my sometimes-skeptical social commentary

Archive for the ‘web-2-0’ Category

I’ve been trying to plan a lunch meeting at a restaurant near work, and I want to show the other two guys at the meeting how to log in and do stuff with the web site I made for our community group, so the restaurant needs wi-fi. I haven’t found (yet) a comprehensive list of wi-fi spots for Buffalo, NY.

I may start compiling my own, but the problem is that it takes a lot of work to keep a site like that updated. I think the way to do it is to set something up with Google’s mapping API so that people can add hotspots via a map interface. If only I had paid better attention in the Java class I took, because that’s the language Google uses.

I’m sure I’ll find that someone else is already doing this… it’s the internet, is there anything new out there? Is there any topic not already covered?

I just can’t decide.

Anyone have an informed opinion?

I know Joomla is newer, but because most developers have already adapted their Mambo projects for Joomla (basically the same source code, so that was a natural move), there are already more Joomla components, etc., than there are for it’s mother, Mambo.

That said, I’ve set up a few different CMS’s for people over the years, and there’s just something about Joomla that I haven’t been able to “get” yet. I know I haven’t spent enough time getting to know its administration toolset yet, but I have this feeling that there are things I want to do that it either can’t do or can’t do without a lot of workarounds.

Take user groups, for example. What I want to do, is set up a site for a group that has all of the Mambo/Joomla features you expect in a CMS, like categories, news articles, Web 2.0 feedback methods, etc., but also old-school discussion forums that use user groups, or levels, to limit public access to some discussion areas but leave other discussion areas open to the public. Not too much to ask, is it?

Hmmmm… now I’m wondering if my friend over at CrowdFusion would let me test out the new CMS he’s working on.

Well I still have a lot of work to do. Hopefully, in the next day or so, I’ll be able to announce that the new site I’m working on is ready. But then again, maybe tomorrow at 1 a.m. I’ll decide to use Drupal instead!

This has happened before, but it still annoys me when I find it happening. People steal RSS feeds, incorporate my writing into their web site, then plaster their web site with advertisements so that they make money on my writing. I’m not even making money on my writing, so why should anyone else?

So I’m thinking of embedding advertising in my RSS feeds.

But before I do that, does anyone read my posts ONLY in an RSS feed, or do you use the RSS notification to go directly to my site to read my posts?

I spent some time today working on a couple web sites for guys I know.

The first one is HouseToHouseBook.com, which I created for David, an Iraq-war veteran who wrote a book about a major battle in Fallujah.

What I changed for David’s site is adding a banner to the top of the page that encourages people to buy a copy of his book and have him personalize and sign their copy for them. I also had to fix the guest book on his site, which for some reason was being stupid on me.

The next site I worked on is for my friend Kyle, whose stylish T-shirt designs are available at Viva La Gaunch. What I did for Viva La Gaunch was add three short music clips that play (if the visitor clicks on the “Listen to Music” link, that is) while the visitor browses Kyle’s T-shirt designs. Actually that part is not quite done, because I need to link to the artists’ web sites so that people can buy the music if they like it.

Every new technology has a way of annoying its users. Email has spam, Web 2.0 has trolls and flame wars. Social networking has . . . well I’m not sure if it only has one annoying feature, because it is capable of doing email-like communications, Web 2.0 stuff, and has ways of connecting to people you’ve never met but might be friends of a friend.

I got this lovely spam message today:

Hello,This is mrs linda, i will like to ask u somequestions abt this transaction if i can proceed withit or not1.What is the condition of this item?2.What is the final price of this item?3. Did u accept Cashier check, Paypal, personal check or money order?4. We are taking care of shipping by our self did uaccept that?5. Can u send the rest funds on the payment toshipping company same day you get the payment? because there will be excess funds on payment because of shipping company.6. Your full name, address and phone number?Because i have my own shipping company that pickup there item from there seller, so when u receivethe check just got it cash and send the rest fundson the check to there shipping company, becausethere will be over payment the check, so when i getur info i will forward it to company manager thatwill issue out the check to you. I want you to email to my ID linda_candy925@hotmail.com for me to know you got my email and i will respond fast than facebook because this is my personal email address, Hope to hear from you there…………ok   

 And after I deleted the first message from Mrs. Linda, I got a second one. How annoying.