When I wrote my post RSS: How to integrate feeds into your website with AJAX… I never imagined it would be as popular as it has been. People from all over the world have dropped in to either download the code or comment about it. It’s great to write something that people find interesting and feel that they can make use of as it makes you strive to keep on doing it.

When I check Google Analytics the post mentioned above is always the most popular link. It makes me wonder about the applications and situations that people have utilized its content for. Unfortunately the post is a consume, grab and run affair for most its readers.

This jump in, read, disect and apply mentality is a lot of what is driving the Web 2.0 movement. In knowing just how small this blog is and the amount of traffic my post has received – I can only assume that more professional sites are getting hammered for information about the two main Web 2.0 technologies. Namely RSS and AJAX.

RSS

RSS has been the cornerstone of bloggers traffic generation possibilites for years now and in nearly every popular website you will see reference to it on more than one occasion. The need to distribute content and market yourself all at the one time is key to RSS’s success.

AJAX

The savior of the webpage interface. The ability to update page content without refreshing the whole page and hence downloading less content and causing dramatically less flicker annoyance has cast AJAX to the front of the line when it comes to website/web application development. To say that your site doesn’t use AJAX is like saying there was no need to upgrade from Windows 3.11 for Workgroups.

These two technologies have really launched the term Web 2.0. They epitomise everything that it is. Developers rush to be the first out the door with another way to use the two – yet with no real need for the end application. A buzz is generated around the initial “Oh look what I can do!” and turns into “Hey – you should see what they can do”. This mentality creates the rolling stone movement and all other developers want to match or beat the coolness of the last “company’s” release.

In the end some big companies roll in and buy the main players and the smaller guys pull the shutters down. Then the large companies find they have applications that they dont really know what to do with.

RSS feeds have been pilfered beyond believe by Advert junkies. Simply taking the content from a feed and plugging it into their own sites with ads all around it. Creating enough of these types of sites, all linking together and you’ll end up having better pagerank that the site you stole the content from in the first place and as a result reduce the original authors income and killing their buzz into the bargain. Who wants to continue blogging when they don’t even get credit for their own work.

AJAX is a technology that puzzles me. I think that it has only been so widely accepted because there are no other proper alternatives. Its shocking that we are still programming webpages in HTML at this stage. Javascript is archaic as well. Where are the innovators when you need them? Who is saying “HTML is insufficient for anything dynamic and AJAX is just a service pack release for it”.

It is for these reasons that Web 2.0 is dying. Nothing tangible – just two technologies wrapped up in a little buzz.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter…

Categories: AJAX, RSS

Eight years into the new millenium and all the new year resolutions are set. The fun this year will be trying to accomplish them all. Its always been said that the most productive people have diaries and little lists of “things to do”. These little lists are like mini contracts with yourself that states what must be done before the end of the day/week/month/year. The buzz of fulfillment when all the items have been checked of is quite powerful.

This year I have decided to write my new years resolutions on a piece of paper and carry them with me everywhere in my wallet. I want to ensure that I am constantly reminded of what should be achieved this year.

Its very easy to just shrug your shoulders and say “ah well” when you look back on a year and wander where all the time went. I dont want 2008 to be like that. I am hoping that the resolutions in my wallet will be a poke in the right direction and a focus that will enable me to take major steps forward in the progression of McNicholl Holdings.

To think one year ago I was Buying the Domain. It seems so primitive now. Since then I have been programming frantically, in the evenings after work – trying to build a business and a future.

I find the festive time a very good chance to reflect and review on what the year has delivered and to prepare for what is to come.

I think now is a good time to reflect on my best blog posts of 2007 (listed in no particular order):

• Programmatical Database Optimisation
• sfGuard and Implementing Security in Symfony…
• RSS: How to integrate feeds into your website with AJAX…
• Learning AJAX with the Prototype Framework…

Heres hoping 2008 will be the start of something great.

May all of you have a happy and prosperous new year!

Categories: General

Crackers are the mainstay of any Christmas dinner and no matter how expensive they are they are still a source for the worst jokes. I thought a few jokes on the blog might brighten your day, but I appologise in advance for these :

• Why did the boy throw his toast out of the window?
  • Because he wanted to see the butterfly.
• What do you call a train loaded with toffee?
  • A Chew Chew Train

I hear you cry “Please stop, oh please please stop” – but no. Here are a few others :

• Why do cats have furry coats?
  • Because they’d look silly in plastic macs.
• How do you keep cool at a football match?
  • Stand next to a fan.
• Where do cows go on holiday?
  • Moo York.

Ok! I’ll stop now.

I just want to know if they actually hire people to write these jokes or if a room full of monkeys with typewriters slap at keys until a few ledgible sentences are formed.

Does anyone else out there remember some cracker jokes?

Categories: General