designShrine » Web 2.0 | API | Mashups http://designshrine.net Your Source for Interior, Web & Style Design Via RSS Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:11:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 From Bible APIs to Music APIs – 33 APIs Used in 7 Days http://designshrine.net/2009/05/11/from-bible-apis-to-music-apis-33-apis-used-in-7-days/ http://designshrine.net/2009/05/11/from-bible-apis-to-music-apis-33-apis-used-in-7-days/#comments Mon, 11 May 2009 15:48:16 +0000 Ty Wenzel http://designshrine.net/2009/05/11/from-bible-apis-to-music-apis-33-apis-used-in-7-days/ Visit ProgrammableWeb! 33 different APIs were used to build this week’s new mashups on ProgrammableWeb. For the third week in a row, the two most used APIs where the Twitter API and the Google Maps API. Some mashups used APIs that were newer or less frequently seen, including APIs from Bible Gateway, Blogama, Panoramio, and the [...]]]> Visit ProgrammableWeb!

33 different APIs were used to build this week’s new mashups on ProgrammableWeb. For the third week in a row, the two most used APIs where the Twitter API and the Google Maps API. Some mashups used APIs that were newer or less frequently seen, including APIs from Bible Gateway, Blogama, Panoramio, and the New York Times Movie Reviews. One prominent theme was music, with mashups that used APIs from Blip.fm, Last.fm, LyricWiki, and MTV. The list below shows which APIs were used by which mashups:

Akismet Akismet used in Fun Tourist Attractions

Amazon eCommerce Amazon eCommerce used in DVD Movie Previews, Mahak

Bible Gateway Bible Gateway used in A Walk Through The Word

Blip.fm Blip.fm used in Twitter Power Search

Blogama Blogama used in jQueery

eBay eBay used in Mirror TVs, Modified Cars

Flickr Flickr used in Anyvite, Creative Commons Car Pictures, Fun Tourist Attractions, jQueery

Google AdWords Google AdWords used in Google AdWords Performance Widget

Google AJAX Libraries Google AJAX Libraries used in Rent Jungle - Apartment Search With Google Streetviews

Google App Engine Google App Engine used in TwitGraph

Google Chart Google Chart used in Twitter Sentiment

Google Friend Connect Google Friend Connect used in jQueery

Google Maps Google Maps used in Anyvite, Fun Tourist Attractions, Map The Burg, Mappper - Personal Trips, MoMingle, Rent Jungle - Apartment Search With Google Streetviews, Sandrific, Sightseeing Tours, Swine Flu Tweets on Google Maps, World Sports Team and Stadium Search

Google Visualization Google Visualization used in TwitGraph

Guardian Guardian used in 1000 songs

Last.fm Last.fm used in 1000 songs, Primavera Explorer

LyricWiki LyricWiki used in 1000 songs

MTV MTV used in Small Wide World

MySpace MySpace used in Small Wide World

New York Times Article Search New York Times Article Search used in jQueery, NYT Trender

New York Times Movie Reviews New York Times Movie Reviews used in jQueery

New York Times Newswire New York Times Newswire used in jQueery

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets used in jQueery

Panoramio Panoramio used in Fun Tourist Attractions

Plaxo Plaxo used in Anyvite

PriceGrabber PriceGrabber used in Mahak

ProgrammableWeb ProgrammableWeb used in Small Wide World

Salesforce.com Salesforce.com used in All-in-one Dashboard Widget for Salesforce.com

Sunlight Labs Sunlight Labs used in jQueery

TwitPic TwitPic used in Twitter Power Search

Twitter Twitter used in Anyvite, BlastFollow, MoMingle, Swine Flu Tweets on Google Maps, TwitGraph, Twitter Compressor, Twitter Power Search, Twitter Sentiment

Weather Underground Weather Underground used in jQueery

YouTube YouTube used in Anyvite, Fun Tourist Attractions

And each day there is one mashup selected to be Mashup of the Day. Here are last week’s winners:

Anyvite

BlastFollow

Creative Commons Car Pictures

jQueery

Small Wide World

TwitGraph

Twitter Sentiment

Share, E-Mail or Print the Style: email Print PDF Twitter RSS Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Buzz del.icio.us Technorati Reddit MySpace Mixx LinkedIn Live Design Float Tumblr MSN Reporter Wists ThisNext SphereIt

]]> http://designshrine.net/2009/05/11/from-bible-apis-to-music-apis-33-apis-used-in-7-days/feed/ 0 Best New Mashups: Chumby and Facebook Voice Apps http://designshrine.net/2009/01/03/best-new-mashups-chumby-and-facebook-voice-apps/ http://designshrine.net/2009/01/03/best-new-mashups-chumby-and-facebook-voice-apps/#comments Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:08:17 +0000 Ty Wenzel http://designshrine.net/2009/01/03/best-new-mashups-chumby-and-facebook-voice-apps/ Visit ProgrammableWeb! Telephony and voice APIs are one of the most active segments of the API and mashup world (our directory has 42 telephony-related APIs). For example, in the past week, two of the latest mashups in the directory use telephony APIs in innovative ways: Broadsoft Xtended Chumby Widget: Allows you to use the BroadSoft Xtended [...]]]> Visit ProgrammableWeb!

Telephony and voice APIs are one of the most active segments of the API and mashup world (our directory has 42 telephony-related APIs). For example, in the past week, two of the latest mashups in the directory use telephony APIs in innovative ways:

Turnkey Website Business, The Affiliate Shakedown Turnkey Website Business, The Affiliate Shakedown Paypal US $167.00 2h 28m
Doctors Turnkey Adsense Website Doctors Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 3h 9m
NFL Football Turnkey Website With Free Hosting for life NFL Football Turnkey Website With Free Hosting for life Paypal US $75.00 3h 25m
STOCK MARKET FOREX PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE BUSINESS! STOCK MARKET FOREX PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE BUSINESS! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 3h 40m
755+Turnkey Websites PHP Scripts +14 Clones +18 Bonuses 755+Turnkey Websites PHP Scripts +14 Clones +18 Bonuses Paypal US $9.95 4h 28m
Profitable Football Turnkey Website Profitable Football Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 4h 29m
Profitable Home Office Turnkey Website Profitable Home Office Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 4h 49m
iTunes Ebay Adsense Portal Affiliate Turnkey Website!1 iTunes Ebay Adsense Portal Affiliate Turnkey Website!1 Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 5h 13m
debt Turnkey Adsense Website debt Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 5h 49m
Contractors Turnkey Adsense Website Contractors Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 6h 5m
Digital Cameras Turnkey Adsense Website Digital Cameras Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 6h 9m
Womens Jewelry Turnkey Adsense Website Womens Jewelry Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 6h 11m
Profitable Bibles Turnkey Website Profitable Bibles Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 7h 59m
Earn $8290 - established turnkey adult website for sale Earn $8290 - established turnkey adult website for sale Paypal 1 Bid US $.99 8h 5m
Profitable Snow Sports Turnkey Website Profitable Snow Sports Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 11h 27m
1000+ TURNKEY WEBSITES RESELL RIGHTS EBAY BUSINESS DVD 1000+ TURNKEY WEBSITES RESELL RIGHTS EBAY BUSINESS DVD Paypal 0 Bid US $7.45 12h 56m
Profitable Mens Shoes Turnkey Website Profitable Mens Shoes Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 13h 27m
PROFESSIONAL STOCK MARKET PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE! PROFESSIONAL STOCK MARKET PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 13h 58m
*HOT* DOG TRAINING PORTAL TURNKEY BUSINESS WEBSITE! *HOT* DOG TRAINING PORTAL TURNKEY BUSINESS WEBSITE! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 13h 58m
Dog Training **HOT** Turnkey Website Business for Sale! Dog Training **HOT** Turnkey Website Business for Sale! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 13h 58m
Share, E-Mail or Print the Style: email Print PDF Twitter RSS Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Buzz del.icio.us Technorati Reddit MySpace Mixx LinkedIn Live Design Float Tumblr MSN Reporter Wists ThisNext SphereIt

]]> http://designshrine.net/2009/01/03/best-new-mashups-chumby-and-facebook-voice-apps/feed/ 0 The New York Times Rolls Its Own Map Mashup: Represent http://designshrine.net/2009/01/03/the-new-york-times-rolls-its-own-map-mashup-represent/ http://designshrine.net/2009/01/03/the-new-york-times-rolls-its-own-map-mashup-represent/#comments Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:06:32 +0000 Ty Wenzel http://designshrine.net/2009/01/03/the-new-york-times-rolls-its-own-map-mashup-represent/ New York Times Movie ReviewsVisit ProgrammableWeb! The New York Times made news earlier this year through its release of several APIs (our Campaign Finance API Profile and our Movie Reviews API Profile). There’s been promise of more APIs to come, and the latest prototype created by The New York Times gives a preview of what is to come. Represent is [...]]]> Visit ProgrammableWeb!

New York Times Movie ReviewsThe New York Times made news earlier this year through its release of several APIs (our Campaign Finance API Profile and our Movie Reviews API Profile). There’s been promise of more APIs to come, and the latest prototype created by The New York Times gives a preview of what is to come.

Represent - NYTimes.com

Represent is a sophisticated map mashup that integrates stories from the New York Times and the City Room blog to provide citizens of the Big Apple with relevant information about political representatives at various scales of government. More details at our Represent mashup profile.

The post on the Open Blog summarizes Represent:

Using your address as a starting point, Represent figures out which political districts you live in and who represents you at different levels of government. It draws maps that show how where you live fits into the political geography of the city. And using information collected from around the Web, it presents a customized activity stream that tracks what the people who represent you are doing.

This is a promising experiment for the New York times and it draws from information from article searches and a Congressional votes database that The New York Times claims will soon be available as APIs. One of the interesting aspects of this mashup is the open source stack that the Times developers used to create Represent, which includes Django (and GeoDjango), PostGIS spatial extension for PostgreSQL, GEOS, and Geocoder-US. The end result is a home-grown geospatial mashup that provided the development team with a easily and readily customizable solution.

Learn more about The New York Times APIs that are currently available, and be sure to visit The New York Times Developer portal for additional documentation. Wired has some additional thoughts on Represent as well. [Hat Tip: Paul Ramsey]

Half a MILLION Web SITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash LOGOS Half a MILLION Web SITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash LOGOS Paypal 0 Bid US $11.95 25m
OVER 500,000 WEBSITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash GRAPHICS OVER 500,000 WEBSITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash GRAPHICS Paypal 0 Bid US $11.95 25m
Flash Template# 7002 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Flash Template# 7002 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Paypal 0 Bid US $5.99 40m
Flash Template# 7025 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Flash Template# 7025 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Paypal 0 Bid US $5.99 40m
200,000+ website Templates+ 5,000 ebooks Resellers sale 200,000+ website Templates+ 5,000 ebooks Resellers sale Paypal US $3.99 1h 2m
Giant Website Template Package - And Much More - 2 DVDs Giant Website Template Package - And Much More - 2 DVDs Paypal US $16.95 1h 58m
13 GB WEBSITE TEMPLATES,FLASH,HTML,SCRIPTS,EBOOKS,LOGOS 13 GB WEBSITE TEMPLATES,FLASH,HTML,SCRIPTS,EBOOKS,LOGOS Paypal US $9.95 2h 19m
40,000+ DREAMWEAVER WEBSITE TEMPLATE CD & MORE SALE!! 40,000+ DREAMWEAVER WEBSITE TEMPLATE CD & MORE SALE!! Paypal US $13.99 2h 22m
Website Design (HTML, Javascript, PHP, Flash, Template) Website Design (HTML, Javascript, PHP, Flash, Template) Paypal US $64.99 3h 33m
$ 10,000 Website & Auction Templates & Graphics On CD $ 10,000 Website & Auction Templates & Graphics On CD Paypal US $7.95 4h 46m
680,000+ Web Design, Website Templates, Graphics, Logos 680,000+ Web Design, Website Templates, Graphics, Logos Paypal 1 Bid US $9.95 6h 4m
MEGA EBAY TEMPLATES WEBSITE BANNERS CLIPART & GRAPHICS MEGA EBAY TEMPLATES WEBSITE BANNERS CLIPART & GRAPHICS Paypal 0 Bid US $5.68 11h 47m
2 MILLION WEBSITE TEMPLATES + PHP + OSCOMMERCE 2 MILLION WEBSITE TEMPLATES + PHP + OSCOMMERCE Paypal US $9.99 12h 34m
12,000+ Website Templates Package Resell Resale Rights 12,000+ Website Templates Package Resell Resale Rights Paypal 0 Bid US $5.68 13h 56m
WEBSITE TEMPLATES ECOMMERCE AUCTION RESELL RIGHTS DVD WEBSITE TEMPLATES ECOMMERCE AUCTION RESELL RIGHTS DVD Paypal 0 Bid US $5.68 15h 45m
Professional Flash Website Design Template - Animated!! Professional Flash Website Design Template - Animated!! Paypal US $7.50 16h 4m
200,000+ website Templates, Scripts,Clipart, morphing 200,000+ website Templates, Scripts,Clipart, morphing Paypal 1 Bid US $2.00 16h 31m
Custom Website Templates, Layouts, and Web Designs Custom Website Templates, Layouts, and Web Designs Paypal US $5.00 18h 3m
UNLIMITED Website Design Templates, Tools, Scripts, .. UNLIMITED Website Design Templates, Tools, Scripts, .. Paypal 0 Bid US $.39 19h 8m
Over 500,000 Website Templates, Logos, banners, flash!! Over 500,000 Website Templates, Logos, banners, flash!! Paypal US $17.95 19h 18m
Share, E-Mail or Print the Style: email Print PDF Twitter RSS Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Buzz del.icio.us Technorati Reddit MySpace Mixx LinkedIn Live Design Float Tumblr MSN Reporter Wists ThisNext SphereIt

]]> http://designshrine.net/2009/01/03/the-new-york-times-rolls-its-own-map-mashup-represent/feed/ 0 Dapper MashupAds: Easy Contextual Display Ads for Any Site http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/dapper-mashupads-easy-contextual-display-ads-for-any-site/ http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/dapper-mashupads-easy-contextual-display-ads-for-any-site/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:34:03 +0000 Ty Wenzel http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/dapper-mashupads-easy-contextual-display-ads-for-any-site/ Visit ProgrammableWeb! One of the many frustrations that mashup developers (and web developers in general) run into is trying to use contextual ads for sites with lots of dynamic content. By their very nature, mashups typically tap into data that constantly changes, making it difficult to use contextual ads that stay up-to-date with content. Now it [...]]]> Visit ProgrammableWeb!

One of the many frustrations that mashup developers (and web developers in general) run into is trying to use contextual ads for sites with lots of dynamic content. By their very nature, mashups typically tap into data that constantly changes, making it difficult to use contextual ads that stay up-to-date with content.

Now it seems that Dapper has changed the nature of advertising through the new release of its MashupAds contextual advertising service. If you are not familiar with Dapper, it’s a web-based service that allows users to extract and use information from any website by easily setting up automated ’screen scrapes’ known as ‘Dapps‘.

This screen scraping technology is now being leveraged to allow users to easily set up contextual ads that are driven by specific text elements from a web site. Users simply select elements from their web site (e.g., headers, titles, or captions) that should be used for the contextual ads. On the backend, Dapper uses its screen scraping technology to continually update the source text for ads, ensuring that contextual ads are relevant and up-to-date.

If you rely on third party content to update specific elements of your mashup (e.g., news headlines), using Dapper’s MashupAds will help you to tap into more targeted ads that blend well with your content. Thus it seems that ads can now be integrated with your mashup with greater precision than before (akin to using a scalpel rather an axe to identify the key words for your ads).

MashupAds is being released in private beta, and you can sign up here. Dapper has also provided a video overview of the service as well as a FAQ page. Also be sure to check out our Dapper API profile as well as the various mashups that users have created using Dapper.

Marshall Kirkpatrick over at ReadWriteWeb and Erick Schonfeld at TechCrunch have additional posts on the new service. [Hat tip to Marshall]

Related ProgrammableWeb Resources

Dapper API Profile and Mashups

Half a MILLION Web SITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash LOGOS Half a MILLION Web SITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash LOGOS Paypal 0 Bid US $11.95 25m
OVER 500,000 WEBSITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash GRAPHICS OVER 500,000 WEBSITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash GRAPHICS Paypal 0 Bid US $11.95 25m
Flash Template# 7002 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Flash Template# 7002 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Paypal 0 Bid US $5.99 40m
Flash Template# 7025 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Flash Template# 7025 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Paypal 0 Bid US $5.99 40m
200,000+ website Templates+ 5,000 ebooks Resellers sale 200,000+ website Templates+ 5,000 ebooks Resellers sale Paypal US $3.99 1h 2m
Giant Website Template Package - And Much More - 2 DVDs Giant Website Template Package - And Much More - 2 DVDs Paypal US $16.95 1h 58m
13 GB WEBSITE TEMPLATES,FLASH,HTML,SCRIPTS,EBOOKS,LOGOS 13 GB WEBSITE TEMPLATES,FLASH,HTML,SCRIPTS,EBOOKS,LOGOS Paypal US $9.95 2h 19m
40,000+ DREAMWEAVER WEBSITE TEMPLATE CD & MORE SALE!! 40,000+ DREAMWEAVER WEBSITE TEMPLATE CD & MORE SALE!! Paypal US $13.99 2h 22m
Website Design (HTML, Javascript, PHP, Flash, Template) Website Design (HTML, Javascript, PHP, Flash, Template) Paypal US $64.99 3h 33m
$ 10,000 Website & Auction Templates & Graphics On CD $ 10,000 Website & Auction Templates & Graphics On CD Paypal US $7.95 4h 46m
680,000+ Web Design, Website Templates, Graphics, Logos 680,000+ Web Design, Website Templates, Graphics, Logos Paypal 1 Bid US $9.95 6h 4m
MEGA EBAY TEMPLATES WEBSITE BANNERS CLIPART & GRAPHICS MEGA EBAY TEMPLATES WEBSITE BANNERS CLIPART & GRAPHICS Paypal 0 Bid US $5.68 11h 47m
2 MILLION WEBSITE TEMPLATES + PHP + OSCOMMERCE 2 MILLION WEBSITE TEMPLATES + PHP + OSCOMMERCE Paypal US $9.99 12h 34m
12,000+ Website Templates Package Resell Resale Rights 12,000+ Website Templates Package Resell Resale Rights Paypal 0 Bid US $5.68 13h 56m
WEBSITE TEMPLATES ECOMMERCE AUCTION RESELL RIGHTS DVD WEBSITE TEMPLATES ECOMMERCE AUCTION RESELL RIGHTS DVD Paypal 0 Bid US $5.68 15h 45m
Professional Flash Website Design Template - Animated!! Professional Flash Website Design Template - Animated!! Paypal US $7.50 16h 4m
200,000+ website Templates, Scripts,Clipart, morphing 200,000+ website Templates, Scripts,Clipart, morphing Paypal 1 Bid US $2.00 16h 31m
Custom Website Templates, Layouts, and Web Designs Custom Website Templates, Layouts, and Web Designs Paypal US $5.00 18h 3m
UNLIMITED Website Design Templates, Tools, Scripts, .. UNLIMITED Website Design Templates, Tools, Scripts, .. Paypal 0 Bid US $.39 19h 8m
Over 500,000 Website Templates, Logos, banners, flash!! Over 500,000 Website Templates, Logos, banners, flash!! Paypal US $17.95 19h 18m
Share, E-Mail or Print the Style: email Print PDF Twitter RSS Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Buzz del.icio.us Technorati Reddit MySpace Mixx LinkedIn Live Design Float Tumblr MSN Reporter Wists ThisNext SphereIt

]]> http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/dapper-mashupads-easy-contextual-display-ads-for-any-site/feed/ 0 200 Music Mashups http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/200-music-mashups/ http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/200-music-mashups/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:19:56 +0000 Ty Wenzel http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/200-music-mashups/ MTVVisit ProgrammableWeb! The world of music is not just where the phrase “mashup” originated, it is also one of the most popular types of web mashups. With over 40 music APIs to choose from, developers have created a wide range of music-related mashups and we now have over 200 music mashups in our directory. If you look [...]]]> Visit ProgrammableWeb!

MTVThe world of music is not just where the phrase “mashup” originated, it is also one of the most popular types of web mashups. With over 40 music APIs to choose from, developers have created a wide range of music-related mashups and we now have over 200 music mashups in our directory.

If you look at the most popular music mashups you see some themes:

For more on music-related web mashups, see our Music API and Mashup Dashboard.

Related ProgrammableWeb Resources

Turnkey Website Business, The Affiliate Shakedown Turnkey Website Business, The Affiliate Shakedown Paypal US $167.00 2h 28m
Doctors Turnkey Adsense Website Doctors Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 3h 9m
NFL Football Turnkey Website With Free Hosting for life NFL Football Turnkey Website With Free Hosting for life Paypal US $75.00 3h 25m
STOCK MARKET FOREX PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE BUSINESS! STOCK MARKET FOREX PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE BUSINESS! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 3h 40m
Profitable Football Turnkey Website Profitable Football Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 4h 29m
Profitable Home Office Turnkey Website Profitable Home Office Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 4h 49m
iTunes Ebay Adsense Portal Affiliate Turnkey Website!1 iTunes Ebay Adsense Portal Affiliate Turnkey Website!1 Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 5h 13m
debt Turnkey Adsense Website debt Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 5h 49m
Contractors Turnkey Adsense Website Contractors Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 6h 5m
Digital Cameras Turnkey Adsense Website Digital Cameras Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 6h 9m
Womens Jewelry Turnkey Adsense Website Womens Jewelry Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 6h 11m
Profitable Bibles Turnkey Website Profitable Bibles Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 7h 59m
Profitable Snow Sports Turnkey Website Profitable Snow Sports Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 11h 27m
Profitable Mens Shoes Turnkey Website Profitable Mens Shoes Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 13h 27m
PROFESSIONAL STOCK MARKET PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE! PROFESSIONAL STOCK MARKET PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 13h 58m
*HOT* DOG TRAINING PORTAL TURNKEY BUSINESS WEBSITE! *HOT* DOG TRAINING PORTAL TURNKEY BUSINESS WEBSITE! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 13h 58m
Dog Training **HOT** Turnkey Website Business for Sale! Dog Training **HOT** Turnkey Website Business for Sale! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 13h 58m
HOT TURNKEY PRESS RELEASE WEBSITE BUSINESS IS FOR SALE! HOT TURNKEY PRESS RELEASE WEBSITE BUSINESS IS FOR SALE! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 14h 24m
Dropship Wholesale Store Turnkey Website For Sale! Dropship Wholesale Store Turnkey Website For Sale! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 14h 24m
GET PAID TO TAKE SURVEYS TURNKEY WEBSITE BUSINESS! GET PAID TO TAKE SURVEYS TURNKEY WEBSITE BUSINESS! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 14h 24m
Share, E-Mail or Print the Style: email Print PDF Twitter RSS Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Buzz del.icio.us Technorati Reddit MySpace Mixx LinkedIn Live Design Float Tumblr MSN Reporter Wists ThisNext SphereIt

]]> http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/200-music-mashups/feed/ 0 BooRah: An API for Restaurant Search and Ratings http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/boorah-an-api-for-restaurant-search-and-ratings/ http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/boorah-an-api-for-restaurant-search-and-ratings/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:05:30 +0000 Ty Wenzel http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/boorah-an-api-for-restaurant-search-and-ratings/ Visit ProgrammableWeb! BooRah, the restaurant search service, has announced the release of the BooRah API. The API augments the existing BooRah syndication platform, which is currently used by newspapers and other web sites that have a local focus. Their API is a standards-based web services platform, that also provides enhanced mobile platform capabilities. On mobile platforms, [...]]]> Visit ProgrammableWeb!

BooRah, the restaurant search service, has announced the release of the BooRah API. The API augments the existing BooRah syndication platform, which is currently used by newspapers and other web sites that have a local focus. Their API is a standards-based web services platform, that also provides enhanced mobile platform capabilities. On mobile platforms, the API automatically integrates with Mozilla Geode and Skyhook Loki when they are present.

The API provides restaurant search capability based on location, with the returned results including ratings for food, service, and ambiance. ReadWriteWeb’s Marshall Kirkpatrick provided an evaluation of the services BooRah provides this past April in an informative post titled “BooRah: I Could Give Up Yelp For This”.

The BooRah API is REST-based, with the results returned in XML. Developers can submit up to 5000 API requests per day. See our BooRah API profile for more details.

The BooRah development team is very open to suggestions for enhancing the API. In the API release announcement, BooRah’s Nagaraju Bandaru said:

We believe that BooRah’s semantic technology is uniquely positioned to deliver necessary content for mobile applications. The release of this API is a first step in supporting development of location-enabled restaurant applications are we are eager to drive the adoption by enhancing based on requirements from the community.

You can see the BooRah API in action at BooRah’s DineFinder site. DineFinder integrates the BooRah API and Google Maps to create a basic restaurant search service.



In keeping-up with the latest mobile platforms, BooRah has also just released a restaurant search app that runs on the Android G1.

Related ProgrammableWeb Resources

BooRah Restaurant Search API Profile and Mashups


Turnkey Website Business, The Affiliate Shakedown Turnkey Website Business, The Affiliate Shakedown Paypal US $167.00 2h 28m
Doctors Turnkey Adsense Website Doctors Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 3h 9m
NFL Football Turnkey Website With Free Hosting for life NFL Football Turnkey Website With Free Hosting for life Paypal US $75.00 3h 25m
STOCK MARKET FOREX PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE BUSINESS! STOCK MARKET FOREX PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE BUSINESS! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 3h 40m
755+Turnkey Websites PHP Scripts +14 Clones +18 Bonuses 755+Turnkey Websites PHP Scripts +14 Clones +18 Bonuses Paypal US $9.95 4h 28m
Profitable Football Turnkey Website Profitable Football Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 4h 29m
Profitable Home Office Turnkey Website Profitable Home Office Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 4h 49m
iTunes Ebay Adsense Portal Affiliate Turnkey Website!1 iTunes Ebay Adsense Portal Affiliate Turnkey Website!1 Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 5h 13m
debt Turnkey Adsense Website debt Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 5h 49m
Contractors Turnkey Adsense Website Contractors Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 6h 5m
Digital Cameras Turnkey Adsense Website Digital Cameras Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 6h 9m
Womens Jewelry Turnkey Adsense Website Womens Jewelry Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 6h 11m
Profitable Bibles Turnkey Website Profitable Bibles Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 7h 59m
Earn $8290 - established turnkey adult website for sale Earn $8290 - established turnkey adult website for sale Paypal 1 Bid US $.99 8h 5m
Profitable Snow Sports Turnkey Website Profitable Snow Sports Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 11h 27m
1000+ TURNKEY WEBSITES RESELL RIGHTS EBAY BUSINESS DVD 1000+ TURNKEY WEBSITES RESELL RIGHTS EBAY BUSINESS DVD Paypal 0 Bid US $7.45 12h 56m
Profitable Mens Shoes Turnkey Website Profitable Mens Shoes Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 13h 27m
PROFESSIONAL STOCK MARKET PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE! PROFESSIONAL STOCK MARKET PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 13h 58m
*HOT* DOG TRAINING PORTAL TURNKEY BUSINESS WEBSITE! *HOT* DOG TRAINING PORTAL TURNKEY BUSINESS WEBSITE! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 13h 58m
Dog Training **HOT** Turnkey Website Business for Sale! Dog Training **HOT** Turnkey Website Business for Sale! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 13h 58m
Share, E-Mail or Print the Style: email Print PDF Twitter RSS Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Buzz del.icio.us Technorati Reddit MySpace Mixx LinkedIn Live Design Float Tumblr MSN Reporter Wists ThisNext SphereIt

]]> http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/boorah-an-api-for-restaurant-search-and-ratings/feed/ 0 1,000 Web APIs http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/1000-web-apis/ http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/1000-web-apis/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:38:53 +0000 Ty Wenzel http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/1000-web-apis/ Visit ProgrammableWeb! Last week ProgrammableWeb crossed one of its biggest milestones thus far when we added the 1,000th web service API to our API directory. This is a long way from the 32 APIs we started with back in the summer of 2005. Back then even the phrase “web mashup” was only a few months old. And [...]]]> Visit ProgrammableWeb!

Last week ProgrammableWeb crossed one of its biggest milestones thus far when we added the 1,000th web service API to our API directory. This is a long way from the 32 APIs we started with back in the summer of 2005. Back then even the phrase “web mashup” was only a few months old.

And the change is not just in quantity of APIs, but in quality, variety, rate of growth, and most of all, impact. Over the past 3 years, APIs have shown they can be truly disruptive in a wide range of online markets. We’ve seen this with the introduction of ground breaking APIs like:

One of the trends we’ve seen in open APIs is that within a given market segment, once one API becomes a huge success (like Google Maps or Facebook), or a sufficient number of leaders offer APIs (like in eCommerce), that a competitive or defensive reaction occurs and soon everyone else in that sector feels like they need to offer an API. It can be a domino effect. Within a year after the Facebook F8 launch of their platform nearly everyone from Google’s Orkut to MySpace offered open APIs. Likewise this has happened in mapping, video, photo, music, messaging, voice (the telcos are opening-up, often begrudgingly), and even in the news business (with new APIs for NPR, The New York Times, and lots of other news and media outlets coming soon).

How do these 1000 APIs break down by type? The following chart, derived from our database, shows the the top 15 sectors or markets with the greatest number of competing API providers. As you can see there are already 71 mapping-related APIs alone:

As each of those largest API markets have grown, we’ve added new Topic Areas on ProgrammableWeb to track the news, APIs, mashups and sub-trends:

From a technology perspective, where are we on the API front? For one thing, the success of open Web APIs has had a big impact on the rise of RESTful design patterns. To provide some light on this from an open API perspective, we’ve created a new mashup, using our own ProgrammableWeb API and the Google Chart API, to show the distribution of protocol usage by API across our directory. As you can see, 63% of the APIs in our directory are REST-based (and including Atom, also RESTful, there’s more).

And what was API number 1000 in our directory? It was the New York Times Community API, a notable new API provider, one that besides giving you all the news that’s fit to mix, symbolizes just how much the world is opening-up.


Half a MILLION Web SITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash LOGOS Half a MILLION Web SITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash LOGOS Paypal 0 Bid US $11.95 25m
OVER 500,000 WEBSITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash GRAPHICS OVER 500,000 WEBSITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash GRAPHICS Paypal 0 Bid US $11.95 25m
Flash Template# 7002 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Flash Template# 7002 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Paypal 0 Bid US $5.99 40m
Flash Template# 7025 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Flash Template# 7025 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Paypal 0 Bid US $5.99 40m
200,000+ website Templates+ 5,000 ebooks Resellers sale 200,000+ website Templates+ 5,000 ebooks Resellers sale Paypal US $3.99 1h 2m
Giant Website Template Package - And Much More - 2 DVDs Giant Website Template Package - And Much More - 2 DVDs Paypal US $16.95 1h 58m
13 GB WEBSITE TEMPLATES,FLASH,HTML,SCRIPTS,EBOOKS,LOGOS 13 GB WEBSITE TEMPLATES,FLASH,HTML,SCRIPTS,EBOOKS,LOGOS Paypal US $9.95 2h 19m
40,000+ DREAMWEAVER WEBSITE TEMPLATE CD & MORE SALE!! 40,000+ DREAMWEAVER WEBSITE TEMPLATE CD & MORE SALE!! Paypal US $13.99 2h 22m
Website Design (HTML, Javascript, PHP, Flash, Template) Website Design (HTML, Javascript, PHP, Flash, Template) Paypal US $64.99 3h 33m
$ 10,000 Website & Auction Templates & Graphics On CD $ 10,000 Website & Auction Templates & Graphics On CD Paypal US $7.95 4h 46m
680,000+ Web Design, Website Templates, Graphics, Logos 680,000+ Web Design, Website Templates, Graphics, Logos Paypal 1 Bid US $9.95 6h 4m
MEGA EBAY TEMPLATES WEBSITE BANNERS CLIPART & GRAPHICS MEGA EBAY TEMPLATES WEBSITE BANNERS CLIPART & GRAPHICS Paypal 0 Bid US $5.68 11h 47m
2 MILLION WEBSITE TEMPLATES + PHP + OSCOMMERCE 2 MILLION WEBSITE TEMPLATES + PHP + OSCOMMERCE Paypal US $9.99 12h 34m
12,000+ Website Templates Package Resell Resale Rights 12,000+ Website Templates Package Resell Resale Rights Paypal 0 Bid US $5.68 13h 56m
WEBSITE TEMPLATES ECOMMERCE AUCTION RESELL RIGHTS DVD WEBSITE TEMPLATES ECOMMERCE AUCTION RESELL RIGHTS DVD Paypal 0 Bid US $5.68 15h 45m
Professional Flash Website Design Template - Animated!! Professional Flash Website Design Template - Animated!! Paypal US $7.50 16h 4m
200,000+ website Templates, Scripts,Clipart, morphing 200,000+ website Templates, Scripts,Clipart, morphing Paypal 1 Bid US $2.00 16h 31m
Custom Website Templates, Layouts, and Web Designs Custom Website Templates, Layouts, and Web Designs Paypal US $5.00 18h 3m
UNLIMITED Website Design Templates, Tools, Scripts, .. UNLIMITED Website Design Templates, Tools, Scripts, .. Paypal 0 Bid US $.39 19h 8m
Over 500,000 Website Templates, Logos, banners, flash!! Over 500,000 Website Templates, Logos, banners, flash!! Paypal US $17.95 19h 18m
Share, E-Mail or Print the Style: email Print PDF Twitter RSS Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Buzz del.icio.us Technorati Reddit MySpace Mixx LinkedIn Live Design Float Tumblr MSN Reporter Wists ThisNext SphereIt

]]> http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/1000-web-apis/feed/ 0 Japan’s iKnow Opens API for Cognitive Learning http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/japan%e2%80%99s-iknow-opens-api-for-cognitive-learning/ http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/japan%e2%80%99s-iknow-opens-api-for-cognitive-learning/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:34:39 +0000 Ty Wenzel http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/japan%e2%80%99s-iknow-opens-api-for-cognitive-learning/ Carego iKnowVisit ProgrammableWeb! iKnow, a social learning site launched last month by Japanese company Cerego, has launched an API (our iKnow profile) to allow third parties to “add a little Learning and Linguistic magic to [their] applications, widgets and other mashups.” iKnow allows users to take virtual English and Japanese language lessons (other languages are promised for [...]]]> Visit ProgrammableWeb!

Carego iKnow

iKnow, a social learning site launched last month by Japanese company Cerego, has launched an API (our iKnow profile) to allow third parties to “add a little Learning and Linguistic magic to [their] applications, widgets and other mashups.” iKnow allows users to take virtual English and Japanese language lessons (other languages are promised for the future) and guides and tracks their progress. Through the social component users can share their progress with friends, leave comments, keep journals, and compete for rankings.

The new API provides developer access to most aspects of the site, including user information, studying and social activity, and study items. The REST-like interface allows read (GET) access to all items without authentication, whereas POST and DELETE calls for creating and removing content require both an API key and authentication via HTTP basic or OAuth. Responses are available in XML, HTML, RSS, and JSON for most calls.

One unique aspect of the iKnow API, a result of its focus on language learning, is XMLVocabulary, a data format for describing vocabulary learning items. The XML structure specifies “cues” and “responses” to aid in memorization, as well as images, sounds, and sample sentences. XMLVocabulary is specific to iKnow, but the company is interested in “evolving this standard so it can benefit others,” and has also proposed learning microformats, beginning with hVocabulary.

Cerego boasts that its 280,000 registered users have spent over 15 million minutes using iKnow’s learning tools. That averages out to only 67 minutes each, but browsing the site’s social areas show that many members are actively using the service and forming a community. With the new API not only allowing information to be pulled from the service, but also new content to be created, the company is banking on the site’s mass and momentum to continue increasing.

API documentation, a so-far quiet developer forum, and a public wiki can all be found on the Cerego iKnow developer portal. No sample applications have been provided so far but there is Ruby code for parsing the XMLVocabulary format.

Turnkey Website Business, The Affiliate Shakedown Turnkey Website Business, The Affiliate Shakedown Paypal US $167.00 2h 28m
Doctors Turnkey Adsense Website Doctors Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 3h 9m
NFL Football Turnkey Website With Free Hosting for life NFL Football Turnkey Website With Free Hosting for life Paypal US $75.00 3h 25m
STOCK MARKET FOREX PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE BUSINESS! STOCK MARKET FOREX PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE BUSINESS! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 3h 40m
755+Turnkey Websites PHP Scripts +14 Clones +18 Bonuses 755+Turnkey Websites PHP Scripts +14 Clones +18 Bonuses Paypal US $9.95 4h 28m
Profitable Football Turnkey Website Profitable Football Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 4h 29m
Profitable Home Office Turnkey Website Profitable Home Office Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 4h 49m
iTunes Ebay Adsense Portal Affiliate Turnkey Website!1 iTunes Ebay Adsense Portal Affiliate Turnkey Website!1 Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 5h 13m
debt Turnkey Adsense Website debt Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 5h 49m
Contractors Turnkey Adsense Website Contractors Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 6h 5m
Digital Cameras Turnkey Adsense Website Digital Cameras Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 6h 9m
Womens Jewelry Turnkey Adsense Website Womens Jewelry Turnkey Adsense Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 6h 11m
Profitable Bibles Turnkey Website Profitable Bibles Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 7h 59m
Earn $8290 - established turnkey adult website for sale Earn $8290 - established turnkey adult website for sale Paypal 1 Bid US $.99 8h 5m
Profitable Snow Sports Turnkey Website Profitable Snow Sports Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 11h 27m
1000+ TURNKEY WEBSITES RESELL RIGHTS EBAY BUSINESS DVD 1000+ TURNKEY WEBSITES RESELL RIGHTS EBAY BUSINESS DVD Paypal 0 Bid US $7.45 12h 56m
Profitable Mens Shoes Turnkey Website Profitable Mens Shoes Turnkey Website Paypal 0 Bid US $.99 13h 27m
PROFESSIONAL STOCK MARKET PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE! PROFESSIONAL STOCK MARKET PORTAL TURNKEY WEBSITE! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 13h 58m
*HOT* DOG TRAINING PORTAL TURNKEY BUSINESS WEBSITE! *HOT* DOG TRAINING PORTAL TURNKEY BUSINESS WEBSITE! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 13h 58m
Dog Training **HOT** Turnkey Website Business for Sale! Dog Training **HOT** Turnkey Website Business for Sale! Paypal 0 Bid US $19.95 13h 58m
Share, E-Mail or Print the Style: email Print PDF Twitter RSS Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Buzz del.icio.us Technorati Reddit MySpace Mixx LinkedIn Live Design Float Tumblr MSN Reporter Wists ThisNext SphereIt

]]> http://designshrine.net/2008/12/03/japan%e2%80%99s-iknow-opens-api-for-cognitive-learning/feed/ 0 Visual Communication And Video Publishing – Selected Tools And Web Services – Sharewood Guide Oct 12 08 http://designshrine.net/2008/10/14/visual-communication-and-video-publishing-selected-tools-and-web-services-sharewood-guide-oct-12-08/ http://designshrine.net/2008/10/14/visual-communication-and-video-publishing-selected-tools-and-web-services-sharewood-guide-oct-12-08/#comments Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:57:34 +0000 Ty Wenzel http://designshrine.net/2008/10/14/visual-communication-and-video-publishing-selected-tools-and-web-services-sharewood-guide-oct-12-08/ visual-communication_id704193_size485.jpgVisit Robin Good! Need to convert your videos between major video file formats, create web-based charts, as well as editing or adding effects to your existing pictures? Photo credit: Antonis Papantoniou All this and more in this roundup of new cool visual communication and video publishing tools I have personally selected for you. This week: ActivePixels: Edit your images [...]]]> Visit Robin Good!

Need to convert your videos between major video file formats, create web-based charts, as well as editing or adding effects to your existing pictures?

visual-communication_id704193_size485.jpg
Photo credit: Antonis Papantoniou

All this and more in this roundup of new cool visual communication and video publishing tools I have personally selected for you. This week:

  1. ActivePixels: Edit your images for free on Windows machines
  2. Cyclops: Search pictures on major stock photography engines
  3. iCharts: Create Flash-based charts from input data or Excel tables
  4. 1001FreeFonts: Browse and download free fonts for your Windows or Mac platform
  5. Smush It: Upload a picture and let the system optimize it by reducing its size
  6. Molv: Stream live images from your phone, and embed recordings anywhere
  7. CellSea Video Converter: Edit videos with basic features and convert them between various formats
  8. TubeMaster: Browse online videos on major sharing sites and download them in multiple formats

Here the details:

Visual Communication Tools

  1. ActivePixels
    tools_visual-communication_activepixels.gif
    Active Pixels is a photo editor for Windows that lets you edit all of your pictures for free. Its interface reminds of Adobe Photoshop, and it has many features as layers, effects, freehand selection, and everything you would get in a professional editor. It supports more than 100 image formats, between which you can also find Photoshop's native PSD. Active Pixels is free to download and use.
    http://idea-systems.net/
  2. Cyclops

    Cyclops is an image search engine that lets you make researches on BigStockPhoto, Flickr, Fotolia, iStockphoto, Photos.com, Shutterstock, stock.xchng and stockvault with one click. After you input your query and select where you want to search, results will gather divided by source, and you'll be able to click any image you like and be instantly brought to its download page on the source site. Free to use.
    http://cyclo.ps/
  3. iCharts
    visual-communication_icharts.gif
    iCharts is an online service that you can use to create Flash-based charts easily. It allows everyone to upload Excel sheets or manually add data from which they can instantly create, share and embed interactive charts within minutes. Every chart can then be embedded anywhere on the web or printed. iCharts is completely free to use, registration is needed.
    http://www.icharts.net/
  4. 1001FreeFonts
    visual-communication_1001freefonts.gif
    1001FreeFonts is a huge database of free fonts for Windows and Mac platforms. When you land on the home page, you can start browsing fonts by category, see the day's featured ones, or even search for them. When you find one that suits your needs, you can simply download it for free, paying attention to the version you need (Win or Mac), and install it on your machine. Free.
    http://www.1001freefonts.com/
  5. Smush It
    visual-communication_smushit.gif
    Smush It is an image optimizer that enables users to provide an image and it will automatically reduce its size with no quality loss. To use it, just choose if you want to use it as a Firefox extension, or whether you want to directly upload images from your PC or URL: after a matter of seconds your image will be ready for download, reduced in size but not in quality. Free to use, no registration needed.
    http://smushit.com/

Video Publishing Tools

  1. Molv

    Molv is a mobile video streaming service that enables any phone to stream live images on the web. If you own one of the supported phones, you can register to the service, download the software, and start broadcasting live images in your own channel. Shows are automatically recorded by default so that you can later embed them on any page, but this can be changed in the settings menu.
    http://molv.com/
  2. CellSea Video Converter
    visual-communication_cellsea.gif
    CellSea is a web-based video convert and editor which allows you to add effects, change size, add sound or simply to convert your videos to other formats. Just upload a video from PC ur URL (from sharing websites like YouTube, GoogleVideo, DailyMotion): you can then set the start and end time to trim it, join one or more videos to it, resize and crop it, or simply convert it to AVI, MOV, MP4, FLV or 3GP file. Free to use, no registration needed.
    http://www.cellsea.com/
  3. TubeMaster
    visual-communication_tubemaster.gif
    TubeMaster is a freeware portable application which can download multimedia files (such as FLV, MP3, MP4 ...) from major sharing sites like YouTube, and can save them on your computer. Using the integrated browser, you can make researches on these sites, and choose which videos to download as you watch them. All multimedia files can then be converted to other popular video or audio formats (AVI, MPEG, MP3, MP4, IPod, PSP ...). Free to download and use.
    http://tubemaster.free.fr/

Originally written by Nico Canali De Rossi for Master New Media and first published on October 12th 2008 as "Visual Communication And Video Publishing - Selected Tools And Web Services - Sharewood Guide Oct 12 08"

Share, E-Mail or Print the Style: email Print PDF Twitter RSS Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Buzz del.icio.us Technorati Reddit MySpace Mixx LinkedIn Live Design Float Tumblr MSN Reporter Wists ThisNext SphereIt

]]> http://designshrine.net/2008/10/14/visual-communication-and-video-publishing-selected-tools-and-web-services-sharewood-guide-oct-12-08/feed/ 0 Is Web 2.0 Really Democratic? http://designshrine.net/2008/10/14/is-web-20-really-democratic/ http://designshrine.net/2008/10/14/is-web-20-really-democratic/#comments Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:55:15 +0000 Ty Wenzel http://designshrine.net/2008/10/14/is-web-20-really-democratic/ web-2-and-democracy-080222_Tech_WikiEX-485.jpgVisit Robin Good! Web 2.0 has revolutionized the panorama of the information society: users have become information producers and the new web platforms have become relationship venues where new knowledge and ideas emerge. Also the new tools of social networking, social tagging, wikis and blogs enable new forms of social interaction, participation and cooperation. But... Photo [...]]]> Visit Robin Good!

Web 2.0 has revolutionized the panorama of the information society: users have become information producers and the new web platforms have become relationship venues where new knowledge and ideas emerge. Also the new tools of social networking, social tagging, wikis and blogs enable new forms of social interaction, participation and cooperation. But...

web-2-and-democracy-080222_Tech_WikiEX-485.jpg
Photo credit: Slate magazine

  • Is this participation really democratic?
  • Or is this a democracy paradox, where everyone can interact but the decision making places are all outside the net?
  • Is the horizontal leveling of internet communications really an instrument of democracy?
  • How would it be possible to transform these emotional and communication-oriented extensions in a real space connected with the physical world of true participation to decision-making?

I have gone out and asked to four people whose intellectual integrity and life vision the above questions: Howard Rheingold, John Blossom, Michel Bauwens, Sepp Hasslberger answer the above questions from four diverse individual viewpoints:

Howard Rheingold of Smartmobs.com

Howard-Rheingold-by-oso-on-Flickr-2258401195_2a9d8dfde7-300.jpg

  1. Is this participation really democratic?"Democratizing" means making access (to information, tools, policy-making discussions, elections, etc.) widely available. This, however, does not guarantee a healthy democracy.

    What if more people vote, but their picture of political candidates and their policies are distorted by sophisticated public relations tools and strategies?

    What if their educations are so poor that voters are unable to think critically about partisan claims?

    I am wary of projecting hopes onto the tools you mention -- which truly have the potential to inform and involve more people in democratic decision-making -- without paying attention to the less visible parts of the system I mention.

  2. Or is this a democracy paradox, where everyone can interact but the decision making places are all outside the net?I am also wary of governance by instant voting. This is known as the "plebiscite" and can be very dangerous: a demagogue or a government can propagandize people into starting a war or adopting a policy without a process of deliberation.That's why modern democracies are generally republics -- citizens elect representatives who are expected to deliberate openly and transparently.
  3. Is the horizontal leveling of internet communications really an instrument of democracy?It CAN be. But more than the technology is required. A healthy public sphere is essential -- most people need to have sufficient education, freedom to criticize, well-trained critical faculties, and ample sources of accurate information.
  4. How would it be possible to transform these emotional and communication-oriented extensions in a real space connected with the physical world of true participation to decision-making?Education!

Michel Bauwens of P2P Foundation

Michel-Bauwens-by-Gullig-on-Flickr-1552514539_e51e93ccbb-271.jpg

The first level is expression, and it is clear that in this context, the Web 2.0 is a resounding success.

And it's importance should not be underestimated since historically, we can see that people with power have always tried to limit and control expression, so we should not be cynical about it.

I think that Web 2.0 generally goes beyond expression, and has also become an efficient tool for mobilization and collective action

But expression is not deliberation. Most Web 2.0 platforms are not very well suited for the kind of complex deliberation that would be needed to create a context for decision-making. I think these kinds of tools, which can integrate complexity, adequately filter for quality, and have a value conscious design approach that insure that a diversity of views are taking into account, are still too far between, but quite a few groups are working on it

The key in politics is not expression, nor expressing discontent or resistance, but actually transforming things. Collective action can change things, but still implies a separation between the 'people' and 'representative institutions'. It implies 'we' are asking 'them', to change their ways.

So I think the real revolution of peer to peer technologies is that it allows people not just expression, but actually a redesign of social processes.

For example, free software communities successfully embed their values in software, and so do the emerging open design communities that are now starting to tackle physical production itself. This is the next great frontier of peer production communities.

But equally crucial, and this is why I believe Lessig made the right decision in moving from Creative Commons to Open Politics, is that we actually start redesigning politics itself.

If you see sites like worldchanging.org, or p2pfoundation.net for that matter, it is rather easy to come to the conclusion that most solutions for contemporary problems already exist, but they are scattered in marginal groups.

At the same time, the current political and economic system seems almost completely oblivious to it, and so these crucial solutions do not seem to be able to scale. This is a sign of a profound disease and insufficiency of current democratic and representative regimes, that are in the hands of privileged elites, who hide their power through a lack of openness.

The big fight now is openness and transparency.

And as we create our own P2P alternatives, we still have to tackle the mainstream system, and since a direct approach seems impossible (simply changing one party by another with very similar standard policies), what we need is to redesign, reprogram the political process itself.

That's the crucial task right now, and Web 2.0 is not sufficient for this, it's merely a first step.

John Blossom of Shore.com

John-Blossom-by-Mark-Goldstein-IRC-on-Flickr-436105536_9a2e9c6148-325-290.jpg

  1. Is this participation really democratic?While not all social media tools are available to everyone in the world, by its nature people who have access to social media are participating in the most democratic form of political human expression.

    In the past the power of a political voice was determined by a person's connection to powerful people, by their access to the media or a bullhorn or whatever other device amplified one voice over that of an electorate's voice. In social media the opportunity for all voices to express themselves begins to become a reality.

    However, just because social media tools are being used for political expression doesn't mean that the content being generated by social media is always "the voice of the people."

    Oftentimes powerful individuals and organizations will hire surrogates to spread their opinions using social media tools, creating "astroturf" - content that's supposed to look like "grass roots" opinion but which is in fact sponsored by a controlling interest.

    What I am noticing in this year's U.S. election is that people are far more aware of the potential for astroturf content and challenging it more quickly and vocally.

    It's also important to note the growth of media outlets that use social media tools but which have editorial staffs that enable them to operate much as any other media publication would. Just because you're using the tools of social media doesn't necessarily mean that you're actually trying to be just one voice in the crowd.

    This is not to say that the powerful should not have a voice as well in social media. In a true democracy all people of all walks of life should have a voice in political discussions.

    But if democracy is a system which says that each person has one voice as well as one vote, then all of the people who have that right should have an equal opportunity to influence their peers through social media.

    Within that framework influential figures arise, leadership forms and actions are taken based on that influence, but the influence, endorsement and leadership is not presumed. Social media is a key venue in which such influence, endorsement and leadership is formed.

  2. Or is this a democracy paradox, where everyone can interact but the decision making places are all outside the net?In my book Content Nation I am highlighting the importance of the coffee houses and the taverns of the American colonies in which influential political pamphlets such as Thomas Paine's Common Sense were discussed.The discussions in those gathering places and the passing of these pamphlets from one person to another was in effect the social media of that era. Without those influential discussions and the local thought leadership that emerged from them there would not have arisen the widespread convictions that led to the actions outside of the rooms in which these discussions took place.

    Democracy is a form of self-organizing government: one cannot form it until people have organized their thoughts as to how they would like to be represented.

    So while oftentimes the discussions in social media forums may appear to be as boistrous as any that one may encounter in a pub or a cafe, that boisterousness leads to the convictions to express oneself through democratic institutions.

    Social media can enable actual decision making - many services provide polling capabilities - but its primary value is to enable people to have the intellectual and emotional interchange necessary to make informed decisions in the democratic process or to inform our representatives of the true opinions of the electorate more efficiently.

    A simple analogy can be found in and about my home town. In the New England region of the U.S. many small towns still govern themselves via direct representation: the citizens of a town gather at appointed times to vote on town budgets and regulations and to discuss and to vote upon important issues. However, as some of these towns grew this form of government gave way to representative town meetings, in which citizens are called upon oftentimes to speak out on issues of public importance at town meetings but in which the elected representatives then are called upon to vote. Both are democratic functions, but in the representative town meeting the voice of the citizens is separate from the actual political action.

    It's feasible over time that social media will enable us to return to more of a direct representation in democratic institutions, but for now I think that it is mostly about enabling people to influence the actions of elected officials and influencing how they are chosen.

  3. Is the horizontal leveling of internet communications really an instrument of democracyThe horizontal leveling of the internet can enable democratic views of the world and is without a doubt the most revolutionary invention for human communication since the spoken word.Once voice can decide to speak out and can gain a global audience virtually overnight, influencing political decision making both on a national and global level as well as at a local level, based solely on the influence and endorsement of their peers.

    The ability of any voice anywhere to influence the course of decision-making that impacts society is the foundation of democratic action. The corollary of that freedom, however, is that it takes democratic organization of all of the content generated by social media for people to become aware of such opinions.

    If millions of voices shout out but we hear from the same media-selected opinion-makers again and again then social media has done little good. This is where the traditional media outlets fail us oftentimes.

    It is good to have high-quality traditional media outlets, but social media outlets enable a far broader array of opinions and insights to surface by enabling a far broader array of influencers and leaders to arise through the combined endorsements of individuals. This allows the combing intellect and insight of countless people to factor in to democratic decision making.

  4. How would it be possible to transform these emotional and communication-oriented extensions in a real space connected with the physical world of true partecipation to decision-making?

    5. To bring it back to my discussion of New England town government, there is the long-term possibility that social media becomes a more direct instrument of governmental decision-making.

    But even today social media is being extended into the political process directly. If you look at Barack Obama's presidential campaign social media tools were an essential factor in organizing his campaign workers: enthusiasm for a political candidate was transformed into political action directly through social media. Obama's record online campaign donations were another example of how social media breaks through into the real space.

    People are using social media tools to organize people rapidly in local areas as well: weblogs were a crucial factor in our local elections in 2006 and social media tools have helped to change the course of several local political debates.

    Our town's First Selectman, a mayor by most people's understanding, is a blogger! Finally I think that we're seeing more and more use of venues such as Facebook to make people aware of political causes and to be organized to take real-world action. Hundreds of thousands of people who are passionate about a cause can be organized in a matter of a few days. That's highly scalable political activism that just wasn't there a few years ago.

    We need the tools of social media to help us form our decision making, but it's up to us to take action based on those experiences.

    I trust and expect that the power of social media to enable such transformation of discussions in to action will catch the world by surprise in the months and years ahead.

    I doubt that the discussions in coffee houses and taverns in colonial American were taken very seriously by those who were not a part of them. But then people decided to act upon those discussions.

    So it will be with social media. People have no idea yet as to just how powerful a tool that it will become.

    The courage of convictions is all that's required to make that clear to the world. This happens again and again already in ways large and small, but some day soon the world will be aware that they are a nation of publishers, united in their ability to communicate to the world and to influence one another as citizens of the same.

Sepp Hasslberger of Health Supreme / Hasslberger.com

Sepp-Hasslberger-portrait-101_0142-5-180.jpg

  1. Is this participation really democratic?If democracy means participation, then web 2.0 is really democratic.

    Actually it can be even considered more democratic than what we are used to calling our "democratic society", where participation is not invited. We are supposed to vote once every four-five years, and let the politicians get on with leading us wherever they wish. Not much of the original idea of democracy left there.

  2. Or is this a democracy paradox, where everyone can interact but the decision making places are all outside the net?You could call it a paradox. Everyone can interact on the web, but for now, the decisions are made in other places. Just as I said, we elect politicians and are expected to let them do the leading.It would be much better if there were some connection between what the people want and what the politicians are doing. I could imagine that the web might be used to discuss and decide on actual things in politics, and the politicians take the message that has been "filtered out" and act in accordance with it.

    But this is only a phase of transition. Sooner or later, the web will gain an important role in politics, even to the extent where we no longer need politicians.

    If we can discuss and decide, all we need to implement decisions are administrators - local, regional, national, international - administrators to carry out the will of the people.

  3. The horizontal leveling of internet communications is really an instrument of democracy?It should be and it could be, but right now, I think it isn't.
  4. How would it be possible to transform these emotional and communication-oriented extensions in real space connected with the physical world of true participation to decision-making?There are several efforts that attempt to bring electronic voting and discussions into the political reality, so far with very limited success.

    To bring true participatory decision making, first of all, we'll have to learn to take our share of responsibility. When there are decisions to be made, and this will be practically constantly, we must be willing to take time out from other efforts to get into the issues that are of interest to us, and participate in the process of maturing a consensus.

    At the same time, we need to link these decisions into the actual administration of things.

    It appears a huge step to take from where we are now, but things are in motion.

Originally written and prepared by Robin Good for Master New Media and first published on October 10th 2008 as "Is Web 2.0 Really Democratic?"

Half a MILLION Web SITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash LOGOS Half a MILLION Web SITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash LOGOS Paypal 0 Bid US $11.95 25m
OVER 500,000 WEBSITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash GRAPHICS OVER 500,000 WEBSITE Templates PHOTOSHOP Flash GRAPHICS Paypal 0 Bid US $11.95 25m
Flash Template# 7002 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Flash Template# 7002 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Paypal 0 Bid US $5.99 40m
Flash Template# 7025 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Flash Template# 7025 - FULL FLASH WEBSITE - FLASHMINTS Paypal 0 Bid US $5.99 40m
200,000+ website Templates+ 5,000 ebooks Resellers sale 200,000+ website Templates+ 5,000 ebooks Resellers sale Paypal US $3.99 1h 2m
Giant Website Template Package - And Much More - 2 DVDs Giant Website Template Package - And Much More - 2 DVDs Paypal US $16.95 1h 57m
13 GB WEBSITE TEMPLATES,FLASH,HTML,SCRIPTS,EBOOKS,LOGOS 13 GB WEBSITE TEMPLATES,FLASH,HTML,SCRIPTS,EBOOKS,LOGOS Paypal US $9.95 2h 19m
40,000+ DREAMWEAVER WEBSITE TEMPLATE CD & MORE SALE!! 40,000+ DREAMWEAVER WEBSITE TEMPLATE CD & MORE SALE!! Paypal US $13.99 2h 22m
Website Design (HTML, Javascript, PHP, Flash, Template) Website Design (HTML, Javascript, PHP, Flash, Template) Paypal US $64.99 3h 33m
$ 10,000 Website & Auction Templates & Graphics On CD $ 10,000 Website & Auction Templates & Graphics On CD Paypal US $7.95 4h 46m
680,000+ Web Design, Website Templates, Graphics, Logos 680,000+ Web Design, Website Templates, Graphics, Logos Paypal 1 Bid US $9.95 6h 4m
MEGA EBAY TEMPLATES WEBSITE BANNERS CLIPART & GRAPHICS MEGA EBAY TEMPLATES WEBSITE BANNERS CLIPART & GRAPHICS Paypal 0 Bid US $5.68 11h 47m
2 MILLION WEBSITE TEMPLATES + PHP + OSCOMMERCE 2 MILLION WEBSITE TEMPLATES + PHP + OSCOMMERCE Paypal US $9.99 12h 34m
12,000+ Website Templates Package Resell Resale Rights 12,000+ Website Templates Package Resell Resale Rights Paypal 0 Bid US $5.68 13h 56m
WEBSITE TEMPLATES ECOMMERCE AUCTION RESELL RIGHTS DVD WEBSITE TEMPLATES ECOMMERCE AUCTION RESELL RIGHTS DVD Paypal 0 Bid US $5.68 15h 45m
Professional Flash Website Design Template - Animated!! Professional Flash Website Design Template - Animated!! Paypal US $7.50 16h 4m
200,000+ website Templates, Scripts,Clipart, morphing 200,000+ website Templates, Scripts,Clipart, morphing Paypal 1 Bid US $2.00 16h 31m
Custom Website Templates, Layouts, and Web Designs Custom Website Templates, Layouts, and Web Designs Paypal US $5.00 18h 3m
UNLIMITED Website Design Templates, Tools, Scripts, .. UNLIMITED Website Design Templates, Tools, Scripts, .. Paypal 0 Bid US $.39 19h 8m
Over 500,000 Website Templates, Logos, banners, flash!! Over 500,000 Website Templates, Logos, banners, flash!! Paypal US $17.95 19h 18m
Share, E-Mail or Print the Style: email Print PDF Twitter RSS Facebook Digg StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Buzz del.icio.us Technorati Reddit MySpace Mixx LinkedIn Live Design Float Tumblr MSN Reporter Wists ThisNext SphereIt

]]> http://designshrine.net/2008/10/14/is-web-20-really-democratic/feed/ 0