Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

File Under: Uncategorized
Nov
25
2008

Mashups Are Dead, But the Web is Alive

By

Photo/Wikipedia mashupMashups, web apps which merge two or more data sources, essentially arose from the introduction of the Google Maps API in June 2005. APIs for easily accessing data existed before then, but a way to visualize it geographically was a huge tipping point.

Due to the popularity of map mashups, ProgrammableWeb’s mashup directory is over a third mapping-related. But something interesting has been happening: other types of mashups are becoming popular. Over the last two weeks, for example, maps mashups are only 20% of the new additions to the directory. Granted, it’s a small sample and mapping is still tops by far, but other ways of mashing up data are becoming more relevant.

How can mashups be both dead and more relevant? Consider Friendfeed, which aggregates your data using APIs of several social websites, pulling in each item you and your friends post to Twitter, Flickr, Digg, your blogs. It fits the criteria of a mashup perfectly. If Friendfeed was entered into the recent MashupCamp contest, it would have come away victorious. Friendfeed is an uber-mashup, though nobody calls it that.

Mashups are dead because the whole web is becoming a collection of APIs. In the future, showing an embedded map of liquor stores near that New Year’s party won’t be a snazzy add-on, it will be a necessary feature.

See also:

Tags: ,
File Under: Uncategorized
Nov
24
2008

New Tools Help You Build Better Maps

By

Example of progressbarcontrol

What’s cooler than Google Maps? Tools built on top of it. Developers from the Netherlands have released some helpful libraries to make more usable, interactive Google Maps.

Google hosts an open source utility library with several useful examples. Among them, a drag-to-zoom feature and a way to create dynamic labeled markers.

A progress bar is among the new additions to the libraries. When adding more than just a few markers, it can take some time. Rather than make your users sit through the slow-down, this library shows the progress via a popup status bar that fills as it completes.

The other new library, SnapToRoute, allows developers to restrict some actions to just along a polyline. The example included shows zooming along a specific route.

I love these sorts of libraries that make creating advanced maps easy. Of course, I’d love to see platform-independent examples, so developers of any map API could benefit. These libraries would be great to see as a part of Mapstraction, the multi-map I covered in a tutorial.

See also:

Tags: , ,
File Under: Uncategorized
Nov
21
2008

Go Go Gadget OAuth Support

By

I Can Has Open

Passwords are a little bit more secure now that Google added OAuth support to its iGoogle Gadgets. Developers can now use their gadgets to easily grab data from OAuth-enabled APIs. Using OAuth, users do not have to give their passwords to developers. Instead, if a developer wants data from a service, the user enters the password into the service itself, providing the developer permission to access their data.

MySpace updates, AOL Mail and Google Book Search are the first gadgets to use OAuth. Finding the MySpace gadget via the iGoogle search is difficult, as there are pages of results by non-MySpace developers. Some of these ask for your password in an insecure manner, without OAuth. If you have a MySpace account, try adding the official MySpace gadget.

MySpace OAuth experience from Google Gadget

Adding the MySpace gadget gives a good idea of the user experience provided by the OAuth process. Rather than username/password fields within the iGoogle box, there’s a sign in button. Click it, and an OAuth page pops up providing a MySpace login page. Once you’ve signed in, the popup disappears and the gadget is populated with your MySpace data: updates, status, bulletins, and inbox.

Behind the scenes there is an exchange of keys that ensures the gadget maker really does have your permission to access the data. Those keys are permanent, so the sign in process is a one time deal for each OAuth gadget, not something you’ll have to do every time you visit your iGoogle page. For an example of how OAuth works, check out my FireEagle tutorial.

The update to gadgets is world’s beyond password-sharing, but there should still be phishing worries. Emulating the popup process would be easy and there’s nothing to signify that the page I’m seeing really is MySpace. Luckily, that’s the same problem that many are already trying to fix. A solution to the problem for banking sites, for example, will probably be the same solution for OAuth.

[Photo by Eran Sandler]

See also:

Tags: , ,
File Under: Uncategorized
Nov
19
2008

Let My Maps Be Your Geo Database

By

Toss out that MySQL book. The only thing you need to store location data is Google Maps.

My Maps is a feature that lets you create your own mashup on a map. Once a map is created, it can be shared with a link, or in Google Earth with a KML file. And now, it is also available via RSS–GeoRSS, to be more specific.

My Maps UI for GeoRSS

GeoRSS from MyMapsWhile viewing any My Map, click the RSS link to see the GeoRSS version of the map. In addition to all the other information about points on the map, such as business name and address, you get latitude and longitude coordinates.

This RSS feed can then be read in by any script you write instead of making a database call. The Google Maps API can even call GeoRSS files directly, loading all your locations in a single line.

[via Tony Hirst]

See also:

Tags: ,
File Under: Uncategorized
Nov
18
2008

Facebook’s New App Verification Program Offers Protection — for a Price

By

Facebook verifiedFacebook has rolled out a new application vetting program designed to help you navigate through the sea of available apps to find trustworthy options. Unfortunately the program bears a striking resemblance to basic, mob-style extortion schemes and might leave you wondering why it’s necessary.

In theory the new verification program will help you decided which Facebook apps to trust — a new “verified app” badge will appear next to any applications that pass muster. But by attaching a developer fee of $375 to the badge, the Facebook app verification program looks a bit like what Techcrunch calls a Godfather-style Protection Racket.

To be fair, Facebook will no doubt be incurring some costs with the new verification program, and there are hosts of other programs that work in a similar manner (those VeriSign badges that are supposed to make you feel more secure? Yeah, those come for a fee).

Still, we can’t help wondering why the verification program is necessary. In other words, why is Facebook letting in untrustworthy apps in the first place? The answer seems to be that Facebook simply lacks a gatekeeper, and the new program is designed to fill that gap and perhaps make a bit of money in the process.

Facebook’s criteria for verified apps call for developers to create applications that are “respectful, transparent and meet the guiding principles for trustworthiness.”

Here’s how Facebook breaks down those nebulous terms:

  • Respectful: Values user attention and honors their intentions in communications and actions.
  • Transparent: Explains how features will work and how they won’t work, especially in triggering user-to-user communications

If an app meets those criteria, then developers can pay $375 per year for Facebook’s blessing (so far as we can tell you do not need to kiss Mark Zuckerburg’s ring).

See Also:

« OLDER POSTS