thoughts, ideas, projects and musings
Archive for May, 2007
May 15, 2007 at 11:56 am · Filed under digital life, life
Facebook is a rapidly growing internet phenomenon, with thousands signing themselves up daily. It started at Harvard University, spread to other academic institutions across the US and then ultimately to Europe and beyond.
But what’s the point?
Unlike other social networking sites, the point of facebook appears to be the ability to form social groups with other people, based on your education, your home town, your workplace or your social interests. Once there, you can leave snippets, mini-feeds : Jon is going to the shops, Jon is washing his hair. Trust me thousands of people leave these pointless notelets all over the internet on a daily basis.
But be warned, facebookers : Facebook is being read by people that you might not ordinarily expect. I shall not name names, but I know of university lecturers who are reading their students’ facebook entries. Telling stuff – turns out Joanne Bloggs wasn’t ill yesterday, transpires she was suffering from a bear-slaying hangover. Why would you want people to know about this?
I was copied in on an email from a lecturer only today which tells the story rather clearly. To quote :
Just a word of warning to you all. Social networking (My Space, Facebook etc.) is a great tool for getting in touch with people, finding out about people, wasting time when you should be working etc.
However, I have some HR contacts who have also realised its value. So, before joining a group supporting the torching of university property, or supporting Jeremy Clarkson as Prime Minister, just think of what that employer who was going to pay you £30k on graduation will think when he checks you out on facebook. The problem when you get turned down for a job is that usually you’ll never know why!
Yes, think twice – do you really want your lecturer, your tutor, your potential employer or partner really reading the minutae of your life? People are reading and they’re learning about you through your webfootprint, and it’s not all positive.
Think before you write. On the other hand, if you’re thinking of recruiting, check facebook.com.
May 9, 2007 at 1:23 pm · Filed under in the news
Yesterday, the BBC here reported on the demise of the audio cassette – Curry’s (UK) sold just 100,000 cassettes last year, versus 83million in 1989 and so they’ve been pulled from the shelf, never to be sold again.
Do you even have a tape player anymore? A cassette walkman maybe? So what are you going to do with all those cassettes that you’ve got hanging about?
Marcella Foschi is the creator of the cassette wallet that you see above. Just stitch in a zip and you’re done! You can get your own for a mere $43 using this hyperlink that I’ve installed. Slightly better and more useful might be a business card holder – split the cassette, remove the tape, remove the spools, screw in a hinge on the top and a clip on the front… maybe I should set up a business.
May 8, 2007 at 12:58 pm · Filed under digital life
Having teamed up with Dell earlier in the year to offer their customers free, pre-loaded linux based OS, ubuntu have now announced another tie-up with Intel. And so what, you ask?
Without the burden of being deskbound, or having to lug a laptop around, mobile computing will dramatically change the way we access the internet and how we collaborate and communicate. Key to ensuring mobile computing success is the size, speed and power efficiency of the unit, and of course the quality of the screen. [Discussed here]
Intel with ubuntu have developed a chip that is just 1/7th of the size of a PC based chip and uses just 10% of the energy. That will allow your handheld device’s battery to last longer without increasing the size. Add to that ubuntu’s linux-based operating system and you will also manage down the costs.
All of which will help to bring workable mobile devices that are internet-enabled which in turn, could change the way in which people collaborate and communicate over the internet.
May 5, 2007 at 1:24 pm · Filed under digital life, life
I was at Internet World 2007 in London this week and spoke to many companies about the meaning and value of web 2.0. Amongst the ‘definitions’ proffered included “nice, rounded corners” and “AJAX-style web page loading”, elements of which I suspect you’ll find in books. Neither, of course, are true in their entireity.
Web 2.0 is neither a language nor a graphics style, but is certainly a definition of content and interactivity on a website. Once upon a time (let’s call it web 0 for clarity), webmasters wrote content for others to read, and read it we did. We couldn’t interact, we couldn’t connect further and the content was static, unless the content provider chose to update it.
Then came interactivity (web 1.0) – comments, discussion threads or even guestbooks. It allowed users to add something to the page, but the subject was still defined by the site owner.
This new age, web 2.0 if you really wish to give it a label, is about networks of people creating their own collaborative content, commentary or purpose within a framework defined by the site owner. Content or value is rarely provided, it’s created only by those that visit.
But what’s the point of all of this? If you’ve visited some of the well known examples of web 2.0, you’d be hard pushed to identify it. Clear leaders in online social networks and SN-derived content, such as MySpace and Facebook leave me cold – they’re kind of online pub conversations that in the main, would be greatly enhanced by having a pint in hand.
Zopa.com has demonstrated a practical application of social networking that may herald the start of something new. It’s classic 2.0 of course in that the site owners create the framework, the readers the content. In zopa.com’s case, it’s an introduction service for those that want money to those that have it to lend. In doing so, you cut out the middle men, such as banks, and therefore keep the costs lower. You also have the advantage of personalising what might otherwise be a cold, financial, commercial arrangement. In an online way, you actually know your lendor.
Keep your eye on this one : impressively, they facilitated the loaning of £83k yesterday. Not much of course given the size of the financial markets in the UK, but it’s a start.
[As an aside, I was talking with a friend from University days this week about social networking and it's value in a commercial environment, such as intranets. He has a degree in human geography and likened this collaborative age of the internet to academic studies of societies. We've much to learn about the internet from 60 year old published papers]
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