Monthly Archive for January, 2006

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Learning about Web 2.0

January 13, 2006 3 Comments Tags: .

I started off looking for an article I saw earlier in the week about how to effectively teach RSS. Well I found that article, but it started off with “Of all of the Web2.0 tools I know of, I think that RSS is one of the most difficult to explain to new users.” which made my brain say, wait, what exactly is Web 2.0 anyway? I thought I should know about that before I go into a specific tool. Here’s what I’ve gathered so far:

I instinctively typed “web 2.0″ into the Google search bar and soon found this article from O’Reilly. It starts with a great table of site comparisons that give you a quick sense of the difference between Web 1.0 and 2.0:

Web 1.0 –> Web 2.0
DoubleClick –> Google AdSense
Ofoto (now Kodak Gallery) –> Flickr
Akamai –> BitTorrent
mp3.com –> Napster
Britannica Online –> Wikipedia
personal websites –> blogging

Basically the difference is that all of the sites and services on the left side, Web 1.0, thrived on static production. Whereas 2.0 thrives on dynamic participation. And the more participation there is, the better the web service is. Take Flickr or BitTorrent for example. It’s the community aspect behind both of these services that make it so powerful.

O’Reilly also makes a good point by saying that great examples of Web 2.0 services are rarely advertised. Ever seen a Google commercial? Probably not, and yet Google is indisputably the #1 search engine and even a well-recognized verb, “just Google it”. Web 2.0 is the reason your Amazon.com shopping experience is so helpful and personalized, on every page there’s something you can rate, vote on, or review. When these opinions come together as a customer collective then voila, suddenly you have a whole page of book recommendations that actually look interesting to you. The energy of Web 2.0 isn’t spent on marketing, it’s spent on the technology that enables the service, that’s what sustains it.

Another key component is the open-source factor, harvesting collective knowledge. This brings in RSS and the impact it’s had on blogs, new sites, etc. It’s why wikipedia has articles on just about everything, and it’s totally free to use.

Also noted is the idea that “SQL is the new HTML” meaning most websites are dynamically driven, like this one. When I’m done writing this I will click “Publish” and it will be saved into a database that’s hosted by NearlyFreeSpeech.net. The next time you visit this site it will be called up by mySQL, rendered into PHP, and displayed in your browser.

So in all actuality, all the content of this site physically resides in the database. Does that mean whoever owns the server that hosts my database also owns this entry? O’Reilly’s article points out how MapQuest’s failure to actually own the database of maps gave way to the success of Yahoo! Maps and GoogleMaps. Had they actually owned all of the core data, they would have a better monopoly on this service.

The idea of web services as opposed to web software means the beginning of the end of product releases. Web 2.0 sites are in a perpetual beta state, and there’s little on your end that you have to do to update it. As opposed to the big production that Microsoft makes every 2 or 3 years. With Web 2.0, the users are the testers and developers, and each little change or addition to a service is watched carefully. If something isn’t popular, it’s taken off, simple as that. Imagine if we had such control and input on the Windows operating system?

The article also goes into topics like how business models will change, etc. but honestly, I skimmed over that part. I’m not a business girl at all.

I think what I gained from this article overall, is that Web 2.0 is an advancement using simplicity and community to make it powerful. Companies are finding that the more they open up, the better their services become. Isn’t that always the case? The simplist way is always the best, esp. with web design.

Now, on to RSS…

Congress likely to increase interest rates on Stafford student loans

January 11, 2006 0 Comments Tags: , .

Remember last December when the Senate voted 51 to 50 (with VP Cheney casting the tie-breaking vote) to cut $12.7 billion out of the student loan programs? Remember how that was the largest cut to student aid in history? Well, good news debt-lovers, it’s almost finalized!

This is just great news for me since I’m already paying 12% of my income to student loan companies, and still have 11 more classes left after this quarter, which equates to about $11,000 I still have to come up with. I do have money from serving 2 years in AmeriCorps, but while I will praise and vouch for AmeriCorps any day, the truth is that the $4,725 Education Award does not go as far as you’d think.

According to nationalpriorities.org, instead of using the over $232 billion we’ve already spent fighting an unjustified war in Iraq, the gov’t. could have provided 11,295,094 students with 4-year scholarships to public universities.

But what kind of government wants a highly educated populace? That’s just silly. You don’t need to be learned at college anyway, so long as you can read “My Pet Goat” the Oval Office could be yours! (click ‘read the rest of this entry’) Plus they know the smarter we get, the less they’d get away with, and that would never work.

So once again, books lose to bombs:
Here’s the article from the Columbus Dispatch.

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Apple + Intel = Screaming Macs

January 11, 2006 0 Comments Tags: .

From Wired News
By Leander Kahney

AppleSAN FRANCISCO — Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs took center stage at Macworld on Tuesday to introduce the first Macs based on Intel chips six months ahead of schedule: a speedy, flat-screen iMac and a slim, high-end notebook with a new name — the MacBook.

Looking trim and fit in his trademark jeans and turtleneck, Jobs told the enthusiastic audience that the new machines are two to four times faster then the Macs they replace, which are based on PowerPC chips from IBM and Motorola.

“These things are screamers,” he said.

Both machines are based on Intel’s “latest and greatest” dual-core chips, branded the Intel Core Duo, Jobs said. He said each core in the new chips is faster than the G4 or G5 PowerPC chips they replace.

Available in February, the MacBook Pro will replace Apple’s high-end PowerBook G4 notebook. Jobs said the new Intel model is four times faster than the PowerBook G4 it replaces. The slim, “1-inch thin” notebook features a 15-inch screen, built-in iSight video-conferencing camera and remote control. It also has a new magnetic power adapter that detaches easily when the power cord is yanked on, preventing accidental falls. The MacBook Pro will sell in two configurations: a 1.67-GHz model for $2,000 and a 2.1-GHz model for $2,500.

The new iMac, available now, has the same features, design and price as the machine it replaces, Jobs said. What’s different? The new model delivers two to three times the speed, Jobs said.
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Former Toledo, Ohio city councilman is accused of anti-war graffiti vandalism

January 9, 2006 0 Comments Tags: .

From Cbus Indymedia:

Mike Ferner, 54, of 2975 113th St., painted the slogans – “Troops Out Now” on the Central Avenue and U.S. 24 overpasses and “Bye Bush! Hi Robb!” on the Dussel Drive/Salisbury Road overpass – while his brother, John Ferner, 46, of Columbus, drove the truck, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.

The Ferners face at least two counts each of vandalism and one count each of possession of criminal tools – the can of fluorescent orange spray paint recovered in their pickup when it was pulled over by Sylvania Township police, troopers said. Both were being held last night in the Lucas County jail in lieu of $3,000 bond apiece pending arraignment in Maumee Municipal Court.

Mike Ferner has been an active critic of U.S. military action in Iraq and, in 2003, took part in a “peace tour” of that Mideast country. He has several previous convictions for civil disobedience related to war protests or other causes he has taken on.
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2,192

January 6, 2006 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Iraq violence kills 11 US troops
From BBC News

Eleven US troops were killed in a series of attacks throughout Iraq on Thursday, the US military has said.

The number of American fatalities was the highest in a single day since the same number were killed on 1 December.

In a wave of violence, two suicide bombers killed more than 120 people in the central Iraqi cities of Karbala and Ramadi on Thursday.

The deaths came just one day after US President George Bush said the US plan in Iraq was succeeding.

President Bush said the US would aim to put more Iraqi territory under the control of Iraqi security forces during 2006 if Iraqis made good progress.

But he refused to outline a timetable for withdrawal, saying conditions on the ground, not pressure from political opponents, would inform decisions.
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January 6: Respect for Chickens Day

January 6, 2006 0 Comments Tags: .

Seeking to sow the seeds of compassion for all animals, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, has officially proclaimed January 6 to be “Respect for Chickens Day.” January 6 also marks the three-year anniversary of PETA’s campaign urging KFC to eliminate the worst abuses of the more than 850 million chickens it beats, burns, and batters each year.

Why are officials in Kansas City in a flap over cruelty to chickens? Federal laws protecting farmed animals exclude chickens entirely, and companies that raise and sell chickens are allowed to abuse the animals in ways that would be illegal if cats, dogs, pigs, or cows were the victims. Almost all of the approximately 9 billion chickens killed in this country suffer broken bones because of careless workers and cruel slaughter systems. They often have their throats slit while they are still conscious or are scalded to death in defeathering tanks while they are still alive and able to feel pain.

Join the citizens of Kansas City and countless compassionate people throughout the world by honoring Respect for Chickens Day this January 6. Click here to see what you can do to help stop the abuse of chickens.

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The latest Dispatch article on the closing of 2nd Avenue Elementary

January 6, 2006 0 Comments Tags: , .

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/01/05/20060105-C1-03.html

Second Avenue School to close – Columbus board OKs panel’s suggestion
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Bill Bush & Jonathan Quilter for The Columbus Dispatch

Deciding that a citizens’ task force was correct after all, the Columbus Board of Education abruptly voted yesterday to close an Italian Village elementary school, bringing to 12 the number of buildings that will close this summer.

The board approved the other 11 closings at a meeting on Dec. 21, but held off on whether Second Avenue Elementary should stay open in favor of closing Hubbard Elementary in Victorian Village instead.

The board had not been scheduled to take up the issue until Jan. 17, but after Superintendent Gene Harris again recommended that Second Avenue close, six members of the board voted to do so.

Board member W. Carlton Weddington, serving at his first meeting since being elected in November, was the only “no” vote. He said neither school should close.

Continue reading ‘The latest Dispatch article on the closing of 2nd Avenue Elementary’