Entries from June 2007 ↓

This post is a result of an email exchange between Greg Pass from Summize and myself (Alex Iskold). Big thanks to Greg
for his original ideas and the technical collaboration.

We spend most of our time online searching for information. This is not
surprising, since the Web is a vast sea of information, where finding exactly what you
are looking for is not easy. But why is it that when we find something on one site it is
still not easy to find it on another? Say you found a Harry Potter book on Barnes and
Noble, why is it still hard to find the same item on other sites like Amazon and Powells?
Why is search a one time deal?

We are used to a Web where each site has its own copy of the information. Each web
site is a silo. But that does not need to be the case. If web sites agree on how to
represent things like books, music, movies, travel destinations and gadgets, then we
would spend a lot less time searching. Imagine that the URL for the Harry Potter Goblet
of Fire book is this:

http://www.amazon.com/books/j-k-rowling/harry-potter-and-the-goblet-of-fire

In other words, if there was a standard way to turn things into URLs, then finding
information would be a lot easier.

Standard URLs - Web Sites as Directories

The basic idea behind standard URLs is simple - given a type of object, like a book or
a movie or a music album, create a URL schema that can be used by any site. Here are some
basic examples to get us started:

• /books/michael-pollan/the-omnivores-dilemma-a-natural-history-of-four-meals
• /music/jack-johnson/in-between-dreams
• /movies/alejandro-inarritu/babel

First, the objects are divided into categories such as books, music and movies. The
category is followed by a major attribute such as author, artist or director. Finally
there is the title of the object. So for example, if this scheme worked, we could type
in:

http://www.netflix.com/movies/alejandro-inarritu/babel

…to get to that movie on Netflix. Or:

http://www.blockbuster.com/movies/alejandro-inarritu/babel

…to get to the movie on Blockbuster.com.

There are three big benefits to standard URLs:

• Savvy web users can just type in URLs directly, using this naming convention.
• Search engines will deliver more precise results.
• Most importantly, any site can automatically link to the same object on another site,
  saving people a ton of search time.

Extending the idea of standard URLs, we can think of web sites as directories. For
example, /books should match all books, while
/books/michael-pollan should match all books by Michael Pollan. So in a
way, instead of a search, users will be doing a directory listing - which is much more
reliable. If this works, the next step would be auto-completion as the user keys in the
URL. It would work by having the browser query the list of possible matches from the web
site. However doing auto-complete on URLs would be more harder than doing auto complete
on Google search today.

Who is working on this?

Quite a few companies are doing this already. del.icio.us was one of the first
companies to start using standard URLs. However, del.icio.us does this only for tags. So a URL like
http://del.icio.us/tags/books returns all posts tagged with
books. A richer example is the review aggregator called Metacritic, which we covered here.
Metacritic developed proprietary representations for objects, similar to the one we
discussed above. For example, here is a link to a music album:

http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/arcadefire/neonbible

Amazon is also trying to do this, but it seems like there are legacy issues that
prevent the eCommerce giant from fully implementing standard URLs. The example below
shows that there is still the need to have an ASIN (universal identifier for all Amazon
products) as part of the URL:

http://www.amazon.com/Songs-About-Jane-Maroon-5/dp/B00006879E

Possible protocol

The actual nuances of the protocol are not really that important. To paraphrase Dave Winer, it does not matter what the standard is, as
long as there is a standard. This is a really important observation, as a lot of times we
argue over the details - forgetting that there is an important bigger goal that we are
trying to get to. Greg and I discussed specific, fairly simple flavors of the possible
protocol. The main idea is to represent objects like this:

/topic/major-attribute/title/[one or more minor attributes]

Each object needs to be presented so that it is as distinct as possible. The
disambiguation is done by adding one or more minor attributes after the title. For
example, for a book a minor attribute could be a type - softcover or hardcover. It is
important to agree on the sequence of the minor attributes for each topic. For example,
for music it could be year, followed by record label followed by genre.

Difficulties with standard URLs

No matter what the specifics are, it is unlikely that a protocol will be able to
eliminate ambiguity completely. That is ok, as long as it works most of the time - the
benefits will be greater than the glitches. In the worst case scenario, users will see
all matching objects instead of exactly one. That is, in the worst case scenario we are
back to search - except that it would be much more precise, since it would actually be a
directory listing.

Conclusion

Can this actually work? Yes, but it will take a big community effort. Adopting a
standard on a web-scale is no easy endeavor, but this one could be worth considering.
There is a big incentive for the companies as well - they want users to get to their
content as quickly as possible.

Let us know what do you think about this idea.

TiVo’s lifetime service transfer is back, and as long as you’re transferring from an old machine onto a 80 hour Series 2 dual tuner, all you have to pay is $300. [Zatz Not Funny]

There’s nothing like a bit of LA weirdness for a sunny summer morning. LA-based artist Jed Berk is the brains behind Blubber Bots, rather dreamy autonomous helium blimps that float around the place looking beautiful—rather like me, in fact. And just like us hoo-mans, all they really care about is "food" (represented by LED lights) and friendship.

Also called ALAVs, (Autonomous Lighter than Air Vehicles) the Blubber Bots sense and react to movement, sounds, lights and heat, thanks to the Sun SPOT chips that power their brains, which hang down beneath them*. LED lights and cellphone vibrators allow them to communicate amongst themselves—and, as the video shows, with us.

You can have your own for just $99, but you have to assemble it yourself. Alternatively, get yourself to LA and have Jed Berk himself help you out for $185.

*Another way in which they are similar to man.

Product Page [Maker Store via "Oh Gizmo]

Even with consolidation going on left and right, the galaxy of sites that make up what we call “web 2.0″ is expanding at a frantic rate (or perhaps that elusive goal of being snapped up by a bigger fish is helping to drive it). So how do you keep up with this ever growing array of web 2.0 sites? That is, other than reading Read/WriteWeb. The answer: via the ever growing array of web 2.0 lists.

A little over a year ago, Richard MacManus posted his List of Web 2.0 Lists. Just 13 months later a lot of those links are dead, or no longer being updated, and there is a whole crop of new sites that we can now add to our arsenal. Below I will endeavor to update Richard’s list with new sites and those that are still in business.

• eConsultant: Web 2.0 Directory - It appears not to have been updated in nearly a year, and is (hopefully) the only inclusion on this list that’s not up-to-date. But because eConsultant’s massive list is categorized so well, it is still very helpful.
• NEOBinaries - These guys keep a large, categorized list of web 2.0 sites on hand, updated Monday - Friday.
• BuzzShout - BuzzShout is similar to NEOBinaries — a big list of web 2.0 companies that you can rate and review. Nicely categorized.
• Go2Web2.0 - A really great flash-based list organized by tags, and a displayed using a dizzying array of logos. Clicking on a logo brings up a concise overview of that company or application.
• All Things Web 2.0 - This is where Christian Mayaud’s Sacred Cow Dung list ended up. It’s mostly up-to-date and obsessively categorized.
• Web2.0List - Categorized by tags, Web2.0List is just what it sounds like.
• Web2.0Logo - A sister site to Web2.0List, but this time with an emphasis on logos.
• Dexly - Dexly tracks over 3,000 web 2.0 companies in 53 categories, including blogs that write about web 2.0 (like this one).
• SimpleSpark - SimpleSpark lists web applications and is adding apps at a frenetic pace. They launched in May and earlier this month crossed the 3,000 applications mark.
• FeedMyApp - The new kid on the block, FeedMyApp launched just this month but already lists 299 apps in 36 categories.
• HappyCodr - HappyCodr is a list of Ruby on Rails-powered web sites. It’s not strictly about web 2.0, but given web 2.0’s infatuation with Rails you’ll find a lot of neat web apps and social sites on the list (mixed in with the occasional content site backed by a Rails-based CMS).
• Startup Search - Startup Search takes a different approach than the other lists in this round up, focusing on the people and funding behind web 2.0 companies rather than on the products.
• Museum of Modern Betas - MoMB is a great daily blog by Saurier Duval about all things beta.
• eHub - Emily Chang’s eHub is another must read daily blog covering new web 2.0 sites.
• Everything 2.0 - Bob Stumpel’s link blog is yet another great daily look at new web 2.0 companies.
• TechCrunch Company Index - Speaking of great blogs, our friends over at TechCrunch review a lot of web 2.0 companies. Luckily for us, they tag each one and arrange all the tags into a helpful company index.
• Listio’s Everything Web 2.0 Directory - Listio’s directory lets anyone submit new web 2.0 sites and then vote on them digg-style. Browsable by tags.
• KillerStartups - Another digg-style community directory of web 2.0, organized by categories.
• Progammable Web’s Mashup Directory - While this isn’t a general web 2.0 directory, many things we call mashups fall under the 2.0 umbrella, so this is a great resource for web 2.0 watchers nonetheless.
• Webware’s Top 100 - The recently completed Top 100 competition from CNet’s Webware blog isn’t the most comprehensive list, nor the most scientific way to find the top web apps, but even so, it’s a list of 100 apps that any web 2.0 fan will want to be aware of.
• SEOmoz’s Web 2.0 Awards - The 2007 edition of SEOmoz’s awards lists over 200 web 2.0 sites in 41 categories.

Conclusion

I think its safe to say that there are more sites devoted to tracking web 2.0 now than there were when Richard made his original list in May 2006. More than a few entries on Richard’s list were links to blog posts consisting of giant lists of web 2.0 sites, which have since evolved into full fledged directories or up-to-date daily link blogs. If you know of any other good web 2.0 directories or lists, please mention them in the comments.

Facebook Gets Help From Its Friends  —  Music, Horoscopes Help Boost Site's User Base;  —  Will New Offerings Allow It to Catch MySpace?  —  No. 2 social-networking site Facebook Inc. has persuaded a 22-year-old college dropout, two Microsoft Corp. veterans and more than 800 others to help …

Source:   Wall Street Journal

Author:   Vauhini Vara

Link:   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118247666672544310…

Techmeme permalink

In the growing architecture-with-embedded-lighting department, there is a new technology inspired by the bioluminescence of sea life. A Chilean architecture and design duo developed a modular lighting system called theANEMIX, which can be used as a partition or a modified wall and creates unique 3D effects, while using a minimal amount of energy to create them.

The ANEMIX
system is composed of one or several two-layered panels, with luminescent and reflective combinations that create the cool result. The installation framework includes basic aluminum or wood bases, with a serigraphed acrylic or glass upper section, LED lighting on the sides, and a thermoformed (reshaped sheet) mirror in the back. This surface combination minimizes the energy consumption needed for the LED lights by essentially recycling the light throughout the frame.

The system can also be customized with different patterns, curves, and tube shapes in the serigraphy or the mirror.  Click for more on the inspiration behind the design.

In their first iteration of their light model, the designers

used
bioluminescent sea life as an example of the creation of a light source
produced without heat.  Many animals in the deep ocean generate light
at low temperatures through the chemical reaction between a pigment and
an enzyme, and the glass, aluminum, and thermoformed mirrors conjure a
similar effect out of this system.

So how much is it? We don’t know yet, but it’s probably way cheaper and
more energy efficient than buying a few wall-sized LCD screens.

http://theanemix.com

Ross Lovegrove, the British designer who has previously designed Walkmans for Sony and computers for Apple, has come up with this eye-pleasing modular lighting system. As you can see in the diagram, the x-shaped sections can fit together in a variety of combinations. The plastic and aluminum pieces each contain a 21Watt fluorescent bulb.

In good news for office workers, the lights are dimmable, but even if they weren’t, a constant sheet of low light across the ceiling is a lot nicer than a bare strip-light. Home users can create lighting walls or small balls. Just wait for it to cool down before you start playing. Europe only right now, but on its way to the US soon.

Product page [Yamigiwa via Oh gizmo!]

If Adam Frucci’s squirrel catapult post from earlier this week tickled your fancy, here's something that won't—unless you're a squirrel and you want your revenge. It's a simply repulsive antique catapult watch that dates back to 2005. Cost is $49 and it comes with free artillery, having been reduced from $59. I can’t think why. – Ad Dugdale

Product Page [Backyard Artillery via UberGizmo]

Here’s the new iRiver NV in all its glorious smoked Korean shininess. With a 7-inch screen and two SD ports, this thing can do anything except calling: it has an integrated Global Positioning System unit, terrestrial digital TV, FM radio and plays back every format under the sun: MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF, WMV, MPG, Xvid and H.264. I specially like its sexy monochrome display in the thumb control, which will not only show its functions but also show icons indicating what kind of turn you have to do next. And if that wasn’t cool enough, check out the beautiful Bang & Olufsenesque remote control in the gallery.

Hopefuly, it will be available everywhere soon. – Jesus Diaz

Product page [iRiver via Akihabara News]

Davide Casaleggio sent a tip to Read/WriteWeb about a video his company produced exploring the future of media. It is a very cool 6-minute video, which takes some educated (and imaginative) guesses at how the Web and media will evolve over the next 40-50 years. In the short movie, Google, Amazon.com and Second Life are the big winners - with Google buying Microsoft, Amazon buying Yahoo, and Second Life becoming the dominant virtual world.

The core future media concept is the Agav - an Agent-Avatar, which “finds information, people, places in the virtual worlds”. Here’s where it gets interesting. In 2022 Google launches Prometeus, the Agav standard interface, and Amazon creates ‘Place’ - a company that replicates reality. Then in 2027 Second Life evolves into ‘Spirit’, where people can become who they want to, via avatars. And then finally, the ‘Google overloads’ moment - when Prometeus buys Place and Spirit! By 2050 virtual life is the world’s biggest market and Google/Prometeus reigns supreme.

Of course it may turn out different, but the video does make you think about where the Web is headed. Check it out…