Just recently there was the E3 expo in LA which unveiled all the newest things of awesome that the mere humanity would be able to experience in the coming months. With that there was the release of the PSVita (lets hope its better than the PSP Go) and the Wii U. Personally the addition of a Wii U to my family to entertainment is not a high priority but there may be a need to trade my old PSP in for a PSVita, assuming its going to be able to play my Little Big Planet. Not that there will be any additions for a few months now with the recent acquisition of an Xbox with Kinect.

Another announcement made at E3 was the amazing new trailer for the new Tomb Raider game. I won’t lie I was attached to the old style Lara but I think there will be time for me to become attached to the new style Lara. From an animation perspective? [insert jaw dropping silence here]. I could babble on about how amazing it looks but there aren’t words to describe the amount of render time that short trailer would have taken let alone game play in order to complete that awesomeness. My copy of Tomb Raider is currently on pre-order and looking forward to the later half of the year for some action.

Tomb Raider E3 2011 Trailer

Another trailer release for ‘workinprogress’ gameplay and the incoming of Capcom’s Devil May Cry 5 is set to be an awesome massacre of demons not without its over the top action that you can’t help but find insanely enjoyable. Despite not having our original designed Dante its set to take over from the original PS2 game (which I currently still own out of pure love) and may yet allow for there to be ‘remakes’ of the others also. Currently DmC (as it now aptly being known) has no release date. [insert very sadface here]

DmC E3 2011 Trailer

Excitement!
And now back to study…

Started in 2010 StyleTread is an online shoe store. Not everyone’s cup of tea but it does clearly implement the notion of doing more with less. Having only being in action for 7 months the store is quite new however it seems that though it has started small it is starting to take off. StyleTread is fast developing an online presence and even though they started small the hype around this online store means its going to go big. After just a few months the site has been doing so well that they now have advertising on TV and is starting to become the number one place online to buy shoes especially for Australian buyers who get the gift of free shipping. This site is a very good example of something that can start small but spread like wildfire and become something so much more.

Doing more with less is definitely one of the most prominent reasons why there are so many web stores and applications to choose from. As simple people realise this strategy then the World Wide Web will see a lot more of this sort of enterprise.

Resources
Porter, J 2011. “Living in a Networked World: Is Less More?”. Bokardo.com. Retrieved 11 May 2011 from: http://bokardo.com/archives/living-in-a-networked-world/

Fischer, Y 2008. “Doing More with Less: Web 2.0 Consolidation the Sun Way”. Oracle. Retrieved 11 May 2011 from: http://blogs.oracle.com/blueprints/entry/doing_more_with_less_web

Perez, J 2009. “Web 2.0 Expo focuses on doing more with less”. Techworld.com. Retrieved 11 May 2011 from: http://www.techworld.com.au/article/297514/web_2_0_expo_focuses_doing_more_less/

Pahlka, J & Forrest, B 2009. “The Power Of Less”. Forbes.com. Retrieved 11 May 2011 from: http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/05/google-twitter-netapp-technology-breakthroughs-oreilly.html

Peat, B 2008. “Could Web 2.0 Tools be the Saving Grace for Organisations During Recession?” Wikinomics. Retrieved 11 May 2011 from: http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/12/could-web-20-tools-be-the-saving-grace-for-organizations-during-a-recession/

Kale, N 2011. “Case Profile: StyleTread”. Power Reatil. Retrieved 12 May 2011 from: http://www.powerretail.com.au/pureplay/case-profile-styletread/

StyleTread, 2010. “StyleTread”. Rerieved 11 May 2011 from: http://www.styletread.com.au/

However leveraging the long tail doesn’t necessarily mean a website that is selling something for some people. An example that was discovered when researching the pattern of leveraging the long tail was the NASA website (Jia 2010).

This is a particularly good example of a website that doesn’t necessarily sell anything and yet it has numerous amounts of visitors’ everyday; from students to teachers and those who just want to view the amazing pictures that the station presents. The example this website present in relation to leveraging the long tail means that it has a mainstream connection – people are heading to the website just to see what’s going and they have an interest in space however it also relates to a niche market by providing information for students studying or interested in space or professors looking for more content. Despite this in general most websites that use the pattern of leveraging the long tail are commerce websites to a certain degree.

Another site that uses the pattern of leveraging the long tail is Salesforce (Dunham 2009). Salesforce is a website that can help people to develop and maintain their websites as well as drawing attention to them via web searching.

The company also has an application development program. Of course all this costs money but its pay as you go. The mainstream aspect of the site is the sales and service clouds as well as their customer relationship management. The niche market of this particular site is the platform for building and running business applications.

Leveraging the long tail has become an extremely popular aspect of web 2.0. Without this commerce sites may not do as well as they possibly could. Though it may take time, leveraging the long tail is one of the best ways to target every market despite how small the market may be. Without leveraging the long tail many of the commerce stores loved would be nothing.

Resources
Watson, J 2011, “Pattern 7: Leveraging the Long Tail’, QUT: Powerpoint.

Kaw, P 2009, “6b Ways to Leverage the Long Tail in Your Marketing”, HubSpot Blog. Accessed May 4 2011. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4723/6-Ways-to-Leverage-the-Long-Tail-in-Your-Marketing.aspx

Anderson, C 2009, “The Long Tail of Travel”, Chris Anderson’s Blog. Accessed May 4 2011. http://longtail.typepad.com/

Campbell, C 2009, “Tips for Leveraging the Long Tail of SEO”, Lakeshore Branding. Accessed May 4 2011. http://www.lakeshorebranding.com/company/blog/tips-for-leveraging-the-long-tail-of-seo/

Dunham, M 2009, “SaaS: Top Long Tail Aggregators”, Scio blog. Accessed May 4 2011. http://blog.sciodev.com/2009/01/06/saas-top-long-tail-aggregators/

Jia, J 2010, “Channeling Invisible Crowds Could be the Key to Profitable Long-Tail Sales”, Electronic Retailer Magazine. Accessed May 4 2011. http://www.electronicretailermag.com/os0610_cover/

Salesforce 2011, “Salesforce” Salesforce. Accessed May 4 2011. http://www.salesforce.com/au/

Perpetual beta: An application or piece of software that comes out in the beta stage and stays there for a certain amount of time, upgrading instead of recreating new software.

Thanks to new technologies when software is released developers are now turning to putting their software out in a beta phase first. With this phase they can determine whether or not the software will be successful and how well it works. From this is there become upgrades, add-ons to the software to make it better instead of downloading or installing more new software. This sort of pattern, perpetual beta, means that software has become more user-friendly in the sense that it can save people money and if something goes wrong with the software then the developer can create upgrades for the programme instead of re-releasing. Many applications are coming out in this sort of direction, where they come in beta mode or for more established software they download updates. With this direction of software it means that web users can become co-developers, helping to point out flaws or good points in the software or application. A good example of perpetual beta is a user’s internet browser.

Using a web browser is not a small application, many of the ones in use are widely known. Despite this having a web browser just update recently it means that everyone can understand the notion of perpetual beta; in a sense. Personally Mozilla Firefox is the weapon of choice and recently all users upgraded (or should have) to Firefox 4. It can be said that Firefox is therefore running in a perpetual type beta with its upgrades to make the software better, to fix flaws or make it more secure. Firefox also updates its software after feed back from users and uses its users to help make Firefox better and a more safe internet browser.

So what does perpetual beta mean for the future? It means that software and its developers can become closer to its consumers and customers, the people who will mostly use the application or software. It means that users can also become developers in some cases; making their own upgrades and add-ons such as Adobe sometimes has and Firefox most definitely contains. As a whole, perpetual beta makes life a whole lot easier for everyone.

Resources
Wikipedia 2011, “Perpetual Beta”, Wikipedia. Accessed May 4 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_beta

Mozilla Firefox 2011, “Firefox Web Browser”, Mozilla. Accessed May 4 2011. http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/new/

StonyArc 2007, “The Perpetual Beta”, Xbox Live Nation. Accessed May 4 2011. http://www.xboxlivenation.com/index.php/articlewire/opinion-articles/317-the-perpetual-beta

Van Wyk, S 2011, “Perpetual Beta: Continuous Improvement or Never Finished?”, TheHotHouseBlog. Accessed May 4 2011. http://www.hothouse.com.au/blog/2007/01/24/perpetual-beta-continuous-improvement-or-never-finished/

What does software above a single device mean? For some software above a single device can mean that the server computer that runs the software back where the software comes from is more than one computer. For others this pattern can indicate that the application is made for more than one mode PC type devices. For example an application that runs on more than one device can be the Zune software.

Not as popular as iTunes here in Australia, the Zune software was originally made for Microsoft’s MP3 player (which is only available in the US). However though the Zune application is loaded on the Zune itself, there is also an application that gets loaded to the PC such as a laptop or desktop computer. From the application loaded to the physical computer a user can manage their music, photos, movies, contacts and run a backup of their Zune. This shows that the software isn’t just applicable for a single device which demonstrates the pattern of software above a single device. However, on the Zune application front the software isn’t only available for the Zune MP3 and the PC. It’s also accessible on the Windows Phone 7 and can be linked with Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

As some of the bigger software companies are good at linking their software and their devices the Zune application is no different. By allowing this application to run on many devices means that the software isn’t limited; it rises above the use of a single device and this is only heightened by the fact that you can link the devices to each other not only through the a base computer. Not only does this software allow for organising on many devices but also allows for users who own a device running the software to share media with their friends who also have a device running the software or others that may appear in public though an accepted sort of transfer similar to Bluetooth.

As technology grows the need for software to be more pliable is getting greater and therefore the need for software to be available for more than one device is also greater. The Zune software is a good example of this pattern and as the Zune website says ‘Your Entertainment, Everywhere’.

Resources
Microsoft 2011, Zune Homepage Microsoft Corporation, retrieved 17 April 2011 – http://www.zune.net/en-GB/

O’Reilly, T 2007, Software Above the Level of a Single Device O’Reilly Media Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011 – http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/11/software-above-the-level-of-a.html

Wikipedia Zune Wikipedia. Retrieved 17 April 2011 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zune

Goowy is a web desktop that is flash based that offers a range of tasks such as instant messaging across a number of popular networks, email and contacts, a calender. news, games, file sharing and about 1GB of storage for files. This particular application is one of many that allows a user to have all their important internet uses in one place. It has a fast performance rate and uses the whole screen to act similarly to a desktop.

Goowy follows the rich user experience pattern though many of the patterns traits however its user experience is highly noted due to it’s multiple functions all in the one spot. Users like this sort of feature as it saves them going to multiple sites in order to do many things and at times this can get annoying. At least with the Goowy webtop a user needs only one application to keep all their daily internet application together without hassle. It’s also probably alot faster then doing each item inidividually as being a light weight flash based application it runs effieciently, which is another aspect of the rich user experience pattern.

Being a rich user interface or RIA, Goowy has a strong point that the security of the application can be more reliable than that of plain application software because of sandboxes and updates however the extensions os these particular RIA’s still have a certain degree of vulnerability. However, if these vulnerabilities are recognized and constantly assessed then there may not be a much issue with security as there could be if the developers took the ‘out of sight-out of mind’ approach.

Unfortunately Goowy Webtop has been discontinued despite its popularity at the time.

References
-Lipnevich, S 2007, Rich User Interface on the Web Lab49, retrieved from Lab49
-Wikipedia, Rich Internet Application retrieved from: Wikipedia
-KM, 2007, Goowy-Personal Web Desktop Techmxer.com, retrieved from: Techmixer
-Author Unknown Goowy ChrunchBase.com, retrieved from: ChrunchBase Goowy Profile
-Ezzy, E 2006, Webified Desktop Apps vs Browser Based Apps ReadWriteWeb, retrieved from: ReadWriteWeb.com

Pip.io is a social operating system plaftorm that allows people to communicate and share in a real time situation with people from all over the world. It allows uses of third party applications as well as being its own application. The site still has a long way to go however it will be envisioned that it will be a mix of Facebook and Twitter but with better privacy. In an interview with InternetNews.com, Leo Shimizu, the co founder of Pip.io says “What’s also really cool is that we don’t necessarily want you to stop using Facebook or Twitter …. But you can continue to use them within Pip.io.”

As an online operating system this application’s platform could be huge. It allows more freedom to users to create things as they want. The site already includes access to five of the major applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Netflix and a RSS reader and with their 3rd party applications encouraged it may just be one of the most influential online operating systems yet.

Pip.io is a prime example of how a small internet operating system can become something huge and how it can take advantage of the online operating system by making it configurable to the user but with a base standard much like Windows or Macintosh does with their hardcopy software operating systems. At this stage it seems they have covered all bases of concern and need. By looking at bettering privacy and aiming to have more administrators in order to keep things more secure (or as secure as things could get at the time). By creating an app first and implimenting it into Facebook and Twitter they’ve given themselves a head start into the social seen and when they released their beta version there was already 10,000 users. Pip.io may be a online operating system to watch.

UPDATE 18/05/11: Pip.io is no longer operating. The founder of Pip.io will continue working on projects and you can find information on the old Pip.io website.

References
Needle, D 2010, Pip.io: Not Just Another Social Network? last modified February 9 2010: http://www.internetnews.com/webcontent/article.php/3863776/Pipio-Not-Just-Another-Social-Network.htm

Pip.io

Go2Web2.0

Wilhelm, A 2010, Social OS Pip.io Now A Killer, Facebook, Twitter, Chat and Youtube App, viewed 30 March 2011: http://thenextweb.com/apps/2010/03/29/social-os-pipio/

For the amount of web applications out on the internet it’s hard to pick out a couple that really define the pattern of data being the life blood. Consequently, many of the applications looked at were focused on data bases and data sharing. Take the web application Keypi. It’s a collaborative database that provides the most recent information on activities and tendencies on the World Wide Web. If a user wanted to be in touch with everything; operating systems, search engines, mobile support and even robots then it’s one of the most wanted applications. However how does Keypi bring the data together to become the next ‘Intel Inside’?

Keypi uses data from websites and databases all over the internet and constantly updates its own database so that the user is always in the know. Not only that if a company wants its own and others data to be known and seen as correct and useful it can choose to put one of the widgets on their site and add to the Keypi experience. For this application the whole emphasis is on collecting and providing data and storing it all in one place for people to find.

When looking at Keypi and its benefits such as keeping the world in the known with the latest and most popular technologies there is also the downfall that sometimes the data wouldn’t be up to date straight away or wouldn’t be correct. Seeing as the site is still in beta this may be something they wish to contain and see how well it works before making it more final. It will be interesting to see how Keypi takes off and whether it’s viable in the world of web 2.0.

It’s hard to narrow down something that really shows a broad use of data as an important factor in web 2.0 and no matter where a user looks there is bound to be 1 in 2 applications or websites using data in some form or another. Keypi and it’s use of a database means that data is most certainly going to become the next intel inside.

References
Tim O’Reilly

Go2Web2.0

Keypi

From what can be gathered about harnessing the collective intelligence it indicates a need for users to input information in order for the application, its creators and designers and the general public to benefit. Applications like this make sure to put the user first and the organisation second; or they appear to put the user first in any case. Major websites that use this pattern can be seen as Facebook and Twitter however there are many lesser known web 2.0 applications that do use this particular pattern.

In the depths of the internet a website appeared that strongly followed the harnessing the collective pattern. Hello There is a website that allows you to put up information about yourself not only in text but also in a short video and allows for potential employers to view your page and your video thus potentially hiring you. It’s as simple as that too. However if you do want to make more than one page it starts to cost money as the first page is free. But how does this relate to harnessing the collective intelligence? For one thing the user can benefit in a high outcome. They may be drowning in the offers of potential work after creating their own profile on Hello There. If this is the case the user is benefitting first and the company is using that information to their own advantage hence being seconded to the user. This not only keeps the user happy because it’s all about them but the organisation or person who releases the application is also happy because people are not just using the site but also recommending it if they get a great experience from it. For this Hello There is using people’s data to make their site better and is therefore completely using harnessing the collective intelligence.

Hello There has a pretty basic idea to it but one that can be harnessed by many. However users may need to be careful about what sort of information goes on to their page. Allowing for the pattern that data is key and that a user and their information comes first it may be recommended to read the terms and conditions to find out what sort of security there is for your information, if any.

For the future of this application it can be seen that it could be quite beneficial to everyone, both employers and employees alike. By utilising the information from the user the organisation gets seen and recommended and then popular and benefits from the users good experiences. So long as they keep everyone happy the company will be happy and Hello There will continue to keep following the pattern; Harnessing the Collective Intelligence.

References
Tim O’Reilly

James (last name Unknown)

Hello There

Go2Web2.0

It was a really fun game to play where you can say magical words, run after animals and possess them. Meanwhile you also have to hunt down your missing mini ninja friends, Futo – the slow overweight, not light on his toes ninja (who isn’t really ninja ish) who’s great for beating up those huge samurai who were actually bears. Then there’s Suzume – the flute player. Whats to say about her all she could do was hit people with her flute and her special ability was to play it. Shun – the awesome archer ninja. When overwhelmed use the firecrackers. Then there’s Tora. I thought Tora was a boy, then got the impression that he was a she but it turns out I was right in the first place and Tora is a boy who also thinks he’s a tiger. Needless to say he’s like a small wolverine. Last but not least is Kunoichi – awesome for hitting those evil spear wielding samurai with her own spear aka her Naginata (according to the Mini Ninja’s instruction booklet thingo.) Anywho Hiro is the main ninja who gets to use the magical goodness. And when he runs its just plain hilarious.

I played it on PS3 my weapon of choice for various reasons I don’t have to explain to you or anybody else. I enjoyed this game its light hearted but also challenging as well as providing puzzles for your brain. The only thing I didn’t like on the PlayStation version was the tilting of the controller to control certain things. It only happened once and it can be turned off (thank god it was frustrating). I recommend playing it if your feeling ninja is and want to avoid getting hit by farting bosses. Great concept, the ending makes you wonder if Hiro and his followers will have another adventure.