rwandering.net
The blogged wandering of Robert W. Anderson
Archive for Web 2.0
March 25, 2006 at 9:36 am · Filed under Grid Computing, Web 2.0
Dan had quite a week (see his post, What a week!) at Digipede. We have a couple of new customers this week and a new release of the Digipede Network 1.2.
Unfortunatley, I wasn’t much help: I have been out most of the week with something my kids brought home from pre-school.
A lot of other things happened this week, too:
- Vista was delayed. Not surprising, but certainly disappointing. I guess this gives the ISV partners even more breathing room on the various Touchdown / BetaOne commitments.
- Mix06 happened. I wish I had been there — I’m sure Robert Scoble would have invited me to that Bill Gates Lunch 😉
- SunGrid launched. And then was overwhelmed by a DoS (or just flooded by interest?).
- Tara Hunt unveils her Pinko Marketing Manifesto. It looks like she has some really good ideas here; however, I think her choice of imagery is going to be a stumbling block for too many.
Lot more too, but these are some that struck me.
Tags: Digipede, Mix06, SunGrid, Vista
March 16, 2006 at 9:50 am · Filed under Web 2.0
I’ll be at the SDForum Search SIG tonight: The Search for Attention. Jeff Clavier (the SIG chair) has a post about it here.
Steve Gillmor is hosting the panel discussion with Dick Costolo, Gabe Rivera, David Sifry, and Seth Goldstein.
Steve will be talking about GestureBank — I’ve been teaming with him on its architecture — his presentation will precipitate much interest and discussion.
If you are there, look me up.
Tags: Attention, Gillmor, SDForum, searchsig, Web2.0
March 8, 2006 at 7:17 pm · Filed under Web 2.0
Similar to his post on SSE, Ray Ozzie’s post on Wiring the Web has generated a lot of chatter.
I see this as really two things:
- Solving a major usability problem in Web applications: unbearably limited copy and paste. While we take this for granted in our client applications, we have all gotten by without it in Web applications for way too long. In and of itself this is a big deal.
- Then, what I think is the actual big deal: a Web demonstration of something else that most of us have probably ignored outright: the L in OLE (i.e., linking). Sure, this works in our client applications (though I think many of us abandoned its use a long time back), but working between applications anywhere on the Internet? Very powerful. And yes, RSS will already allow us to subscribe and fetch data into our aggregator. But coupling microformats with RSS and a simple link-pasting mechanism gives us (and even the “average” user) so much more.
I wonder how many people are surprised that it ends up being Microsoft that comes up with something like this. This is real Web 2.0 innovation, yes, but also interesting is that it can remove a key usability advantage that smart-clients have over browser UI. Ironically this helps close the gap between the BUI and the GUI (and we know which one wins this fight when the gap is gone). Now, I really wish I was going to Mix06 — maybe there will be more up their sleeves. BTW, I like the fact that Microsoft is working with Dave Winer on these ideas (OK, maybe it is just Ray Ozzie doing that, I don’t know).
Marc Cantor says he loves the Web Clipboard here. I almost misquoted him as saying it was “coolio” — seemed like a safe bet — anyway, it layers well on his work with microformats.
Adam Green asks if Windows is relevant in a Web 2.0 world? He wonders if part of Mr. Ozzie’s motive is to make Windows still relevant. Certainly a valid question; however, the interop that the screencasts show between the OS and the Web may depend on Windows in this implementation (and specifically the Windows RSS Platform), but the underlying architecture does not. It is just XML. So is the question really: is the desktop OS relevant in a Web 2.0 world? Undeniably, yes. I, for one, would like to see the OS vendors fight for their customers on features and not using lock-in. This sounds like a feature, not a lock-in.
Jim Benson uses Mr. Ozzie’s effort of an example of how . . .
We are moving beyond push-blogging to actually sharing information. It’s beyond pull as well. The read write web may well be the push pull web … and all points in between.
I was having this same thought driving home today — though we all have to help make this happen by engaging in microformats and Web Clipboard adoption (otherwise we may end up with a push-me pull-you Web 😉
I’m up for it.
Tags: Live-Clipboard, Microsoft, Ozzie, rss, SSE, Web2.0
March 6, 2006 at 10:22 am · Filed under Web 2.0
There has been much snarkiness in the blogosphere of late. Much has been written about the snarkiness. Much has been written about what has been written about the snarkiness.
What I think is missing from this discussion is an underlying framework to measure snarkiness. Doc Searls had the idea of a snarkiness slider; however, how will Technorati and others determine the level of snark?
To this end, I want to introduce the HyperText Snarkup Language (HTSL) which will initially be described as simply an extension of XHTML with a namespace. This will allow publishers to have full control over their snark.
First, an example:
<html . . . xmlns:snarkup='http://xmlns.hypersnark.org/snarkup/1.0/'>
<snarkup:snark target="http://example.org"
level="high"
tone="unhinged"
subtext="threatened" >
This guy is an idiot! He doesn't know ASP.NET from a hole in the ground.
I'm a real developer! A technologist! An inventor!
</snarkup:snark>
</html>
The snark tag
Allows the user to enclose snark text in tags to better identify the target of the snarkiness as well as the level, tone, and subtext.
<snarkup:snark target='href' level="low|medium|high" tone="even|sarcastic|abrasive|ironic|unhinged" subtext="none|veiledsuckup|allingoodfun|threatened" >
target allows the author to target a specific individual without a direct link. href is really a place holder for identity — I’ll wait to see how Identity 2.0 gets fleshed out.
level defaults to medium. tone defaults to even. subtext defaults to none.
The jumpthesnark tag
<snarkup:jumpthesnark href='href'/>
Allows the author to identify someone else’s post as going a step to far. Using this tag with no href (i.e., <snarkup:jumpthesnark/>) allows a publisher to self-identify this state.
Conclusion and a call for comment
It is my hope that HTSL will enable a host of new services. Like Snarkorati and Snarkorandum, and of course establishing the all important SnarkRank.
Feedback is welcome; I’m sure that the snark tags could use some enhancement.
<snarkup:snark target="www.scripting.com" level="low" tone="ironic" subtext="veiledsuckup">
If we can get adoption on this then we’ll be able to confirm Dave Winer’s claim that Nick Carr has the highest snark-to-information ratio.
</snarkup:snark>
Snark on!
March 5, 2006 at 8:25 pm · Filed under Web 2.0
I had a good talk today with Ed Batista of the AttentionTrust today. The primary motivation was to get an update on my progress with the IE port of the AttentionTrust Recorder (or ATX). This led into a discussion about the perceptions of the Trust. I mentioned one perception in my TechCrunch 5 post. On the eve of eTech (which I won’t be attending), I thought it worth while to reiterate something about the Trust. Note, I’m no spokesmodel — look to Steve Gillmor and Ed for that.
The AttentionTrust is not spyware. This claim is either made from ignorance (willful or otherwise) or to sow FUD. The statement doesn’t even make sense because the AttentionTrust is not software. It isn’t a service. It isn’t the Attention Recorder. It is the 4 principles and the mission (they are right here for those who don’t like to click on links):
Principles
When you pay attention to something (and when you ignore something), data is created. This “attention data” is a valuable resource that reflects your interests, your activities and your values, and it serves as a proxy for your attention.
AttentionTrust and our members believe that you have the following rights:
- Property You own your attention and can store it wherever you wish. You have CONTROL.
- Mobility You can securely move your attention wherever you want whenever you want to. You have the ability to TRANSFER your attention.
- Economy You can pay attention to whomever you wish and receive value in return. Your attention has WORTH.
- Transparency You can see exactly how your attention is being used. You can DECIDE who you trust.
When you give your attention to any entity that’s an AttentionTrust member, these rights are guaranteed.
Mission
- Empower people to exert greater control over their “attention data,” i.e. any records reflecting what they have paid attention to and what they have ignored. We accomplish this by promoting the principles of user control, by distributing our Attention Recorder, and by supporting the development of other appropriate tools, standards and practices.
- Educate people about the value of their attention and the importance of attention data.
- Build a community of individuals and organizations that will guarantee users’ rights to own, move, and exchange their attention data, in a transparent environment that gives users the freedom to decide how their data will be used.
That’s it. The ATX (attention recorder) allows you to store locally and / or provide data to services (one right now, ROOT). Using it isn’t in any way a requirement of the AttentionTrust’s principles nor mission. The ATX also isn’t spyware. Spyware spies without your consent. The ATX records with your consent and gives you control over your own attention data.
Full stop.
February 23, 2006 at 8:36 pm · Filed under Web 2.0
After being up half the night coughing, I rallied and came into the city for Niall Kennedy’s SF Tech Sessions event.
I showed up late for two reasons: I’m often late. That makes the second reason superfluous.
Kerio
I missed this presentation and came in during the questions. There were several questions (all from the same person) about their choice to model the user interface of Microsoft Outlook. The speaker said that at the end of the day the administrators in the enterprise don’t want to retrain their users from Outlook. True, true, but unfortunate. This is the second company I know that has modeled an entire application after Outlook. I use it every day, but its UX (in Microsoft terminology) is cumbersome to say the least.
Zimbra
Messaging and collaboration. Client and server components to their solution. Slight jab at the previous speakers — “copying Microsoft is not the only approach.” Zimbra’s approach allows the users to stick with Outlook if that is the best choice for the enterprise.
Very cool Ajax integration between email content and popus windows with further information. For example, bugzilla integration (hover over bug #x and see the summary for that info). He showed many others as well: addresses, web sites, phone numbers (call with skype), conversion of relative days to actual dates (e.g., if ‘tomorrow’ meant Friday when the email was written, it can show you ‘Friday’ when you hover over it.
In terms of Outlook (and other clients) they support pretty much everything: Outlook (MAPI), IMAP, POP, iCAL, RSS, . . . ; of course, their client is the coolest. They also use Postfix MTA instead of trying to build their own MTA.
I think I would closely at this product if I ran IT for an established enterprise.
Joyent
Jason Hoffman, 23-people, customer-funded and profitable. Cool.
They have a hosted collaboration solution.
- Defaults to everything being open — everyone in your group can read your mail. Of course, you can close this down, but it is in and of itself an interesting approach to an open organization.
- Everything is shared (e.g., contacts).
- Everything can get commented on (e.g., email items can have comments which is much better than the reply “comments below” standard that most of us follow).
- Everything is exposed in RSS (e.g., your inbox).
- Everything can be tagged.
- You can bring things to others attention without forwarding.
Very cool product. When we started Digipede, we used Groove for collaboration. I think I would look closely at Joyent + some kind of file synch technology (like FolderShare) if I was starting a new company.
Thanks to Niall for organizing this. I look forward to see how this progresses.
February 19, 2006 at 8:11 pm · Filed under Web 2.0
I was sitting with my two-year old daughter while she ate macroni and cheese. I had just sat down with my copy of Naked Conversations and had flipped it open to the first page. She said,
Daddy, is that a book about macaroni and cheese?
I said, no, and then realized that she had judged the book by its cover.
If the cover is the same color as macaroni and cheese then the book is probably about it too, right?
Maybe she is right; after all, I haven’t read it yet 😉
February 18, 2006 at 11:57 am · Filed under .NET, Web 2.0
Had a great time at Mike Arrington’s party last night, TechCrunch 5.
These parties are on an upward trajectory (I wrote about the previous one here). Last time there were boxes of pizza strewn about; this time there was catering — some of the food was quite good. Last time it was very cold in the backyard; this time there was a tent. Last time it was pretty full; this time it was absolutely packed. Next time, I think Mike is going to have to get an even bigger tent.
Anyway, thanks to Mike and Robert Scoble for the great time. I see in the pictures that Robert and Shel Israel took off their shirts for a photo (I missed that). Here are the Flickr photos. Even better, Robert’s Dad was there. And of course Patrick Scoble was also there. Robert’s dad must be very proud of his son / grandson.
Some people I talked to:
- I ran into Nima Dilmaghani, a developer evangelist at Microsoft. I did a double-take when I saw him, because I don’t usually see Microsoft people at these events. He has the right approach to .NET evangelism: he doesn’t claim it is the right answer to every problem, but can knowledgably explain the relative benefits of the platform in an honest way. Note that link is to his empty WordPress blog — I’m hoping that will shame him into getting his blogging going 😉
- I also talked with Ramana Kovi of ePlatform; look for their launch soon.
Keep your eye on Kevin Burton’s Feed Blog. Word has it he was chasing a scoop last night; I don’t know what it was.
- I talked a bit to Andrew Bunner, Director of Engineering of Rojo. He demonstrated some of the new features for me. I asked him about the AttentionTrust and its principles; particularly about principal #2, Mobility (we’re looking into that). In talking to him, though, I think that there is still a general misunderstanding about the AttentionTrust. It is about the 4 principles and the mission. That’s it. The ATX (attention recorder) allows you to store locally and / or provide data to services (one right now, ROOT). Using it isn’t in any way a requirement of the AttentionTrust’s principles.
- I saw Zach Coelius again, his company Triggit is coming along. I realized he reminds me of my best man, David Shaw.
And many others, too. A splendid time for all, methinks.
Tags: .NET, Microsoft, Scoble, techcrunch, techcrunch5, Web2.0
February 14, 2006 at 8:33 pm · Filed under Web 2.0
I generally use Microsoft Windows and I mostly use desktop apps.
I have to admit: I often get annoyed with Web-based UI. Even that with the slickest use of AJAX. Even with WordPress, the application I am using right now.
And what is my problem?
- Losing my form data if I hit the backspace at the wrong time?
- Managing application-related pop-up windows?
- Discerning what some little non-standard icon means?
- Actually getting my mouse over that tiny icon?
Nope.
It is that the right mouse button has nothing to do with the specific page I’m on. Occasionally I find myself right-clicking and going “doh, this isn’t a Windows desktop application.” I miss having context-related options available with a right-click of the mouse (and no, I don’t just mean “copy this link”, etc.).
Of course, until recently, the Macintosh had no right mouse button. Or left button for that matter. Just one.
So all these Macintosh users look at the Web applications (Web 2.0 or not) and they are much like Macintosh desktop applications. See a button: click on it. See a menu. Click on it.
This limitation we Windows users perceive in browser-based apps just isn’t there for Mac users.
So Microsoft, and Robert Scoble in particular, I think you guys might be missing this point regarding Web 2.0. If you want to get more involved in Web 2.0, forget Live and Office Live; instead, start shipping single button mice. I know it might seem like a me-too mid-1980’s strategy, but you never know.
Tags: Macintosh, Microsoft, Web2.0, Windows
February 10, 2006 at 10:02 pm · Filed under Web 2.0
In GMail attacks Outlook, Nicholas Carr reports on Google’s new service clearly geared towards companies: GMail on your own domain with administrative management tools. Google blogs about it here.
This is, of course, not dissimilar from what Microsoft is going to do with Office Live. They are already doing it for personal accounts with Windows Live Custom Domains, but that seems geared toward vanity domains.
These kinds of products will be very compelling to small to mid-size businesses, and eventually, even large enterprises; though I would like to know more about how they protect company data.
- How will GMail isolate company data and ensure that it never gets shared with other customers?
- How secure is the GMail database? Leaving aside the issues raised by the EFF yesterday, what are the security procedures in place at Google to ensure that customer data are secure? I’m not just talking about secure from external hackers but also from Google employees.
I’m sure they have this all covered, but I’d like to know how. Issues surronding security will be the #1 barrier to adoption of these types of servers — these guys ought to lead with answers to these questions.
But, if they can solve these issues, Google (and Microsoft, too) will hammer Outlook and Exchange.
Add built-in Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and you have a killer-app.
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