zahir.in » January 2008 – 1

The web is better when it’s social

Vishaal S Shah — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:10:48 +0000

The web is more interesting when you can build apps that easily interact with your friends and colleagues. But with the trend towards more social applications also comes a growing list of site-specific APIs that developers must learn.

OpenSocial provides a common set of APIs for social applications across multiple websites. With standard JavaScript and HTML, developers can create apps that access a social network’s friends and update feeds.

Many sites, one API

Common APIs mean you have less to learn to build for multiple websites. OpenSocial is currently being developed by Google in conjunction with members of the web community. The ultimate goal is for any social website to be able to implement the APIs and host 3rd party social applications. There are many websites implementing OpenSocial, including Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING.

In order for developers to get started immediately, Orkut has opened a limited sandbox that you can use to start building apps using the OpenSocial APIs.

An out-n-out women’s portal. But, with a difference.

Vishaal S Shah — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 05:50:14 +0000

No shady gossip or techie tips. Issues that matter and articles that inform, educate and entertain. Aptly called, “For the thinking women”.

For a content driven website like this, we chose to have a no-nonsense design approach. A very clean and well-spaced layout has been used to shun the clutter.

Attractive imagery and apt placement of visuals add to the aesthetic value of the website. A user-friendly content management system is used to make it easier to edit and update articles.

The end result is an appealing website with a pleasant interface - http://www.womenexcel.com/

Know Web 2.0

Malay Shah — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:13:20 +0000

In the year and a half since, the term “Web 2.0″ has clearly taken hold, with more than 9.5 million citations in Google. But there’s still a huge amount of disagreement about just what Web 2.0 means, with some people decrying it as a meaningless marketing buzzword, and others accepting it as the new conventional wisdom.

This article is an attempt to clarify just what we mean by Web 2.0.

Following is the analogy for Web 2.0 by example:

Web 1.0 –> Web 2.0

DoubleClick –> Google AdSense

Ofoto –> Flickr

Akamai –> BitTorrent

mp3.com –> Napster

Britannica –> Wikipedia

Personal Websites –> Blogging

Evite –> Upcoming.org and EVDB

Domain Speculation–> Search Engine Optimization

Page Views –> Cost per Click

Screen scraping –> Web Services

Publishing –> Participation

Stickiness –> Syndication

Content Management–> Wikis

Directories (Taxonomy) –> Tagging (”folksonomy”)

Web 2.0 can refer to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users.

Website for Fully Integrated Chemical Company

Vishaal S Shah — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:05:49 +0000

Indofil Chemicals Company is a part of KK Modi group, one of the largest conglomerates in India and is a research led, fully integrated Chemical Company with a strong international and domestic business network. In India, they have created a niche for themselves in strategic marketing of insecticides.

PHI designed Indofil Chemical’s corporate website with the aim of helping them establish a strong brand identity for themselves by placing them on the internet map as against its key competitors.

This data base driven website has four clear-cut segments showcasing the company’s core areas – Agricultural Chemicals, Specialty chemicals, International Business and R&D. Ease of navigation and simplicity in style has been combined with strong branding elements to make it further interesting.

Have a look at the Indofil website at http://www.indofilcc.com

Going the extra mile…

Vishaal S Shah — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:03:15 +0000

How far would you go to do what you believe in?
How far would you go to see what limits you can push?
How far would you go to live up to a commitment?

It’s that time of the year again. The Mumbai Marathon, the Indian counterpart of the Greatest race on earth, is all set to kick off. People from all walks of life are gearing up for this year’s Marathon, which promises to be even bigger than before. In a country where cricket is worshipped, the Mumbai Marathon comes a close second. Which makes one wonder – what is it about this Marathon that makes people so passionate about it?

It’s not about the spirit of team work. It’s not about winning. It’s not even about a cause. It’s something way beyond all that – the commitment one makes to oneself, for oneself. Here, there no tags of caste, creed, sex, age, profession or physical abilities. Just the desire to be a part of something much much bigger than you. The dream of being a part of something so historic. And a sense of fulfilment from having broken your own barriers.

So as the world takes to the road from January 20th, head honchos will rub shoulders with dabbawalas and 80 year olds will run along side 18 year olds. But all that will be visible will be the spirit of humanity.

To know more about the event visit:

www.thegreatestrace.com
www.scmm.indiatimes.com