Smile!!!!!!!!!!!

Web 3.0

Web 3.0 is a term used to describe the evolution of the Web. It was first used in a blog article, critical of Web 2.0 in early 2006. The term Web 3.0 has become a subject of increasing interest. Nova Spivack has proposed that the best way to define Web 3.0 is as “the third decade of the Web, from 2010 to 2020″.

In May 2006, Tim Berners-Lee stated:

“People keep asking what Web 3.0 is. I think maybe when you’ve got an overlay of scalable vector graphics – everything rippling and folding and looking misty – on Web 2.0 and access to a semantic Web integrated across a huge space of data, you’ll have access to an unbelievable data resource.”

Though no-one knows exactly what Web 3.0 will be like it is imagined to be something similar to this:

Applications that provide easy, transparent and organized access to the world’s data, information, and knowledge. Transforming the Web into a database, what some call the Data-Web. By 2020, Spivack predicts the Semantic Web will be globally integrated into the Web, opening the door for the fourth decade of the Web, Web 4.0 (the years 2020 to 2030), in which a new generation of more intelligent applications and services will be produced.

Another possible path for Web 3.0 is towards the 3 dimensional vision. This would involve the Web transforming into a series of 3D spaces, taking the concept realised by Second Life further.

Podcasts

A Podcast is a media file that you can get over the internet. They are totally free to download onto your computer or portable media players. 

The term “podcast” is derived from Apple’s portable music player, the iPod. A pod refers to a container of some sort and the idea of broadcasting to a container or pod describes the process of podcasting.

Though podcasters’ websites may also offer direct download or streaming of their content, a podcast is distinguished from other digital audio formats by its ability to be downloaded automatically, using software capable of reading feed formats such as RSS.

In general, podcast files contain audio or video, but also could be images, text, or any file type.

Uses of podcasting
Podcasting’s initial appeal was to allow individuals to distribute their own “radio shows,” but the system quickly became used in a wide variety of other ways, including distribution of school lessons, official and unofficial audio tours of museums, conference meeting alerts and updates, and by police departments to distribute public safety messages.

Podcasting is becoming increasingly popular in education. Podcasts enable students and teachers to share information with anyone anytime. If a student is absent, she can download the podcast of the recorded lesson. It can be a tool for teachers or administrators to communicate curriculum, assignments and other information with parents and the community. Teachers can record book talks, vocabulary or foreign language lessons, international pen pal letters (podcast pals!), music performance, interviews, debates. Podcasting can be a publishing tool for student oral presentations. Video podcasts can be used in all these ways as well.

MySpace

MySpace is a totally free service open to everyone, and its not just for bloggers. It enables you to share your music, videos, photos, journals, interests and see other people’s all over the world. You can choose the layout you want to use so it reflects on who you are, what you like, and your personality. Search for your favourite band’s website to check out the latest news and buy tickets to concerts and upcomming events. This popular online sharing community lets you meet friends of friends whilst contributing to the Web 2.0 society no matter where you are.

MySpace is for everyone:

• Friends who want to talk Online
• Single people who want to meet other Singles
• Matchmakers who want to connect their friends with other friends
• Families who want to keep in touch–map your Family Tree
• Business people and co-workers interested in networking
• Classmates and study partners
• Anyone looking for long lost friends!
  

How do i use MySpace?

1. First, Sign up and create a profile (Your profile is Your Space on the Web, where you can describe yourself, hobbies and interests. You can even upload pics and write journals.)
2. Second, Invite your Friends to join Your Personal Network or search the site for your friends who are already members of Myspace.
3. Third, View the connections you create between your friend and their friends. Some people have 1,000s of people in their extended network!
4. Meet your friend’s friends and suggest matches! You can communicate with anyone in your Personal Network.

www.myspace.com

WordPress

So this is wordpress! You can see straight away how great it is. Making your blog original is easy to do, and awesome fun!

It Takes Seconds and is Free! its so quick and easy to get your own blog started, all you need is an email address and name. Its totally free and you have the option of making it either private or public. Upgrades are available but completely optional.

Dozens of Themes! There are loads of themes to choose from, ranging from professional to wacky. They are so easy to change, with just a click of a button. Each theme allows you to rearrange and customize your sidebar using widgets. New themes are added regulary based on the publics requests.

Categorize and Tag Your Posts! WordPress includes an easy system which allows you to tag and categorize your posts as you write them. Each time you add a new one it automatically adds them to the global tag surfer system, so you get extra traffic as other people interested in the same topic as you will find your posts and leave comments on your blog.

Spell-check, Previews, Autosave, Words, Photos, Videos! Uploading photos and videos from other services like Flickr, YouTube or Google is really simple. They add your own personal touch to your posts. An inline spell-checker is also included to check your posts from top to bottom. A preview feature shows you exactly what your post or page will look like after you’ve published them. How anoying is it to loose hours of work just because you forgot to save it regually? Well wordpress saves your work to the server every minute incase your computer crashes or something.

Lots of Privacy Options, including Members-Only Blogs! WordPress allows you to choose wheather you want a completly public blog where anyone can see it but it wont be included in search engines or public listings, or a private blog which only members can access. It is also possible to have a public blog with occasional post being private. There is a per-post password option as well.

Integrated Stats System! An intergraded stats system gives you up-to-the-minute stats on how many people are visiting your blog. It also provides information about where they’re coming from and which posts are most popular.

Automatic Spam Protection! WordPress uses Akismet, the world’s best comment and trackback spam technology to block spammers from leaving spam comments on your blog. Over 1,000 spam comments a day are being blocked for some bloggers!. Akismet also helps shut down spam blogs that try to sneak onto WordPress. If a spam comment or blog slips through, it should be reported to help get all spammers blocked from the system.

Great Help If You Need It! If you have any questions there are users in the forums and on our support team who will help you out. There is a feedback form on every page, a contact form, and the forums are active 24 hours a day.

Sidebar Widgets for Flickr, del.icio.us, Meebo, and More! As simple as just adding widgets to your sidebar and rearrange them how you want. Drag and drop the sidebar widgets to where you want them and volia. New widgets are being added all the time based on peoples feedback and requests.

Multiple Blogs and Multiple Authors! You can have as many blogs as you want! You’re only limited by your imagination. You can have group blogs with multiple authors who are allowed to post or contribute.

So Now you know how great WordPress is…what are you waiting for?

www.wordpress.com

Uploading Photographs

Me on a gloomy day Called ‘Dusk’

Wikipedia

The name Wikipedia came from wiki, meaning a type of collaborative website, and encyclopedia. This service was created in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, and has since grown into the biggest reference website on the Internet. Lets put that into figures for you… over 6,000,000 articles in more than 250 different languages and is curently 1 of the 12 most visited websites in the Whole World!

Wiki is generally written by volunteers from all aropund the world, but it also enables its readers to add to or edit the articles already there as long as they stay within the editing policies. It is so easy to use, simply click on the, edit this page, link and make the changes. Because of this not all of the information is always reliable, however it is only as accurate as any other online encyclopedia. Not only can you add and edit information but you can create your own articles with their own licensings.

The main advantage of an online encyclopedia is that, instead of waiting months or years for an updated printed edition to be published, you can have newrecent information within hours or even minutes. Wiki is also a non-profit organization, completely free for its users.

www.wikipedia.org

Creative Commons

Creative Commons was a non-profit organisation from when it was first created in 2001. Its founder was Lawrence Lessig.

Its goal is to provide the ability for the public to upload their own videos, photos, audio, etc; and make it possible for them to put their own copyright laws on their work. This means that anyone can then use their files under the creators licensing laws. What i mean by this is that Creative Commons is a site on the World Wide Web that is free and dodges the problems ofcopyright so people everywhere can use its content within the creators terms of licensing.

Creative Commons allows you to search for Flickr, Blogs, Podcasts, GarageBand, blip.tv, Movies, Libraries, Google, Yahoo, Radio, Clip Art…etc. almost anything imaginable. It also goes through and shows you step by step the process to upload your own files. This totally free service is dead easy to use and availible to anyone.

www.creativecommons.org/

YouTube

YouTube was founded in February 2005 by Steve Chen, Jawed Karim and Chad Hurley. In November of that year it recieved funding from Sequoia Capital and the site was officially launched in December. YouTube is a service for people all over the world to watch, share and comment on other peoples videos as well as upload your own.

So what exactly can you do on YouTube and why do so many people love it? Well…with YouTube people can:

• Upload, tag and share videos worldwide
• Browse millions of original videos uploaded by community members
• Find, join and create video groups to connect with people who have similar interests
• Customize the experience by subscribing to member videos, saving favorites, and creating playlists
• Integrate YouTube videos on websites using video embeds or APIs
• Make videos public or private—users can elect to broadcast their videos publicly or share them privately with friends and family upon upload

The goals that are being aimed for by YouTube is to build a community that is highly motivated to share and watch videos. And they’re well on their way with YouTube now so popular that more than 70 million videos are viewed on the site daily. 

This service is free for everybody to use, so go sign up with YouTube and have your 15 minutes of fame.

 www.youtube.com

Flickr

My Flickr Account

So now you have a digital camera, and with the knowledge that you can always delete the photos you take, your finger is constantly on the button. Right? Well how often do you actually get time to print them out and share them with others, or edit and arrange your photos? Personally, i have hundreds of folders full of pictures that ive taken just sitting in my documents. So what do you do about it?

Flickr is a Web 2.0 creation that enables you to upload, edit, organize and share your photos. It was a Canadian-based company who first founded Flickr in 2002, however it wan’t until 2004 that it was actually launched. The account can be either public, so anyone can see it, or private. This website isn’t just for people wanting to put photos on the Internet, its also for bloggers. It really simple to use and great for anyone, not just professional photographers.

Flickr allows you to put licensing on your photos, this way you can limit the way people use your pictures. The licensing options include the Creative Commons Attribution-based License, which allows anyone to use and manipulate your photos as long as they reconise who took the photo.

It is possible for cameraphones enabled with bluetooth to upload the photos on your mobile, onto your Flickr account. And not just from cameraphones. With the right tools that Flickr provides for you, you can upload almost any format of pictures from any software.

Flickr has two main goals. To help people make their photos available to others anywhere in the world, and to enable new ways of organizing and editing your photos. I believe that Flickr is one of the best online photo management and sharing applications in the world. Flickr makes it possible for anyone to publish their photos on the internet for the world to see. You can also give your contacts, groups, friends, family or the public the option of leaving you comments on your pics. This way you can get feedback and even advice

Considering that you’ve just read to the end of my entire entry about Flickr proves you have some form of intrest in the topic. So what are you waiting for? Go check out Flickr!

www.flickr.com