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Wikipedia API?

I want Wikipedia to have an API, but it doesn’t. Some web searching turned up Gina Trapani’s WikipedizeText, but that still wasn’t exactly what I wanted. A note in the source code, however, put me back on the trail to the Wikipedia database downloads, and while that’s not what I want, I did learn that […] » about 200 words

Chasing Clicks

Al asked how low I will go to chase traffic. Truth is, I can’t answer. Maisonbisson has had moments of popularity, but it’s hard to know why.

Alexa tells us there are 18 million unique sites on the Web, but…

if you take Alexa’s Top 100,000 sites you’ll find that almost 3 out every 4 clicks are spoken for. In other words, almost 75% of all the traffic on the web goes to the sites in the Top 100K list, leaving the remaining 18 million or so sites to fight over the scraps.

Like the distribution of wealth on the planet, the distribution of traffic on the Web is extremely lopsided. The Top 500 are champagne and caviar. Sites 501 – 100,000 are meat and potatoes. The rest are hungry.

(Link in original, don’t you like that political jab?)

Neutron Bomb

Boing Boing has an exclusive profile of neutron bomb inventor Samuel T. Cohen by Charles Platt. All the reports so far are that it’s a 10,000 word “must read.”

The article, Profits of Fear, is available in PDF, plain text, and Palm doc versions at Boing Boing.

Thanks to David Rothman for the heads up. Extra: Rothman asks what it all says about mainstream media when respected authors eschew traditional media for blogs.

Network Effects on Violence

Some time ago I pointed to John Robb’s discussion of the potential for the network to amplify the threat of violence from otherwise un-connected and un-organized individuals. Now Noah Shachtman at DefenseTech is writing about “open source insurgents.” It used to be that a small group of ideological-driven guerilla leaders would spread information, tactics, training, […] » about 300 words

PHP Developer Resources

Somebody asked for some links to get started with PHP. Of course I lead them to the PHP.net official site, where the documentation is some of the best I’ve seen for any product.

I also suggested PHPDeveloper.org and PHPFreaks.com, though the truth is I usually Google any questions I have that the official docs don’t answer. Still, I’ve found some good info at both of those.

Finally, the PHP Cheat Sheet at ILoveJackDaniels.com is pretty nice to have around (cheat sheets mentioned previously).

Linking Bias

Danah Boyd posted about the biases of links over at Many2Many the other day. She looked for patterns in a random set of 500 blogs tracked by Technorati as well as the 100 top blogs tracked by Technorati. She found patterns in who keeps blogrolls and who is in them, as well as patterns about how bloggers link in context and who they link to.

The patterns Boyd points to would certainly effect the Google Economy, our way of creating and identifying value based on linking structures. And though she’s emphasizing gender differences, the patterns show broad differences in linking patterns between content types as well.

Discussion?

Point ‘N Shoot

DefenseTech reported on the FireFly, a disposable camera that can be shot from the M203 grenade launchers used by US land forces. The cameras fly 600 meters in eight seconds, wirelessly sending pictures back to the soldier’s PDA. Now they’ll know what’s over that hill or around that corner. Not that soldiers don’t need this […] » about 200 words

Jimmy Wales’ Free Culture Manifesto

Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia and director of the Wikimedia Foundation, is working on his keynote for the Wikimania conference in Frankfurt. Ross Mayfield at Many2Many posted a preview and gives some background. What should we expect? Wales’ speech touches on ten things necessary for Free Culture:

  • Free the Encyclopedia!
  • Free the Dictionary!
  • Free the Curriculum!
  • Free the Music!
  • Free the Art!
  • Free the File Formats!
  • Free the Maps!
  • Free the Product Identifiers!
  • Free the TV Listings!
  • Free the Communities!

Mayfield offers more description of each item, go read it.

The Coming Information Age

That headline might seem a little late among the folks reading this. But we’re all geeks, and if not geeks, then at least regular computer users. Regular computer users, however, are a minority. Worldwide, only around 500 million people have internet access, and fewer than 100 million people in the US have internet access at […] » about 500 words

Nokia 770

I’ve been babbling like a stoolie for Pepper here for the past couple weeks, but after some prodding by Roger Sperberg I’ve started to take a serious look at the Nokia 770 linux-based internet tablet. To get me started is Mike Cane’s hands on report from some time spent with it at LinuxWorld Expo. Nokia […] » about 200 words

More Bluetooth Hacks

As if bluejacking wasn’t fun enough, now a few folks have now taken it a little further and figured out how to connect to the growing number of Bluetooth handsfree sets all around us. Gizmodo fed me the link to what they’re calling “The Car Whisperer.” Nothing against these guys, but it’s not like they […] » about 100 words

Apple Releases Multi-Button Mouse

Apple this morning released the Mighty Mouse ($49 at the Apple Store). With a scrollball, left and right click, and side buttons, it’s a big departure from Apple’s old opposition to multi-button mice. Apple didn’t invent the mouse, but they were probably the first to put mice through usability testing. One, two, and three button […] » about 200 words

Hands On The Pepper Pad

The most amazing thing about the Pepper Pad is how easy it is to pick up and use, how easy it is to walk around with, and how it’s available when you want it and gone when you don’t. The Pepper Pad‘s portability goes far beyond that of laptops. I mentioned previously that laptops move […] » about 600 words

Space Shuttle Tracking (and other good uses of the Google Maps API)

Tom Mangan has put the Google Maps API to interesting use with his space shuttle tracking page. Also worth checking out: his Blackbird Spotting site and TLable, a little extension to make pinning/annotating maps even better. blackbird, google maps, map api, space, space shuttle, spacecraft, sr-71, tom mangan » about 100 words

Politics And The Google Economy

While I’m anxiously working to better fit libraries into the Google Economy, a few paragraphs of Barry Glassner’s The Culture of Fear, got me thinking about its role in politics. Glassner was telling of how a 1996 article in USA Today quoted the National Assocation of Scholars saying that Georgetown University had dumbed down its […] » about 700 words

The Problem With PDAs Today

When I finally get around to writing up my impressions of the Pepper Pad, I’ll be pointing to Roger Sperberg’s recent posts at TeleRead about non-PDA handhelds and computers for stand up use. At the moment, however, some of his points remind my of a few I’ve got to make about PDAs here. I’ve got […] » about 400 words

Gizmo Project, VoIP, Asterisk

Jason O’Grady introduced me to the Skype-like Gizmo Project by the folks over at SIPphone. I’ve been a Vonage customer for a couple years now, so I’ve had a chance to get familiar with VoIP, and I’m looking for a good Bluetooth headset so I can try Gizmo and Skype (and others), but I got […] » about 300 words

Put A Pepper In Your Library

Libraries are known for books. And despite the constant march of technology, despite the fact that we can put a bazillion songs in our pocket, despite the availability of the New York Times and so many other newspapers and thousands of journals online, books are a big part of what libraries are. Books, dead tree […] » about 600 words