So someone came up with a site called "Go2Web20.net". This website apparently is the complete Web 2.0 Directory of all Web 2.0 sites. The site home page has a the icons and listing of hundreds (actually 2821 icons)of websites. The sites "About" page states that it is "A directory of web 2.0 applications and services, Born around mid 2006, 2821 logos as of Monday, February 23, 2009, As a visitor, you are probably active in the web 2.0 community and you are one of those labeled as 'early adopters', Thousands of visitors every day, There's a higher chance that you've been here before than that this is your 1st visit here, and Converges both Flash and AJAX technologies"
I started to search the different sites. Of course there are the commonly known sites such as Google, and Twitter, but there are also some really interesting sites. First one that caught my eye was ProjectOffice.net. I am a project manager, the site is set up so people involved in projects have a common access point to project management tools, view the work breakdown structure, the critical path, and other items used in everyday project management.
The next site that I viewed was called "Shopnics". Its a concept on how to compare electronics of all types. It sets up an X, Y chart that plots the item class you are evaluating based on user reviews.
Lastly I found the ultimate in web 2.0 experiences. 3Di OpenSim is a "is virtual worlds server software developed especially for companies and educational institutions that want to host independent virtual worlds on their own servers." In other words fellow techies, this site will allow you to create your own "Second Life" experience, where you can be god. The product is currently on sale in Japan and will soon become available for use in the US.
All in all the creators of this site (Orli Yakuel and Eyal Shahar) have a pretty basic but effective idea about being a portal for web 2.0 technologies.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Web 2.0 is onething but even the Tax Man is getting into the mix
Well that popular time of the year is quickly approaching. We all know it and some have come to loath it..... TAX TIME. I hate having to drag out all those records from the closet and sitting with my accountant for what seems like forever, as she tries to make head or tails of my personal and business taxes. After many hours of questions and answer sessions we finally see eye to eye and she explains every year why some hair brained write off I want to use will have me in an auditors office or in Leavenworth Federal Prison. So you would think that after we all go through a similar process that we would embrace technology and submit our tax returns over the internet. Well the State of Maryland Comptroller's Office performed a study and the results stated that a surprisingly 42% of taxes last year were submitted through snail mail. Now why would anyone these days want to wait weeks for a manual process of taxes when you can get your return in days (or in my case be put in hand cuffs). Well the Comptroller of Maryland decided to take matters into his own hands and produce a viral video about tax payers of genius. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvbRj-XdhRc
Why would they have to go that far to entice people to use something so simple and convenient? Well the survey didn't go into reasons why citizens still prefer to use mail. But one of the biggest detractors is privacy. How can I be sure that this method of electronic submission is secure? We are constantly hearing about laptops being stolen with insurance information, or an employee somewhere losing archived data that has credit card numbers. We can't really be certain that these methods are foolproof. But can we really be all to sure that mailing our taxes is any more secure. Hell I say we just all stop paying that way there won't be any more stimulus packages given to companies that have incompetent upper management make stupid decisions then begging for help so they can continue their incompetent feudal attempts at becoming a profitable successful company.....Sorry lost my place. But to those of you who haven't tried electronic submission of taxes don't feel too bad. I mailed my 2007 taxes last year as well.
Gotta get a new soapbox. I think I gained some weight because it’s a little worn down in the middle.
Why would they have to go that far to entice people to use something so simple and convenient? Well the survey didn't go into reasons why citizens still prefer to use mail. But one of the biggest detractors is privacy. How can I be sure that this method of electronic submission is secure? We are constantly hearing about laptops being stolen with insurance information, or an employee somewhere losing archived data that has credit card numbers. We can't really be certain that these methods are foolproof. But can we really be all to sure that mailing our taxes is any more secure. Hell I say we just all stop paying that way there won't be any more stimulus packages given to companies that have incompetent upper management make stupid decisions then begging for help so they can continue their incompetent feudal attempts at becoming a profitable successful company.....Sorry lost my place. But to those of you who haven't tried electronic submission of taxes don't feel too bad. I mailed my 2007 taxes last year as well.
Gotta get a new soapbox. I think I gained some weight because it’s a little worn down in the middle.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Privacy in a Web 2.0 world
Soapbox time again.... So the topic of privacy and safety of an online identity was discussed in my Web 2.0 class. The discussion leaned on the FaceBook epidemic....I mean addiction.... ok, ok usage. I have to say that when you sign up to use a service such as CrackBook, it can be really surprising what they put in the fine print. An article I found on CIO.com "Managing Privacy in a Web 2.0 World" (http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;1453094165) discusses how FB and other "social networks can give away your info and there is nothing you can do or say to stop it".
An interesting case of this happened to "In Facebook's Beacon controversy, some advertisers were able to track the purchases of Facebook users on their site (generally when the individual was logged in to their profile simultaneously). If, for instance, a man was buying his fiancée a wedding ring on one of the Beacon advertisers' sites, the purchase might be broadcast to his bride-to-be's newsfeed before he had a chance to pop the question."
The main point of the article is to show how a group of 14 European partners are getting together at a conference in Zurich about a project called "Prime Life". According to an press release (http://www.zurich.ibm.com/news/08/primelife.html) Prime life is an IBM led initiative which "is a new three-year research project, funded by the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme with 10 million euros. Coordinated by IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) Zurich Research Laboratory and involving 14 other partners, its objective is to empower users to manage and control, throughout their entire lifetimes, their personal data and privacy whenever they participate in Web 2.0 technologies, such as social networks or virtual communities".
The whole idea of creating a tool suite that will help protect my private information from involuntarily being proliferated all over the web by these so called "social networking" site (whose prime purpose is to make us all addicts for their free services while they prey on our uninformed neighbors spreading their info to marketing agencies whose sole purpose is to inundate my email, mailbox, cell phone, and front door knocker with useless advertisement info about their products which I will never buy...whew all that in one breath...) sounds like a hell of an idea to me. Yes I may be just a bit bitter towards these sites.....not much. And I'll admit I have an account on two SN sites, but I refuse to become addicted!!!!
Anyway that is my rant for the week Check out the CIO.com article, IBM may be on to something.
Later
An interesting case of this happened to "In Facebook's Beacon controversy, some advertisers were able to track the purchases of Facebook users on their site (generally when the individual was logged in to their profile simultaneously). If, for instance, a man was buying his fiancée a wedding ring on one of the Beacon advertisers' sites, the purchase might be broadcast to his bride-to-be's newsfeed before he had a chance to pop the question."
The main point of the article is to show how a group of 14 European partners are getting together at a conference in Zurich about a project called "Prime Life". According to an press release (http://www.zurich.ibm.com/news/08/primelife.html) Prime life is an IBM led initiative which "is a new three-year research project, funded by the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme with 10 million euros. Coordinated by IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) Zurich Research Laboratory and involving 14 other partners, its objective is to empower users to manage and control, throughout their entire lifetimes, their personal data and privacy whenever they participate in Web 2.0 technologies, such as social networks or virtual communities".
The whole idea of creating a tool suite that will help protect my private information from involuntarily being proliferated all over the web by these so called "social networking" site (whose prime purpose is to make us all addicts for their free services while they prey on our uninformed neighbors spreading their info to marketing agencies whose sole purpose is to inundate my email, mailbox, cell phone, and front door knocker with useless advertisement info about their products which I will never buy...whew all that in one breath...) sounds like a hell of an idea to me. Yes I may be just a bit bitter towards these sites.....not much. And I'll admit I have an account on two SN sites, but I refuse to become addicted!!!!
Anyway that is my rant for the week Check out the CIO.com article, IBM may be on to something.
Later
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