Week 8

This week’s lecture was about Web 2.0 Technologies. This lecture was very interesting because it pointed out how much the web has changed over the years and how much it can change further. However I found it very difficult to understand some parts of the lecture such as the applications and technologies within web 2.0. For this reason I had to do a lot of research to understand the areas properly.


Web 1.0 was made public in 1991 and was mostly used just to read information. There was no real way in which users could contribute their thoughts and opinions.

Web 2.0 is the popular term for advanced Internet technology and applications including blogs, wikis, RSS and social bookmarking.

An Internet Week article by Howard Greenstein summarizes key differences between the Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 models, mainly around the trend towards more dynamic, interactive, user-driven and -supplied content.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

The two major components of Web 2.0 are the technological advances enabled by Ajax and other new applications such as RSS and Eclipse and the user empowerment that they support. New technologies such as AJAX provide a rich, interactive user interface similar to client/server without the operational management headaches. AJAX applications run within a standard browser using standard web technology such as JavaScript, Dynamic HTML, Cascading Style Sheets and XML.

 

Web 2.0 technology can fundamentally change business processes by delivering productivity gains and making user feedback an integral part of development processes. But many IT managers are shying away from the technology, unsure of how it will fit into their business. A survey of 3,000 executives conducted in January by UK consultancy McKinsey found widespread but alert interest in using Web 2.0 technology to enable greater automation and networking within enterprises.

While O’Reilly believes that Web 3.0 is an extension of Web 2.0, he believes it will be a third generation web approximately between 2010 and 2020. In order to understand Web 3.0, we must balance it against the existing Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is about social networking and mass collaboration with the blurring of lines between content creator and user whereas Web 3.0 is based on “intelligent” web applications using:

• Natural language processing

• Machine-based learning and reasoning

• Intelligent applications

The goal is to adapt online searching and requests specifically to users’ preferences and needs

Web 3.0 is proclaimed to have the following features over web 2.0:

By opening up access to information, Web 3.0 applications will run on any device, computer, or mobile phone. Applications can be very fast and customizable. Unlike Web 2.0, where programs such as Facebook and MySpace exist in separate silos, Web 3.0 will allow users to journey freely from database to database and program to program.

Web 3.0 will use a three dimensional model and transform it into a series of 3D spaces. Services such as Second Life and the use of personalized avatars will be a common feature of the 3D web. Web 3.0 will extend beyond into the physical; imagine a Web connected to everything not only to mobile phones but cars, microwaves and clothes, therefore truly making an integrated experience.

Where Web 3.0 is about control of information web 2.0 is about information overload. The most obvious example is in the sheer explosion of programs and passwords on the Web which claim to encourage networking and socialization. Web 3.0 attempts to bring order and allow users to be more accurate in searching and finding precisely what they want.

In conclusion web 3.0 is proclaimed to have much higher benefits that the existing web 2.0.

This weeks seminar was about RSS news feeds which I found a bit boring because there was not much to do in the lab as I already knew how to do most of the things discussed in the given sheet. The exercise was very short and not very useful for this reason after completing the exercise I worked on my presentation on Peckish Foods.

Week 7

This week’s lecture was about software as a service, RSS and mashupss. This lecture was the most detailed and hard lecture in the entire module possibly because it was discussing topics which I have never heard of before that is why I was so interested in this weeks lecture.



In the lecture I did not understand the definition of software as a service, after doing research I found out that basically Software as a Service is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network, usually the Internet. It is becoming an increasingly common delivery model as underlying technologies that support Web services and service-oriented architecture mature and new developmental approaches, such as Ajax, become popular. In the meantime, broadband service has become increasingly available to support user access from more areas around the world. The benefits of software as a service model which I have found are:


• High Adoption

Software as a Service applications are available from any computer or any device—any time, anywhere. Because most people are familiar with using the Internet to find what they need, they have high adoption rates, with a lower learning bend.


AND


• Lower Initial Costs

Software as Service applications are subscription based. No license fees mean lower initial costs. Having the Software as a Service provider manage the IT infrastructure therefore means lower IT costs for hardware, software, and the people needed to manage it all.


The popularity of Software as a service is slowly increasing because it simplifies deployment and reduces customer acquisition costs. A recent survey of a thousand IT professionals by Forrester Research found that they are turning to hosted Software as a Service products as a way to relieve management of non-mission-critical applications such as HR and CRM. Also, the subscription based Software as a Service pricing model can keep IT budget costs consistent or lower than packaged or homegrown software.


Despite Software as a Service having many advantages I still think that the problems cannot be overlooked especially the security problem because it is a major issue which can affect many organisations especially larger organisations because they are more likely to have more confidential information therefore would not have the trust in another organisation coming in and accessing their software.

I have never used RSS even though I have an RSS app on my phone because I did not know what it was used for. After the lecture I think it is a good idea to use RSS software to get a live news feed at your fingertips. The main advantage I think RSS has is that it is spam free. Unlike email subscriptions, RSS does not make use of your email address to send updates therefore privacy is kept safe from spam mails. However there is a disadvantage which requires attention such as RSS feeds create higher traffic and demands on the server.

Mashupss is a topic which I completely have no idea about. After some research I realised that mashupss are a web tool which is used to collaborate information from all diferent sources. I found it very difficult to find further resarch on this topic therefore I wish we had discussed it more in class. However i will keep looking out for more information on this topic in order to obtain a better understanding as this was the only topic in the lecture that I did not really understand.

In the lab this week we continued with our team presenation. One om my team members were absent therefore we had no idea how much he had worked on the presentation. I was the only one in the team who had finshed my research therefore I helped the others to complete theirs.

Week 6

This week’s lecture was about Virtual Worlds a topic which I had never heard of before. This topic was very interesting because it was very different from anything I had done before. It was amazing to see how many companies use Virtual media to promote their products and their company. Another thing which was very amazing was to see the statistics of the number of people that logged into second life in the last seven days and how serious some people take second life as Margaret told us that many people spend a lot of money on second life.



In the lab we had to go into second life and create an account and then we could style our own avatar which sounded like a fun lab exercise. However I could not log on and create my own account therefore I had to watch somebody else designing their avatar which was not very exciting because her computer was very slow and the avatar would not do anything. For this reason I went home and downloaded the icon and then opened my account. Once I designed my avatar I visited the real world businesses within second life such as Dell, IBM and Calvin Klein they were all very well designed.


This week’s lecture was the best from all of the lectures we have had so far in this module. I feel that both of the lecturers are very good in presenting the lecture because both of them give lots of examples on the topic which makes it easier to understand the topic and makes it more fun as well. I feel that because we had a chance to go into second life and understand how to use it was a very useful skill to have because this could be a quality that an employer is looking to have in their staff so if we know more about it we are more likely to get recruited. However I would not want to do a future career which involved designing on second life because it seems both technical and difficult to do.

Week 5

This week’s lecture was on Social Networking which I found very interesting because social networking is a thing which is growing rapidly. Many people use it, some for business reasons and some for personal life therefore it is amazing to see the rise in the number of people that use facebook now from previous years. Learning about various different social networking sites is a good skill to have because employers will want to take on employees who can use these sites to either promote products or improve communication throughout the business. I already knew about most of the network sites discussed in the lecture but one that I did not know about was LinkedIn which is a business site where companies can advertise products and promote themselves. When I visited this site I found it very interesting as many companies had used it in different ways.


In the seminar this week we had a look at social networking sites and then were put into separate groups to undertake an e-activity. This e-activity involved choosing a social networking site which you felt would best promote a company given in the case study. As a team we decided to present our presentation in Google Docs as this would allow us all to contribute our parts into the presentation. Understanding what Google Docs is all about is useful because it can help teams to work individually but also together as there is no real need to meet one another or put the burden on one person to complete the presentation.
This e-activity in a way will help to improve our team working skills for our future careers also it will allow us to build on our communication skills as we were put into teams with people we had not spoken to before.

Week 4

This weeks lecture was about social media such as podcasting and bookmarking. from the lecture I learnt many things which I did not know becuase the only thing I really knew about was podcasting this was mainly because of my IRM lecturer using the podcasting technique to sumarise the lectures This weeks lecture gave us an outline of many websites which we can use now or in the future to share media files and also discussed how many people actually use these websites.

However I felt that this weeks lab was not of great use because we mainly just browsed the recommended websites which did not really help me much because it did not actually involve any practical work. For this reason in my future career if I had to do any of the things discussed in the lecture I would actually not know how to do them. I have understood the theory but prcatically have not understood anything.

This weeks e activity was just adding on to the wiki which we designed last week. I feel that so far in the module wikis and blogging is the only real thing I know completely as we have done practical work and also discussed the theory behind it therefore if I was to do any of these two things in my future career I would have no problem.

Doing the e-activity on wikis actually surprised me because when I was researching I actuaaly realised how many people actually use it including companies and individuals. It is a good way to contribute your thoughts and suggestions on a topic with other followers.