A Reflection on Web 2.0.

One of my friends, after years of resistance, finally succumbed and joined Facebook, which then compelled me to tag 50 photos of him, leave him messages on his wall and post a link for him to look at. He nearly punched me in the face when I saw him yesterday. With the confidence I gained doing these exercises I told him it was his age showing. He is only 30. I was so smarmy, if he really punched me I would have deserved it.

Like it or not, these web technologies are becoming more a part of our lives. I'm still not sure I like Twitter, someone called me a 'Twitface' (someone that uses Twitter and Facebook) the other day, and I wasn't sure if I liked that or not. I do like the instant messages of Twitter but more for the informative aspect, like Beth Ditto announcing a new album cover for the Gossip, or programs at the State Library of Victoria.

I really love the learning aspect of Youtube which I had never thought of exploring, it help me set up my Mac Mail, which I had put off for years because it was just too confusing reading instructions, and forums were just not very helpful. The visual aid of a video clip is worth a 1000 words sometimes.

I think I've learnt to embrace these tools more and have really tried to cement myself online. I feel more plugged in to this great platform for information, and the tasks given has equipped me better for making some order out the mess and chaos of the Internet. I'm worried that now I've been exposed to these great tools, if I don't keep up I'll just fall so far behind that it will soon be 'Web 3.0', and I'll be a year older and won't know what's going on. I feel like if I blink everyone will be using 'Twitface' or something new and better.

So many of these great tools are online, I came across Zoho, an website that offers online applications, so you can use it to create a word document or other types without the use of Microsoft, send it to yourself, and email or blog it. All online. So if I was half way across the world and needed to type something up quickly, I could just log in, type it up and send it to myself, all from some dingy Internet cafe. I'm just giddy with excitement, it's so geeky.

Yahoo Pipes was a challenge, but the mash ups available, some great ones that me and my fellow groups members looked at, were fantastic, particularly Mashpedia and Google Maps. With all these avenues for information, it's become easier to help people at work. I could, not only show someone an address on Google maps but, show them a street level image that could tell them what the building they were searching for looked like, and Flickr is great for this also, particularly for overseas places.

Searching and deploying information is made so much easier, but because of the high volume of  user-generated content, and lack of infrastructure on the World Wide Web, setting things up can be time consuming, and remaining engaged can also eat up a lot of time. I won't let it deter me though, I'm really loving it, especially the social aspect of it, and everything's so useful, the RSS feeds, my growing number of bookmarks, my LibraryThing.

It's hard to imagine that it's only been six weeks, I've learnt so much but it feels like we only touched the tip of the iceberg. I wished I had engaged more with my group, we seemed to chug through it okay, I think, and reading everyone's post was great for support and tips.

I haven't made myself ill with information overload yet, I'm just too excited by the prospects of web technologies for information management. I might even start to love Twitter.

Mash Ups! Yeah!

I had that grandma moment. You know when your nan or mum looks at you when they want to tape a program and can't operate the VCR? I had that moment looking at the Yahoo Pipes interface. What is this fetch data? Fetch RSS? Fetch site feeds???

My first attempt was at 3am in the morning. I thought 'I can do this, I grew up in the era of Windows 3.1, I can program my HDTV, I'm fond of my PS3, I like shiny stuff, yeah Pipes, that doesn't seem too hard...'

EPIC FAIL. I couldn't do it. I couldn't make sense of it. So my second attempt is just a feeble design news feed, trickling through on the side there. It contains just the basics, because the rest is just beyond me. If I was more tech savvy, I could make it more interactive, give it a search function or something but it really is better understood by a programmer.

For a more easy on the eyes look at my Pipe, check it out here.

Given more time and help I think I could be awesome at it, because it could be really handy. You could custom-make any kind of mash up, mixing tools like Google and Amazon, to tweak a pipe for your subject of interest. You could have a information source solely dedicated to reporting items on Chuck Norris, for example, or have a pipe displaying all books ever written with the word 'ham' in the title and where to buy them, or borrow them.

Google Maps is a great mash up, combining its search results with location. You can get reviews of restaurants even as you search for where they are. Your own map is customisable, and you can search and look at other people's maps.

 Alrighty then, I'm gonna try and be awesome now.

Frequent Coffee Stops

View Coffee Stops in Melbourne in a larger map

Places I frequently stop for coffee, most are in Melbourne, except for the anomaly in Collingwood.