The New DotCom

Newsweek online have an interesting article this week around the face of the new internet business. This is off course a very interesting read and contains most of the ideas boggling in my mind around Web 2.0 and the new entrepreneur.

Enjoy:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12015774/site/newsweek/

Something Borrowed… Something New?

There is two very interesting "little applications" that I have discovered this morning, whilst doing my normal cruise around the web. The first one is called ajaxWrite and is an attempt to simulate or provide an MS Office environment on the web. Now, this application is only Firefox based and doesn’t work for IE versions. The idea is nothing new and is something that Microsoft themselves has been aspiring to - Windows Live .This is nothing unique but is still worth a test run. It can be found here:

http://www.linspire.com/ajaxwrite.php




The other "little application" is Google Pages. This is Google's attempt to allow users to create personal websites using an easy-to-use, browser-based tool. Personally I have not test driven this application since it is only open for users who signed up for the service in January and February. For more information visit:

http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS2909568909.html

Tool of the week

There is this very useful "little" application from Microsoft called SyncToy for Windows XP.

Very useful



http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/thankyou.aspx?familyId=E0FC1154-C975-4814-9649-CCE41AF06EB7&displayLang=en&oRef=&Hash=67HSML9

What I have Learned From The Internet Today

Today, I have learned two new things

1) Microsoft's Windows Live Search has gone...Live
http://www.live.com/ (beta)

2) There is a new tool called Boxxet that offers to create websites on any subject
http://boxxet.com/

What I learned from the internet today

I am going to make this a daily post. This post is going to be a daily list of stuff - things, knowledge, useful and nor so useful - I learned from the internet today. Here is a list of what I learned from the net today:


1) Books based on blogs are called "blooks". To find out more: http://lulublookerprize.typepad.com/lulu_blooker_blog/
2006/03/the_shortlist.html

2) There is a search engine that allows you to search by topics. The engine is called Kosmix and can be found here:
http://www.kosmix.com/

Foreclosure of a dream

Dreams are strange things. And I sometime think that whatever you dream during sleep has a lot to do with the occupation you find yourself in. The reason I say this is because of what I dreamed early this morning - just before the alarm clock woke me from my new reality (or I actually switched it off before it could wake me).


The dream I had this morning has a lot to do with my profession. I dreamt of a world connected by Web Services. I don’t know it this is the result of my obsession with Web 2.0 and what exactly Web 2.0 is, but I kind of like the idea (dream).

In my dream I could do anything by simply calling a web service from my desktop. The world really was at my finger tips. If I needed to order food I call up the web service for the local fast-food place and within the hour I got my food. If I needed medicine, I called up the Web service for the local pharmacy and WHAM I have medicine.

So why can't we have a world connected with web services?

Life will be so much easier. Everything can be done from the desktop. You never have to go anywhere. You need a service? Just go to the Web Service 'Yellow Pages'. Do a search. Get the Service Provider. Call up their Web Service. And Bam. A service has been done.


Isn't this where technology is driving us to? Isn't this the whole idea behind Web 2.0? We as people become a community again? Even if it is just by interconnection via technology?

Web 2.0 - The start of something new

I have recently come accross a very interesting article describing what Web 2.0 is all about. According to the article Web 2.0 is the new set of technologies enabling web pages to behave more like our desktops. In other words, Web 2.0 is the move from the desktop to the internet. Examples of this would be Microsoft's Office Live, Flickr etc etc.

Web 2.0 thus give the idividual the power to "get published" and to maintain his own content. Interaction between individuals or companies become easier. You get the fealing that you are part of the web and not just a spectator.

I do agree with this. Blogging is a simple example of Web 2.0. By blogging I get exposure, publish my own content, maintain my own content and I get my 15 minutes of fame. But, is Web 2.0 based on empowering the indivual alone? Is Web 2.0 a set of community based technologies? What about business and Web 2.0? What does the face of a Web 2.0 based company look like?


In my next post I will have a look at exately that: Business and Web 2.0.

First Post

Hi all,


This is my first official post on blogspot. From now on this will be the home of topic discussion. I have a more technical blog at the following location - http://dotnet.org.za/riaan

Enjoy!