• This post is part of a series I am writing for a class on New Media. Some technical explanations may seem unneeded or lengthy, but I am writing for the benefit of a very intelligent but less technical audience.

“The Semantic Web is a web that is able to describe things in a way that computers can understand.” (1). Currently, most all content on the web is written for human consumption and understanding. It is currently very, very difficult for software such as search engines to extract from context clues what exactly the page or data it is looking at means, or what the data is related to. Various efforts have been underway to deal with this problem so that computers can better organize and information on the web. These efforts include RDF, which is a essentially a markup language designed for the purposes of building out the semantic web. The purpose of RDF is to allow for a “formal description of concepts, terms, and relationships within a given knowledge domain.” (2).

The reason that the development of the semantic web is so useful and cool is that it will allow for much, much, much easier use of the myriad amounts of data published on the web. As I mentioned above, the issue that computers have when looking for information on the web is that they cannot tell what context the data is. A computer may see tabular data in an HTML page, but it has no idea if the data is baseball stats or a listing of physical constants on a physic teacher’s website. Yes, context can be determined by keywords, but an even better way to define what the data represents is doing so formally using a technology such as RDF. Then, if a company such as Google reads a webpage, it can know exactly what the data presented is, and then provide better search results related to that page. As well, now someone can easily re-use the data for their own purposes, using something akin to Yahoo! Pipes, without depending on the author of the webpage having created an API or RSS feed to share the data. Screen-scraping becomes easy.

Further Reading:

• Microformats
• Comments and links on Slashdot

References

1. http://www.w3schools.com/semweb/default.asp
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_Web

From Adam Feldman's blog, blog.pamiproductions.com.

• This post is part of a series I am writing for a class on New Media. Some technical explanations may seem unneeded or lengthy, but I am writing for the benefit of a very intelligent but less technical audience.

I would like to return again to the issue of TANSTAAFL–There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. In the last post in the series, I discussed where money is needed. Now, I would like to give a simple overview of how that money is acquired. When I refer to companies here, I mean organizations whose primary role is to provide some service over the Internet.

Venture Capital

VC “is a type of private equity capital typically provided to immature, high-potential, growth companies in the interest of generating a return through an eventual realization event such as an IPO or trade sale of the company. Venture capital investments are generally made as cash in exchange for shares in the invested company” (Wikipedia). Besides the traditional banks providing VC, some organizations have sprung up from people who were successful in businesses who are now looking to do VC funding with the money they made. One of those, and one of my favorite companies, is Y Combinator. They are slightly different in that they provide seed funding, which is the initial infusion of cash for startups and traditionally the riskiest for the loaner. One of my favorite startup blogs is that of Paul Graham, who works with the company. A great website that focuses on tech startups and the ecosystem that funds them is TechCrunch.

Advertising

Much of the web is funded by text and other ads. HowStuffWorks has an excellent explanation of how web advertising works. Google’s revenue consists almost entirely of income from their ad programs. Google’s ads are particularly interesting because they revolve around textual analysis of your search queries and the content of webpages on which Google’s ads are shown. Site owners are most commonly paid by advertisers by the click-through rate–how many people click on the ad–although many other more complicated systems exist.
A potential issue for the web is the prevalence of tools such as the free Firefox plugin Adblock and other similar tools for other browsers that block ads from appearing in your webpages by blocking known ad servers.

Other Methods

• Many websites offer premium or subscription services. For example, WordPress.com offers free blogs that are feature-limited and occasionally show advertisements. For a fee these limits and annoyances can be lifted (or you could also go to WordPress.org and download the software they use free and install it on your web server and customize it to your hearts content like I did). Of course, the free accounts are useful for hooking users into the site and allowing them to become comfortable enough with or find enough of a need for the service so that they are more likely to pay for it.
• Donations often fund open-source projects and some topical personal sites.
• Some corporations will fund open-source projects through either infusions of cash or employee time if the projects are important to them. Notable here is Google and all of its open-source efforts.

Who Uses What

• Any company with another revenue stream obviously may fund their homepage or other web presence through those monies. Among others, companies and startups will use primarily three sources of funding: venture capital, advertisements, and paid services.
• Individuals or small groups funding sites primarily for pleasure and not profit will generally fund their costs through their own monies, donations, and advertisements.

Advertisements and Me

I could care less about advertisements on the web. Although I could probably increase my perceived browsing speed by using Adblock, I feel no compulsion to use Adblock or Saft to block advertisements from distracting me from my web browsing, because they don’t distract me whatsoever. Over the past ten years or so, I’ve learned to totally ignore and mentally filter out any advertisements and to easily and accurately discern content from advertising. I surmise that the fraternal ability to this is how well I am able to filter out noises around me when reading or otherwise concentrating on a task.

From Adam Feldman's blog, blog.pamiproductions.com.

• This post is part of a series I am writing for a class on New Media. Some technical explanations may seem unneeded or lengthy, but I am writing for the benefit of a very intelligent but less technical audience.

Hurricane Ike News Coverage Media Analysis. Completed following this assignment prompt for a class I am currently taking on media literacy and new mediums. 

For more analyses, see the Hurricane Ike blog series by Jonathan Coffman, a self-described “social media professional”.

From Adam Feldman's blog, blog.pamiproductions.com.

• This post is part of a series I am writing for a class on New Media. Some technical explanations may seem unneeded or lengthy, but I am writing for the benefit of a very intelligent but less technical audience.

Hurricane Ike is a prime example of the advantages of our ever-increasing interconnectedness through the Internet and wireless services like cell phones (and hopefully eventually, ubiquitous Internet through WiMAX).

Facebook & Twitter

Pre- and post-storm, these three services helped everyone stay connected and informed about each other in ways not possible just a few years ago. The usefulness of Facebook is obvious: the quick and easy way to update your friends about how you are doing (or to complain to your friends around the country) was, and is, to update your Facebook status. Anyone can do this via text messaging from their cell phone, as well as respond to Facebook messages and Wall posts, Many people can browse all of Facebook from their phones, Blackberries, and iPhones too. And, of course, people have slowly regained access to laptops, making updates, and especially checking your friends, as easy as usual.

An especially awesome service that has become hugely popular with the web-savvy crowd has been Twitter. Twitter explains itself best:

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

Twitter is an example of a Microblogging service. You can update your Twitter account using text messages, their regular and mobile websites, and multiple iPhone applications. My favorite feature is the Twitter Facebook app that automatically changes your Facebook status to your latest Twitter update; both the status and Twitter fulfill the same concept of microblogging, but Twitter is a better-designed service (though oft-plagued with reliability issues). One last cool Twitter feature is that any developer can connect to the software using its API to create cool new services and software such as the Facebook app and their own Twitter search engine. Twitter is a perfect example of a Web 2.0 site.

Texting

Cellphone texting was and is hugely useful during disasters such as Ike. I used it pre- and post-storm to first wish everyone safety, and then after to check in with people. Cellphone companies recommend that during disasters, it is best to use text messages instead of voice to communicate, because otherwise the cell towers become overloaded (It’s not as much of a problem now, a few days after the storm, but I still have been getting more “All circuits are busy, try again later” messages when I try to make calls than I ever have before). AT&T (and the other providers as well I’m sure) sent out public health and safety messages on behalf of government agencies such as the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reminding people to not use generators indoors and to drink bottled water only. Texting was extremely useful to everyone for person-to-person communication, and with its market penetration, texting really makes the mass dissemination of urgent information in a crisis easier than ever before in history.

A random note: What I found especially intriguing was how for the first 8 hours after the storm, I had better cell service in my house than for the next few days. I think some cell tower sites have backup power supplies or generators that last for the length of most normal power outages, but obviously this storm pushed the backups far beyond the time they would be needed for normally.

Websites & Blogs

For anyone with mobile Internet access, the hands-down, easiest way to stay informed was through the websites of major news channels here in Houston¹. All news sites had mobile versions of their websites set up, and some even offer text message alerts to your phone. Many news channels set up oft-updated (and easily updatable for them) blogs.

1: For more on why the Internet is best, see the “Evaluation” section of my Media Portfolio assignment on Hurricane Ike news coverage

Automated Phone Systems

As all Emery High School students know, automated phone systems are a useful way to notify a large group of people in an emergency about events such as school closures. The EWS website was updated throughout the storm as well. What is notable about phone systems is how today, anyone can set up one of these systems using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and Asterisk (open-source telephony software). Telephony services which used to be the purview of the telephone companies only can now be done by anyone on the cheap. Wow.

Email and other services

Email played a huge role for emergency services in this disaster. Most communications within the emergency management offices, and between themselves and other offices and the media, were done using email. They most likely were not using public Internet access lines, or switched over to as the city lost power, special emergency wireless links. Email is most convenient for the quick dissemination of both time- and non-time-senstive communiques.

One other notable media service was the simulcast of many TV stations’ coverage on FM and AM radio stations. One of the more low-tech, but most reliable, ways to stay informed. Also relevant to a discussion of radio’s role is my aforementioned media portfolio assignment.

Looking Ahead

There will be more disasters. According to many seismologists, California is past due for a large earthquake, and we all know that the hurricanes are relentless. For the next times, for everyone in the country, people need to be more aware of the multitudes of various resources available to them. News stations need to inform viewers in high risk areas; everyone needs to be informed and prepared.

With knowledge of the myriad methods of communication, we can sit secure on the eve of a storm knowing we won’t be subjected to one of our greatest fears: not knowing what’s going on.

From Adam Feldman's blog, blog.pamiproductions.com.

• This post is part of a series I am writing for a class on New Media. Some technical explanations may seem unneeded or lengthy, but I am writing for the benefit of a very intelligent but less technical audience.

Sorry for the random Dr. Strangelove reference, I just love it too much. Before we get started, here’s a video that will blow your mind – Flobot’s handlebars (on YouTube)! Watch it 2-3 times and look at all of the symbols and the storyline deeply.

Beyond the sites many of us use daily – YouTube, Google, some of us Gmail, Yahoo! Mail or Fantasy Sports, and maybe CNN, there are a ton of awesome and useful tools out there on the Interweb. I will catalogue a number of my favorite tools on the net for you and talk about the significance of what I consider the coolest part of Web 2.0: collaboration!

Google docs

Google Docs is a powerful tool for creating and editing text documents, spreadsheets, and slideshow presentations (“Powerpoints”) collaboratively. In this case, collaboratively means that you can edit a document at the same time 1, 2, 3, 5, or 20 other people are! I love using Google Docs for any class project where I need to write something with other people. Of course the web-based document editor doesn’t have anywhere near the power of a computer program on your desktop, it is suitable for 90% or more of a student’s work. The presentation creation features don’t allow for anything near as cool as Keynote does on the Mac transition-wise, but its great for showing a presentation in a pinch like we did in class yesterday. The spreadsheet feature is surprisingly awesome because not only does it support some in-cell functions, but you can even use it to create forms (like a grade survey on where to do prom, or a signup form for who will bring what food to a class party). Other collaborative web-based word processing suites exist. An especially good one with some interesting business tools is Zoho.

Basecamp, Google Sites, Wikispaces

If you need to collaborate on a big (or small) project involving a lot of (or just a few! )documents or todo’s, there are many options on the web. I can highly recommend Basecamp and Google Sites. So far, Wikispaces seems like another powerful and well-built tool as well. Each is suited towards slightly different styles of working and collaborating. Experiment and see which you think will work the best for you. The order of them in the title is a rough spectrum from most to least structured.

digg, reddit, and delicious

I purposely did not capitalize the names because that is how they are written in the sites’ respective logos. These are each examples of quintessential Web 2.0 websites, because they exemplify the social web. These sites depend on their communities of users to define the content on the site. digg and reddit are social news sites where the users submit links to news articles, pictures, and anything else and then vote for which links they like the best. The articles which achieve the most votes the fastest¹ make it to the front page – the users control the content on the site! delicious (officially formerly del.icio.us) is a social bookmarking website where users submit links and tag them. Many users use the site to find articles on particular topics, to find “hot” news articles, or just to organize their own bookmarks better using the tagging features.
1: A highly simplified explanation, they use some complicated alogirthms to prevent gaming of the system.

So why should I care?

You should care because all of these tools will make your life easier at one point or another. You won’t have to drive to a friends house to do a project, or email a document back and forth 30 bajillion times to get something done. You can better manage your college application process, or just finish a group research project with less stress. You can utilize the bored masses on the Internet to find and identify the funniest and best content on the web for you.

All of these tools, and more out there (see the links at the end of this post) allow for totally new methods for the creation, management, discovery, organization, and storage of media. Check them out, they really do make a difference.

A few of my other favorite tools on the web include Google News, Facebook (of course), and Google Reader.

Major shoutouts to Markdown for making the formatting for this easy, and Showdown for turning my Markdown into HTML for WordPress.

Author’s note: For those of you who are wondering why I combined Web 1.5/2.0 web-based tools and Web 2.0 “social” collaboration in one blog post on seemingly somewhat unrelated sites, it is because everything here does fit the definition of collaborative tool. I do recognize that I might have muddied the waters a bit, but my goal is simply to introduce people to the breadth of the best-of-show tools on the web.

From Adam Feldman's blog, blog.pamiproductions.com.

• This post is part of a series I am writing for a class on New Media. Some technical explanations may seem unneeded or lengthy, but I am writing for the benefit of a very intelligent but less technical audience.

This will be the first post in a series about web browsers, and will dabble in history and include some usage tips and fun stuff. First up is the new kid on the block, Chrome. 

For anyone who regularly follows tech news on the web, it’s been impossible to miss the madness over the (premature) announcement of Google’s Chrome web browser. I’m not going to repeat any of the facts here (for those, see any of the links at the end of this post). 

What I want to discuss, in compact form, is why this browser is so significant, and where it fits into the plethora of browser options that already exist. Firstly, here is a list of the major browsers for the majority who is unfamiliar with most of these beyond Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari:

Basically, Chrome is a web browser designed for the newest generation of web technologies and the newest websites. It is designed to be speedy and to ensure that the browser itself does not interfere with the user’s browsing.

Simply interesting is how the other features announced for Chrome so far are ideas pioneered by other browsers. From the Opera Browser, comes the “radical” tab and address bar locations and the home tab “speed-dial feature.” From Firefox  comes the “awesome bar.” Also, on the more technical side, both the Chrome and Firefox teams have put huge amounts of work into writing revolutionary Javascript engines for their products (V8 and Spidermonkey). This work is what brings you increased performance when using most modern websites such as Gmail and Facebook. The Google Team does admit that their aim is to take the best of the browsing world and combine into one über-product. 

There is much more to be said, but for now, here are a few good articles on Chrome:

• The comic book used to introduce Chrome
• On Wired
• Chrome can be downloaded here
• On the averted legal crisis
• Mozilla’s view on Chrome (via slashdot)
• Opera’s take on Chrome
• Chrome Pros and Cons

From Adam Feldman's blog, blog.pamiproductions.com.