5 things to consider when planning a Web 2.0 solution
Posted on 21. Apr, 2008 by Dean Whitney in Uncategorized and has 0 Comments
Originally posted in the February ITWiki Newsletter, Network World
Web 2.0 technologies are changing the way online solutions are being developed. The popularity of social websites like Flickr, MySpace and Youtube and technology that promotes collaboration such as blogs, wikis, tags and widgets have made Web 2.0 functionality an important consideration for enterprise development. When planning these solutions there are many things to consider. Recent technology advancements have resulted in a flurry of solutions in many categories. The tree will eventually shake out; standards will evolve. Will your project stand the test of time or go the way of the Betamax? Here are 5 things to consider when planning a Web 2.0 solution.
1. Social Networking Standards
There are so many social networks and online communities, social shopping and recommendations, sites for sharing content, and each one with a process to register and manage your profile, interact with members and content. Each site with its own language or application programming interface (API). It’s difficult for developers to learn site specific API’s and then build and maintain applications for multiple sites. A common set of API’s that work across sites would provide a greater use and distribution of applications. Developers could then build and maintain a single application. (more…)
Digitas France launches twittearth
Posted on 21. Apr, 2008 by Dean Whitney in Uncategorized and has 0 Comments
Yesterday my bretheren at Digitas France have created a very cool Twitter mashup twittearth. The project that was done “just for fun” was featured on the coveted Techcrunch blog.
twittearth integrates Twitter.com with Paperversion’s for the 3D engine, Yahoo Local API for the geolocalisation service, tinyurl.com for the short url API and uses fasticon for those great free icons. Thanks to TarGz, _pil_, Thomas and Christophe from Digitas France SA.
Rivalmap – Web 2.0 competitive analysis and collaboration
Posted on 08. Apr, 2008 by Dean Whitney in Uncategorized and has 0 Comments
Web 2.0 and social media technology solutions began with wide appeal and are rapidly evolving to server specific business functions. One critical business problem is data overload. A recently released Workplace Productivity Survey, commissioned by LexisNexis notes “…seven out of 10 office workers in the United States feel overwhelmed by information in the workplace, and more than two in five say they are headed for a data ‘breaking point’.”
What’s the Semantic Web?
Posted on 07. Apr, 2008 by Dean Whitney in Uncategorized and has 0 Comments
I’ve been asked many times to explain the Semantic Web (SW). In the past learning about technology and W3C concepts has been difficult. The average person may not derive a great deal of meaning from the W3 overview of XHTML standards. In the case of SW they do a great job and I recommend anyone read the overview available on the W3C web site. (more…)
The Echo Nest: Musical Brain API
Posted on 07. Apr, 2008 by Dean Whitney in Uncategorized and has 0 Comments
The Echo Nest develops music search, personalization and interactive applications based on their Musical Brain technology. The Musical Brain automatically reads about music and listens to music everywhere on the web. Their API allow you to upload any song and receive an XML ‘musical score’ detailing tempo, beats, time signature, song sections, timbre, key, and other musical attributes.
Their application This is My Jam allows you to search for artists and reate beat-matched micro-mixes of your favorite songs to share on blogs and social networks. Imagine the possibilities.
Try it: http://www.thisismyjam.com/
Google to offer Moon Ads
Posted on 31. Mar, 2008 by Dean Whitney in Uncategorized and has 0 Comments
Google will extend their Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising inventory to 
include the Moon. In early 2010 brand managers will be able to include the celestial satellite in their media plan along with mall displays, billboards, website banners and text ads.
Google is working on a deal with Virgin Galactic to install a massive projection framework that will consist of tethered satellite units with a tiny compulsion systems to maintain position. A banner, approximately the size of four football fields, stretched between the units made of polyhedron plasma foils will create a giant projection lenses. Electronic frequencies sent to millions of cells will adjust color and opacity to create the equivalent of a slide show projection on the Moon’s surface.
Is Microsoft developing brainwashing banner ads?
Posted on 31. Mar, 2008 by Dean Whitney in Uncategorized and has 0 Comments
Microsoft’s agency Avenue A | Razorfish has been developing a method to brainwash website visitors via banner ads. After 18 months of research, the partnership between Australian Advertising Amnesia Group (Part of Razorfish) and Professor Olaf Prilo PHD from the Mind and Brain Institute of New South Wales have developed a method of gaining consumer trust through high frequency (90fps) banner ads that stimulate specific regions of the visual cortex producing instant effects on consumers. (more…)
Adobe Photoshop Express is live and free!
Posted on 28. Mar, 2008 by Dean Whitney in Uncategorized and has 0 Comments
Adobe Photoshop Express is now live. The free photo editor has a robust Flash based interface. I was expecting something more in line with Photoshop but this is a photo editing tool with some social sharing features – which is the opposite of Flickr; being a photo sharing site with some photo editing features. I don’t see any reason for Flickr fans to jump ship but its a great tool for managing your images online. Here are some screen shots.
Wisdom of the crowds – Can Web 2.0 help predict the future?
Posted on 26. Mar, 2008 by Dean Whitney in Uncategorized and has 0 Comments
When we think of ‘crowdsourcing’ some of us think of leveraging crowds to do work like oDesk or Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, sites that help you outsource jobs globally. Another way crowds are leveraged is to allow companies create massive focus groups, garner fresh ideas, and even predict the future. Major brands such as Dell, Eli Lilly, Proctor & Gamble, Google, and Best Buy leverage collective insights to shape business strategies.
There are sites that provide this kind of functionality such The Industry Standard. a predictive marketplace (like the Hollywood Stock Exchange) where members track startups and technologies and place bets on which will succeed. (more…)
3 JavaScript Gurus
Posted on 22. Mar, 2008 by Dean Whitney in Uncategorized and has 0 Comments
There’s a lot of buzz about AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML); but what’s at the center is JavaScript. JavaScript is the world’s most popular programming language. It looks like Java but its much more flexible and works inside the browser. Here’s a few JavaScript leaders to watch.
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