
Finally, to end this mash-up on the topic of mash-ups, let me go right back to the
original source of the Web - Tim Berners-Lee. In a recent interview with the
BBC on the topic of the read/write Web, Sir Tim had this prediction for the Web in 30
years time:
"My goal for the web in 30 years is to be the platform which has led to the building
of something very new and special, which we can't imagine now."
'nuff said.  [Read/Write Web]
1:02:59 PM
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RSS 3.0?. This is news to me. Apparently there's a version 3 of RSS, which purports to be "a derivative work which is meant to replace the 2.0 version." That'll please Dave Winer, I'm sure. A guy called Jonathan Avidan is behind RSS 3.0 and he seems to be the only one contributing to the RSS 3 MessageBoards at this time.
Mr Avidan also posted an article at Slashdot, which seriously makes me wonder if there is any decent editing going on there - because frankly this RSS 3 looks to be a load of bunk. As one Slashdot commenter said:
"There is zero community behind this "standard", it's just a spec some guy decided to write of his own accord. In contrast, a real community effort, Atom, has just reached 1.0 and is standardized by the IETF. Nobody should take this "RSS 3.0" seriously."
Indeed just yesterday the Atom Syndication Format was approved by the IESG as an IETF Proposed Standard. In English, that means Atom is officially an alternative RSS format to RSS 2.0.
In comparison to Atom, which is a real community effort backed by some very smart and distinguished people, RSS 3 looks to be simply a publicity stunt for its author.
But let's be fair to Avidan and hear him out. In Slashdot he defends RSS 3 and answers the obvious question, why not support Atom? Avidan wrote:
"...why not Atom? I don't like Atom and believe that with more documentation, RSS stands a good chance. Competition, if moderately friendly and not destructive, is beneficial to both parties."
He doesn't like Atom? That's his reason for starting yet another RSS format?! He explains more in the "official blog":
"...it is my belief that RSS 2, given further documentation and reworking, can compete with Atom. Why do I want to compete with Atom? That would be too long to explain here, unfortunately."
Perhaps I'm being too harsh, but I can't see the point of RSS 3 at all. Jonathan, at the very least you need to explain to people why you're not supporting a true community standard, which Atom undoubtedly is. RSS 2.0 already has significant uptake as the main RSS format, so why are you starting yet another fork of it?  [Read/Write Web]
1:00:51 PM
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Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 15-21 August 2005. sponsored by:
Onfolio is offering R/WW readers a coupon code entitling the bearer to $30 off a
purchase of Onfolio Professional
before August 31st (a 30% saving off the normal $99.95 price). To use the coupon, enter
it at the time of purchase. Coupon Code: RM857202
This week: New apps on the block, Schools and the Web, Kids and Web 2.0, API magic, Outsourcing your PC.
New Apps on the Block
Lots of start-up action this week. Two ones that caught my eye were Flock
and Wordpress.com.
Flock is described as a
"social web browser". Considering that the browser market hasn't had any decent innovation since Firefox burst onto the scene in November 2004, Flock sounds intriguing. Indeed Flock
started off as a company, then named Round Two, building Firefox extensions (I wrote
about them in this April
post).
SiliconBeat reports that Flock is a browser "aimed at making it easy for the Web 2.0
crowd to blog, post photos, etc."
Roland Tanglao has more details - he was blown away. Will Pate also has a write-up. So yes, Flock sounds fascinating
and I've signed up for an invite.
Wordpress.com is a hosted version of the open
source blogging tool, Wordpress. It sounds like it'll
give Six Apart's TypePad product a run for its
money, especially if it's free (as
SiliconBeat say it is). Not that Six Apart is standing still - Movable
Type 3.2 sounds like a big step forward in functionality and TypePad has new
features too. Andrew Watson is
tracking the Wordpress.com news.
P.S. Keep an eye out for the TechCrunch profiles of Flock and Wordpress.com. The TechCrunch crew have been making their presence felt over in Silicon Valley - my brothers! Also check out their latest Web 2.0 This Week.
Schools and the Web
One of the kicks I get out of my blog is tracking how people in The Real World are
using Web 2.0 technologies. One of the most active groups is teachers and people in the
education system. Cole Camplese's Learning &
Innovation blog is a good example. Cole works at Penn State University, in the School
of Information Sciences and Technology (IST). Web 2.0 is at the core of a class he
teaches called IST 110. He explained:
"I will once again use the class blog for the primary communication area, but will
extend it to give each their own accounts and spaces. I will be doing quite a bit of
podcasting - both my own and expecting them to produce a bunch. I will be testing my
enclosure bundles with them as well! I’ll use digital video again so they can
communicate their solutions in ways beyond text - and I think I will do a little more of
it."
Man, I wish my INFO 110 course in the early 90's had been that exciting (for the
record, it was more boring than ECON 101).
Another recent educator that has been talking about Web 2.0 is Noah Brier's Mum, Barbara Rubin Brier. Noah posted an
email from his Mum, which outlined her thoughts about how schools are using the Web.
Looking ahead 25-30 years, Barbara thinks "the people in our classrooms will not be
teachers of content knowledge, but facilitators of learning that will be entirely
web-based."
Kids and Web 2.0
Alexander Muse asks an interesting question:
"...does the fact that many of us who were active in the first Web boom now have children affect the direction of the web?"
I'd say the social nature of the current Web and the maturity of the industry now (compared to the craziness of dotcom times) is indeed affecting how Web 2.0 is panning out. Our little Web is growing up ;-)
The magic of APIs
This week I wrote a post
summarising some recent articles about APIs. I want to highlight that theme again here in
my Weekly Wrap-Up, so I thought I'd provide a few more examples of APIs in
action.
Firstly James MacAonghus'
analysis of Expedia, the online travel planning
and flight-booking site. James thinks Expedia is more than that, saying it's "a
heavyweight ecommerce and search website in its own right". He thinks that APIs would
help Expedia compete with the big Internet companies:
"If Expedia could roll out an API platform of its own, it could at least fight it out
with Google (and Yahoo and anyone else who will join the fray). At best, Expedia could
increase its reach and range of services in ways impossible to a single company."
Of course Google, Yahoo and others won't sit back and wait for Expedia to catch up - they will forge ahead with new APIs.
As Mark Sigal wrote in his RSS as a Web 2.0
platform article:
"... I would expect that fierce competition for developer mindshare between Microsoft,
Google, Yahoo, Amazon and eBay will continue to push these folks to open up more and more
of their APIs. [...] My bet is that before too long, the filtration, personalization and
ad serving functions get reduced to an API that a developer can plug into their
application."
Finally, Brad Feld's been thinking of APIs too. He wants a "CIO dashboard" view across
all his data:
"Much of this data is “open” and freely available via APIs and web
services although some isn’t easy to get."
Which would be a great example of a web app built on top of APIs from various
companies - Google, Yahoo, Feedburner, etc. Ben Barren says KlipFolio is an example of this kind of app.
Techie Post of the Week: Outsource your PC
John
Clingan has an interesting view on how to reduce spam and viruses on the Web -
outsource your home PC by having all its software hosted on the Web. As Stephen O'Grady pointed out in the comments,
this is known as the "thin client model". John wrote:
"I haven't been following the Web 2.0 discussion
at all, but when I think of Web 2.0, I think of a web with security first and foremost.
Every client has a certificate. Every server has a certificate. Email is safe. No
spyware. No SPAM. OK, not entirely true, but there is some level of accountability. We
have a thread to follow. If you want to be anonymous,
back out to Web 1.0 and die a death by a thousand paper cuts. Support yourself, don't
come to me."
I'm not entirely sure I follow John's reasoning here - it would be great if he explained it a bit more. But I think I see where he's coming from. It's similar to my SoulWeb post, in which I mused that one's PC will in future be hosted on the Web.
In many ways that will be the zenith of Web 2.0 - when the Web is a platform for our entire computing experience.
That's a wrap for another week!
 [Read/Write Web]
1:00:01 PM
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9rules Network.  I've joined the 9rules Network, a community of high quality weblogs and websites. Here's the announcement from Paul Scrivens, 9rules' inspirational CEO. The 9rules Network is very similar to what I described as my ideal blog network a few weeks ago: "a group of niche bloggers, each with their own unique look n' feel but collectively part of a branded network of like minds." In fact that was what attracted the attention of 9rules to my blog in the first place.
Here's how it works. I keep 100% ownership and control of my blog, which is very important to me. But I get to join a community of quality websites, which has opportunities for network advertising. It also gives my blog wider coverage, especially in the design community. Best of all, the network members help each other out - e.g. I could use some design help and in return I'm happy to give writing advice and tips.
The 9rules community is very strong in web design - there are a lot of beautifully designed websites in the network. I'm hoping to learn a lot from the community in that respect, because to be frank my blog design looks plain in comparison. On the other hand, I pride myself on writing top quality and original content on the topic of Web Technology. So I hope that my content inspires others and that I introduce some of the 9rules community to my niche interests (Web 2.0, Social Media). I think there'll be a lot of quid pro quo.  [Read/Write Web]
12:58:40 PM
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Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 22-28 August 2005. sponsored by:
Onfolio is offering R/WW readers a coupon code entitling the bearer to $30 off a
purchase of Onfolio Professional
before August 31st (a 30% saving off the normal $99.95 price). To use the coupon, enter
it at the time of purchase. Coupon Code: RM857202
This week: Google vs Skype, BBC puts TV on the Web, New Apps on the Block, Worldwide Web 2.0 Camps, Techie post of the week - Kottke's Web OS.
Google Shakes Up Web - but Skype fights back
On the back of an 18 August announcement that they are
raising another $4 billion in funds, this week Google announced a new instant
messaging and Internet telephony product called Google Talk. It integrates with Gmail, so Google
now has all the primary Internet communications channnels covered. Lots of people had
opinions on Google Talk during the week and Download Squad
seemed to get the breaking story. But the most interesting angle to me was the
competition with Skype. I use (and love) Skype for
both its telephony and IM services, similar to how Steve
Gillmor uses Skype. Now that Google Talk has arrived on the scene, I and many others will have to choose between the two.
What's Skype doing in response to this huge competitive threat? Nothing short of opening its platform to the web -
if this 24
August press release is to be believed. In a move of breathtaking Web 2.0-ness, Skype
is "opening up its platform to anyone who wants to integrate Skype’s presence and
instant messaging services into their website or application". This statement sums it
up:
"By opening up its platform to the web, Skype will instantly be creating the
largest open instant messaging platform in the world."
Skype's APIs are an attempt to strike back at Google. And the press release has got
some keywords in it that are designed to directly challenge the Mountain View company. For example, "open"
is a word that is largely foreign to Google - and I counted 8 instances of "open" in the
press release. I also counted 8 instances of the word "platform".
Open platform - gee, does that sound like the only thing that could conceivably stop
Google from pinching all of Skype's customers? I believe the phrase is: Game
On.
BBC takes TV to the Web
According to the BBC
News website:
"A simulcast of BBC One or BBC Two, letting UK viewers see programmes on the web at
the same time as they go out on TV, is being planned."
It also plans to beef up tv coverage on mobile phones. The report says the Web
simulcast will be restricted to UK viewers only, although how that will work is not
explained. PaidContent.org has more details on this development, including pointing to news of the MyBBCPlayer - "which will allow viewers to legally download seven days of programmes".
As TechDirt
outlined, this is the latest in a long line of innovative moves by the BBC to open up
their content on the Web. I've been a fan of the BBC's Internet
efforts since they started their developer network in May 05, BBC Backstage, which lets people remix BBC
content.
BBC is in the vanguard of media and television companies in Web 2.0 - let's
hope other media companies follow suit.
New Apps on the Block
 Time to highlight some new Web 2.0 apps and
services:
Spanning Salesforce 2.0 - Charlie Wood releases his RSS-powered
Salesforce.com service. "Spanning Salesforce delivers presentations, price lists,
collateral, and other documents stored in Salesforce.com right to your laptop, desktop,
or PDA."
Personal Bee - I still haven't figured out what it
does, but it's described as "a 'discovery engine' that helps you discover information
from a collection of RSS feeds". No I don't know what that means either, but it's an
interesting app and worth keeping an eye on. TechCrunch profiled it here.
Pandora is "a music listening and discovery
service" that "enables users to easily create streaming stations that explore their favorite parts of the music universe." Robert Scoble likes it and has sent it to Bill to check out. It's invitation-only right now, but for a preview listen to Joe Lindsay's Pandora music station
that he created - named
Steriogram Radio.
LiteFeeds - free mobile RSS service, for Java
Phones/SmartPhones, Blackberry, Palm or PocketPC.
SearchFox - a Personalized RSS Reader that
"uses machine-learning technology to automatically rank and personalize incoming feeds to
reflect each reader’s unique interests."
NewsGator APIs - this
week NewsGator announced APIs for both commercial and non-commercial applications.
Talkr - "Letting blogs speak for
themselves". This isn't so new and I've mentioned it before. But it's so cool and this
week I found out some of my family have been clicking on the Talkr audio links on my
blog. They were expecting to hear my voice, but heard the lovely computer woman instead.
Talkr rocks!
For more Web 2.0 app profiles, check out TechCrunch. They do this full-time and give a lot
of background detail on each profile.
Worldwide Web 2.0 Camps
My Ireland correspondent Fergus Burns of Nooked
informed me this week that Ireland is holding a Tech Camp - "the Irish
version of FooCamp and BarCamp". The wiki for this event
says:
"Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be as much tech innovation coming from
grassroots-tech in Ireland. The US is doing some great work in Web 2.0 and Blogging;
having loads of conferences and blogger-dinners; while all we have here is a few very
business-like events, and seemingly very few new projects. What's needed is for us to
CONNECT and SHARE and maybe a few companies will get started as a result!"
I feel exactly the same way about my own country. Indeed my first thought on reading
this was: why doesn't New Zealand do the same? Then a couple of days later I noticed O'Reilly's resident kiwi Nat Torkington bring up the topic
on O'Reilly Radar:
"The Maori
Haka: learn to do the Maori war dance that the New Zealand rugby team starts all
their games with. We'll learn this when I do a New Zealand FOO Camp."
Of course I piped up in the comments: count me in! Although I can't imagine kiwi geeks
intimidating anyone with the haka :-)
Actually I think we need these Foo/Bar Camps all over the world. One day maybe
there'll be a Live8-type deal, where we have simultaneous Techie Camps happening in
different countries - all of them webcast and blogged of course!
Techie Post of the Week: Kottke's WebOS
You've gotta love Jason Kottke - he writes about his personal life as a blogger in New York for most of the year, but every now and then he comes up with a brilliant techie post. His
provocatively titled GoogleOS?
YahooOS? MozillaOS? WebOS? is well worth a read. Here is my favourite passage, which
is on the tantelizing thread of using the open source Mozilla web browser as the base for a Web OS:
"If Mozilla could leverage the rapidly increasing user base of Firefox and start
bundling a small Web server with it, then you've got the beginnings of a WebOS that's
open source and for which anyone, including Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and anyone with
JavaScript chops, could write applications. To market it, they could refer to the whole
shebang as a new kind of Web browser, something that sets it apart from IE, a true "next
generation" browser capable of running applications no matter where you are or what
computer (or portable device) you're using."
That's a wrap for another week!  [Read/Write Web]
12:57:57 PM
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Warhammer 40,000 goes mobile. Nokia, Games Workshop and THQ Wireless today announced the debut of the highly successful Warhammer 40,000 franchise to the N-Gage platform with Warhammer 40,000: Glory in Death. The highly acclaimed classic tabletop strategy game from Games Workshop has been produced... [Mobile Games & Gaming Blog]
12:52:18 PM
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Time Warner bets on mobile games. Media conglomerate Time Warner has made a $7.5 million investment in Glu Mobile, the privately held mobile gaming company said Tuesday. In a move related to the investment, Andy Heller, president of domestic distribution for Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting, has... [Mobile Games & Gaming Blog]
12:48:44 PM
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Nokia Game 20Lives kicks off on September 19. Nokia introduces a captivating new interactive adventure, Nokia 20Lives, following the highly popular Nokia Game. Nokia 20Lives presents a next generation online and mobile experience, combining elements from games, movies, fashion and music business. Starting on September 19, participants... [Mobile Games & Gaming Blog]
12:44:24 PM
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Nike iD. 
Okay, so they’re no haute couture, but training shoes are essential items of the wardrobe for your sporting
interests. NikeiD gives you the opportunity to design a pair of Nike trainers, personalised just for you in case
someone else in the country club has a pair almost similar. While you can make an appointment at NikeiD in Manhattan,
it’s probably easier to do it all on their website.
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© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.
[Luxist]
12:42:51 PM
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Retro look at expensive computer gaming systems.  With all the buzz about Gamestop’s
super stupid Xbox 360 game bundles there’s been a lot of
speculation that the packages are the most expensive in the history of video games. Well, I had an inkling that this
was probably a bit naive. So I dusted off my retro gaming books and loaded up Firefox and set off in search of the most
expensive video gaming systems. Suprisingly, some of the most expensive systems were the most popular and
groundbreaking. So here’s the list with the prices at the time of release as well as prices adjusted for inflation, as
they would be today. I used The Inflation Calculator to help me with
price conversions. The main references I used were “High Score: The Illustrated History of Electronic Video Games” and
Wikipedia.org.
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer - $920.36 (originally valued at $699.99
in 1993)
This games console was the result of a partnership between Panasonic, Sanyo and Goldstar.
The console featured an advanced feature set for the time, which was largely under utilised by games developers. All
the titles of note were ports from other games platforms. This is a good example of where sticker shock really did put
people off; $700 (or nearly $1000 today) was too much for people to pay for such an unoriginal game collection. The one
legacy that the console left behind was the start of many of game franchises by EA and Crystal Dynamics. Whilst the
system completely flopped, franchises such as Fifa, Need for Speed, Soul Reaver and Gex made their debut on the
console, which later led to extended franchises on other (more popular) 32-bit consoles.
Neo Geo - $966.77 (originally valued at $650 in 1990)
The Neo Geo, released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK, was technologically years ahead of its time. It features
colorful 2D graphics and high quality sound at the level of arcade machines of the day. However, there was a downside,
the price. At just under $1000 of today’s money, the Neo Geo was an outrageously expensive console. It also featured
cartridges that would cost $300 dollars today ($200 then). The console gained a niche following of rich gamers that
could afford to buy the console and the games. The main innovation was memory sticks that players could plug into
arcade versions of the console, which they could save to, take home and continue on their own console. Neo Geos
still reach relatively high
prices on eBay.
Commodore 64 - $1207.04 (originally valued at $595 in 1982)
Despite being the most popular computer model of all time, selling between 17 and 25
million units, the Commodore 64 was a relatively expensive games machine by today’s standards. However, it offered
extremely good value for money by offering unprecedented sound and graphics quality. Around 10,000 titles were created
for the computer, including thousands of video games. Even today it has an established following, with several
emulators for multiple platforms in development. The C64 would win the prize for best price/performance ratio
ever.
Apple II with 48KB RAM - $8560.26 (originally valued at $2638 in 1977)
Ironically this system was extremely popular due to it’s low price, relative to the computers of the day. It was the
first time middle class families could actually afford a computer. Like it or not PC lovers, this computer practically
single handedly created the personal computer gaming market, inspiring home computer/gaming systems like the Commodore
64. Apple Computer itself released some popular titles, like versions of Hangman, Breakout and the popular ‘Adventure’
game. Steve Jobs’ and Steve Wozniak’s experiences at the early Atari helped make the Apple II such a popular gaming
machine.
PDP-1 with SpaceWar! - $760,410.51 (originally valued at $120,000 in 1960)
This $760k behemoth tops our chart as the most expensive video gaming system of all time. Later on in 1971, Nolan
Bushnell created a coin-op version of Spacewar called Computer Space. A series of events with this space game led to
him founding the revolutionary game company Atari. Of course there were dozens of university computers used to create
games, but Spacewar was the first. It also set the groundwork for game creation today. Spacewar was derived as a way of
taxing the MIT super computer as well as demonstrating a consistent framework in a pleasurable and active way. You
could say that today’s games creation is carried out with exactly the same aims. Game developers are still trying to
fully utilise the hardware of their chosen platform, whilst creating bigger and more diverse game worlds all the time
keeping the game fun and active! So was the $120,000 that MIT paid for the computer worth it? Well since the Spacewar
title developed for the computer kicked off a several billion dollar industry over the proceeding 40 years, I’d say
so!
[Update: Due to a reader’s request I’ve put up a preliminary listing of systems with their prices
at release and their prices today. I wasn’t originally planning on putting this with this article but whatever! I’ll
add any extra numbers that people want put in, so submit your numbers to the comments thread. Make sure to head over to
The Inflation Calculator and calculate how much it’s worth today.]
[Update #2: Added Neo Geo]
Year of Release
|
System |
Original Price US$
|
Price Today US$ |
1960
|
PDP-1 |
120,000 |
760,410.51 |
| 1972 |
Maganavox Odyssey
|
100 |
456.11 |
| 1976 |
Fairchild VES
|
169.95 |
583.47 |
| 1977 |
Atari 2600 |
200
|
649 |
| 1979 |
Atari 800
|
999.95
|
2831.58 |
| 1980 |
Intellivision |
299.99
|
759.36 |
| 1981 |
VIC-20 |
299.99
|
669.04 |
| 1982 |
Commodore 64 |
595 |
1207.04 |
| 1985 |
NES |
299.99 |
512.19 |
| 1986 |
Sega Master System |
200 |
342.6 |
| 1989 |
TurboGrafx 16 |
199.99 |
311.73 |
| 1990 |
Sega Mega Drive
Neo Geo
|
199
650
|
295.98
966.77
|
| 1993 |
3DO |
699.99
|
920.36
|
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© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.
[Joystiq]
12:34:54 PM
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mlle. malaprop, the proxy server that suffers from Alzheimer. mlle. malaprop (english version) is a female proxy server affected by Alzheimer. She suffers from the first symptom of Alzheimer: aphasia, i.e. a dysfunction of the usage of language that arises from forgetting words, especially those that were learned rather late.
 
mlle. malaprop is very old and she only speaks German. She has forgotten all the words she learned after 1900, so she replaces every word she doesn't know with the word in her mind that is most similar to it. The basis for her word memory is the first edition of the dictionary of the German language by Konrad Duden, published in 1880. All the words that are not featured in it are lost to mlle. malaprop.
Her malapropistic anachronistic method of filling the blanks of her mental dictionary is achieved by an algorithm that replaces every word of a website that cannot be found in the Duden dictionary of 1880 by one that is featured in it and that is similar in an orthographic, phonetic or morphologic way.
By Sascha Brossmannand Thomas Goldstrasz. [we make money not art]
12:29:40 PM
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Who owns the acres on the moon?. As part of George Bush's push to revisit the Moon by 2018, Nasa is using the Hubble Space Telescope to scout possible locations for a moon base where humans can live, work and breathe.
While there is no law in space, a claim of ownership has been made by US entrepreneur Dennis Hope, who in 1980 spotted a loophole in the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty. Plots have been put up for sale ever since. Thus in the 18 months since Bush's announcement, he has received numerous letters from lunar property owners, which typically read thus:
"I do worry that the future space station might be built on my lot. So I would like to inform you that I might allow the US government to do so, but only if I am paid for that area. If this should happen, I would be ready to enter into negotiations with the US officials."
UN lawyers say Hope's claim is without merit. But Lunar Embassy has sold nearly £5m worth of plots, with 3.4m owners worldwide, including Carrie Fisher, William Shatner, the Pope, George W Bush and 30 Nasa employees.
Via archinect < BBC News. [we make money not art]
12:28:36 PM
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Facebook: Pouty-mouth poses for narcoleptic dudes. Xeni Jardin:
The Los Angeles Times invited me to contribute a commentary about the popular student networking site Facebook. It ran today, and here's a snip:
You could describe Facebook.com as a digital yearbook, or the Internet equivalent of Greek T-shirts on frat brothers.
But most dead-tree yearbooks don't have 3.6 million members or party construction systems. Real-world sororities don't have names such as "Alpha Mega Pimpin," "The Divine Innocence of Jessica Simpson" or "I Just Tried to Ford the River and My [Fucking] Oxen Died," in homage to the 1980s video game "Oregon Trail."
Facebook does. And it conquered college America instantly.
Like its paper predecessors, the site provides students with tools to stay in touch, proclaim school pride and scrawl in-jokes next to head shots. Pouty-mouth glamour puss is the favored female photo pose. Male portraits often capture narcoleptic undergrads mid-kegger, adorned with live animals, football-foam headgear âo[per thou] or other narcoleptic undergrads.
But a glance at growth stats shows that as membership spreads âo[per thou] faster than strep-throat bugs at a spin-the-bottle session âo[per thou] the service is becoming a popular extension of real life at campuses across the country.
Link.
Previously -- Facebook: just poke me
Reader comment: Ian says,
A group of Northeastern University students made a commentary on Facebook as part of Campus Movie Fest 2005 in Boston, MA. Their submission didn't win the contest, but it did make it to the finals. It's another good example of how Facebook has cemented itself as a part of campus life. Link
Denise Nelson Nash of Caltech University in Pasadena, CA tells BB,
[Facebook founder] Mark Zuckerberg will be speaking at Caltech on Thursday, November 10, 2005 at 8 p.m. in Beckman Auditorium. He will be sharing his thoughts on the future of thefacebook and digital interactive yearbooks. Link to event info. [Boing Boing]
12:26:32 PM
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First PSP beta-test apps taken online via the PSP browser. ![First PSP align=]()
Since they’ve already begun public beta testing for
SOCOM 3 for the PS2, it>Sony’s
PlayStation Underground elite (i.e., the Gamer Advisory Panel) received e-mail invites to register for the first
PSP>SOCOM: U.S.
Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo, and with a little over two months until its November 8 release date, the team at
SCEA’s going to need all the help they can get if they want to really make waves with the much hoped for infrastructure
multiplayer mode. (That’s playing>the 2.0 firmware updates installed in
order to even apply (let along get into the beta itself). If, however, you’re ready with that and have your invitation
handy (you did get>http://pspbeta.us.playstation.com and hopefully get started.
I’m sure there are folks out there who’d love to get in on this, but where does that leave me, a guy who doesn’t
even own a PSP (but just bought a DS)? It’s hard to say, as I received this e-mail invite despite having never
registered a PSP with Sony nor ever indicating that I’d owned> Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.
[Joystiq]
12:17:20 PM
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© Copyright 2005 Joerg Rheinboldt.
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