As Richard Farson’s truism “no one smokes in church no matter how addicted” points out, context informs almost everything that happens in an environment. Online social experiences are no exception.
How a product’s social model is set up can impact not only who contributes, but how much, and why. From permission-based subscriptions to one-click follows, Luke will discuss the attributes and implications of several popular social models by looking at data and behavior in the Web’s most popular social applications.
The Media Lab is very much focused on technology and has produced innovations such as electronic ink, wearable computers and early platforms for social networking. With its expanded focus now including human adaptability, research projects include affective computing, 6-D imaging and the future of the automobile.
The new six-story building is adjacent to the existing home of the Media Lab and is connected to it on several floors.
“We’ve only been here [in the new building] a short amount of time, so we’re still figuring out the best way to make full use of the new space, to be able to really make it our home,” said Mitchel Resnick, director of the lab’s Lifelong Kindergarten Group.
The new building houses seven laboratories in a very open layout. The lab workspaces vary in size from 5,000 to 8,500 square feet. The complex also houses conference rooms, a small café, and administrative, event and exhibition space.
The building was designed by Fumihiko Maki and associates. Almost all of the complex’s outer walls are glass. The inside of the building is equally transparent with a mix of glass, white walls and a few splashes of color. The glass walls are intended to enhance the sense of community among students and researchers.
“To me it feels like a big kindergarten, though some people might see that as demeaning or insulting … but to me it’s a great compliment,” Resnick said. “We want people here at the Media Lab to have creative operations the same way that kids in kindergarten work together playfully.”
The Media Lab gets the bulk of its funding from more than 60 corporate sponsors, each paying at least US$200,000 a year. In turn, all sponsors have royalty-free access to license any technology that the Media Lab develops. There have been more than 90 companies spun off from the Media Lab.
The lab, celebrating its 25th anniversary, was founded in 1980 by Nicholas Negroponte, who went on to create the One Laptop Per Child project, and Jerome Wiesner, former MIT president and science adviser to President John F. Kennedy.
In architecture, parti refers to the underlying concept of a building. Will it be a public structure that provides safety or a commercial building focused on customer up-selling?
Design principles are the guiding light for any parti. They articulate the fundamental goals that all decisions can be measured against and thereby keep the pieces of a project moving toward an integrated whole. But design principles are not enough.
Every design consideration has a set of opportunities and limitations that can either add to or detract from the parti. Designers who want to bring coherent visions to life need to learn the detailed ins and outs of design considerations so they can select the best solutions from the options available.
This combination of design principles at the top and design considerations at the bottom allows designers to fill in the middle with meaningful structures that enable people and organisations to interact, communicate, and get things done.
The Web has been transformed by the recent proliferation of rich interactions and social applications. But the workhorses of the online world, Web forms, have been slow to evolve with these changes. As brokers of crucial online interactions like e-commerce checkout and registration, forms bridge the
gap between people, their information, and your product or service. As a result, Web form design matters. But web forms aren’t keeping up.
Building on topics in his top-selling book, Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks, Luke Wroblewski will walk you through the latest applications of rich Web form interactions (made possible by dynamic technologies like Ajax) including: flexible inputs, dynamic help systems, inline validation, selection dependent inputs, and more. He’ll also outline how gradual engagement approaches to form design can create compelling new user experiences for a wide variety of Web applications and services. Learn how these modern approaches to Web form design can enhance your sites!
Google announced its latest acquisition on Monday, the online image editing service Picnik.
In Google’s own words, Picnik was “one of the first sites to bring photo editing to the cloud.”
Picnik features a Flash-powered interface that lets you tweak, crop, and touch-up your photos in your Web browser, avoiding the need to launch Photoshop, iPhoto, or your other favorite photo-editing software.
The site already integrates with Google’s photo-sharing site Picasa, along with Facebook, Flickr, Yahoo Mail, and Photobucket.
A blog post on Picnik says that support for all the non-Google sites will remain.
Fans of Picnik needn’t panic; Google says it’s not planning any big changes to the site, and plans, instead, to focus on new features.
“We’re not announcing any significant changes to Picnik today, though we’ll be working hard on integration and new features,” Google said.
“As well, we’d like to continue supporting all existing Picnik partners so that users will continue to be able to add their photos from other photo sharing sites, make edits in the cloud and then save and share to all relevant networks,” the company said.
Microsoft told Windows XP users today not to press the F1 key when prompted by a Web site, as part of its reaction to an unpatched vulnerability that hackers could exploit to hijack PCs running Internet Explorer (IE).
In a security advisory issued late Monday, Microsoft confirmed the unpatched bug in VBScript that Polish researcher Maurycy Prodeus had revealed Friday, offered more information on the flaw and provided some advice on how to protect PCs until a patch shipped.
“The vulnerability exists in the way that VBScript interacts with Windows Help files when using Internet Explorer,” read the advisory. “If a malicious Web site displayed a specially crafted dialog box and a user pressed the F1 key, arbitrary code could be executed in the security context of the currently logged-on user.”
Last week, Prodeus called the bug a “logic flaw,” and said attackers could exploit it by feeding users malicious code disguised as a Windows help file — such files have a “.hlp” extension — then convincing them to press the F1 key when a pop-up appeared. He rated the vulnerability as “medium” because of the required user interaction.
Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are impacted by the bug, said Microsoft, and any supported versions of Internet Explorer (IE) on those operating systems — including IE6 on Windows XP — could be leveraged by attackers. Previously, Prodeus had said that users running IE7 and IE8 were at risk, but had not called out IE6.
Until a patch is ready, users can protect themselves by not pressing the F1 key if a Web site tells them to, said Microsoft.
“As an interim workaround, users are advised to avoid pressing F1 on dialogs presented from Web pages or other Internet content,” said David Ross with the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) engineering staff in a blog entry on Monday.
“The prompt can appear repeatedly when dismissed, nagging the user to press the F1 key,” Ross added.
The security advisory made the same recommendation: “Our analysis shows that if users do not press the F1 key on their keyboard, the vulnerability cannot be exploited.”
Users can also stymie attacks by disabling Windows Help. The advisory explained how to entering a one-line command at a Windows command-line prompt to lock down the Help system.
The company took Prodeus to task for taking the bug public, something it regularly does when researchers disclose a vulnerability or post sample attack code before a patch is available.
“Microsoft is concerned that this vulnerability was not responsibly disclosed, potentially putting customers at risk,” said Jerry Bryant, a senior manager with the MSRC, in an e-mail. By Prodeus’ account, he notified Microsoft of the flaw Feb. 1, about four weeks before publishing his findings.
Microsoft has not set a timeline for a fix, saying only that, “Microsoft will take the appropriate action to help protect our customers.” The next scheduled security patch date for the company is March 9.
Although it does not rate the severity of vulnerabilities in its advisories, Microsoft noted that hackers exploiting the VBScript flaw using Windows Help and Internet Explorer could grab complete control of a Windows system.
Customers running Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 are safe from such attacks, Microsoft said.
Hopeful entrepreneurs and developers attending the Future of Web Apps conference in Miami Beach received a heavy dose of real-world advice from successful peers, including some tips that at first pass seem counterintuitive.
A sampling: Blab about your idea to as many people as possible, without fear it might be stolen. Let your Web site crash often. Skip industry “influencers” when marketing. Use open-source software liberally.
The advice came from people who work at places such as Mint, Facebook and Reddit who shared their experiences to help the hundreds of peers filling the Colony Theater on Wednesday, hoping to get tips to improve their chances of success.
“I knew nothing,” said Steve Huffman, co-founder of social news site Reddit. “I made so many silly mistakes along the way.”
Huffman, who co-founded Reddit with his college roommate, Alexis Ohanian, shortly after graduating from college in 2005, slept with his laptop and woke up every two hours to check if the site was down. His phone rang constantly with reports of site problems.
Eventually, he and Ohanian discovered a nifty utility that monitors Web performance and restarts sites automatically when they crash. It was so convenient that Huffman and his partner ended up knocking out Reddit when a significant system error popped up, letting the Supervise tool from Daemontools boot up the site automatically.
The lesson: By adopting existing tools and technology to automate time-consuming tasks, Huffman and the Reddit team were able to devote more time and energy to improving the site, which became so popular that media giant Conde Nast bought it in October 2006.
David Recordon, who is in charge of open source and standards efforts at Facebook, sounded a similar note, advising attendees to become acquainted with open-source software that they can use, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.
“Don’t be afraid of building on top of open-source infrastructure,” he said, adding that many Facebook components run on open-source software, which the company has generally found to be very stable.
Recordon suggested attendees check out wares like Facebook’s Tornado Web Server, Google’s publish/subscribe protocol extension to RSS, Pubsubhubbub, and the authorization protocol OAuth.
Meanwhile, developers with a great application idea shouldn’t be secretive about it, said Aaron Patzer, co-founder of Mint, the personal finance site acquired last year by Intuit for $170 million.
“Tell anyone and everyone your idea without fear they’re going to steal it,” Patzer said. The world is full of people with great ideas that will never be implemented because it’s hard to execute on a plan and bring it to a successful completion, he said.
While the risks of the idea being stolen are minimal, the benefits of receiving a lot of early feedback on the idea are invaluable, Patzer said. For example, Patzer initially had planned to build an application to help people manage their goals in life, an idea he considered fantastic until he started sharing it with friends and family.
Only one person out of 80 expressed interest in owning such software. However, many got excited about the personal-finance management component Patzer planned on putting into the application. Patzer then realized that people needed a better alternative to Intuit’s Quicken and Microsoft’s Money.
“That early feedback was key to the success of Mint,” said Patzer, who is now general manager of Intuit’s Personal Finance group.
Specifically, the feedback helped Patzer identify a real, irritating problem for many people in a large market with real revenue potential, which he said are all essential elements for a successful Web application.
Once an application has gained a certain following and the startup is ready to boost its marketing efforts, the company should leverage its fans to help promote the product instead of trying to get the attention of industry gurus, said Tara Hunt, an entrepreneur, author and online community marketing specialist.
While the “influencers” have a big audience, they are much in demand, low on time and unlikely to be familiar with a relatively new product, while “enthusiasts” are loyal, excited experts about the products they love, she said. Entrepreneurs should thus cultivate their relationship with their enthusiasts, who will be their best promoters, she said.
Having the patent means Facebook could potentially do battle with any other social networking site that uses news feed technology. Analysts say Facebook could use the patent as leverage with rival sites, forcing competitors, for example, to license the technology or stop using it.
For now, Facebook’s rivals will have to wait and see.
“Assuming good execution, this could be a gold mine,” said Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group. “Facebook has the potential to gain the kind of power that Microsoft and Google enjoy. They have a long and dangerous path to get there, but with this, they are getting closer to that potential … This is one of those events that can truly define an emerging company and change it from an interesting niche player to a major industry power.”
A news feed is a format used to provide users with real-time updated content. Facebook users, for instance, receive a feed filled with the updates, photos and videos posted by people they have “friended.” The feed on microblogging site Twitter is a constantly updated list of tweets from people the user is following.
News feeds are the bread and butter of most, if not all, social networking sites. It’s a way for people to stay up-to-date with friends, colleagues and family – the backbone of social networking.
The patent has been in the works for a long time. Facebook applied for the patent in 2006, before the site Twitter even came into being.
Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research, said with this patent now in hand, Facebook may be able to legally pursue rivals that are using this news feed technology. The company could push for its rivals to stop using the technology or to buy a license from Facebook to continue using it.
A lot will depend on the specific wording of the technology in the patent and how closely it resembles the technology that other sites are using.
“The launch of News Feed in 2006 was a pivotal moment in Facebook’s history and changed the way millions of people consumed and discovered information on the site,” said Brandee Barker, a Facebook spokesperson in an e-mail to Computerworld . “We’re humbled by the growth and adoption of News Feed over time and pleased with being awarded the patent.”
Barker declined to comment on what Facebook will do now that it has the patent.
Karsten Weide, an analyst with IDC, said the patent could affect a lot of companies, including Twitter, Yahoo and Google with its new Buzz social hub. All of them depend on streaming feeds.
“The devil is in the details,” Weide said. “Everything depends on what exactly the patent covers, whether Facebook is interested in enforcing a competitive advantage or licensing fees, how enforceable it actually is, and how much resistance the others would put up. Most likely Facebook will use it as a bargaining chip in various partnership negotiations.”
He added that forcing companies to stop using the functionality or to pay licensing fees might be more than Facebook wants to bite off.
“It would be unwise to act heavy handedly with partners,” Weide said. “It would create a lot of bad blood in the industry and bad PR. But then, Facebook’s attention to PR consequences has been lacking at times.”
Enderle said this could be a game-changer for Facebook. Now it’s just a matter of waiting to see what the company does with its new patent.
There are a number of technical methods of wirelessly tracking down people, equipment, and goods. What applications require location capabilities, what are the various methods of wireless location tracking to support them, and how do they work?
Let’s start with the applications. Here are a few things you might want to do with wireless location information:
* Find an emergency cellular or voice on Wi-Fi telephone caller.
* Find wireless devices that are unauthorised or otherwise might pose a security threat.
* Troubleshoot sources of wireless network interference.
* Conduct a WLAN site survey.
* Locate assets and equipment that have been stolen or misplaced.
* Speed and enhance a workflow process, such as the shipment of goods.
* Determine a colleague’s “presence,” or availability status, based on location.
Depending on the application, there will be different requirements for the precision of the location measurement and its degree of accuracy. For example, it might be “close enough” to know that a person or object is on a certain floor of a building (degree of precision) and for that measurement to be successfully calculated 99 percent of the time (degree of accuracy).
The general whereabouts of a person might be sufficient for the presence application, for example. In other cases, greater precision may be needed with greater accuracy, as in the case of an emergency caller.
There are several algorithmic approaches to location tracking for use in these applications, and they have various degrees of precision and accuracy. Among them:
* Trilateration and its cousin, triangulation.
* Nearest sensor.
* Time distance of arrival (TDOA).
* Received signal strength (RSS).
* RF fingerprinting.
* GPS.
Let’s take a look under the hood at the basics of these algorithms
Nearest sensor
This is the simplest method, though by itself, it is the least precise. This capability, supported by most wireless network vendors in their management systems, determines the 802.11 access point (AP) or cellular base station to which a client device is associated. It assumes that this sensor is the closest sensor to the device. It then computes how far the signal radiates.
The diameter of the 360-degree radiation “cell” surrounding the sensor (in three dimensions, mind you) is as precise as this method alone gets, even presuming that the client does indeed associate with the nearest sensor. If an 802.11b/g AP has approximately a 100-by-100-foot coverage area, for example, the nearest-sensor method tracks the client to within a 10,000-square-foot area. Note, though, that a client might associate with a sensor a bit farther away if the nearest one is overloaded or its signal strength is otherwise not as strong.
Triangulation/trilateration
The nearest-sensor measurement can be combined with others to pinpoint location more precisely. “Triangulation” measures the angles between three or more nearby sensors (or other reference points). Where they intersect is calculated as the client location. Precision within 50 metres is generally accepted for triangulation, according to Diana Kelley, senior analyst at Burton Group. Trilateration measures the distance between sensors or other reference points, rather than the angles between them.
GPS, TDOA and RSSI
On the cellular side, GPS systems combine triangulation with a measurement called time difference of arrival (TDOA) over a network of satellites. TDOA measures the relative time delay of signals arriving at different sensors and can be used with triangulation in 802.11 networks, too. Because time is proportional to the distance traveled, the distance to each sensor within range can be estimated and, consequently, the location of the client. In addition to TDOA measurements, received signal strength indication (RSSI) can be used to measure the RF power loss between transmitter and receiver to calculate distance.
To date, GPS isn’t used much in 802.11 WLANs because GPS chipsets are expensive, compared to using information radiating from a Wi-Fi client, and satellite reception within buildings can be iffy.
RF fingerprinting
A more sophisticated category of location tracking used in 802.11-based WLANs is called RF fingerprinting. This technique uses intelligent algorithms to improve location-tracking precision by accounting for the environmental effects – such as an object, human, mirrors, windows, attenuation and multi-path – on the wireless signal. A “fingerprint” of the wireless environment is calculated by a physical walk-around using a handheld spectrum analysis device. These measurements are later compared to deviations in the real-time environment to locate the client device.
Several Wi-Fi system vendors support a form of RF fingerprinting in their management systems to enable security and management of their own WLANs. So do a number of third-party location specialists.
Let’s take a look at those companies.
Supplier approaches
Some location-tracking technology suppliers are makers of wireless LAN communications systems that layer location services onto their systems. Others are third-party location specialists that provide overlay wireless tracking systems.
Several fall into the “RF fingerprinting” category, using intelligent algorithms to account for environmental effects on wireless signals. As described above, a wireless “fingerprint” of the radio environment is created by a physical walk-around using a handheld spectrum analyzer (or are auto-calibrated in some systems). They are then compared to deviations in the real-time environment to locate the client.
Below is a sampling of vendors that fall into the RF fingerprinting category (companies are Wi-Fi communications systems vendors unless otherwise noted):
AirTight (overlay)
Auto-calibrates the fingerprint. Claims precision of less than 12 feet depending on access point (AP) vendor. Primarily focused on security applications.
Cisco/Airespace
Auto-calibrates the fingerprint. Claims precision of “within a few metres.” Requires Cisco lightweight APs, controllers, and Cisco 2700 Wireless Location Appliance. Uses technology for many applications.
Cognio (overlay)
Performs manual fingerprinting using handheld spectrum analyzer. Focused on troubleshooting and security applications, locates any device sharing the 2.4GHz or 5GHz unlicensed WLAN spectrum that could cause interference. Among them: 802.11 devices, microwave ovens, cordless phones and Bluetooth devices.
Newbury Networks (overlay)
Holds a patent for its particular RF fingerprinting algorithm (U.S. Patent No. 6,674,403 B2). Has expanded its 802.11-centric Newbury Location Platform, adding asset tracking and content delivery applications to its existing WLAN security application. It also says it intends to open up the platform to third-party partners.
Trapeze Networks
Uses fingerprinting technology of partner Ekahau. Also uses internally developed Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), triangulation, nearest AP technology. Focused on site-survey applications.
Among the companies that don’t use fingerprinting:
Aruba Wireless Networks
Advocates deploying a very dense grid of its 802.11 sensors, which continually communicate with one another, so that changes in the environment are always accounted for.
Network Chemistry (overlay)
Creates a “signal propagation model” for each sensor showing what signal would be expected to be received at the sensor from every possible floor plan location. Then compares model with actual sensor readings, computes error between actual and model, and determines location based on where error is lowest.
By now, you’ve probably heard mutterings about a new Google innovation known as Wave. Not content with cleaning up in the search engine arena, becoming the first name in digital maps and making its Gmail client synonymous with webmail, Google wants you to organize and share your social and business events and conflabs using its tools too.
Google Wave offers a simple, single interface for storing events, meetings, ideas and conversations. Once you’ve secured an invite, the idea is you share not just blogs, tweets and funny YouTube clips but more business-focused output too. You can use it to brainstorm ideas, to draw up drafts and to do so across as large a group of contributors as your Google Wave ecosystem stretches to.
The ‘wave’ is a one-size-fits-all term for conversations, documents and events. In common with a wiki, anyone can edit a wave. But what’s most innovative about Google’s approach is that any changes will be visible to all users in real time.
Google also promises simplified filesharing, with subscribers able to drag-and-drop items such as photos into a wave. The entire wave can then be shared via external websites.
Although Google Wave was offered only as a limited release to public beta testers at the end of September, it promises to greatly simplify the way we communicate online.
The basics
Google Wave – and its associated jargon and lingo – might seem confusing to the outsider. But its essence is simple: it allows you to store and share files and conversations in an easy-to-use interface.
Wave allows multiple users to share and collaborate on documents, using a rich media editor that can display images and videos as well as a range of gadgets and interactive applets. Any communication or ‘wave’ can be part conversation and part document, with Google providing live transmission of any edits.
Note that Wave is still in beta, and only invitees are able to participate in its testing programme. Visiting wave.google.com and requesting an invite won’t guarantee that you’ll be able to access the features mentioned here.
Step 1: One reason behind Google Wave’s restricted access is that it isn’t fully compatible with Internet Explorer. Rather, Google designed Wave with Safari, Firefox and, unsurprisingly, Google Chrome in mind. If you’re nevertheless determined to use Wave with Internet Explorer, you’ll need to install the Google Chrome Frame plug-in. This replaces Internet Explorer’s rendering engine with that of Google Chrome. Ignore this advice and Google Wave won’t appear correctly in your browser.
Step 2: When you first open up Wave, the interface is fairly sparse as there are no waves or contacts other than the person who invited you. A list of waves that have been created and sent to others by you will be listed in the central pane; clicking an individual wave brings up a preview in the right pane. A menu in the left pane, meanwhile, displays a Navigation bar. This can be used to help you locate and control all the waves in which you are a participant, as well as a contacts panel.
Step 3: As the number of users able to connect to Wave is restricted during the beta-testing stage, our ability to demonstrate collaboration with others is limited. If any of your contacts have a Wave account, however, this will be displayed in your contacts list.
To add contacts, click the plus button at the bottom of the screen and start typing in a name or email address – if your contact has a Wave account it will be displayed here. Alternatively, click Manage Contacts and add people to your My Contacts list; they will see you as Wave invites go out to them.
Step 4: To begin creating a wave, click the New Wave button in the central Inbox. This brings up the rich media editor where you can type your messages and add videos, images and various gadgets. Fairly simple formatting is available using the various icons in the Actions bar above the editor.
To insert an image, video or audio file, click the attachments icon (indicated by a paper clip) and browse to the file in question. Alternatively, you can simply drag-and-drop a file into your wave. Once your wave is ready to share, click Done.
Step 5: A wave is designed to be shared, so the next step is to add a participant who will be able to follow its development. Click the plus button located just above the Add participants link, then select users or groups with whom you wish to share your message. As you type your message, it will show up in their inbox and they will be able to comment on it as they see fit.
Waves can be divided into wavelets or smaller elements known as blips (see the next page for more detail on these).
Step 6: You can navigate the waves you create by clicking All in the lefthand menu, selecting By Me for your personal waves or using the search function at the bottom of the Navigation menu. A Playback button at the top of each wave automatically plays each blip within a wave.
Some of the customisation features are yet to be developed, but it’s already possible to enable or disable various extensions that plug into your waves.
Using wavelets, blips and gadgets
So far, we’ve looked at the basics for creating and sharing waves. However, Google also offers some elements that are worth investigating in more detail.
As we noted earlier, a wave is part document, part communication, and can be edited at any point by any user and updated in real time. The simplicity of this wiki-like approach to documents promises to be one of Wave’s most radical applications.
When a threaded conversation builds up either within or outside a wave, this is referred to as a wavelet and works in a fashion similar to an instant messaging conversation. Single messages are referred to as blips. These in turn can have further blips attached to them and can function rather like Twitter tweets.
Waves, wavelets and blips can all have various documents and files attached to them, allowing other wavelets and blips to cascade out and draw in other users. Any wave and its associated blips and wavelets can then be embedded and uploaded to a website.
There will be plenty of opportunities for users to enhance Google Wave’s capabilities with Extensions. These consist of gadgets or robots that can pull information from external sources such as Twitter.
Indeed, the ability to easily add various gadgets to a wave, such as one for Google Maps, promises to be a real boon. In this beta stage, this gadget is one of the best tools that you can use for exploring how Wave will work in future when sharing media-rich documents.
Step 1: The Google Maps icon is located on the action toolbar above the editor. Also here are a selection of other Google gadget icons, the ability to add a yes/no button to documents, and even the URL for other widgets you want to include in your wave.
Not all the gadgets have yet been implemented, but as Wave develops you should be able to add the various services that have become commonplace in Chrome and the Google toolbar for other browsers, such as translation and spellchecking tools.
Step 2: Once you’ve clicked on the map icon, a default map will be loaded into your wave. To change its location, type a place name or postcode into the search box at the bottom left of the gadget. Selecting ‘Create copy on map’ places a marker on your map, while the ‘Get directions’ button shows you how to get to that spot. Even if you aren’t familiar with Google Maps, you’ll quickly be able to find your way around a map gadget inserted into a wave.
Step 3: By using the line and poly tools next to the search box, you can begin to chart routes and locations on your map with various way points that contain information about those locations. When you wish to share this information with your contacts, click the plus button at the top of the screen to add a user or group to the wave.
Step 4: The Google Maps gadget has all the features of the main site. You can zoom in or out of the map and view satellite or terrain data; select your view using the icons at the top left of the map. Likewise, locations added by other users to Google Maps will also be visible to you and other wave participants. It’s an extremely useful way of keeping tabs on helpful or important geographical information.
Description: (download audio lecture) As Richard Farson’s truism “no one smokes in church no matter how addicted” points out, context informs almost everything that happens in an environment. Online social experiences are no exception. How a product’s social model is set up can impact not only who contributes, but how much, and why. F […]
By Nick Barber MIT has expanded the footprint of its Media Lab with a new US$90 million, 163,000-square-foot modern building. The Media Lab is very much focused on technology and has produced innovations such as electronic ink, wearable computers and early platforms for social networking. With its expanded focus now including human adaptability, research pro […]
Description (download pdf presentation ) In architecture, parti refers to the underlying concept of a building. Will it be a public structure that provides safety or a commercial building focused on customer up-selling? Design principles are the guiding light for any parti. They articulate the fundamental goals that all decisions can be measured against and […]
The Web has been transformed by the recent proliferation of rich interactions and social applications. But the workhorses of the online world, Web forms, have been slow to evolve with these changes. As brokers of crucial online interactions like e-commerce checkout and registration, forms bridge the gap between people, their information, and your product or […]
By Lex Friedman Google announced its latest acquisition on Monday, the online image editing service Picnik. In Google’s own words, Picnik was “one of the first sites to bring photo editing to the cloud.” Picnik features a Flash-powered interface that lets you tweak, crop, and touch-up your photos in your Web browser, avoiding the need to la […]
By Gregg Keizer Microsoft told Windows XP users today not to press the F1 key when prompted by a Web site, as part of its reaction to an unpatched vulnerability that hackers could exploit to hijack PCs running Internet Explorer (IE). In a security advisory issued late Monday, Microsoft confirmed the unpatched bug in VBScript that Polish [...] […]
By Juan Carlos Perez Hopeful entrepreneurs and developers attending the Future of Web Apps conference in Miami Beach received a heavy dose of real-world advice from successful peers, including some tips that at first pass seem counterintuitive. A sampling: Blab about your idea to as many people as possible, without fear it might be stolen. Let your [...] […]
By Sharon Gaudin Facebook received a patent for streaming social network news feed technology, raising questions over how the company will wield this new power. Having the patent means Facebook could potentially do battle with any other social networking site that uses news feed technology. Analysts say Facebook could use the patent as leverage with rival si […]
