Tag Archives: technology

The Blitzweekeend is Coming!

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From the Blitzweekeend web site:

Blitzweekend is an unique experience where designers, developers, and entrepreneurs are challenged to create a working product in 48 hours. Find a solution to a current problem, meet and innovate with bright creatives, work in an environment built for rapid development, and get feedback from experienced entrepreneurs.

There are a lot of good people putting a lot of effort into organizing this great event. Just check out their blog and wiki, and you’ll get ample proof of this fact. I predict a total success and I know I’ll be happy to join in the fun.

OpenSocial or OpenGadget?

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From “OpenSocial or OpenGadget? – ReadWriteWeb“:

Steve O’Hear (who edits our digital lifestyle blog last100) has an interesting post on his ZDNet blog that questions whether Google’s OpenSocial initiative is at all about data portability, or if in fact it really just about widget standardization. O’Hear quotes heavily from a recent article by Marc Canter, who is a strong advocate for open standards and data portability, that ran on CNet.

I see the same issue with Facebook’s JS Client Library.

I love client-side technologies, but I’m increasingly thinking that the propagation of such libraries is calculated by the providers more in terms of securing data and activity custodianship, as an alternative to truly opening one’s data APIs, rather than with scalability and processing decentralization in mind, like some argue.

It’s not a bad thing by any stretch, but I’m not sure associating them with true openness and data portability is entirely appropriate.

An Aboriginal Take on Social Networking

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From “Mukurtu Wumpurrarni-kari Archive :: An Indigenous Archive Tool“:

The Mukurtu Wumpurrarni-kari Archive is a browser-based digital archive created by the Warumungu community in Tennant Creek, N.T. Australia in collaboration with researchers Kimberly Christen, Craig Dietrich, Chris Cooney, and Tim Dietrich.

Doesn’t that sound like a perfect site to be accessed from an XO?

But obvious references aside, what is so special about this effort beyond the niche community it revolves around?

As the Beeb duly reports, it’s all about the social approach to accessing the knowledge made available through the archives.

It asks every person who logs in for their name, age, sex and standing within their community.

This information then restricts what they can search for in the archive, offering a new take on DRM.

Or what I would have labeled as SRM: social rights management. Using socially defined standards and volunteered information to filter the data, rather than credentials provided by a central authority to restrict access to it.

Puts a whole new twist on Praized Media‘s “Trust your tribes” motto!

Via Slashdot.

TechnicaLee Speaking: Why SPARQL?

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From Lee Feigenbaum’s “TechnicaLee Speaking: Why SPARQL?“:

I’m quite pleased to have played a part in helping SPARQL become a W3C Recommendation. As we were putting together the press release that accompanied the publication of the SPARQL recommendations, Ian Jacobs, Ivan Herman, Tim Berners-Lee, and myself put together some comments (in bullet point form) explaining some of the benefits of SPARQL.

One step closer to semantic heaven.

Facebook Pulling an Open Social?

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From “JavaScript Client Library for Facebook API“:

This JavaScript client library allows you to make Facebook API calls from any web site and makes it easy to create Ajax Facebook applications. Since the library does not require any server-side code on your server, you can now create a Facebook application that can be hosted on any web site that serves static HTML.

Now let’s compare this to the Open Social API description:

OpenSocial provides a common set of APIs for social applications across multiple websites. With standard JavaScript and HTML, developers can create apps that access a social network’s friends and update feeds.

Is it just me or are others also thinking this is a missed opportunity for FB to take part in Open Social?

On the other hand, it could also lead to just that with what could be a simple wrapper to interconnect both ecosystems. That’s if FB decides not to go that way on their own and doesn’t expressly block such development through technical or legal means.