The Verbs of Web 2.0

Web 2.o is a new and advanced version of the internet, that can be described by Tim O'Reilly as, "The business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform." There are so many ways to define this new and creative version of the World Wibe Web that the best way to describe it is by using ten verbs. For each verb I will explain how it pertains to Web 2.o, and I will then give examples of applications that you can find on the web that relate to that verb.

The 10 Verbs of Web 2.0

1) Sharing- Sharing information on the internet these days is as easy as one, two, three. According to Wikipedia file sharing takes place by, "A computer file can be e-mailed to customers, colleagues and friends as an attachment. It can be uploaded to a website or FTP server for easy download by others. It can be put into a "shared location" or onto a file server for instant use by colleagues. The load of bulk downloads to many users can be eased by the use of "mirror" servers or peer-to-peer networks." These file transfers can take place as videos, news, photography, and even music. Now I will be sharing some applications that best demonstrate it:

Flickr- A digital photography and media file sharing site. http://www.flickr.com/

Photobucket- Photo and video sharing. http://www.photobucket.com/

YouTube- Video sharing. http://www.youtube.com/

2) Blogging- Blog websites are where you people can go and create your own type of online diary. You can also write about a particular subject. It's really all up to you! "A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic"(wikipedia.org). There are also blogs that focus on art, videos, sketching, photographs, and even music. Here are some examples:

Blogger- The site you are on right now! http://www.blogger.com/

Photothing- This site allows users to upload and share photos. http://www.photothing.com/

LiveLeak- Media Uploading site. http://www.liveleak.com/

3) Downloading- Downloading is used as a way to recieve data from the internet to your computer. Most of the time the data can be saved to your computer, but sometimes there are restrictions placed on the data so that you can not save it. Some examples of downloading are:

iTunes- One of the most popular places to download music and videos. http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Real Arcade- Download and play over 500 games for free!http://www.realarcade.com/

Symantec- Download virus protection and other software to keep your computer safe. http://www.symantec.com/downloads/

4) Shopping- One of my favorite things to do on the internet is to shop. It just seems like there are better deal at the online stores, although most of the time you do have to pay for shipping fees and handling. Here are some great stores to check out:

eBay- One of my favorites! If you don't like the whole bidding process, they do have a Buy It Now section so you don't have to worry about being outbid. http://www.ebay.com/

Amazon- This is also a very popular site where you can find everything you need (you can even rent movies!). They also have free shipping offers on various items. http://www.amazon.com/

PayPal- This website helps you make safe payments over the internet. I suggest it for anyone who uses their debit or credit card to do their online shopping. http://www.paypal.com/

5) Social Networking- Social networking websites are designed as sort of a virtual community. It is a place where you can go to meet new people from all over the world, or it's an easy way to stay connected to old friends from high school. Examples:

MySpace- One of the more popular social networking sites. www.myspace.com

FaceBook- An easy way to stay connected with friends. Moslty used by college students and alumni. www.facebook.com

6) Collaborating (also known as wiki'ing)- There are many sites where poeple come together to create information for everyone else. Collaborating on the internet is very helpful and easy to do. Here are some great examples:

Wikipedia- A very well known site, and loved by all who use it.

www.wikipedia.com

WetPaint- An easy way to set up your own free wiki. www.wetpaint.com

7) Uploading- Uploading can be described as just the opposite as downloading. You are actually sending data, instead of recieving. Examples:

RockYou- Upload pictures from your digital camera and display them here using a slide show. www.rockyou.com

YouTube- Upload videos that you made and show them here for all to see. www.youtube.com

8) Gaming- There are many website devoted to games on the internet, and the best part is that most of them are free. From old school tetris, to 3-D virtual worlds the possibilities are endless! Here are some great examples:

Second Life- An online virtual world created by it's residents. www.secondlife.com

Pogo- A great card game and board game website. www.pogo.com

9) Podcasting- Podcasting is best defined as broadcasting over the internet. You can subscribe to someone elses podcasts or even make your own that others can subscribe to. Here are some examples:

itunes- iTunes dominates the podcasting world so that you can listen or even watch on your ipod. www.itunes.com

Zune Marketplace- Another great podcasting site that is intended to be used Microsoft's version of the ipod called the Zune. www.zunemarketplace.com

10) Mapping- One of my favorite Web 2.0 verbs that has come in handy all the time is mapping. Without this great technology I would literally be lost.

MapQuest- Easy access to directions, maps, and even traffic conditions. www.mapquest.com

Yahoo!Maps- Another website that provides you with easy access to directions, maps, and traffic conditions. www.maps.yahoo.com

Works Cited

Wikipedia.org: Sharing. Retrieved April 25, from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sharing

Wikipedia.org: Blogging. Retrieved April 25, from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

RSS

To be honest, I had never heard of RSS until I had to do this assignment. I am glad that I learned about this great technology that I will now use to make my life easier. I wish I would of know about RSS sooner, because it saves a lot of time, and gives me all the information I need from the internet.



RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, but also has other meanings like Rich Site Summary. It can be defined by Pcmag.com as, "A syndication format that was developed by Netscape in 1999 and became very popular for aggregating updates to blogs and the news sites." Today many websites make their content available in RSS form, this includes most of the major news sites, personal web blogs, and even entertainment sites like Youtube. "Syndicated content can include data such as news feeds, events listings, news stories, headlines, project updates, excerpts from discussion forums or even corporate information" (webopedia.com). Once you choose an RSS provider like www.google.com/reader or myYahoo!, you must then find your favorite websites that you want to stay updated with, and subscribe to them.


I chose to use www.google.com/reader as my RSS provider since I already have an account with Google. The process was very simple after watching the video on Youtube called "RSS In Plain English", made by Leelefever. This video explains everything you need to know about RSS in a very short and simple kind of way. I would recommend the video to anyone who is just learning about RSS like I was. Once I created my own RSS feed with Google I then clicked on some of the subscription packages they have available just as a way to get started. They have everything from sports packages to food packages, and if you don't like all the websites included in the packages you can easily delete them. I would also recommend www.google.com/reader to anyone looking to set up an RSS feeder for the first time. I had mine up and running in no time at all.

"RSS." Webopedia. 2008. Jupitermedia Corporation. 14 Apr 2008 http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RSS.html.

"Definition of:RSS." PCMAG.com. 2008. PC Magazine. 14 Apr 2008 .

All About Web 2.0

When reading the assignments for this week I can honestly say that I had no idea what Web 2.0 was. In my research I was very surprised to find it is everywhere on the internet, and I use it all the time! The best definition I could find of Web 2.0 was from Wikipedia which defined it as, "a trend in World Wide Web technology, and web design, a second generationof web-based communities and hosted servises such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies, which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing among users." Some well know example of Web 2.0 are Youtube, Flickr, Ebay, and even Wikipedia. Though these are just a few examples that are found on the internet, Web 2.0 is really all over the internet nowadays. The following features/techniques from Wikipedia give a better understanding of what Web 2.0 websites typically entail:


*rich Internet application techniques, often Ajax-based

*semantically valid XHTML and HTML markup

*microformats extending pages with additional semantics

*folksonomies (in the form of tags or tagclouds, for example)

*Cascading Style Sheets to aid in the separation of presentation and content

*mashups, merging content from different sources, client- and server-side

*weblog-publishing tools

*wiki or forum software, etc., to support user-generated content


I now have a better understanding for Web 2.0 and decided to upload my first video to Youtube to help contribute to the wonderful Web 2.0. The video is of my brother's English Bulldog puppy Tinkerbell playing with her toys, she is seriously the cutest thing ever! Here She Is:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vl3f949364



Wikipedia.org. Retrieved March 2, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2

The Not So Wonderful World of USENET

When I first came upon this whole new world on the internet filled with all sorts of discussions I was blown away, and didn't know what to do with myself. I started with browsing the different groups, and getting a feel for what topics were out there that i would be interested in. Although there are thousands of topics to talk about, I could not find one that I could really get interested in. When I actually did find a topic that I was willing to discuss, there were either very few members, or the discussion was over two years old. After over two hours I finally found a topic I was interested in, and I contributed to the USENET community.

Although I think the overall idea of USENET is a great one, I don't think I would use it on a regular basis. It was just too complicated for me, and it took too long to find something I was interested in. I do contribute to discussion groups on IMDB.com every now and again to discuss different movies that I have seen, and my opinion of them (I know I'm a nerd). I like this website because it's very easy to use and they have every movie you can think of. Unlike USENET, I will definitely be returning to IMDB.com.

Sympathy Hoaxes

Among the many hoaxes that are found on the internet, the sympathy hoax is by far one of the most sad and ridiculous hoaxes out there. The sympathy hoax ranges from missing children to pull tabs for charity. These hoaxes have one purpose, and that’s to be sent to everyone you know. Although the messages are usually untrue, some are actually real situations that have been resolved a long time ago. “Most of the hoax messages play on your need to help other people (www.hoaxbusters.org).” Who wouldn’t want to help a little girl who is dying from cancer, or pass on a missing children’s report to all your friends and family? From now on whenever these messages arrive in your e-mail, just delete them because they are more than likely to be untrue. If you feel guilty about deleting a message without checking to see if it’s true or not you can go to a few different websites listed below to check it out first:

* http://www.missingkids.org/
* http://www.wish.org/about/chain_letters
* http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp

Although the costs and risks of the sympathy hoax don’t seem to be high, the price can definitely add up when it is being sent to everyone you know. “No matter what the message may claim about the need for sympathy, goodwill, condemnation or action, if you can't verify that the message is true, its likely that someone is trying to make a fool of you (www.nonprofit.net).” So next time you come across a ridiculous sympathy e-mail, don’t be a fool, just delete it!

Works Cited
Don’t Spread That Hoax. Retrieved February 10, 2008.
http://www.nonprofit.net/hoax/
Hoaxbusters: Information About Hoaxes. Retrieved February 10, 2008
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/HBHoaxInfo.html#what

That Darn Spam

Most everyone who has an e-mail address has experienced the never ending parade of unsolicited bulk messages, also known as spam. Spamming is commonly used by advertisers because for one thing there are no operating costs, and another big reason is because it is hard to hold these spammers accountable for their mass mailings. Although the most common form of spam is e-mail spam, there are many other forms used on the internet. Other forms of spam are instant messaging, chat room spam,and newsgroup spam.

I know I have experienced spam first-hand through Myspace where the spammers make a fake sign-in so they could get your e-mail and password, then they sign on to your account and send spam to all of your friends. Then once you find out you have been sending these weird messages to all you friends, you have to change your password to get rid of it. Although most spam is found on the internet, there is also mobile phone spam where the advertisers use text messaging. Spamming is not always used for advertising purposes. Some use spam for their own political or religious purposes.

According to Sophos labs during the third quarter of 2007, 28.4% of spam all over the world comes from the U.S.. South Korea was in second with 5.2%. I honestly wasn't surprised to find that we were at the top of the list, and by such a large margin. Last year the California Legislature found that spam cost the U.S. organizations $13 billion! This cost was based on additional equipment, lost productivity,software, and the extra manpower needed to control the problem. Everyone needs to do their part to get rid of this nasty problem. If you receive a spam e-mail, make sure you delete it and don't think twice about it. Hopefully we can take care of this problem before it gets any worse.





"Spam (electronic)." Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. Received February 2, 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam