Of Social Nets & Business Models by Robert Young

When it comes to advertising in mass media, a big name is required since such campaigns are only effective if the viewer already knows who that celebrity is. But in a social network, micro-celebrities who are well known within their network of micro-communities could prove just as effective and potentially even more so, particularly if such campaigns are able to generate buzz, excitement and a cool-factor.

[...] By enabling advertisers to partner with users, this is the type of program that would create trust between the parties. This trust, multiplied by the number of ad campaigns and the users enlisted, could then be propagated throughout the entire social network in a manner that is completely native to the medium itself. In this vein, it’s worth noting that a campaign like this cannot be implemented efficiently or cost-effectively in any form of mass media.

See also:
Pinko Marketing | Marketing in the Post-Cluetrain Era

Geocoding

Geocoding is the process of converting addresses (like "1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA") into geographic coodinates (like latitude 37.423021 and longitude -122.083739), which you can use to place markers or position the map based on street addresses in your database or addresses supplied by users. The Google Maps API includes a geocoder that can be accessed via HTTP request or directly from within the JavaScript.

Geocoder Example

You can access the Maps API geocoder directly by sending HTTP requests to Google, or you can use the GClientGeocoder object to send those requests from within the Javascript. Whether you make the geocoding calls from your server or the user's browser is up to you. If you have a fairly stable database of addresses (e.g. a list of properties for sale), we recommend that you geocode them once using the HTTP request method and cache the coordinates in your own database. This means your site will be faster for your users and also uses up less of your daily quota of geocode requests. However, if you don't have access to server-side scripting, you can send geocode requests from the JavaScript.

See examples:
geocoder.html, geocoder2.html (Streets in Zurich seem not yet supported)

The Structure of Collaborative Tagging Systems (HP Labs) (PDF)

In this paper we analyze the structure of collaborative tagging systems as well as their dynamical aspects. Specifically, we discovered regularities in user activity, tag frequencies, kinds of tags used, bursts of popularity in bookmarking and a remarkable
stability in the relative proportions of tags within a given url. We also present a dynamical model of collaborative tagging that predicts these stable patterns and relates them to imitation and shared knowledge.

Also interesting is Scott's

Kinds of Tags (from ICICS Slides)
1 . Identifying What (or Who) it is About.
Proper nouns, nouns of many levels of specificity
2. Identifying What it Is.
Article, blog, book, etc.
3. Identifying Who Owns It.
Weblogs and content providers
4. Refining Categories.
Do not stand alone – numbers, etc.
5. Identifying Qualities or Characteristics.
Adjectives – subjective descriptions, e. g. "funny"
6. Self Reference.
"mystuff" and "mycomments"
7. Task Organizing.
"toread", "new_car" and "jobsearch"

See also:
Scott's IA Summit 2006 Slides about Tagging (PDF)
Webbed Footnotes

Via Phillip Jeffrey

Google AJAX Search API (Beta)

The Google AJAX Search API is an experimental API that lets you integrate a dynamic Google search module into your web pages so your users can mash up Google search results with other content on your site or add search results clippings to their own content.

Some samples here.

See also:
Google Ajax Search API Blog

Via e-Clippings

Links to Notes from Denis below. Thanks Denis.
Freeing the Data
Practical Microformats, see also Microformats Implementations
und Ryan King's Presentation
www2006: Best Practices of Web 2.0

Siehe auch WWW 2006 Tracks, via Jürg

Rashmi Sinha vergleicht in A coginitive analysis of tagging Tagging und Kategorisierung und spricht von einer "post-activation analysis paralysis" bei letzterem:

Tagging eliminates the decision - (choosing the right category), and takes away the analysis-paralysis stage for most people. It provides immediate self and social feedback. Each tag tells you a little about what you are interested in. And you find out the social context for that bit of self-knowledge. How do others view that item? Together this piecemeal feedback creates a cycle of positive reinforcement, so that you are motivated to tag even more. This might not make tagging easier, but it does make it more fun.

To conclude, the beauty of tagging is that it taps into an existing cognitive process without adding add much cognitive cost.

See also:
Visualizing Tags over Time
Improved Annotation of the Blogosphere via Autotagging and Hierarchical Clustering
Slashpack: An integrated tool for collecting, processing, indexing, clustering and classifying hypertextual collections


via Le Semeur

ClaimID is a service that lets you manage your online identity.

ClaimID is a service that lets you claim the information that is about you online. That information is then associated with your name, providing folks an easy way to see what is and isn't about you online. In doing so, you get to influence the search engines, and provide people more relevant information when they search for you. It's time to reclaim some power back from the search engines. ClaimID is about letting you have some say in what search engines say about you.

claimID Weblog

My other posts about Identity.

Via Leu

The Impact of Online Music Services on the Demand for Stars in the Music Industry by Ian Pascal Volz

It can be seen that online music consumers do prefer a more diverse selection than offline music consumers do. [...] The essential advantage of online music distribution and presentation systems over offline offers is achieved by bringing listeners together. Ubiquitous discussion possibilities with fans of the same or similar music are greatly appreciated by consumers of nonstars' music. Since this extra value can only be offered by online music services there is higher demand for less popular music. By implementing online music distribution systems many musicians not considered stars can be promoted. These results become even more significant as online music consumption rises. The key to a diminution of stardom as it exists in the established business model of the recording industry lies in the acceptance and exploitation of online music services.

Cool stuff here: Design Patterns

What's a Pattern?

Design patterns describe solutions. Solutions that we know can work ‘positively’ for specific problems in specific contexts. The solutions are documented as a ‘pattern’ where all aspects can be described, even implementation issues if that is helpful and relevant.

Yahoo Interface Blog


See also:
Left and Right Design
bugresort, blog about medical usability