This proposal aims to create a module that implements the GData protocol specification in Drupal. The Google data APIs provide a simple standard protocol, called “GData”, for reading and writing data on the web using either of two standard XML-based syndication formats: Atom or RSS. This module will handle all the basic stuff a developer shouldn’t have to worry about when developing modules that extend its functionality such as data transfer, protocol adherence, and authentication. It will expose its own API which will allow other developers to create modules that easily interact with information provided by Google’s many service APIs. Using this module, module developers who need access to this information need only concern themselves with what’s important: the data.
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Facebook is one of the most popular Internet sites today. A key feature that arguably contributed to Facebook’s unprecedented success is its application platform, which enables the development of third-party social-networking applications. Understanding how these applications are installed and used is important for the function and utility of web-based online social networks, e.g. to better engineer them and/or to design advertising campaigns.
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Large volumes of content (bookmarks, reviews, videos, etc.) are currently being created on the “Social Web”, i.e. on Web 2.0 community sites, and this content is being annotated and commented upon. The ability to view an individual’s entire contribution to the Social Web would be an interesting and valuable service, particularly important as social networks are often being formed through created content and things that people have in common (“object-centred sociality”). SIOC is a Semantic Web research project that aims to describe online communities on the Social Web. This paper describes how SIOC and the Semantic Web can enable linking and reuse scenarios of data from Web 2.0 community sites, and introduces a SIOC Types module to further specify the type of content items and act as a “glue” between user posts and the content items created and annotated by users.
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For many of today’s companies, a greater volume of work is expected from a limited number of employees. This environment makes it essential for companies to have a strategy in place to nurture and track employee talent. A lack of effective talent management can critically impact business operations and employee productivity. For example, companies without adequate sales and support training programs take longer to bring new products to market; customer retention issues arise from poorly trained support representatives; and employee productivity remains low when workforce talent is not aligned with business processes and goals.
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Web 2.0 refers to a trend in web design and technology that facilitates the publishing and sharing of information among internet users. The term was first used by technology commentator Tim O’Reilly in 2004 to describe a new direction in web use, distinguished by increased interactivity between users. Web 2.0 encourages the development of a participatory culture, where users contribute content back to the web rather than merely consuming it. Traditionally, websites consisted of static pages for commerce and the one-way delivery of information. Now applications such as blogs and social networks enable users to contribute and share information in ways that did not even exist a few years ago. Web 2.0 sites such as Wikipedia, MySpace and Facebook are now household names, with over half of our surveyed respondents acknowledging the use of these tools in their personal and professional lives.
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The digital age has vastly expanded people’s access to all sorts of information and resources, including educational materials. The Internet has also fostered a new culture of sharing, one in which content is freely contributed and distributed with few restrictions. Indeed, the latest evolution of the Internet, Web 2.0, is creating a new kind of participatory medium that is ideal for encouraging multiple types of learning.
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Under the term “Web 2.0” the Internet is currently going through a new growth phase where end users create content and communities are built for user interaction. One of these Web 2.0 services is Flickr, a photo-sharing platform that allows users to upload photos, tag, comment and add them to favourite lists and build a personal social network.
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Sharing personal content online is surprisingly hard despite the recent emergence of a huge number of content sharing systems and sites. These systems suffer from several drawbacks: they each have a different way of providing access control which cannot be used with other systems; moving to a new system is a lengthy process and requires registration and invitation of all one’s friends to the new system; and the rules for access control are complicated and become more so as our networks of online friends grow.
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