Silverlight is Microsoft’s cross-browser, cross-platform browser plug-in that allows the creation of interactive web applications that employ high quality streaming media, vector graphics, images, and animation. Deployed as a plug-in for the major browsers on the Windows, Mac and Linux (supported by Novell) operating systems, web developers can craft interactive applications that have an identical user experience on the vast majority of web browsers deployed today. Silverlight addresses a disconnect that exists today in web development workflow where the design intent of graphics designers and interaction designers cannot be faithfully communicated to and crafted by the web developers. In Silverlight, this intent is created in design tools like Expression Design and Expression Blend and passed off to web developers in XML-based XAML data files. The fidelity of the designers’ ideas is kept as there is a clear separation between the design in XAML and the code in JavaScript.
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Blogs are one of Web 2.0’s most interesting and sticky developments; they’ve changed the way users find and interact with content and brands. The online experience was changed when blogs first started becoming popular, and now they’re fast becoming an integral part of many companies’ online marketing initiatives and web presence.
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We revisit the top-level ontology Gumo for the uniform management of user and context models in a semantic web environment. We discuss design decisions, while putting the focus on ontological issues. The structural integration into user model servers, especially into the U2M-UserModel&ContextService, is also presented. We show ubiquitous applications using the user model ontology Gumo together with the user model markup language UserML. Finally, we ask how data from Web 2.0 and especially from a social tagging application like del.icio.us as a basis for user adaptation and context-awareness could influence the ontology
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2007 has been a great year for the Web. On the one hand, there has been an upswing in the number of Web 2.0 start- ups globally, while on the other hand, popular Web 2.0 start-ups like Facebook, jaiku, feedburner and others have been acquired or invested in by the giants of the Web like Microsoft and Google. Closer home in India, the trends have been similar, though still in a nascent stage, as social networking became a buzzword with Orkut. That led to start-ups like Minglebox (which obtained funding from Sequoia Capital), BigAdda (backed by Reliance), Desimartini (recently acquired by HTMedia), and many others. Though launches occurred at a lower frequency than in the US, India has seen over 150 Web 2.0 start-ups launched during this year (according to internal research at WATConsult) in different spaces from social networking, social bookmarking and blogging, to media sharing, local search, etc. Let’s take a look at some of the…
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The fact that you are reading this handbook probably means that you are experienced in e-Learning implementation at a university or similar institution. You will probably be aware of the tools and styles of working on LMS, and will be used to communicating whilst working and learning online. But at the same time, by surfing the net and probably by observing your students, you will clearly see that changes are coming. Freely available new technologies, common access to the Internet and to information, new types of social interactions mediated by technology; all of these things require a shift in the way that we learn and teach. e-Learning using new technologies is an innovative learning method.
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The emergence of Web 2.0 technologies has created opportunities for the visualization of much information on the web. It is, therefore, one of the empowering sources for learning, or so-called e-learning 2.0 (Downes, 2005). Educators are starting to explore the potential of blogs, media-sharing services and other social software - which, although not designed specifically for e-learning, can be used to empower students and create exciting new learning opportunities. During the past few years, Web technology has been rapidly developed in order to increase its functionalities and design; however, this might indirectly increase more barriers to another group of users. To put it differently, those for whom the Web is inaccessible for whatever reason will become increasingly excluded from mainstream life if it is not made accessible to them. The way this information is presented may mean that it is difficult, or impossible, for people with various forms of disability to access it. A visual on a screen is of no use to someone who is blind. Nonetheless, there are many solutions for this problem today and hopefully even more in the near future.
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Web 2.0 continues to play an increasingly important role in online business today as consumers look for a new and more engaging online experience and increased flexibility in how they interact with businesses online. In the business brief Measuring Web 2.0 with WebTrends Marketing Lab, Part 1: RIA and RSS Up Close, we demonstrated how to measure Web 2.0 technologies like Rich Internet Applications (RIA)—including AJAX and Flash—to improve the user experience. We also showed that measuring the effectiveness of Real Simple Syndication (RSS) can ensure that you successfully extend the reach of your web content.
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Web 2.0 has initiated a new age of Web interaction. Countless everyday activities such as seeking information, shopping, filling in forms and making appointments can be done effectively and often more cheaply on the Web. However many of the new community sites, and other Web 2.0 sites, do not promote accessibility in terms of inclusivity. They are built for, and are of most benefit to, young socially integrated people who own their own laptop and live in a world of readily available radio LAN and fast access broadband. However many older or disabled people are living on low budgets and do not have access to such things. Those for whom the Web is inaccessible for whatever reason will become increasingly excluded from mainstream life if it is not made accessible to them.
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