Now that some seem to really dislike the term Ajax, here comes AJAXSLT from Google:

AJAXSLT is an implementation of XSL-T in JavaScript, intended for use in fat web pages, which are nowadays referred to as AJAX applications. Because XSL-T uses XPath, it is also an implementation of XPath that can be used independently of XSL-T.

Via Johnvey

Global Multimedia Protocols Group

The GMPG can be explained as an experiment in Metamemetics. The first aim of Metamemetics is to create a structure of principles that foster the construction and propagation of elemental ideas. The GMPG attempts to stimulate simplification of virtual substructures and bring people to question established structures and their relationships. Because people are not used to seeing elemental technologies or concepts which are powerful and immediately usable, frequent and novel encounters with GMPG efforts provoke optimism and empowerment, nevertheless reawakening criticism of complexity and a desire for simplicity.

Via Marc

Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications by Jesse James Garrett

Ajax isn’t a technology. It’s really several technologies, each flourishing in its own right, coming together in powerful new ways. Ajax incorporates:

• standards-based presentation using XHTML and CSS;
• dynamic display and interaction using the Document Object Model;
• data interchange and manipulation using XML and XSLT;
• asynchronous data retrieval using XMLHttpRequest;
• and JavaScript binding everything together.

[...] The biggest challenges in creating Ajax applications are not technical. The core Ajax technologies are mature, stable, and well understood. Instead, the challenges are for the designers of these applications: to forget what we think we know about the limitations of the Web, and begin to imagine a wider, richer range of possibilities.

Some examples of Ajax:
Google Maps, BXE, Flickr. map.search.ch uses Javascript, but I am not sure if it would qualify as AJAX?

UPDATE:
Dare Obsanjo doesn't like the newly coined term Ajax. Here he says why.

eCH-0018: XML Best Practices (L.C.)

Via eCH. Der Verein eCH fördert und verabschiedet E-Government-Standards in der Schweiz.

Congratulations Gon!
Gon trackbacked my earlier entry on the bitflux blog about him to send me a notice about the relaunch of SYMM:

W3C is pleased to announce the relaunch of the Synchronized Multimedia (SYMM) Activity. The Synchronized Multimedia Working Group is co-chaired by Yoshihisa Gonno (Sony) and Guido Grassel (Nokia) and will extend the SMIL 2.0 W3C Recommendation.

See Gon's post at: Synchronized Multimedia Activity Launched

I am trying to develop an address book kind of application. The contact information will be maintained in XML format. Is there any standard DTD for contacts?

Find the answer in: Getting in Touch with XML Contacts

Marc Laporte from Tiki CMS/Groupware, Gregor from OSCOM had an interesting IRC discussion on Calendar data sharing (RSS feeds for calendars). They posted the transcript on the OSCOM Mailinglist.

As a comment a posteriori, Edd Dumbill sent an email about the RDF Calendar taskforce headed by Libby Miller. He also mentioned:
http://eventsherpa.com/ and http://www.sherpafind.com/

Announcing SVG Open 2004, the 3rd Annual Conference on Scalable Vector
Graphics! The conference will be held September 7-10, 2004 at Keio
University, Japan, on the Mita Campus in Tokyo. For full details on the
conference, tune your Browser to the conference Web site:

SVG Open 2004

Via Jun Fujisawa

Googling for XML

Just went quickly over it, have to read it more thoroughfully.

Chuck White's tutorial reminded me of Jon Udell's Weblog Search

XSLT is meant to change the form of XML, but you can also use it to perform analysis. In this tutorial, the second in a series, the MindMap team creates a system that enables them to pass parameters that not only determine the properties to analyze but also change the desired criteria using Web-based forms. And because it's all in an XSLT stylesheet, the team can change the algorithm or output without recompiling the application.