Speechable.com

Speechable.com is an interesting product. Some may classify it as a web 2.0 product due to the social aspects associated with sharing photos but I think it is more than that. This site really provides users with the ability to post pictures and put words in their mouthes, literally. Users can add speech bubbles to any picture. Hours of fun, amusement and enjoyment? I think so. Additionally, this is a great site to state what people, animals, plants and inanimate objects are thinking. What fun!

Kronomy Project

Just to let everyone know, I am not a fan of social networking. I really fail to see the business value of having any and everybody look into my personal life to review my social activities, pictures, work information and so on. It really sounds like an ideal environment for social predators to practice their trade.

However, Kronomy sounds interesting. The website is in beta mode. "Beta" appears to be the new web lingo for constant development historically known as operations, maintenance and continual improvement. Sorry, I don't want to get off on a tangent. The website states, "We are unquestionably pioneers in the Web 2.0 universe, especially where our technical expertise is concerned. We are not aware of another platform that has combined a complex Flash database application (Action Script 3) with Ajax in a comparable manner."

The thing I find interesting about the site is that it is meant only for those you decide to invite. No, that is not a breakthrough idea. Kronomy provides users the ability to create a chronography (sic.) of events. Others in your social network can see where their timelines cross yours. Interesting, cool, possibly creepy. Check it out! I may even try it.

Mobile GPS

This stuff is really cool! The Garmin Nuvi 500 can be used in car, boat, foot or bike. Even better, it can interface with Google Panoramio allowing users to capture and post photos. This represents a significant convergence between GPS and the web. Amazing. Check out the article at http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9996593-1.html.
Enjoy!

Dark Fiber

Check out this article about using dark fiber to enable low cost metropolitan area networks. By using wavelength division multiplexing, non-proprietary administrative tools and scalable equipment XKL is able to decrease the financial burden many companies are exposed to. Optical fiber is expensive to lay and many in the industry are forced to learn (adopt) a proprietary protocol. Of course, the specialists that operate these systems are usually paid quite well.

Applications are moving to open standards and so should network communications protocols. Why should companies be forced to adopt a specific standard? Vendor lock-in was a concept widespread during the dot-com era. We have learned our lesson and should be moving toward open standards. It works with applications and should also work with network administration.

Virtual World Interoperability

Avatars can teleport between virtual worlds. This article has a cool demonstration of avatars teleporting between Second Life and Open Sim. The main topic of the article really hit the point of why virtual worlds will not survive in their current manifestation. Second Life could really be usefull if it could bridge the gap between virtual worlds and the web. I can imagine walking into a virtual store and purchasing a camera via my local electronics store web site. Would that concept allow the Linden to become a legitimate currency?

Bridging the UI of the virtual world and the web will become a challenge. If one of the virtual communities figures out how an avatar can easily interact with the web real value will be created. That could be the future between teleportation between the web, a virtual world and my real life.