Post 7: MySpace, Facebook: A Tale of Two Cultures

Interesting article in BusinessWeek discussing recent market research that indicates the two social networking giants may not necessarily be true competitors. A few data points to ponder:

• 68 million unique users logged on to MySpace in the last month; 26 million to Facebook


• On MySpace, half of the users are age 35 and older, while users age 18-24 make up only 17%. On Facebook, older users make up 40%, with college students (29%) being the next biggest group


• ComScore reports indicate that the three lowest income brackets are overrepresented on MySpace, whereas on Facebook, the opposite is true: There, the three highest income groups dominate.

The article makes distinctions based on various sources' interpretations of these and other stats, but is also quick to point out that there still exists a 64% overlap in users. It just seems that all those users are leveraging the sites for different ends: MySpace for interest-centric socializing, Facebook to maintain already-established relationships. The seemingly divergent purposes present some interesting business model questions for these two giants as Web 2.0 and beyond continue to evolve.

Post 6: Yes, You May Virtually Pimp My Ride

Check this out. This just keeps getting better and better. Anyone know if Linden Research is a publicly traded company? If so I'm buying. Second Life's growth is undeniable and now they have bonafide pimping tools at their disposal. Trilogy Studios has partnered with MTV Networks to recreate the Pimp My Ride concept in the virtual space of Second Life. Virtual Pimp My Ride is free downloadabe software that creates a synthetic representation of Van Nuys, CA in the Second Life world. In addition to all of the interactivity afforded by Second Life, this environment adds elements of gaming, allowing users to custom build cars, engage in competitions like drag races, and interact with fellow Second Lifers who share a love of car culture. No mention of whether or not there is a virtual XZibit to provide pimping tips.

Post 5: Who says cyberspace can't be policed. . .

Here's an interesting article on the apparently treacherous potential of blogging. A young man in Egypt was just recently sentenced to four years in prison for protesting what he felt were extremist teachings by the Sunni university he was attending and comparing Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to the dictatorial Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. Apparently such subversive commentary falls within the purview of recent legislation empowering the government to block or suspend any website likely to pose a threat to national security. Responding to mass public and international criticism, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry doesn't seem too concerned, stating simply that it was an internal matter for the judiciary to decide.

http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39166191,00.htm?r=1

Post 4: Real-time Editor

CodePress is an on-line code editor that provides, among other things, real-time syntax highlighting and code auto completion for a number of languages to include CSS, HTML, and Javascript. Being new to the programming sub-culture I have no idea if this utility is at all novel or distinguishing in any way. But I played around on their demo a bit and it seemed pretty user friendly, even for a tech illiterate like me.

Post 3: Next-Gen Web Publisher?

Anyone heard of SynthaSite? Apparently a small, South African start-up, they recently put out a press release for their AJAX-based Web Publishing Platform, signaling their emergence from stealth mode and the release of what their calling the Tech Review (alpha) version.

They're pimping themselves as the next generation of web publishing, touting such capabilities as collaborative site building (shared page editing, sharing templates and components with the community), service marketplace (copywriting, components and templates development), site analytics and monitoring, publishing, deployment and hosting. With a heavy focus on Widgets and Mashups, a key component of their strategy is a SynthaSite "superstore," which will be stocked with widgets, premade templates, and other site items for free or for purchase. According to one review, the beginnings of the "superstore" idea are visible in the tech demo, which allows you to add widgets from Flickr and YouTube via drag and drop. They hope to eventually allow developers and designers to sell custom widgets and templates directly inside the application. From the SynthaSite CEO: "The idea is that a sophisticated developer can write stylesheets and demarcate areas for drag and drop functionality - and then modify as he so pleases. The API will allow developers to construct their own widgets and mashups for use in the demarcated area."

From the reviews I read of the alpha, the response is very positive about the potential, with plenty of praise already for its efficiency and user-friendliness.

For more info on what's coming, they've detailed a product roadmap on their website (hyperlink above).

Post 2: Off-line Web Apps

The topic has come up a couple of times in class and I know there has been at least one mention of Google Gears. The AJAX Magazine article at the following link addresses some of the functionality and what could be in store for the future of off-line support for web applications. http://ajax.phpmagazine.net/2007/06/offline_web_applications_got_g.html

The article mentions a couple of primary problems being encounetered in beta testing of Google Gears, identifying proxy and firewall issues on installation on some PCs. Security is the second big issue, with, among other things, validation of external data presenting the primary challenge.

Overall though, it paints a fairly optimistic picture of off-line support and the potential for new functionality for AJAX applications on the client side, citing inclusion of SQLite and the fact that it's open source and free, as some of the advantages.

Post 1: How About An Introduction

Since we are to post meanderings about such topics as Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), perhaps someone might care to define for me what exactly SOA is. The materials provided at http://www.whatissoa.com/ and http://www.soaprinciples.com/ seem to be as good a place to start as any. Though I can't say I was too encouraged initially in reading the opening paragraphs on the What is SOA? homepage, as it appears that maybe no one really knows exaclty what it is:

Amidst all the SOA-related activity that is currently underway, there still remains a significant amount of confusion as to what exactly constitutes a service-oriented architecture. Some qualify an SOA project by the fact that Web services technologies are being used, while others classify SOA as a Web-centric variation of object-oriented design.

What has become more clear than the actual meaning of SOA is the strategic vision that has emerged around it. This vision is comprised of a set of goals and benefits that most stakeholders fully expect to see realized when they support and commit to SOA initiatives. However, because the "SOA" acronym has been used to brand products, technologies, and even projects without a clear understanding of its meaning, many of these expectations have been and will continue to remain unfulfilled. For example, the common (and dangerous) assumption that a solution is service-oriented solely because it uses Web services has led to much disappointment. There is, in fact, a wealth of information out there that communicates the meaning of SOA in detail. The only problem is that this information is fragmented - distributed across marketing literature, technology specifications, media reports, and independent research efforts.

Great start! Anyone else care to give it a go?

In all seriousness, after doing some cursory navigation around these two sites, I can say without a doubt, that there is a wealth of information here fit for any development geek to sink his/her teeth into. As things progress, I'm sure I will be coming back to it for reference material as the technical verbiage in class intensifies and I begin to lose what little remaining confidence I have that I have the slightest clue what is going on.