Joerg's world

This week: Social tools in disasters, VC trends, Custom Web 2.0 Business Plans, Web-based Office, Techie post of the week - APIs and control.

Social tools help in Katrina Hurricane

First things first. We've all been shocked by the Hurricane Katrina devastation. Dina Mehta has a couple of great posts that show the way for people to help, using blogs and social software (we all do what we can with the tools we know). Dina wrote:

"The KatrinaHelp wiki and blog teams, made up of people across USA, Europe, Bahrain, India and many more places, are currently also working with some of the developers around the Skype API and the SkypeJournal team (all independents, and Skype too has been supportive by offering up free SkypeOut minutes) and have managed to set up a kind of messaging centre between volunteers on the ground to connect those needing help with those that have it to offer. [...] Lets see how it emerges. What we could build around blogs and wikis and RSS and tagging and VOIP There are so many possibilities."

In a not unrelated follow-up post, Dina tells us what it's like to be poor in her home country of India. Also check out Nancy White's Full Circle blog, which is covering the Katrina crisis and pointing to resources.

VC Trends

If you've been following the Web 2.0 space (there's a good lingo word to use), you'll have noticed that Venture Capitalists have taken up blogging in a big way. I take this as an encouraging sign for both the market and the blogosphere - the latter because most VCs have an excellent strategic sense and are not shy about blogging their insights. I won't try and name every VC blogger, but a good RSS feed to subscribe to is The VC Channel - it aggregates a lot of the top VC bloggers. There's also a VC Channel website.

Some of the hot trends that VCs are looking at are: China (particularly Bokee, China's biggest blog network), mobile, consumer software aimed at The Long Tail, social media, Web 2.0. As Venture Capitalist David Cowan commented in RedHerring:

"Investments such as Bokee extend our consumer portfolio into the realm of applications widely known as web2.0, which to us means applications that are viral in nature and leverage consumer-generated content—two elements of a business that lead to rapid growth and high margins."

Cowan expanded on this comment in his blog, noting that he is targeting the mobile and Asian consumer markets right now. He wrote more about his Consumer Investing theory in a follow-up post.

In another VC post this week, Jeremy Levine wrote about shorts and longs - meaning short-term and long-term investment opportunities. An example of a 'long' is what Levine terms "eBay for" businesses, which he defined as marketplaces that "make money by providing a forum for buyers and sellers to come together."

Custom Web 2.0 Business Plan

So if you're a humble developer or wanna-be entrepreneur, how does one attract the attention of a VC? Well you could try the odio.us Gateway to Web 2.0 Riches, developed by Nathan Torkington. It automatically generates a Web 2.0 business plan elevator pitch for you. Examples are:

- Decentralized Web 2.0 Ruby on Rails IM infrastructure that leverages the basic human need to connect.

- Mobile hybridized AJAX photo Firefox extension that leverages grassroots talent.

- Multi-device open source tagging-enabled voice web-app that leverages ubiquitous broadband.

- Long invite-only beta disruptive emergent calendaring Firefox extension that leverages network effects.

This reminds me - I wonder when the first Web 2.0 Reality TV show will be made? How about Tim O'Reilly as the Donald Trump character in 'The Apprentice 2.0'? ("MacManus, you failed to leverage the Long Tail and I didn't see any evidence of Network Effects. You're fired!") ;-)

Web 2.0 Office

I wrote a post this week summarizing some recent trends in Web-based Office software. I mentioned new and trendy products like Writely (Web-based word processing) and Kiko (online calendar). My post got some great comments. Ian mentioned his new product called Openomy, which he describes as an "online file-system". Jay pointed out that "the first Ajax app was Microsoft's web version of Outlook". Phil Pearson (who I met for the first time this week, in Wellington) mentioned that a company called HalfBrain developed an AJAX office suite back in the late 90's. Phil said it was made available to the public, "but then it got bought by IBM and disappeared".

I just updated that post tonight, with some more Web 2.0 Office products, so check it out.

Techie Post of the Week: APIs and control

Thought-provoking essay by William Blaze, who asks: who really has control in an API-powered Web 2.0 world. William says that the API is actually "a system of control", in which "the API creator has a nearly limitless ability to regulate what can go in and out of their system." He goes on to write:

"Privilege is what the Web 2.0 is really about. What separates the Web 2.0 from that plain old "web" is the establishment and entrenchment of a hierarchy of power and control. This is not the same control that Microsoft, AOL and other closed system / walled garden companies tried unsuccessfully to push upon internet users. Power in the Web 2.0 comes not from controlling the whole system, but in controlling the connections in a larger network of systems. It is the power of those who create not open systems, but semi-open systems, the power of API writers, network builders and standards definers."

Michal Migurski also posted some thoughts on this.

While I don't agree entirely with William's thesis - it's too cynical to say that privilege is what Web 2.0 is about - he does make you think about the implications of APIs. William's right, APIs from the likes of Google, Amazon and Flickr always come with restrictions and strings attached. While we use the platforms of those companies, via their APIs, we're never in complete control.

That's a Wrap!

OK, that's just about it for the week. Before I go, I want to give a shout-out to fellow Web 2.0 chroniclers TechCrunch. I'll be rooming with the TechCrunch crew in October, when I'm over in Silicon Valley. I can't wait to visit the home of the Web and shmooze with all the great people I've gotten to know virtually via my blog.

That's a wrap for another week!

22 free and high quality PSP wallpaper images.

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 10:20:29 GMT

Since Sony released the version 2.0 update with support for customised wallpaper, owners of the console across the world have had the ability to customise their PSP’s background image. Whilst there’s nothing stopping people from firing up a copy of Photoshop and editing their favorite image to the PSP’s 480x272 resolution; some sites are starting to convert their computer wallpaper collections to the PSP, in the hope that PSP users take a look at buying their higher resolution desktop shots. One such site is PlasmaDesign.co.uk, run by Rob Rantoul, a UK PSP owner. He recently released a catalogue of his most popular desktop images for free download at the PSP’s native resolution. The image designs range from holiday photos of the pool tweaked in Photoshop to surreal 3D landscapes made in Bryce and Lightwave. Full size images range from the PSP resolution right up to an insane 2560x1600 pixels, which are capable of covering the entirety of the Apple 30in Widescreen Display. Get the 800k .zip file with 22 PSP wallpaper images here.

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© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.

iTunes phone coming to O2 in the UK and T-Mobile in Germany?.

[Joystiq]

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:31:01 GMT

Semantic MediaWiki.

The WikiProject Semantic MediaWiki provides a platform to discuss MediaWiki extensions using semantic web technologies to support machine processing of Wiki-content. The project aims to develop a single solution for semantic annotation that fits the needs of most Wikimedia projects and still meets the Wiki-specific requirements of usability and performance.

"I think this is an exciting project with a lot of potential. Wikipedia, for example, is marvelously successful and has made us all smarter. I'd like my software agents to have a Wikipedia of their own, one they can use to get the knowledge they need and one to which they can (eventually) contribute." -- Tim Finin

[Thank you Tim for posting !!! sorry for the delay]

[Smart Mobs]

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:28:31 GMT

Cingular already has a lock on the first Motorola iTunes phone here in the States, but what about our overseas brothers and sisters? Not sure about anywhere else, but apparently UK carrier O2 will be making a big announcement about the iTunes phone in a few weeks, and supposedly T-Mobile Germany “accidentally” revealed during a presentation that they expect to have an iTunes-compatible phone by Christmas.

Read - O2
Read - T-Mobile

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© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.

[Engadget]

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:25:38 GMT

Cellophane converts an LCD or cameraphone display to 3D.

Wow, cellophane — who knew? Keigo Iizuka knew, that’s who — and he describes how the simple application of cellophane to an LCD can convert it into a 3D display. The technique takes advantage of the fact that light emanating from the liquid crystal screen of a laptop or cellphone is linearly polarized, and is therefore easily manipulated by a polarizer sheet such as cellophane. The technique also includes a method for obviating the need to wear those ultra-hip 3D glasses, by making the screen wear the glasses instead.

[Thanks, Daniel T.]

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© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.

[Engadget]

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:24:56 GMT

KDDI's EZ Passenger Seat Navi.

KDDI has announced a new navigation service for their CDMA 1X WIN handsets over in Japan called “EZ Passenger Seat Navi.” Based on the same technology that made the company’s “EZ Navi Walker” pedestrian GPS navigation system possible (yes, walking directions are frequently needed in Japan), EZ Passenger Seat Navi provides basic driving direction assistance to those with compatible handsets. The system offers most of the basic GPS features such as voice commands, auto-reroute if you go off course, refreshes every second, and preference-based searches. But what’s most attractive is the price of the service — you can pay either 157 yen (about $1.42) for 24 hours of usage, or 315 yen ($2.86) for an entire month. Considering the costs associated with purchasing a dedicated GPS system for your car, this makes a nice low-cost alternative for those only wanting basic functionality.

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© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.

Objects of Desire: Week of 9/4/05.

[Engadget]

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:16:35 GMT

It’s not possible to do our round-up post this week without noting that our biggest desire this week is that the people displaced by Hurricane Katrina find shelter and some semblance of normalcy in the coming weeks. We here at Weblogs Inc. have donated to the Red Cross and encourage you to do the same.

The Residences at Burj Dubai
Zoom Zoom Zoom
Signature Days
Caesar’s Designs
333 Sherbrooke
Furla Greta Bag
Phuket Pavillions
Corum Bubble Privateer Watch
Pink Razr Phone
West Fork Ranch
Britain’s Most Expensive Seaside Town
Mike Tyson Home on eBay
Bogner Lunar Boots
Changing Regulations on Vintage Wine
Van Cleef & Arpels Watches
Forty Love
Elio Necklaces
ArTours
Montecito Estate
Virtual Gaveau Museum
Sasco Point Home
Damien Hirst Buys Toddington Manor
Design Within Reach Bedding
Star Sapphire For Sale
Phil Donahue’s Home
Villa DKD

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© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.

Subscriber Stats and Web-based Feed Readers.

[Luxist]

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:14:53 GMT

Last night while looking at the new Feedburner design (well done guys!), I noticed that my subscriber stats figure has suddenly jumped. My current count of RSS subscribers in Feedburner is 3744. The main reason is that Rojo has just been added to Feedburner's numbers - previously it was missing. What surprised me is the extent of Rojo's impact on my stats. Rojo has overtaken Bloglines as the number 1 RSS Aggregator for my readers. Here is my current top 10:

Rojo
Bloglines
NetNewsWire
Newsgator Online
ThePortNetwork
Firefox Live Bookmarks
MyYahoo
Google Desktop
FeedDemon
SharpReader

A few quick comments on that:

- 7 of my top 10 are web-based RSS Readers (I'm counting Google Desktop in that). And 7 of the top 8 are web-based! Possibly that reflects my own bias towards web-based apps, which presumably a lot of my readers share.

- On the other hand, NetNewsWire is still going strong in 3rd place, which probably reflects my geek cred ;-)

- Rojo and Bloglines dominate my stats, which suggests to me that the other web-based readers have a lot of ground to catch up (and there are tons of new web-based feed readers on the market currently).

Coincidentally yesterday, before I found out about the Rojo numbers in my Feedburner, I decided to give Rojo another try. I've been increasingly frustrated by Bloglines - it doesn't cut the mustard anymore in terms of organising one's feeds, tracking topic feeds and in general adding value to my feed-reading existence.

Already I've noticed that Rojo's performance has improved since I last checked (that was my number one complaint about Rojo) and its added some neat new functionality - e.g. you no longer need to physically click the "Mark as Read" button. So I'll be using Rojo for the short term and perhaps in time it will convince me to stick around :-)

My question to Bloglines: when are we going to see these new improvements you've promised in the past? You'd better hurry up, because it's clear that Rojo is eating your lunch.

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:13:38 GMT

Web 2.0 Office.

This week I've been noticing a lot of Web 2.0-style Office apps coming out. Here's a selection of some of them:

AjaxOffice - "A complete office suite usable via your browser. Your documents are safely stored on a server..."

Writely - "The Web Word Processor" (unfortunately the beta is full already). TechCrunch reviewed it and said: "Writely is a highly specialized niche application built with ajax. Ajax allows this (and other applications) to act very much like desktop apps."

The weirdly named FCKeditor is also an MS Word-like web app. It's open source too. (hat-tip Josh)

gOFFICE - "a browser-based online word processor and desktop publishing program"

Num Sum - web-based spreadsheets (hat-tip Michael Fagan). Interesting service that lets you share spreadsheets, except only the author of a spreadsheet can edit it.

Kiko - Online calendar solution powered by (of course) Ajax. TechCrunch profile here.

Those are just some of the web-based Office apps that have popped up recently. Don't forget established tools like Gmail (Google's email app that blows MS Outlook out of the water) and Chandler (the open source Personal Information Manager that has been in development for a Web eternity).

Interesting also to note this CNET article from way back in 2001, speculating that Yahoo was looking at Web-based office tools. CNET quoted from a survey on the Yahoo website at the time, asking questions about a "full-featured suite of office productivity tools available online through a browser, handheld devices and Web-enabled cell phones." Hmmm, wonder what ever happened to that?! IBM has also talked about server-based office apps in the past too.

Current Crop of web-based Office apps

But really the most interesting web-based Office apps are the current crop of Web 2.0-style apps, built by small start-ups or open source developers. Ajax seems to be a common denominator amongst a lot of them.

Is the development of this new kind of "Web 2.0" Office tool likely to be worrying Microsoft much at this stage?

I'm interested in knowing what other Webified Office tools are out there - alpha, beta or even a glint in a developer's eye. Please add to the comments and let's see if we can build a big list of them.

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:09:39 GMT

RSS on mobile phones.

Barb Dybwad posed an interesting question this week: "how many of you read some or all of your RSS feeds on your cellphone? If you do - which application or service do you find the best/easiest to use/most comprehensive and why?"

Personally I don't read feeds in my mobile phone, although I would like to. I do download content from the Web onto my Palm PDA, for offline reading. So it makes sense to go the next step and read content online on my mobile device. Anyway Barb's readers recommended the following apps and services for mobile RSS reading, if you're interested:

- BuddyBuzz
- winksite.com
- LiteFeeds
- Bloglines mobile
- PHONifier
- iFeedYou
- FreeNews

50Mbit/s Broadband, for Free!.

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:06:29 GMT

Everything in life is better when it is free, especially torrents of your favorite fetish porn downloading at a blazing 50Mbit/s. Calm down you silly porn-loving American, this is only happening in Germany. Deutsche Telekom apparently has a pocket full of amphetamines. The project, titled Lightspeed, plans to have this new fiber line run to 2.9 million households a year from now. The freeness I speak of is currently available via their site and will run at just 25 Mbit/s for the time being. The free offer is only taking place in Hamburg and Stuttgart.

Deutsche Telekom: 50Mbit/s Broadband… [Digital-Lifestyles]

[Gizmodo]

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:03:36 GMT

Announcing Entrepreneurial Venture Profile Posting.

This whole VC thing has really got me thinking. It's really exciting to me to see the new concepts that people are launching right now. In some ways it's almost like 1995 all over again. At the same time, there are lots of entrepreneurs out there with great ideas, excellent teams, the ability to execute, and maybe even beta software or products who, mainly because they don't have a connection, are condemned to toil away in obscurity all because they don't have a contact that can get them in front of a VC.

It's no exaggeration when you hear investors lament that they're buried in business plans. I've seen stacks of them four feet high in some VC offices. It pains me to say it but there aren't enough hours in the day to read them all. So what to do?

Well, in most cases this means that the people that a VC knows are going to get their plans read or at least read ahead of the others. I know that I would never have been in a single door if it weren't for a mentor of mine recommending me to a VC who (probably grudgingly) agreed to give me half an hour.

I'd like to change that. Of course, I'm not going to be able to single handedly change a dynamic that exists simply because there are so many entrepreneurs with ideas, but at least as far as Angel Strategies and Mobile Technology is concerned I am going to do something a little different. At least I'm going to give it a try.

Starting now, I'm going to reserve my Friday post to profile at least one new venture. That is, one new venture contributed for my review by the readers of this blog.

Here's how this will work: pay attention, my blog, my rules.

If you or someone you know has a new business venture that you'd like me to profile, and possibly even analyze or critique a bit (if I have anything meaningful to say), all you have to do is send me a BRIEF summary of the plan and the people who would execute.

Here are the other key caveats:

The plan MUST BE RELATED TO MOBILE TECHNOLOGY. NO EXCEPTIONS.

The venture must HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY VENTURE INVESTMENT (a small friends and family or very small angel round is ok but nothing more)

By sending me this plan you understand that I MAY post some or all of what you submit on this blog which is in the public domain and publishes under the Creative Commons Non-Commercial Use "Some Rights Reserved" parameter.

You understand that while I might receive many submissions it is at my sole discretion which submissions I display or discuss.

You also understand that while I reserve the right to present any, all or none of the plans to Angel Strategies Principals, I am under no obligation to do so.

You acknowledge that this Entrepreneurial Venture Profile Post (EVPP) is not part of Angel Strategies evaluation process nor is Angel Strategies directly involved in the review or analysis of any submissions that I receive.

You accept that from time to time, I may forward your submissions to other Venture Capitalists or Angel Investors if I see a match that I believe at my sole discretion is in the best interest of any of the parties involved.

You understand that anything you send me will not be returned. DO NOT SEND SOMETHING YOU NEED BACK. I don't want to be responsible for proto-types, demo units, irreplaceable copies of code...you get the idea. Do send me stuff to play with, or software to try, just don't think I have time to go to the post and mail it back.

By submitting a venture summary for my consideration you a
knowledge that you have read everything above and agree that these are the terms under which I accept these submissions.

Whew...I was starting to feel like an attorney!

Okay, here's the fun stuff. How do you get profiled? First have a good succinct summary. You're heard of an "elevator" pitch? Reduce it to paper, add the bios of management and send it in. Make sure it is related to MOBILE TECHNOLOGY.

DO NOT SEND ME A PRESS RELEASE. I DO NOT PRINT VERBATIM PRESS RELEASES. EVER.

It will help your chances if I already know your name. This does not mean that I went to school with you or that we know one another...one of the surest ways for me to know (and remember) your name is for you to comment on posts in this blog. Help me critique the other ventures I profile. Get into the dialog.

Have a GREAT IDEA. This is most important. If you blow me away with an idea...one of those "damn, I should have thought of that!" sort of ideas, you can bet you'll be on the top of my list come Thursday night.

Last, get me your submissions early in the week. If I get 200 summaries on Thursday evening, most of them are going to sit till the next week at least.

Final words on this for now: I really hope people jump on this. John (the Managing Partner) was enthusiastic about this concept and I'd love to see some plans that do get funded through this channel. It is for real and I will champion ideas that I think merit the effort.

One other thing that you can do to really improve your venture's chances of getting funding (way beyond a submission here) is to go visit The Venture Alliance's web site and commit to their process to help you determine how ready your enterprise is for a round of venture capital. My understanding is that entrepreneurs that go through the TVA process are more than 80% more likely to get a venture capital investment than those that do not.

In any case TVA connects with funds who in total have an aggregate of $4 billion available for investment. Getting in front of them is much more important than getting in front of me.

Okay...that's it....have fun. I wish everyone luck and I look forward to seeing some fantastic ideas.

Oh, one final thing...it should go without saying that I reserve the right to change any or all of my rules or discontinue posting profiles or even evaluation of submissions at any time, and that I may also, at my sole discretion, change, break or ignore some or all of the rules I have listed above where so doing does not violate any laws, ordinances or human rights.

[The Mobile Technology Weblog]

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:01:58 GMT

Cingular to Launch Apple i-Tunes Phone.

This just in from PostSecret details have emerged (FINALLY) about the long awaited Motorola i-Tunes phone.

Ryan Katz, Senior Editor at PostSecret reports:

September 2, 2005 - Apple will upgrade both its iPod mini and iPod shuffle lines of music players, but most likely not at its media event next week, Think Secret has learned. The media event will instead be devoted almost exclusively to the new iTunes-enabled Motorola phone and the company's partnership with Cingular.

The new phone will reportedly be available in two capacities, 256MB and 512MB, capable of storing about 70 and 140 songs, respectively. Users will not only be able to plug the phone into their computer to tap their iTunes Music Library for tunes, but will also have the ability of buying songs on the fly over Cingular's network, probably for about $2 a song, sources report. The ability to download songs from the phone represents a departure from Apple's original design for the phone. Months ago it emerged that cell phone networks Apple was in talks with, eager to share revenue that a music download service could generate, were uninterested in carrying the phone unless such a feature was included.

Cingular will be the only carrier of the phone in the U.S. at launch, while London's Times reported Thursday that O2 will be the exclusive carrier in Britain.

People sometimes ask me if I have it in for the carriers. While I won't say that I particularly want to hurt them, sometimes their selfish behavior makes me hope that prognostications like Russell Buckley's and Om Malik's. If they keep treating their customers with contempt, taking advantage of the very people that put revenue in their coffers then by all means they deserve to be dis-intermediated from their revenue stream. And believe you me, a vast number of people will deal with slight compromises in quality and convenience to teach someone that hasn't been treating them fairly a nice lesson.

Russell Buckley pointed out that he felt this exact scenario was highly likely and lo and behold, they've proven him prescient. Not that predicting that the Recording Industry is going to go straight to the lowest common denominator of insulting greed is all the difficult.

I also think in the end, charging so much per song is going to ultimately prove to be very foolish. Not only because it will dampen enthusiasm for the phone, but also because in the final analysis, Cingular will probably lose out on a lot more revenue than their share of the $2 bucks they're charging per song (which is probably somewhere around fifty cents when the record labels get their $1 and the distribution company...i-Tunes gets its share).

Did Cingular forget about their other source of revenue from these customers? Megabits, kilobytes...you know, just data in general. Unless you shell out for an unlimited plan, Cingular charges for data by the kilobyte. Instead of encouraging users to circumvent the music download altogether... (and believe you me they will)...and you'll see people using WiFi, bluetooth, infrared...anything to get their existing library onto their phone.

I am already aware of one technology that will be profiled in the next few days or so on this blog that will facilitate the storage and downloading of music to any phone capable of playing a music file. Cingular would have been much smarter to have learned of this technology and turned their customers into downloading fiends. They shouldn't have worried so much about getting a piece of the music sales, they should have focused on getting more data revenue per user the way they're set up to do it. Dumb. That's the only word that really sums it up.

So what to do? I say don't rush out and buy one of those phones yet. There are going to be plenty of open solutions that will let you get the music you've already purchased, or want to purchase at a FAIR price and store it anywhere you'd like...not just how some greedy carrier tells you to store it.

[The Mobile Technology Weblog]

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:00:11 GMT

Will Mobsharing and Ad-Hoc P2P Nets Stymie Recording Industry?.

To see this image in its original context go here: http://www.cheesebikini.com/art/matrix-swarm.jpg

I had the good fortune to stumble upon a truly fantastic blog post today by Mike Evans of Mobilementalism.

This idea is so clever, so right now, and is likely to be hugely popular especially with the younger set. Plus, take this concept and add to it the use of a MoSoSo like Dodgeball or StreetHive and you have a perfect Howard Rheingold scenario.

With the advent of phones that have better MP3 fidelity, the ability to store many (as in the case of Nokia's N91, around a thousand) songs and the increasing availability of phones that have Bluetooth or WiFi capabilities, this kind of activity that combines social interaction with a popular activity like file sharing is sure to drive adoption of many of the applications that enable events like Flash Mobshares to take place.

Now all we need is for an enterprising developer to write a bit torrent program to be run over personal area networks or small ad-hoc LANS and we're in business.

[The Mobile Technology Weblog]

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 07:56:36 GMT

PSP downloads won't be free for long.

It turns out that Wipeout Pure’s free content downloads were just a test case. In 2006, Sony plans to move to pay-per-downloads, according to comments made by SCE’s European vice president Phil Harrison in Edge magazine. This will be made possible by a digital rights management system (similar to iTunes) that Sony is in the process of constructing. What concerns us is that new features that in that past would have been included in firmware upgrades (e.g. the web browser) might end up costing us extra.

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© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.

Fame for you and your gaming alter-ego.

[Joystiq]

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 07:54:18 GMT

Almost a year ago now, we took note of the work of artist Robbie Cooper, who took photos of real people and put them next to screenshots of the Everquest avatars that those people controlled. Pictured at right is one of those juxtapositions. (For the rest of them, click here.)

In an update to his Alter Ego project, Cooper has teamed with writer Tracy Spaight to put together a book featuring Second Life players who, according to blog Clickable Culture:

Look like their avatars
Make real money through virtual businesses
Are males playing females or vice versa (”Manginas” and “Shenises”, in MMOG parlance)
Express themselves creatively online (fluent l33t doesn’t count)
Met a significant other online
Have a zany tale to tell about an online experience

The artists can be contacted at tspaight@gmail.com. Include your location, contact information, and why you think you’re worthy of their artsy interest. Just don’t brag about that one time you and two wood elves shacked up for an entire fortnight in Kelethin. Virtual gentlemen never kiss and tell.

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© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.

Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 8-14 August 2005.

[Joystiq]

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 13:33:08 GMT

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 ï¬?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]

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:08:32 GMT

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]

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:03:58 GMT

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!

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:02:59 GMT

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.

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:00:51 GMT

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?

Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 15-21 August 2005.

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:00:01 GMT

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!

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 10:58:40 GMT

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.

Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 22-28 August 2005.

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 10:57:57 GMT

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!