The State of Public Web Services

"A Snapshot of Public Web Services" (warning PDF) appeared in the March 2005 issue of the SIGMOD Record. It discusses how many of the publicly available 'web services' are really just data retrieval services or search services. Available services also tend to be fairly poorly documented (fewer than 10 words) and in more cases than not, contain malformed WSDL. In fact, many of the services reported on tend to be more at the 'Hello, World' end of the spectrum -- their existence in the directory more out of experimentation than utility.

It should be noted that the services in question were trawled out of xmethods.com and the like, so they don't represent the services or APIs that sites like Flickr, Google, Amazon or others expose.

I believe that it would be very valuable to have an inventory/registry of proper/richer services that are available on the Internet. This would certainly facilitate the growing trend of people wiring up one sites functionality with another sites services to create something altogether different. Such a site could enforce some level of validation and even provide semantic web capabilities such as OWL-S description and composition facitlities to aid the systematic discovery and usage of said services.

Humor: The iSmack Nano

bbspot.com has a hilarious take off on the Apple Nano.

"It seems like every time we release a new version of iPod, these stories about people being mugged for them come out of the woodwork," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said onstage at a special event Tuesday. "We're out to change that." Jobs then held up an iPod nano with brass knuckles attached."

Riya Photo Recognition Site (Alpha)

Techcrunch has an article about a new startup called Riya (formerly Ojos) that has some pretty astounding facial and text recognition that you can apply to your uploaded pictures. Aside from the 'visual' tagging you can also apply other tags to the pictures as well (which are fully searchable). The screenshots on techcrunch are not to be missed.

Online Web Services Programming Class

There is a free online Web Services Programming Class hosted on Yahoo Groups that is starting up today. Note that to participate, you are required to have a Yahoo Groups ID (free, but causes some heartburn to have to sign up).

A free online "Web Services Programming" course is about to
begin on Oct. 26th, 2005 for anyone who wants to learn
Web services programming. In this 13-week course, attendees learn
basic Web Services standards such as SOAP and WSDL, and Java
API's for Web services such as JAX-WS, SAAJ, and JAXR. The
principles of SOA and relevant technologies such as JBI and
BPEL are also addressed. They also learn how to use NetBeans
IDE effectively for building and deploying Web services.

This course runs very much like a regular college course in
which the attendees are expected to do weekly homework and final
project but it is free and can be taken online. There is
also class group alias where attendees can ask/answer questions.
The complete set of course contents (StarOffice slides with
detailed speaker notes and some audio files, homework assignments,
reading materials, code samples, FAQ etc.) are available on the
website of the course.

The only thing you have to do in order to join the course is
sending an email to

webservicesprogramming-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

For detailed information about this course, please go to the
following class website.

Course website: http://www.javapassion.com/webservices
Course schedule: http://www.javapassion.com/webservices/#ClassSchedule
Course group alias:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/webservicesprogramming/

Facilitating Innovation

The FastCompany review of the new book The Ten Faces of Innovation sounds like an interesting read. I personally find dealing with people who are always trying to find a reason to say 'no' rather than understanding the strengths and weaknesses of a thought, idea or approach somewhat tedious and backward. They don't seem to understand that doing the same old thing is not what positions you or your customers for a better future. Perhaps this book will give some additional insight into guiding people to thinking 'not "no", but "how"'.

Innovation is all about people. It is about the roles people can play, the hats they can put on, the personas they can adopt. It is not just about the luminaries of innovation like Thomas Edison, or celebrity CEOs like Steve Jobs and Jeff Immelt. It is about the unsung heroes who work on the front lines of entrepreneurship in action, the countless people and teams who make innovation happen day in and day out.

And by adopting some of these innovation personas, you'll have a chance to put the devil's advocate in his place. So when someone says, "Let me play devil's advocate for a minute" and starts to smother a fragile new idea, someone else in the room may be emboldened to speak up and say, "Let me be an anthropologist for a moment, because I personally have watched our customers suffering silently with this issue for months, and this new idea just might help them." And if that one voice gives courage to others, maybe someone else will add, "Let's think like an experimenter for a moment. We could prototype this idea in a week and get a sense of whether we're onto something good." The devil's advocate may never go away, but on a good day, the 10 personas can keep him in his place. Or tell him to go to hell.

Sorting through the hype 2.0

The hype-laden rollout of Flock has got me thinking about all of the stuff that is being rolled up and paraded about under the umbrella of the what's-cool-now 'Web 2.0' moniker. Having lived (and worked) through this the first Internet gold rush, it's a bit puzzling as to what is at the heart of this and if it is really paying attention to other dynamics in the web-space.

There certainly have been some improvements in the end user experience through the evolution of CSS and the ramp up of AJAX interfaces, but this, in and of itself, hardly seems a revolution (sort of reminds me of when web design evolved from frames, to tables, to CSS with a brief detour through detestable flash-only site interfaces).

In addition to more dynamic interfaces, another attribute that most of these new apps share is some sort of an API which allows them to be extended, mixed and aggregated in ways that the original developers never intended or imagined (think google maps). This appears to be another expression of the growing traction of web services and it's underlying emphasis on interoperability. Besides, once I have my information on the wire, I want to be able to selectively share it at other venues as well. Not that I make use of APIs explicitly to do so, but one of the driving reasons for creating this site was to have a place to link in all of the 'stuff' that I have on the web (aka my InfoCloud).

Being able to share and replicate 'my stuff' is one of the things that was initially attractive about Apple's .Mac offering. I could keep bookmarks, calendars, etc in synch between various systems and have them available via the web. To do so, I also need to have my data bottled up in and dependent upon .Mac (and pay an annual fee). Now that reasonable substitutes are appearing, I can see making more use of them and becoming less reliant on the .Mac offerings.

Many of these '2.0' apps seem to be simple-minded extensions of the web-based email systems that have been around for years -- except now with a focus on news feeds. How many newsreader applications do we need? It seems that every week a new one is being announced. Thus far, the only newsreader that I have seen that makes a difference is searchfox. Searchfox pays attention to what I pay attention to and presents my feeds based upon what I really want to read. With close to 200 feeds, that is a big value add for me. The relevance seems to be a bit more intelligent than the amazon.com recommendations wherein you buy one CD by, say, David Sylvian and it recommends you all of his CDs rather than artists that are similar to or related to him (as if you couldn't find all of his CDs by searching by name for them). The creator of searchfox, Esteban Kozak is also genuinely interested in feedback (and very responsive in implementing the best suggestions). I like this app enough that I am in the process of going 'cold turkey' with NetNewsWire lite on my Mac at home and Sharpreader at work by converging all of my feeds into searchfox.

Following in the parade after news readers are calendar, events and to-do apps. The best one of these that I have come across is rememberthemilk (which I have commented on previously). I find this app to be truly useful and elegant in its design and execution. The ability to share the lists via the web is of great value. One of the things that the site needs is an API to make it easy to integrate its functionality with other apps (as mentioned above).

Unfortunately, what most 'web 2.0' developers seem to miss is the ever growing mobile population in the world. Just try accessing one of the sites on a mobile phone. Prepare yourself for a ugly and frustrating experience. It seems obvious to me that one of the reasons for web-based tools is that I can have access to my information just about anywhere via a browser. The next (obvious) step is to make it available to me anywhere I have my mobile phone/device. Having the functionality of a site available through an API creates an opportunity to create a mobile version (or mashup) of the site.

Another apparent mis-step is around ignoring the aging of the population. I wonder what effect this new style of development will have on accessibility, particularly those who are blind or have low sight that might need a machine reader to be able to take advantage of the Internet at all. Is this, perhaps, where microformats and other tagging technologies take a role in providing a richer experience for those with sight impairment?

In a cynical moment, I could believe that this is just the same greed and me-to attitude ten years on, with developers trying to create something/anything and flip it for a profit. For the time being, I plan on seeing how it evolves and figure out how to apply the best of it.

Flock Developer Release

Not really much there yet. Many of the functions only sort of work. I had trouble with the blog editor, flickr bar and delicious links (all of which are supposed to be 'core' function of Flock. I can still do most of the things Flock does from Firefox with a couple of bookmarklets.

Certainly not willing to give up on it yet, but this is NO where near living up to the hype (guess that is the problem with generating a bunch of hype).

Patent on XML?

Cnet has a story about how a small company is claiming via US patents 5,842,213 and 6,393,426 filed in 1997 that they own the rights to XML and intend to 'monetize' it.

How did this ever get approved? Did no one in the US Patent Office know of SGML? When I was working at the Environmental Protection Agency in the late 80's there was a fair amount of EPS-generated documentation that existed in SGML. This definately can't stand up to the 'prior art' challenge.

Semapedia

Semapedia is a very interesting idea that combines mobile devices and a physical form of 'tagging'. The idea is that you can create a 3D bar code 'semacode' that you stick on a physical place/thing (say, like a museum or historical site) -- with permission of course. A person with a camera equipped mobile phone loaded with the semacode reader software could 'scan' the semacode which would resolve to a Wikipedia URL that would tell them more about their current tagged location.

One obvious disadvantage is that the paper printed barcodes are just too easy to destroy either intentionally or by being exposed to the elements. There is also the stigma/paranoia that some may have around having this somewhat cryptic thing attached to their building (associations with war driving abound).

I think it makes a lot of sense for more controlled environments were patrons can use their phones to get more information rather than having to carry around a brochure or the like. In any case, a very creative use of mobile technology and 'tagging'.

LibraryThing Import

I have commented previously about LibraryThing and mentioned how a nice import utility for data from DeliciousLibrary or other tools would be a great improvement. The developer has contacted me to let me know that just such an import utility exists under the Extras menu item in LibraryThing.

I tried it out over the weekend with my exported data from DeliciousLibrary and it works as advertised. In fact, faster than advertised; it told me that my queue of 177 ISBNs would take several hours to import. They completed importing within 10 minutes.

A great service just keeps getting better! I have added a link to my LibraryThing catalog in the right hand section of this blog, if you are at all curious.

Online To-do List: rememberthemilk

I quite like the functionality of rememberthemilk, an online to-do manager. I find it very straightforward to add, modify, and prioritize tasks. I really like the flexibility in entering dates. For example, you can just enter 'tomorrow' or 'Friday' and it will input the proper date for you. There is additional functionality to have reminders sent via SMS and email. Calendars/Lists can be shared with other contacts and you can even subscribe to them via iCal on the Mac or via an Atom feed.

I am still exploring what rememberthemilk can do. Everything that I have seen thus far is most impressive and truly useful.

The Art Of Camera Tossing

Join in the fun: Take your (somewhat expendable) digital camera, turn off the flash, lock the shutter open, take it out at night near some light sources and toss it up in the air, hopefully catch it and marvel at the results.

Some results can be seen in the camera toss Flickr group and in other Flickr photosets here, here, and here.

About Camera Toss
This is a "technique" group, and the technique here is regarded by some as insanity. For we are the reckless folks on flickr that enjoy the abstract, chance, generative, physical photography that results from throwing our cameras into the air (most often at night in front of varied light sources).

It is about trading risk for reward in the pursuit of art. It is not about being a photographer, it is about enabling the photography that happens naturally when you let go of the process, give up control, and add a hell of alot more variables. It is about physics, gravity, angular momentum, acceleration, direction, chaos, and timing... most of which you have tenuous control of at best!

via HipTop Nation

A Mobile Phone That Knows You

Perhaps inspired by the James Bond sniper rifle that can only be fired by Bond, researchers in Finland have created a method for you mobile device (a phone most likely) to 'recognize' you by the way that you walk.

In the method, sensors measure certain features in the person's walk and these are compared to values stored in the memory of the device. If the values differ, the device requests an access code. In trials, the method has achieved a success rate of 90%. VTT is applying for a patent for the solution.

Making Video for the new iPod

In addition to buying video content from the iTunes Store, Apple has made it fairly easy for you to create videos for the just announced iPods. It requires the latest version of Quicktime 7 Pro (7.0.3). Unfortunately, Quicktime Pro isn't free and will set you back $29.99 USD.

Better Googling

In addition to the excellent Google Hacks and the Google Pocket Guide books, Google has put out a brief online cheat sheet with some of the basics.

Also, there is some much more detailed information available on googleguide including a 150 page printable guide.

An Old Favorite Flash Animation...

...with a less anonymous character. Enjoy the ride, George.

Wallace And Gromit

Following a big opening weekend in the US for the new Wallace and Gromit movie, the sets (and a great deal of history) was destroyed in a fire at the studio.

Video iPod Next Week?

According to the BBC

Apple is set to unveil a new video iPod at the BBC Television Centre in London on October the 12th

via cubicgarden

More On Flock

This Business Week article has a bit more substantive information about what the Flock browser is and what it will do:

The Flock browser, which is expected to be released to the public in test form in about two weeks, does everything a regular browser does, but with several important additions.

For one, it makes blogging a snap by eliminating the need to do arcane coding in order to post, change fonts or add photos. Right click the mouse on a Web page, and a blogging wizard comes up that automatically creates links, citations, and quotes that are ready to insert into a blog. A horizontal bar on the browser also can load photos from the photo-sharing site Flickr, so they can be simply dragged and dropped into the blog post.

Moreover, Flock makes it easy to create online bookmarks for Web sites. Visit a Web site and click a "+" button on one of the browser's toolbars, and that site is saved to a personalized list on the social bookmarks Web site http://del.icio.us./.

Those bookmarks can be tagged with useful descriptions and shared with others. Flock also lets people create watchlists of people whose bookmarks they like and form groups with people who link to particular tags. Flock also keeps a history of every Web page a user visits, so they can be found easily later.

I can't wait to get my hands on this and see how it does with all of the 'stuff' in my own infocloud.

Incredible Vanishing Nokia 6682

For whatever reason, the long awaited Nokia 6682 is no longer available on Cingular's web site. The 6682 is now 'available' on Amazon for $99 with a shipping date of '4 to 6 weeks' (!?). Nokia thoughtfully has it available on their website for $599.

What is going on with Cingular and the 6682?

Update 2 October 2005: The 6682 is available once again on the Cingular site for $299; Amazon still has it on a 4 to 6 week delay.

Freaking the Tipping Point

I recently finished reading Blink, The Tipping Point and Freakonomics. I would highly recommend any/all of these books. One curious tension that comes from having read these recently is that the 'Broken Window' policing strategy that is extolled in The Tipping Point is rigorously discounted as having no effect on crime in Freakonomics. Curious. How did Malcolm Gladwell get this so wrong?

The other theme that hit me was how several of the topics covered in Blink and The Tipping Point start to sound like what gets discounted (and in some cases disproven) as 'conventional wisdom' in by Levitt in Freakonomics. Makes me curious that if Levitt were to write a book examining each of the assertions in Gladwell's works, how many of them would stand up to the economists vetting? No matter the outcome, the result would be an interesting read.

One topic that I would love to see Levitt cover is this: does the increased level of violence in movies and video games desensitise people to violence or does it desensitise people to violence in movies and video games?

Random: What the Avengers were avenging

If you are familiar with the British TV show from the sixties The Avengers, you might be interested to read the Guardian's article titled Revealed: what the Avengers were really avenging.

Might come in handy on a trivia night (you never know).