--- title: "Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 4-10 July 2005" date: 2005-07-11 author: "Richard MacManus" categories: - name: "ReadWriteWeb" url: "/category/readwriteweb.md" tags: - name: "2005" url: "/tag/2005.md" --- # Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 4-10 July 2005 A bit of admin before I start. The [Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-Up](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/cat_web_20_weekly_wrapups.php) is looking for a new sponsor, now that [ThePort Network](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://www.theport.com/) has completed its sponsorship arrangement with me. Dan Backus from ThePort Network told me they had a lot of positive feedback to the sponsorship and their product offerings – which I was very pleased to hear. I want to thank Dan and ThePort Network for sponsoring me and I wish them all the best with their Web 2.0 product range. So now I’d like to put a call out for a new sponsor. Please [contact me](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/mailto:readwriteweb@gmail.com) to discuss. **This week:** Big events and news on the Web, automatic content for the people, things you can do with RSS, API round-up, Techie Post of the Week: Social principles of Web 2.0. ## Big events and news on the Web It was a tough week for the Western world, when London was struck by a bombing attack. I don’t want to use this tragic event as a backdrop for tech talk, but I do think it’s noteworthy that the Web has become a crucial tool for news dissemination and discussion nowadays. The [Wikipedia page on the London bombings](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings) was a comprehensive and thorough work-in-progress as the news unfolded. As was [the BBC’s Web coverage](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2005/london_explosions/default.stm), so it’s not like mainstream media is being run out of business. But it’s clear that the Web is a key platform now when it comes to covering big news events – at least on a par with television and newspapers. So-called social software websites played a big role too. [Flickr was used extensively](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://flickr.com/groups/bomb/) by people to post photos and for discussions. Personally I found myself visiting the sites of bloggers I read who [ live in London](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://www.plasticbag.org/archives/2005/07/explosions_rock_londons_infrastructure.shtml), are [British expats](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://209.34.241.67/alexbarn/archive/2005/07/07/436461.aspx) and even [kiwis who were in London](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://www.surfarama.com/index.php?p=193) at the time. And when you consider things like the [LiveJournal Moodgrapher](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://ilps.science.uva.nl/cgi-bin/livejournal/mood), which recorded a mood of “sadness and shock” amongst LiveJournalers following the attack, well you realise how integral the Web has become when dealing with such events. On a less serious note, the [Live 8](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://www.live8live.com/) event was also covered very well on the Web. Indeed, apparently AOL’s Web coverage was far superior to MTV’s on the television. [PaidContent.org quoted this](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://www.paidcontent.org/pc/arch/2005_07_03.shtml) from an AP person: “AOL’s coverage was so superior, it may one day be seen as a historical marker in drawing people to computers instead of TV screens for big events.” The [latest Gillmor Gang](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://gillmorgang.podshow.com/?p=9) has some interesting comments on this, particularly from guest [Susan Mernit](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://susanmernit.blogspot.com/). ## Automatic content for the people This week I wrote [a musing post about the new age of automated content](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/002776.php) we’re seeing on the Web. I looked at (what I deemed to be) both good and bad examples of this phenomenon and concluded that my decisions about such matters are more moral than legal. It turned into a very interesting discussion, which is still open. As I noted in [a comment I made](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/002776.php#001202) later in the thread, my goals for this post were to come to an understanding of: a) where my own content fits in with this new era of automated websites – I’ve established that I’m comfortable with sites like Planet Web 2.0 and Memeorandom, and even \[Article Bot-generated\] Stock Pick Report to a degree; and b) what things should we, as users of the Web, be wary of in this new era of automation. And I think we should be wary of hundreds of thousands of robot-generated pages that have no redeeming social value for the Web and will clutter up search engine results. It’s a great discussion about Web 2.0 morals and ethics. Join in, the conversation’s still happening! ## Things you can do with RSS [Tim Yang](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://timyang.com/) continues his run of excellent tools and resources – he was the bloke who created the *Google News To RSS Scraper* called [scrappygoo](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://timyang.com/scrappygoo/). Now [he’s come up with a Wiki](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://www.timyang.com/wiki/doku.php?id=lists:thingsyoucandowithrss) featuring an extensive list of things you can do with RSS. Things like: – Track Fedex packages – Get bargains at Ebay – Get stock updates – Get the weather reports – Find out what people are saying about you, your company, your products – Track Music, radio shows, TV clips – Stay updated on someone’s schedule – Get cinema schedule updates – Read your favourite comics Check out [the wiki](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://www.timyang.com/wiki/doku.php?id=lists:thingsyoucandowithrss) for the whole list. ## API round-up But wait, there’s more! I also want to highlight [Chris Campbell’s round-up of APIs](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://particletree.com/notebook/api-roundup) (via [Eric Lunt](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://feeds.feedburner.com/eric?m=265)). As Chris wrote, “if you’re interested in adding to the Web 2.0 goodness, you’ve got to start understanding APIs.” Too right – go check it out! ## Techie Post of the Week: Social principles of Web 2.0 Ian Davis (of [Planet Web 2.0](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://planetweb20.com/) fame) wrote a great post about what he calls the Web 2.0 principles of “participation, openness and communication.” Here’s how he defines this: *“Web 2.0 is an attitude not a technology. It’s about enabling and encouraging participation through open applications and services. By open I mean technically open with appropriate APIs but also, more importantly, socially open, with rights granted to use the content in new and exciting contexts.”* Obviously this theory has a lot to do with the whole automated content issue [I raised](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315001927/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/002776.php) this week. Often when we talk of Web 2.0, we mean APIs and RSS and XML and all those other acronyms. But the whole idea of the ‘read/write’ Web is that everyone can and does contribute thoughts and ideas to the Web. So the social aspects of Web 2.0 – participation, openness, two-way communication – are just as important as the platform and the acronyms. On this I heartily endorse Ian’s position. But we all have a lot of work to do yet, when it comes to defining what is socially acceptable use of content and the Web – and what is not. I myself am still working it out and I’m only just beginning to get comfortable with the idea of other sites re-publishing my writing. The Remix Culture requires a big mindshift for everyone, so we’re all figuring it out as we go along. That’s a wrap for another week! *Originally published on ReadWriteWeb ([archived copy](https://web.archive.org/web/20020204040018/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/web_20_weekly_w_24.php))*