web 2.0

I wish this Olinda social radio with WiFi and an API wasn't a one-off prototype. I want one. Hmmm maybe somebody could build something like this with The Bug from Bug Labs?
From Slide 2 of 41 (Movement, S&W):

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This is Olinda, a radio prototype Schulze & Webb is currently building for the BBC.

Radio’s really big in the UK. A few years ago, in terms of hours listened per week, it overtook TV. There are about 70 broadcast digital channels, and those are what this radio tunes into. There’s no internet streaming radio here.

We wanted to take all the ideas that have been really successful on the Web, and see if we could apply them to consumer electronics… really take them mass market, you know.

So we started small. The first thing we did was ditch the idea of presets. Often people don’t bother programming those little buttons with the stations they want to listen to. Instead the radio monitors how you listen to it, and compiles a list of your most-listened-to stations instead.

Then what we did was stick a wifi card in the radio so you can share the fact you’re listening to the radio with your friends, using a social listening Web service already built by the BBC. On the left of this mock-up you can see six lights. When one of those comes on, you know that somebody in your primary network of friends and family is listening to the radio. So you press the light to see what they’re listening to, and if you like it then you tune in to listen along with them.

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I am glad I can finally announce that Raincity Studios has acquired Bryght. Needless to say I am stoked and already enjoying working with my new colleagues. Working with Bryght has been great, the best job of my life and I am sure it will be the same at Raincity.

From my Raincity acquires Bryght story on bryght.com:

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We can finally take the wraps off something we have been cooking up for a while. Raincity Studios has acquired Bryght (press release)! The expanded company will operate under the Raincity Studios banner and the Bryght name will live on through the hosting products (i.e. Bryght Light Sites and Bryght Virtual Private Servers will continue). Raincity Studios will also continue Bryght's work in leading edge technology like Jabber / XMPP and OpenID. And of course, all Bryght guys are now Raincity guys!

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Really looking forward to our 4th annual Northern Voice! And to some great ideas and speaker submissions!
From Northern Voice 2008:

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The Moose is Loose in 2008!

Want to speak or lead a discussion? Then fill out the speaker submission form (speaker submissions close Monday December 10).

Got an idea for a topic or discussion but don't feel like speaking on it or leading a discussion? Then check out our Call for Ideas (we've seeded the list with two initial ideas: microblogging and mobile blogging but these are just examples!) and add your own idea and rate others' ideas!

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Facebook - The blockbuster seqel to all the geeky prequels! To paraphrase Tim Bray, I've seen this movie before. Only it's different this time. Unlike UUCP email, profs email, Nortel's Cocos, BBSes, Usenet, The Source, Compuserve, The Well, etc non geeky people of all ages are using Facebook to privately and semi-privately blog, share interests and email each other. Which I think is great! And I love that Facebook is becoming a platform.

But until you can get all your stuff (your status messages, your private messages, your wall posts, your events, your profile information, etc) out like you can get all your photos and all the associated metadata out of flickr using its APIs, I would be careful.

Just like everything else on the Internet, if it's not on a domain you own or control then it could be shut down and removed at any time without any prior notice.

In other words have fun with facebook but recognize that's the stuff on there is ephemeral and ethereal and mostly invisible to Google; if you want something permanent that the world can see whether or not they belong to Facebook, stick it up on a website or blog or wiki or other web app with permanent public URLs on your own domain.

No disrespect but don't believe the hype from Tech Crunch and Read/Write web; kyte.tv isn't (yet) as great as The Skyte :-) the Java applet is cool; it allows me to upload photos very quickly in real time over WiFi, GPRS or 3G from my N93 (check out my RolandTV channel) and chat about those photos but it would be cooler if you could do video. Looking forward to video support (i'd settle for 3GPP but love if it supported the N93's glorious 640x480 video).

Suggestions:

• Don't call it kyte.tv if it doesn't do live video!!!! I am sure that is coming.
• Fix the chat to allow cut and paste
• Fix those URLs please: http://www.kyte.tv/channels/browse.html;
• jsessionid=na3urj9uqokh.as02?first=0&mode=LATEST#uri,channels/1114 belongs to 1999 no disrespect intended!

If you are a savvy user who doesn't mind enduring the occasional yak shaving geekery of configuring and using today's Voice 2.0 products, then Canadian telecom oligopolies and r*poff prices and indeed world wide telecoms r*poffs are largely irrelevant as Andy points out. All you need is an internet connection and for extra bonus fun and flexibility, WiFi and a device like an N800 or a mobile phone with a SIP client. The real revolution in Voice 2.0 will occur when this kind of flexibility and power is available to all not just folks like Andy and myself and the people who read this blog.

FROM VoIP Watch: Price Breaks In Canada Won't Happen Yet:

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Mark Evans points to a Globe and Mail article about why our friends to the North won't see the kind of price wars we see in the USA.

I beg to differ as we have enterered the era of global telephony carriers, where as a result of IP boundaries no longer exist. For years when I traveled internationally I had to use callback systems, now for the time I've been working out of the country I've made likely less than 20 calls on my International calling card or direct calls from my cell phone. Almost all my calls have been via Truphone, GizmoProject, Skype, SightSpeed or GoogleTalk via the Nokia N800. GrandCentral has handled where the calls end up. I could have also used services like Jajah, Rebtel, Mint Telecom and others too. We're way beyond local numbers being portable between local carriers and mobile operators. We're at a point where numbers start in one place, end in another and appear to be where they seem to be but really aren't.

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URLs with question marks, ampersands, etc should be banished to the Web 1.0 h*ll where they belong. I've been preaching the clean URL gospel for years but if I see one more WordPress blog with "?p" or one more Drupal site with "?q", I'll scream :-) Seriously if your webhost or your tech gal/guy can't figure out how to use clean URLs, find somebody else. It's 2007!

Some great news about Northern Voice 2007 (which I am one of the organizers of):

1. Speaker Submissions: The Deadline has been extended to December 1st as Lauren wrote. You don't have to be famous or a professional conference presenter: we're looking for both fresh and experienced voices who wish to present or chair a panel on topics related to the blog-o-sphere, videoblogging, podcasting, virtual worlds like Second life, the two way web/read write web/web 2.0, blogging 101, podcasting 101, etc. It's all about the abstract. If it's well written and topical, your chances will be much higher. Submit today!
2. Registration is open now! Pre-register and save $10. That's right it's only $30 for a single day and $50 for both days as opposed to $40 for one day and $60 for both days at the door. I bet we'll sell out like last year so pre-registration is recommended. Register now!

Another howler from the Globe and Mail (please hire more technology writers like Matthew Ingram who are clued in and listening rather than people like the author of this article).

The prognostication that "Web 2.0 companies cost too much to be profitable in Canada" will turn out to be just as laughable as the 1990s predictions of Apple's demise. The whole point of Web 2.0 (the read write web or whatever you want to call it) especially with affordable infrastructure like Amazon S3 and EC2 is that anybody with a great idea and great implementation skills can build a web service anywhere in the world (not just in Silicon Valley) that is useful and scalable. Not convinced? Some Canadian examples: flickr (which was reportedly profitable before being acquired by Yahoo), dabble db, bubbleshare just to name a few.

FROM globeandmail.com : Quick out of the gate, with best days still ahead:

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"You'll notice that there are no Web 2.0 companies on the list -- they just cost too much to be profitable in this country," Mr. Behr said. "We're not looking for something you'll see on the Internet, instead we're looking for applications that make what you see work better."

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Instead of regurgitating material from big companies like Yahoo who are doing "Web 2.0 by acquisition", why not profile Canadian Web 2.0 startups like eqo, sxip and Dabble DB (at this rate the Globe and Mail will write about them in late 2007!) where the true innovation is happening? And also why do none of these Globe and Mail magazines ever talk about open source? Without open source there would be no flickr, in fact there would be almost no Web 2.0 companies. Finally, it's not right to preach at organizations that they "better wrap their heads around Web 2.0 or they will find themselves stuck in a 1999 frame of mind" when the same author advocated an 1999 style SEO strategy in the Globe's TQ just a couple of weeks of ago. The "authority" of the Globe and Mail is seriously undermined by flawed articles like this one.

FROM Backbone Magazine business technology news consumer technologies e-marketing news online.:

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In short, Web 2.0 may be a coined phrase, but it is also a way of using online tools in a creative and collaborative manner. Software and hardware developers, researchers and scientists, businesses -- especially those with an online customer base -- not-for-profit groups, and even political organizations had better wrap their heads around Web 2.0, or they will find themselves stuck in a 1999 frame of mind.

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Amazing example of how we (the software industry) make sh*tty software (in this case car rental web apps) and how we have no digital identity. Dick (and the rest of the sxip folks), Boris, Phil, Doc and Identity Woman are on the case at the Internet Identity Workshop 2006 though so at least the digital identity problem will be solved (eventually).

From Intention Economy Hell: Renting a Car - a photoset on Flickr.:

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A real-world use case that serves as a fine example for both Identity and Intention Economy discussions.

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I'd really like to go to BarCamp TDot and the Mesh Conference in Toronto since I could slip in a visit to my brother and his family as well as learn lots and meet some very smart people from the rest of Canada (since most of the people I know in Web 2.0 are on the West Coast of North America) who get things done in the Web 2.0 space.

BarCamp TDot is more my style (and the organizers think :-) I am coming because I sort of suggested it in my CanadaCamp post) so I am trying to see if I can find a way for me to go to BarCAmp TDot (and money permitting the Mesh Conference) that makes sense to my family and Bryght.

While I love "normal" conferences (and Gnomedex is definitely one of the best and hopefully I will be there this year again as well!), I personally get more out of unconferences like Northern Voice Moosecamp and BarCamp Amsterdam (to gratuitously name drop the unconferences I have helped organize).

Net net as they say, Mesh has lots of great people so I am sure it will turn out great regardless of what myself and Boris pontificate online about it :-) !

ajaxWrite is u*ly but it is faster and appears to work as well as Writely. I must be tired but I can't break it using the nested lists and the Roland and Troy test. Troy, I know you can break this!

From www.ajaxwrite.com.:

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The look, feel, and functionality of Microsoft Word, in a completely web-based AJAX platform. Try ajaxWrite today, and experience first-hand how AJAX applications are changing the way the web works, and redefining the software industry.

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Awesome! I look forward to all Web 2.0 apps using cookie-less Ajax login code.

From 2006, the year HTTP authentication broke - the weblog of Lucas Gonze.:

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A few months ago a fellow named Jean-Michel Hiver posted that you could in fact do a clean and modern log-in browser interface using only AJAX methods. He didn't provide any code or much other information, but he did provide a few hints to show how it was possible to write code. I took about 45 minutes to trace his steps and verify that it was true, and it did indeed seem to be possible.

It was one of those HOLY SH*T moments. 100% of user-friendly browser apps use cookies for authentication rather than HTTP, despite the potentially huge advantage of HTTP. If Jean-Michel's point is correct, and it almost certainly is, almost all new browser apps will end up incorporating the new style.

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Traditional doesn't mean bad though (and props to Mark Evans, Matthew Ingram, Michael McDerment, and Stuart MacDonald for taking the time to organize this; I know how hard this is to do in 12 months like we do for Northern Voice let alone 3 months like they are doing). I really enjoyed the "traditional" part of the Northern Voice blogging conference (why? just two of many reasons: Nancy White and Julie Leung) in Vancouver both in 2005 and in 2006. But I gotta admit, after helping organize unconferences like Northern Voice Moosecamp 2006 and BarCamp Amsterdam, as well as more traditional conferences like Northern Voice and the Open Source Content Management System and Blog Tool Summit, my sympathies are with the unconferences.

A plea for somebody in Toronto: organize a Bar Camp Toronto (should be easy given the success of TorCamp and DemoCamp4, maybe call it CanadaCamp and encourage people from Vancouver and the East Coast to converge in Toronto; I wish I had time to help organize this but other than throwing out crazy ideas I don't!) before or after the Toronto Web 2.0 conference at a place with lots of rooms, central location and good WiFi and convince some West Coast people like the following to lead sessions (the following short list off the top of my head shows omits many cool folks apologies in advance):

• Boris Mann - one my Bryght partners - could lead sessions on starting and running an open source company, open source product development and evangelism since he is Drupal evangelist #1 in my book. Boris could also be a session leader on Jabber, VoIP and web application platforms.
• Avi Bryant and Andrew Catton of Dabble DB could lead a session on Smalltalk and why it's relevant to Web 2.0 as well as why doing things differently makes sense
• Dave Sifry (not a Vancouverite person yay!) could do a leadership "hack" session - the one at Moosecamp was fantastic from what I could tell
• Paul Kedrosky (a sometime Vancouverite) could talk about On why you may not need Venture Capital for your startup, just do it with your own money!
• Alexandra Samuel on what tech companies can learn from non profits and activist organizations.
• Dick Hardt or one of his sxip folks could lead a session on Identity 2.0 what it is, why we need it. Dick also knows a tonne about running an open source startup!

From Stuart MacDonald | eBusiness and Marketing Geek.:

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Our Web 2.0 Toronto Conference date and location are set. Mark May 8 and 9, 2006 at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto in your calendar. The keynotes and panels are shaping up nicely, and we will have a site up by mid-March with all the details.

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It seems like only yesterday that I first started using Writely. In fact it was back in early October 2005, five months ago. Since then it's become my default cross platform way to create rich documents collaboratively despite its bugs like the fact that it can't pass the "Roland and Troy nested list test" (but then no web writing app does!). Congrats to the Writely folks.

To the fine folks at Google a few humble pleas: Please don't pull a Blogger. Keep adding features such as fixing the aforementioned nested list bug. Keep Writely competitive unlike Blogger. And finally consider picking up Dabble DB as your spreadsheet web app.

From Google? Yep, Google! .:

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Writely is now part of Google!

Yes, we've been acquired by Google, and we're really excited about this for many, many reasons. But I can hear you saying, "I don't care why YOU'RE excited - I want to know how this change will impact ME!"

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Rock on Andrew and Avi. Go Dabble DB go! More proof that the Best Web 2.0 Canadian stuff is coming out of Vancouver :-) , not Toronto or Ottawa!

From And the Winner Is…:

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The people have spoken, and the panelists have weighed in Best in Show Award: "I'd pay for that" winner - Dabble DB

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Port 80 is not good enough for Web 2.0 and neither is port 443. Why am I saying this? Well we had a h*ck of a time getting iChat to work between Torino and Vancouver for our Coffee with Ross Videoconference with Torino on Friday. Despite our best efforts (and several dry runs) we didn't get iChat AV working until the event was almost over.

Yes it's good to close down a corporate network but you need to have spots for people with some flexibility because :

• There are computers that actually work well and aren't bogged down by viruses and spyware. Pretty much any computer that doesn't run Windows (unless you are lucky to have it maintained by a flexible and vigilant IT department).
• There are a whole suite of two way web/conversational web/Web 2.0 tools out there (Skype, iChat, etc) that require ports other than port 80 and 443 to be open. I dare say that in the future, most people will be using these tools rather than situation of today where only early adopters use them.

Not quite mainstream but this is the next step. Coming soon to millions of Yahoo! users, tagging! Great news. Congrats to Yahoo! on acquiring yet another cool small team!

From del.icio.us: y.ah.oo!.:

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We're proud to announce that del.icio.us has joined the Yahoo! family. Together we'll continue to improve how people discover, remember and share on the Internet, with a big emphasis on the power of community. We're excited to be working with the Yahoo! Search team - they definitely get social systems and their potential to change the web. (We're also excited to be joining our fraternal twin Flickr!)

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