rebron.org: Everyday Life, Work, Ironman Training

The definition of Web 2.0 is pretty convoluted. From a consumer standpoint it’s really the same old applications done in today’s technology with today’s bandwidth/computer requirements, so the following:

OS
Web 1.0 = Mac OS 9, Win 95/98
Web 2.0 = Mac OS X, WinXP, Ubuntu/Fedora Core Linux

Browser
Web 1.0 = Netscape Navigator
Web 2.0 = Mozilla Firefox

Email
Web 1.0 = Hotmail, AOL
Web 2.0 = Yahoo!Mail, Gmail

Instant Messenger
Web 1.0 = IRC, AIM/ICQ
Web 2.0 = Skype, Jabber, iChat, Google Talk

Search
Web 1.0 = Yahoo!
Web 2.0 = Google

News
Web 1.0 = News sites like CNN, BBC, etc
Web 2.0 = Same news sites but w/ RSS feeds and now blog sites

Homepages
Web 1.0 = Geocities
Web 2.0 = WordPress, Movable Type

Maps
Web 1.0 = Mapquest
Web 2.0 = Google Maps

Photo Service
Web 1.0 = Ofoto, Shutterfly
Web 2.0 = Flickr, Gallery

Groups
Web 1.0 = eGroups, eCircles
Web 2.0 = MediaWiki

Reference
Web 1.0 = Encarta
Web 2.0 = Wikipedia, Answers.com

Products that need to be “2.0″-ed include a web based Calendar, a better Evite service, a remix of eBay and Amazon, and there’s more I’m sure (essentially every vertical service).

Folks stuck in the 1.0 realm need to look at 3.0 versions of products or maybe the 2.0 step is necessary?

Here’s an insider’s blog post (Ryan’s) about Yahoo!Mail which is in beta. It’s based off of Oddpost. They’ve taken care to support Firefox (so kudos to engineering and product management). It’s cool, it’s a long time coming, so congratulations to the team.

Now, what they should really do is learn how to integrate with Outlook/Outlook Express and Thunderbird. The best email experience remains email through a client over IMAP, others I’m sure will disagree. The issues holding webmail providers back are setup costs (e.g. hard for users to set up the email client but this can be remedied), no control of the client experience (which is false w/ Thunderbird), and then displaying ads within the email message or email UI (which also can be controlled).

The reason why a client experience is so much better is because you can do more heavy lifting and processing via a client that you can’t do with just a web based solution. A tangible example would be offline support and another would be junk mail blocking. A webmail service can utilize the server end to block spam, but then through a client, a user can block junk mail too that may have gotten past that initial server-side filter. I guess this can be done on the server-side too but maybe dificult to do now.

The other reason is that a lot of people have more than one email account now. So via a client you can access multiple accounts (IMAP), not so for web based email apps.

I’ve been wearing Birkenstocks to work everyday since March 1999. I have two pairs, a black pair and a brown pair and I’ve resoled them both numerous times.

I thought it was time for a change and couple weeks ago, I started wearing Keen sandals. They’re very comfortable and seem to be well designed. I do hope they last a long time or I’ll just have to pull out my Birkenstocks again.

**Updated**
Donate via PayPal
* I’m working with friends at PayPal hopefully to waive the transaction fees…I’ll let you know how it goes.

Short version of the story:
My wife Katina is from New Orleans and her family was affected significantly by Hurricane Katrina. They’re all accounted for, safe, and doing okay, and they’re currently in Dallas, Texas and Brandon, Miss. If you’d like to donate to her family, we set up a PayPal link above. Otherwise, just keep us in your prayers. You know how Katina and I do things, we’re going to take care of business and make sure our family is taken care of.

Here’s the full story:
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans about two weeks ago (just as I was finishing Ironman Canada). Most of my wife’s family evacuated and usually, they can come back in two to three days. But clearly not this time. All of our family lives on the West Bank so it looks like their property may still be in tact and wasn’t damaged too badly by the flooding. Not sure what the hurricane damage was like but they can’t go back home. There’s nothing to go back to yet. It’s looking like 6 months to a year before they can go back home.

Our family includes:
In Dallas, Tx
Katrina = (Katina’s sister…yup her name is Katrina)
Joe and Gary = Katrina’s 7 year old and 4 year old
Debra = Katina’s aunt
Charlene = Katina’s aunt
Tiphane, Ricky, Tynia (& Leroy) = Charlene’s kids, Leroy is Tynia’s husband

In Brandon, Miss.
Rochelle = Katina’s Mom
Grandma Ellen and her husband
Darlene & Alaiya = Katina’s aunt and cousin

Alaiya and Gary Frederick the Third!

Our family in Brandon is in good shape. Our family in Texas could use some help. They’re essentially having to start over. The kids were supposed to start school already and so we have to take care of that. Katina and I actually pay for Gary to go to school. He goes to Arden Cahill Academy, one of the best schools in New Orleans. So, getting the kids to a good school is a priority for us. Also, everyone is pretty much out of a job, FEMA isn’t much assistance, and we have four kids to take care of.

What the money will be used for:
- essentials until we get these guys settled into a job
- food, gas money, clothes
- household items, they have to start from scratch with household goods
- stuff for the kids
- medicine

We’ve sent some money over but not a lot yet. They still have to establish bank accounts in Dallas.

They’ve got apartments, three via HUD, so rent will be covered for a year. We’re working on getting FEMA relief help (which is just ridiculous), insurance stuff, and other paperwork.

I’ll write more as we go. But thank you already for all your support. It’s very much appreciated.