Talkings of a Tyrant

Yahoo’s My Web 2.0 has been out for a while. It wasn’t until I read PC Mag’s comparison of different tagging services that I actually considered using it (I tend to avoid Yahoo! services, and I’m starting to do the same with Google).

So I transfered my Del.icio.us bookmarks over and started to try it out. I couldn’t find any bookmarklets, (like the one del.icio.us has) so I barely used it at first. But then I found Blummy, a strange, but excellent, bookmarklet applet and started away.

While PCMag gives My Web 2.0 glowing reviews I tend to disagree. The basic premise of Web 2.0 is that the community be involved. Del.icio.us integrates that well by using folksonomy to suggest which tags you use. It will show a list of your tags, a list of popular tags, a list of suggested tags for you to pick from, and still allows you to make up a new tag.

Del.icio.us’s ‘popular’ page ranks items by trends of recent tagging. For example, if tomorrow, 100 people were to bookmark this page using del.icio.us in 1 hour, then that would be booted near the top. This site would only have 101 votes, but because it is a recent trend, then it would be marked as “popular.”

My Web 2.0, however, has the Yahoo search engine suggest tags (or so it seems), which isn’t in the spirit of web 2.0 Their “popular” page, is really a page of the most bookmarked pages they’ve got. Also, I can’t figure out how to remove a tag from a particular item, but I’ll let it go because it’s beta.

My Web 2.0 has 2 good things going for it. The first, is it looks better. Del.icio.us, I hate to admit it (not really), looks ugly. Second, it saves a copy of the web page, so if the web page is ever lost then you still have a copy.

Del.icio.us has been taking strides recently to release more features. The search bar is now open to all users, and supports the AND operator. The site has gotten much more explanatory, too. They are working hard, and show no signs of stopping.

All in all, I like del.icio.us more. It has much more web 2.0 ideals and folksonomy integrated into it, and some features that I can’t do without. Perhaps if My Web 2.0 were to get much better, then I would change my mind, but for now…

Xbox.com has been resigned with the Xbox 360 in mind. It’s shiny.

I like Xbox.com a lot more now. Before it was bulky and poorly designed. All of the information I wanted was hidden away! Now the site is easy to navigate and much more informative.

The homepage is especially well done. They seem to have gotten a much better idea about what is relevant news to people.

3d screenshots must really be kicking off. The Accessories site has a adjustable screenshot, the old Xbox360.com (it now redirects to Xbox.com) was packed with adjustable screenshots, and a few games for Xbox 360 have rotating-view screenshots.

The new Xbox.com is simply all-around better. Microsoft is now starting to put a serious amount of funding and effort into the Xbox systems.

Niall Kennedy has posted how he sees Google as a “spam suite primer.” The main reasons he gives are:

1. A host: Blogger’s CAPTCHA doesn’t work. A CAPTCHA is a picture that looks like a string of letters, that, in theory, humans are able to read, but computers aren’t. However, there are getting to be some pretty sophisticated systems out there, and many CAPTCHAs are becoming inefficient.
   

   And when computers don’t work, there are a lot of poor people willing to spend all day getting past CAPTCHA’s for low pay.

2. A Rank: Google search is a great way for splogs (spam blogs) to target key words in order to boost their rankings.
3. Money Google Adsense pays well. Especially with the high keywords gotten above.

I find myself agreeing to all three of these. Google needs to more aggressively attack spam blogs. Right now, they are doing little but promoting it.

However, they have a great idea in the flagging system, which utilizes the masses in identifying splogs. At the top of any Blogspot blog, there is a “Flag” button which viewers can click if they think that the blog contains “objectionable content.” Google still needs much more in preventing spam, but it is still a great idea.

My first actual post at Blogsome! Feels nice to be typing, after copying and pasting all of the other posts from Blogger.

I rather like this theme. But I’m worried that the text may be difficult to read. I’ll probably make it brighter… Feel free to email me (look on the right, down the page) if you can’t read it well.

Anyway, I’ve been trying out MyPIMP (short for My Personal Information Manager Protocol), a Personal Information Manager. Basically, its a glorified calendar/contacts list/to do list. But the thing is, it works well.

It uses AJAX (I think), and it is quick, easy, and slick. But it only works for Mozilla Firefox, so don’t bother if you’re using IE.

I’m going to be switching to Blogsome soon. Within the week. Stay tuned.
Editors Note: This post isn’t applicable to this account because, well, this is the Blogsome site