This page is under construction – if you have any comments or links please get in touch!
Web 2.0: the term “Web 2.0″ has existed for a couple years now. It is the web that encompasses interactivity and collaboration – the “user-created” and “user-centred” web. It’s all about wikis, blogs and social networking.
A Further Glossary:
Mashup / API – an “API” is the code that is used in the background of something like Google Maps and can be manipulated to create novel uses – “mashup” potential means that these tools can be used in new ways, so for example, information from weather.com would be mapped with Google Maps (see Woozer). One of the most famous mashups pairs Google Map info with Craigslist “housing” ads (see housingmaps).
Application / Killer App /- an example of a program or website that has changed the world or represents a completely new way of doing things: Napster, in the 1990s represented the first popular P2P file-sharing network. Hotmail was the first big player in the web-based email game. and now Twitter – which rules the “micro-blogging” sphere and has caught on like wild-fire.
see also Widget
Cloud, The - Slightly abstract term like “cyber space.” refers to prevalence to outsource computer resources and applications to servers elsewhere (similar to “virtualization”). In simple terms, if you backup your Word document to Gmail and then remind youself to do something by Twittering yourself, you are taking advantage of the cloud. In corporate realms, it means not buying software and opting for monthly suscriptions with companies that take care of accounting, web hosting and a host of applications and services.
DIY – Do It Yourself - a motto birthed from the punk movement. A call to action and self-reliance. In the 1908s desktop-publishing arrived with the first Macintosh computer – punks had, through earlier years, been publishing their own DIY “fanzines” with typewriters and photocopiers.
Open Source – (opp. to proprietary). Think Linux and Wikipedia. Developed by communities – provided “free of charge” with the condition that any modifications or improvements are shared with the community. The new wave of collaborative movements and technologies largely related to hi-tech, computing and the Internet.
Social Networking – Sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Orkut, Twitter, YouTube etc. For professional use a site called LinkedIn has become popular.
see also social bookmarking – example the site “de.licio.us”
Widget – A small “plugin” to add functionality to a website. The best example might be “iGoogle” where the user can modify their homepage and include all kinds of different “modules” – weather, stocks, blog feeds, calculators, Twitter / Flickr mashups…