Just wanted to say thanks to everyone at BSDA tonight. I had a lot of fun, and the audience was very attentive and engaged. Even the “parking lot” session afterward was a lot of fun, some great questions and give and take. All in all it was not only a great experience but a lot of fun. Thanks guys!
Arcane
7 years ago today, July 6th my youngest baby girl came into the world. Wow how time flies! I’m taking the day off to spend with her and make her birthday really special, so have a good weekend and I’ll see you back here next week.
Today I thought I’d cover a few items that I found interesting, but were not in and of themselves enough info for an extensive blog post. I call these Arcane Tidbits.
First up is an interesting new Trojan horse that is attacking computers. When you reboot the computer, something pops up that looks alarmingly like the Microsoft Windows Activation screen. It tells you another user has activated your copy of Windows, and demands you enter credit card info as a way to validate your identity, of course reassuring you that you won’t be charged. If you fail to do so it shuts down your PC. PC Magazine has an interesting writeup as well as a link on how to remove this pest at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2147608,00.asp .
Another interesting story from PC Magazine, the first known spam sent out as a PDF file is now in circulation. Read more about it at http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/2007/07/more_pdf_spam.php . To quote Patrick Norton (http://dl.tv/ ) “Remember kids, never ever ever open attachments from people you don’t know, and sometimes even from people you do.”
If you’ve been working in the .Net space for a bit, you’ve probably heard of the new Microsoft Cardspace that is part of .Net 3.0. However, you may be looking for a good basic intro to give to your boss or non-programming friends like system administrators to help them understand it. In episode 98 of Security Now, Steve Gibson gives a nice basic overview of what Cardspace is and how it works.
You can this episode at http://www.twit.tv/sn98 . Steve does get a bit technical, so I don’t know I’d suggest it for your dad (unless your dad is a former CIO like mine) but for your boss, DBAs, or System Admins it’s a good intro on what it is and how it works without getting into the programming. You might want to listen to show 95 (http://www.twit.tv/sn95 ) on OpenID first, as OpenID and Cardspace go hand in hand.
Next a bit of a personal note, I feel like a kid in a Web 2.0 candy store lately. You see, up until this week I’ve been using Hughes DirecWay to get my internet via Satellite. The speed was slow, about 700k down, but better than dial up. The downside is their FAP, or Fair Access Policy. Now I was spending nearly 90 bucks a month for their Professional Level service. Under that plan, I would get FAPped if I downloaded “too much”.
And how much is too much? Good question, I tried to find that out myself and was met with evasive technical answers. The best I could determine, based upon the elusive answers given to me by several tech support personnel, was somewhere around 50 megabytes an hour. Yes, you are reading that correct, 50 megabytes an hour, or about 1 podcast.
And what happened if I downloaded to much? Well I got FAPped as they call it, my bandwidth was choked back to a speed so slow it made dial up attractive. And forget doing VPN on it, it won’t work.
In order to get the speed out of the satellite, Hughes compresses the packets before they go up and down to the satellite via the dish. With VPN however all traffic is encrypted, so it can’t see the packet to compress it. Oh, the sales people don’t mention this, and one even told me it “should work” and I have to admit that once, just once, I actually made a VPN connection to the office. It was so slow though I had time to drive to the office to see the results of a single keypress.
Well happy days are here as AT&T ran DSL to my house last week. The installer could not have been nicer and more professional, and they even called a few days later to follow up and make sure everything was still working. I admit I was a bit dubious when AT&T bought BellSouth, but so far they look like they really have their act together.
My rather long winded point is I now have an 8 megabit connection to the net, with no limitations on bandwidth. No more FAPping! No more latency! No more 90 bucks a month for a service I’m not allowed to use! I’m now free to go explore all the cool Web 2.0 stuff like Skype, YouTube, and more. I’m sure I’ll be blogging about my experiences, but if you know of some cool high bandwidth technologies I can go play with drop a comment and let me know.
And finally, my local Discovery store is closing (sniffle). True there’s still the online store, but it was a lot of fun to go in and browse. I picked up two books I’ve had my eye on for a while at a deep discount. One is Mythbusters: Don’t Try This At Home Unless We Tell You To. It’s a book of experiments you can do with your kids, I intend to give it to my daughters and we can have some fun with it.
The second book is also about Mythbusters, and talks about the founding of the show and covers the stories behind 30 of their most popular myths. I’ve already looked through the first chapter, this looks to be a fun read, and with discounts I bought both books for a mere 20 bucks. You might want to check your local Discovery store as well.
And there you go a few little tidbits for your reading pleasure.
Standard Disclaimer: I receive no considerations financial or otherwise from any of the business or products mentioned in today’s post, and being a geek think the Mythbusters are really really cool.
Today is the 4th of July, and in the U.S.A. a national holiday. I’ll be taking the day off, celebrating my country’s birthday with barbeque, fireworks and special events.
Here in Alabama we have a great place called American Village ( http://americanvillage.org/index.shtml ), a place that has recreated many important buildings from colonial days such as the Philidelphia Courthouse and George Washington’s house. On the 4th they have a lot of displays, actors recreating historical moments (the Patrick Henry “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech is especially good), and tops the day off with music and fireworks.
Happy Birthday U.S.A.!
Readers will know I’m a big fan of digital photography, it’s a hobby of mine I like to relax with. For example, here’s a pic I took in downtown Birmingham (the one in Alabama, not England).
![[My Picture!]](https://arcanecode.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/windowslivewriterarcanefunfridaysphotographicpodcasts-ebdsc-0196-34.jpg)
I’m also a big beliver in podcasts, I listen to many to educate myself in the .Net world. It occurred to me there’s probably some good photographic podcasts as well, and sure enough I found some good ones. I thought I’d pass along some of the one’s I’ve been listening to, for your listening delight.
The Candid Frame – The host interviews photographers to find out how they got started, their techniques, etc.
Martin Bailey Photography – Martin shares his techniques with us.
Jeff Curto’s Camera Position – Jeff concentrates on the creative side of photography
Tips from the Top Floor – Each week Chris has a new technique for us. You should also check out the forums, they are very active.
Photocast Network – This is a central site for many shows including the ones I’ve listed above. They also have a few other shows I want to check out but haven’t had the opportunity to as of yet.
You should definitely check out the “Focus Ring” episodes. These are shows where the hosts from several of the network’s shows get together on a single podcast to discuss various topics. By far these have been my favorite episodes so far.
There you go, some podcasts to listen to while you’re out playing with that new camera of yours this weekend!
TV’s Mr. Wizard, a.k.a. Don Herbert passed away June 12th, 2007 at the tender young age of 89. For decades Mr. Wizard made science interesting and fun. I got into Mr. Wizard in the 80’s when he was on Nickelodeon. And yes even though the show was aimed at kids, I was already in my 20’s. That shows you how good he was, he made a show for kids interesting to young adult geeks.
One of his big themes was making science accessible to everyone, showing how anyone could do science at home. I guess in some way he was a real for runner of the Web 2.0 movement, showing how anyone can do fun science with what they have on hand and not having to rely on some big company. Naturally Mr. Wizard’s on the web, you can view his official site and read more at http://www.mrwizardstudios.com/.
My condolences to the Herbert family, the science world is a little dimmer now without Mr. Wizard.
It’s been a long week, so I thought today I’d share a little link love, and point you to some of the sites I like to visit when I want to relax.
One of my hobbies is digital photography. I’m on my fifth digital camera (or maybe sixth, I’ve lost count). It’s a Nikon Digital SLR, the D-80. My favorite thing to take photos of is architecture, especially old buildings, and especially old abandoned buildings. There’s something about the effects of nature assaulting a building that just fascinates me.
The site that got me started is called Hours of Darkness ( http://www.hoursofdarkness.com/ ). The site specializes in both night photography and photographing abandoned things like buildings, cars, airplanes and the like.
Another site I love is Opacity ( http://www.opacity.us/ ). This site also focuses on the exploration of abandoned places. The site owner, Mr. Motts does some excellent photoshopping to create some stunning effects. Both Opacity and Hours of Darkness have very active forums, and a lot of great photos can be found there so be sure not to miss the forums on either site.
A few more sites I frequent with the same themes are Art In Ruins ( http://www.artinruins.com/index.php ), Bleeding Shutter ( http://www.bleedingshutter.com/main.php ), and Urban Desertion ( http://www.urbandesertion.com/ ).
When I’m looking for a deal, I check out Woot. http://www.woot.com/ . They only sell one thing at a time, but it’s usually a good deal. Earlier this week I bought a wireless network card for an old laptop I plan to convert to a Linux machine. (Don’t worry, I already checked, it does have drivers.) Even if you are not interested in the deals, the write ups are a riot, some will leave you in stitches.
When I’m in the mood for a podcast, something educational but having nothing to do with computers, I listen to Astronomy Cast at http://www.astronomycast.com/ . Good show, lets me relax and at the same time learn a little something.
When I need a good laugh, I really enjoy the on-line comic, Being Five ( http://beingfive.blogspot.com/ ).
And finally, when I really need a good laugh or a meaningful story, I read the blog of my own sweet wife. You can find the Southern Tinkerbelle at http://southerntinkerbelle.com .
Just thought I’d share a bit of fun today, I’ve found a cool website called InterfaceLIFT. (http://interfacelift.com/). It has wallpapers, icons, themes, etc to enhance your system. You can specify the size of wallpapers, and it includes sizes for the oddball laptop screens like mine, 1440×900. If you are looking for a way to spice up your install, or just get a few really nice looking wallpapers, this is a great resource, and even works with Vista!
I hate to sound like an advertisement, but I recently found some software that absolutely rocks and I just have to share. I have to confess that I’m a “keyboard freak”. I hate having to take my hands off the keyboard, so much so that I bought a Lenovo keyboard with the touchpoint mouse cursor to use on my desktop, just like what you’d find on an IBM Thinkpad.
Now I’ve found some software that even further reduces the number of times I have to move my hands away from the home position to reach for those awkward keys, such as the cursor keys. It’s called TouchCursor, available at http://touchcursor.com.
What they do is use your space bar like another shift / ctrl / alt key. They then combine the space bar with the letter keys to emulate the odd keys like cursor, page up, etc. For example, space bar + I moves up one line. Space bar + K moves back down, space bar + J moves left, and so on. Here’s the default mapping (graphic courtesy of their site):
This is wonderful stuff, no longer do I have to move my hands off the “home” position to move the cursor around. And even better, the software is completely configurable. I can change the key combos to anything I want, and even add new ones. It also works perfectly with existing key combos like ctrl, shift, and alt. For example, SHIFT + SPACEBAR + L is the same as SHIFT + RIGHT ARROW.
Now, you may think “well what if I have that odd program it doesn’t work right with?” No problem, the software allows you to turn off the functionality for specific applications. For example, I found it behaving a bit oddly with Virtual PC sessions (probably had something to do with both the guest and host OS wanting to look at the keyboard), so I disabled it for Virtual PC and just run it inside the VPC guest. Or you can take the reverse tactic, and only enable it for certain apps.
It really looks like they have thought of everything, all the little tweaks you might want to do with the software are available for you to do. I’ve been testing this with both Vista and XP and it works great on both platforms.
TouchCursor is shareware, you can download a copy and try it out for 30 days with no nag screens or any other crippling feature. The cost is only 20 US Dollars though, well worth the investment (I just sent in my 20!). For your money you get tech support, lifetime upgrades and permission to run on all of your computers. Not to mention the good feeling of helping out a worthwhile product. All that for 20 bucks? Count me in.
This is a really creative solution for increasing productivity at the keyboard. Rarely do I fall in love with a piece of code, but this product has made my very short list of “must have won’t operate a computer without it” software. I highly recommend trying it out, and using it for the full 30 days. It does take a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it you won’t want to operate a keyboard without it!
Standard disclaimer: I have no financial affiliation with Rare Pebble Software, the folks who make Touch Cursor, other than being a customer. I receive no consideration of any kind for this mention. I just think it’s some awesome software and wanted to share.
PS Sorry for no post yesterday, it was a business travel day and I got home much later than I anticipated.
Today I’m at an offsite meeting, talking about a new project. I won’t get into too many specific details, but we have to pull data from a web service and update an Oracle database. We can use a vendor provided Java API that runs on a Unix box to do the updates, or we can write to the database directly as long as we handle integrity issues.
So we spent the day brainstorming, to come up with possible solutions. Here is the list of contenders:
We haven’t made a decision yet, and my point was not so much to talk about the pro’s and cons of each solution. Instead it’s to get you to think creatively when it comes to new solutions for your company. Sitting down and cranking out yet another C# or VB.Net app may not always be the best approach. You may have a task you can accomplish with less code by using SQL Server Integration Services. Or maybe BizTalk might fit the bill.
All too often as programmers our first answer to any solution is to pull up Visual Studio and start grinding out code. Take some time though, to explore a few other options. There’s a rich set of tools out there, and sometimes the best solution to a programming problem may not be programming.
In reflecting on Friday’s post, I realized there are a few people who I consider “heroes” in the tech world, but aren’t programmers (or at least it’s not what they are primarily known for). I thought they deserved a mention, hence today’s post.
Leo Laporte
You may remember Leo from the MSNBC, then TechTV channels doing shows like Call for Help and The Screen Savers. Today Leo runs the successful TWIT Podcast network (http://twit.tv), producing many helpful shows on the state of the tech industry. His relaxed but informative style is a pleasure to listen to.
Patrick Norton
Patrick was Leo’s co-host on The Screen Savers. This guy knows hardware. Today he still has a TV show, only you can download it and watch it at your leisure. At DL.TV (http://dl.tv/) Patrick, with co-host Robert Herron puts out a bi-weekly show reminiscent of the Screen Saver days. They look at the latest tech, answer viewer questions, and provide useful info.
Steve Gibson
What a treasure Steve is. Each week he and Leo have a show on the TWIT network called Security Now (http://www.twit.tv/SN). I have learned so much about the way networks work, ways to secure your computer against attacks, each week it’s like attending a doctorate level course in networking and security.
If his name sounds familiar, Steve is the same Gibson of Gibson Research Corporation (http://www.grc.com), the guys who do Sheild’s Up (for testing your computer’s security) and SpinRite, the disk recovery tool.
And there you go, a few guys who deserve a mention for their contributions to the tech community.
When Jeff Atwood was on DotNetRocks recently, he mentioned his programming heroes. It got me to thinking back on some of my own heroes, and thought what the heck. So if you’ll indulge me as I head down memory lane…
My Dad
I guess my earliest hero was my own dad, Ron. He brought home a TRS-80 Model 1 when I was around 12. He wrote a little Star Wars game on it (all ASCII graphics) in BASIC. His downfall was letting me, an clueless kid and geek in the making get his hands on a 2000 dollar (US) computer to play the game.
And not just that, but letting me go in and look at the source! I wound up having more fun tinkering with the source code than playing the game. Primarily I hacked it to make it harder for my sister to win. 😉 But it set me down the path of software development, and so for being crazy enough to let a 12 year old kid put his hands on one of the earliest of the home computers, Dad makes my first coding hero.
Mark Westbrook
I mention Mark’s full name in hopes he’ll find this and give me a shout out. I knew Mark when we lived in southeast Alabama together, he was the first guy I ever met who was really passionate about programming. He ate, sleep, and drank computers. His house was just a place to keep his computer, an IBM PCjr.
Mark was the guy who reinforced my belief in software as a craft, an art form, and not just a 9 to 5 job. To say he was an enthusiast was something of an understatement.
Ethan Winer
For those who don’t remember Ethan (http://www.ethanwiner.com/index.htm), you may recall his company Crescent Software. Crescent made all sorts of really cool libraries to work with QuickBasic. His stuff rocked, and made it possible to do really serious (and cool) things with QuickBasic. I remember writing several TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) programs with one of his libraries.
Dan Appleman
Most people include Dan Appleman because of his Win32 API book for VB Coders, but for me it was his book “Developing ActiveX Components With Visual Basic 5.0: A Guide to the Perplexed” which put him into the hero category. It was after reading this book I felt like I’d turned the corner into true understanding of a lot of the guts behind VB and COM.
Carl Franklin
Back in the early days of VB there was one place to go for all your really good VB Tips: Carl & Gary’s. My memory is a little foggy, but about the time I found the site Gary took a sabbatical and Carl picked up the bulk of the work. (I don’t have anything against Gary, he just wasn’t around.) At any rate, I learned so much and got so many cool coding tidbits Carl makes the list as one of my early heroes.
Dan Fox
Dan Fox wrote a book called Pure Visual Basic (http://shrinkster.com/opa), back in the VB6 days. This was a great book, because it contained everything you needed to know to write professional level applications. It was great both for teaching and as a reference.
I used it to teach a series of VB6 classes that started at the basics and went all the way through to advanced topics, and for the entire series Dan’s book was all I needed. At work, I used it as a reference to look up the “how to” for those things I didn’t do on a daily basis.
Bill Vaughn
No list would be complete without the original database Hitchhiker, William R. “Bill” Vaughn. His books over the years have taught me and many others the ins and outs of programming against the database, primarily SQL Server. His early works combined with his current (and fabulous) version of the Hitchhiker guide and SQL Server Compact Edition E-Book make Bill a hero, and a good transition from my early heroes to my current ones.
Deborah Kurata
Much like Bill, Deborah has been around a little while writing books since the VB5 days. She has turned out many books on objects, and still continues with one of my favorites, her “Best Kept Secrets of .Net’ book (http://shrinkster.com/oph). I’ve also heard her speak at conferences, and was impressed with her depth of knowledge and instructional capability.
Carl Franklin and Richard Campbell
Carl gets to make the list twice, this time with his cohort Richard Campbell. Their work on Dot Net Rocks (http://www.dotnetrocks.com) has taught me an incredible amount on the .Net world. I also have to get shout outs to Rory Blyth and Mark Dunn, Carl’s earlier co-hosts, as I’ve been working through the older shows. When I started listening though, Richard had taken the co-host helm.
Through the podcasts I’ve been exposed to so much good info, and gotten to do it while stuck in traffic or stopping at my local grocery store. Great job guys!
Mark Miller
My final, and most current coding hero is Developer Express’ head of developer tools, Mark Miller. I first saw Mark at VSLive in Orlando. He wasn’t just enjoying himself, he was excited about writing code. Not since my old friend, the afore mentioned Mark Westbrook have I seen anyone that passionate about writing code! (Maybe it’s something about the name Mark?)
His presentation was also one of the more useful I’ve ever seen, it was on practical ways to measure the user experience. Measuring the number of twips a mouse had to move to click various user elements, for example.
After the show I went and watched him at the DevExpress booth, and wound up standing for an hour watching Mark and his coworker (can’t recall if it was Julian or Dustin, sorry) interact with the crowd.
Again, Mark’s enthusiasm continued, you could tell he was thrilled to be there demoing CodeRush and cranking out code. It was his enthusiasm that rekindled my own tech interests, and led me down my current career path. I became inspired to start blogging, and speaking at code camps and user groups.
And there you go
There’s my list, starting in my youth and working toward today. I thank you for indulging me in my trip down memory lane, and hope it brought up some fond memories for you as well. As for tomorrow’s heroes, who knows? Maybe it’ll be you.
I don’t watch much TV. By “watch” I mean step away from the computer and turn on the big screen and stare at it without interruptions. By “much” I mean 3.5 hours a week. 1.5 hours is basically one long show, the This Old House / Ask This Old House / New Yankee Workshop block my local PBS station shows on Saturday afternoon. (Although thanks to my DVR it’s usually Saturday night when I watch.)
Of the three I think The New Yankee Workshop is probably my favorite. For those unfamiliar with the show, each week master carpenter Norm Abram takes on a new wood working project that is both beautiful and functional. Some of the things he says though lead me to believe that Norm Abram would make a great programmer.
“…as you can see in the prototype…”
Norm starts every episode with a prototype piece. He uses it to work out the kinks of the project he’s building. He refers to the prototype while he builds the main project, shows you what he did. How much better could your programming project be if you created a prototype before starting your main project.
“…this stain really makes the details pop out…”
Norm understands that so many times it’s the small details that make the difference in the success of your project. I can’t tell you the number of times I go use an app and try to tab to the next field and instead my cursor jumps elsewhere. Small oversights like not setting correct tab order can really make an impact on how your application is perceived.
“…while the glue dries, I’ll work on the lower half…”
Norm’s great at multitasking. When he gets to a point where he has to stop working on something, he has something else ready for his attention. How often have you gotten stuck, waiting on a DBA to make a change, or someone to supply critical information? Always have a backup plan, something else you are ready to work on while you wait.
“…for now I’ll just dry fit these pieces…”
Frequently during the project development Norm will fit the pieces together, without glue, just to be sure they are going to fit together. In the software world this clearly parallels the concept of continuous integration. Check in your code regularly, do daily (if not more often) builds to make sure everything will fit together.
“…here in my well equipped workshop.”
Norm has tools. A lot of tools. He’s got a huge drawer with nothing but routers! The point is, he uses the right tool for the job. Make sure your coding toolbox is well equipped. I don’t know any .Net coder who can use just Visual Studio to get his job done. Check out add-ins, third party components, etc. to make sure your toolbox is full.
“…we’ll make the cut using our home made jig.”
When Norm can’t buy the tool he needs, he builds it. Over the years he’s shown how to build many types of jigs in his workshop. If you can’t find an add-in or control that does what you want, build your own. Take time to learn how to write macros, Visual Studio Add-Ins, or your own reusable controls and code libraries. Like Norm you’ll use these tools over and over.
“Be sure to read, understand and follow the safety instructions that come with your power tools…”
Norm starts each show with the classic warning to be careful. Visual Studio is one of, if not the most powerful programming tools around. Take some time to learn how to use it. Spend an afternoon and go through all the menus. Use online help to look up the commands you aren’t familiar with. You’ll save yourself a lot of effort by investing a few minutes in learning the commands available to you.
“And remember, there’s no more important safety rule than to wear these, safety glasses.”
Norm reminds us each week of the importance of safety. While I’m not likely to cut off a finger or poke out an eye using a mouse, it is important to remember to use your computer safely. Take breaks about once an hour. Get up and move around. Save your eyes, look up from your monitor, glance out a window. Flex your hands, move them around.
I don’t know how many times I’ve been doing some heads down coding, not realizing 3 hours had flown by until I took that sip of cold coffee (yuck!). Not good though, my back gets stiff and eyes get tired. Listen to Norm, wear your safety glasses.
Norm Abrams, New Yankee Programmer
Each week Norm uses his creative skills to craft a beautiful, yet functional item out of wood. As developers, we (hopefully) craft (and I do think coding is a craft) beautiful yet functional applications for people to use. Norm would have made a great programmer. I’m just glad he sticks to wood working, I don’t think I could handle the competition.
This week marks six months of serious blogging for me. Nearly every weekday I’ve tried to provide some new piece of information. A couple of important milestones have been achieved, as well. Last week this blog rolled over 50,000 hits, and also got its first day with over 1000 hits in a single day.
To celebrate I decided to give the blog a little face lift, and picked a new look. I thought all the blue looked somewhat Microsoftish. I also liked the 3 column look.
Over the past months I’ve been surprised, pleasantly, by some unexpected benefits to keeping up this blog. I thought I’d share some of them with you, should you decide to take the plunge.
Meet and Greet
Through the blog I’ve met some interesting new people, and it’s made a good tool for introducing myself to others.
Self Documenting
I’m sure you’ve heard the notion that well written source code is self documenting. Well this blog has let me document a lot of the things I’ve done in the past, so I can go back and reference it later. Not unlike a personal wiki.
Self Promotion
Like most folks I have an exaggerated sense of self importance. Blogging just reinforces my narcissistic streak and inflates my ego even further. Seriously, if you have an interest in writing, speaking, etc., a blog serves as an important tool in promoting your skills and desires to others.
Mentoring
I guess the biggest surprise has been the ability to use the blog as a mentoring tool. When someone asks a question, it’s been great to be able to say “oh yeah, I wrote a post about that on such and such date, go take a look”. A real time saver too, and it means I don’t overlook telling someone a critical piece of information.
Education
OK, I admit it, some days I’m just blocked. Not a clue what I want to write about. On those days I pull a book off the shelf, open to a random page, and read something. Try some code, and next thing you know I have a post, and I’ve managed to learn something new in the process.
Giving Back
Finally, but I think most importantly, blogging gives me a chance to give back. I’ve learned so much by reading the contributions of others, I feel an obligation to “pay it forward” (so to speak).
Well, what can I say? It’s been a lot of work, but a lot of fun as well, and quite an education to boot.. Thanks for the nice comments and the visits, I look forward to see what the future has in store.
Ze Frank has had me thinking about the role of creativity on the web. A lot. There’s a great deal of talk about Web 1.0 versus Web 2.0. Certainly there are some compelling new technologies that some might consider falling into the 2.0 field, such as AJAX.
I don’t think Web 2.0 can be defined by technology though. I think it’s more about the way people use the web. Web 1.0 became strongly driven by business. Sure, individuals had pages, but it was business who dominated Web 1.0.
With 2.0, it seems the individual has moved to the forefront. Blogs, podcasts, videocasts, twitter, all examples of the individual extending his or her creativity to the web. Not only does it give a place to host, but to communicate. An artist can get immediate feedback and interaction with their audience. A global, world wide audience.
In the interest of extending my own creative streak, I’m branching out, trying some of the new services. I’ve setup new twitter and tumblog accounts. Twitter, well I’m not sure why, to be honest I’m not 100% sold on the usefulness, but what the heck.
My tumblog will host my pictures. I’ve had a long interest in digital photography, and I’ll put some of my favorites here for you to enjoy.
Don’t worry, I’ll still be posting .Net magic here, but everyone has to find ways to be awesome. How about you?
Arcane Code 