Expressing Web-2.0 in a word

Hey... How do you define the entire concept of Web 2.0 in a single word. I choose the word 'Synergy'. Here is the meaning of 'Synergy'

The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.

Every user acts as an agent who contributes a little to the system, and the result is a Web2.0 system whose utility value is tremendous. Can you find a better word?

Reliance - Farmer's friend

I was delighted when I read the news about Reliance's venture into the Retail industry (Grocery outlets) of India.
For those looking for the numbers, here is some text pulled out from BBC News.

Branded "Reliance Fresh", they are part of a $5bn project planned for more than 780 cities and 6,000 rural towns in India over the next five years. The company aims to open stores in the top 70 cities within the next two years and have sales of $25bn by 2011.

Farmers make the backbone of India, and hence are very crucial for its economic progress. But so far, its a sad story for the farmers with so many suicides every year due to drought/flood conditions. The government has done very little to solve the problem at its roots. The farmers should be given (or) helped with supply-chain management of the crops, regulated water supply, and increased technology to improve productivity.

Its a very good move by the Reliance Inc. to be a farmer's friend, and become 'The Walmart of India'. As Mukesh Ambani has said, its a win-win patnership for Reliance and the farmers. Reliance has now shown the path, which will be soon followed by other Industry leaders too. Here is an excerpt from India-Enews.

Under the project, the company will set up world-class infrastructure for supply chain under a farm-to-fork strategy. 'This idea is to make farmers our partners and ensure fresh fruits and vegetables at affordable prices,' Pillai said.

'It is a small step in our initiative, which will create a virtuous circle of prosperity by bringing the farmers and consumers in a win-win partnership,' said Mukesh Ambani, who was here Thursday night, but not at the official opening.

This has come at a time when India's economic progress is escalating at a rapid pace. It would be good if the Indian government also plans on taking measures to protect farmers against drought and flood. Merging of rivers is a very good solution, but requires extensive planning, funding, and negotiations. Anyways, lets hope for the best in future.

Myths for web2.0 ideas

Y'day, I was discussing with my friend about the characteristics of a web2.0 application that can generate AD-revenue with ease. We quickly came up with a list of myths for webapp ideas.

1. Page Hits
   The webapp should genuinely compel the user to visit the site often. In other words, the user should find the need to interact with the webapp on a daily basis for his benefit. For instance, Bookmarking, Digg, Blog, ...


2. Applicability
   The webapp should be applicable to serve a large community. Bigger the size of your target audience, greater are the chances of success.


3. Desperate Audience
   Desperate users will click through your Ads more often than others. So, the webapp should serve user's top priority needs such as finding jobs, dates, free money, deals, etc...
   


4. Simplicity
   Keep it short and simple... in terms of both purpose and interface. The purpose of the webapp should be simple, straight-forward, and solve a specific problem in the domain. An overly complicated tool with multi-tasking capability can confuse or frighten the user. Also, keep the navigation interface and GUI as simple (yet elegant) as possible.
   


5. Maintenance Cost
   Start-ups should consider the cost of maintaining large databases, security, etc. So, make sure the webapp requires just a minimum set of web resources to start off with.
   


6. Creative solution
   The webapp should provide a new solution to an old problem. That means, it should be unique in its capability to serve the user's need. Its not healthy to replicate other webapps, and clone the top-notch apps in the domain.

My dashboard - Siddhi Labs

Today, I launched a dashboard for all my experiments with the web. I named it Siddhi-Labs. Here is the meaning of 'Siddhi' picked from Cologne Sanskrit dictionary:

Siddhi: accomplishment , performance , fulfilment , complete attainment (of any object) , success

Check out my latest creations, browse thru my write-ups, and get judgmental about my pics. This will be the central HUB for all my future works too...

The Good Blogs

Here is an innovative approach to get the attention of web surfers... with regard to some recently published blog posts in the net. The Good Blogs introduces an ad-supported free service that can increase a blog's readership. Marketing of blogs is certainly the most demanding feature of the hour, and TheGoodBlogs capitalizes on this need.

Goal: To create distributed communities of bloggers who actively promote each other every time readers visit their blogs and in doing so,

• dramatically increase the number of people who read their blogs, and
• seamlessly introduce new bloggers and fresh content to their readers.

Its a new solution to an old problem. I wonder why Technorati did not come up with such a service long time ago? Honestly, I liked this service, and it really works.

Launching 'Fundoo Web'

Today, an offshoot of my first webapp is born. I named it 'Fundoo Web' :)

'Fundoo Web' is a mashup search tool that enable users to retrieve information from several sources in a single click. Hence, the user will save time & can increase his scope without any additional effort.

It comprises of several modules floating on the webpage. Each module interacts with a specific source to query and display the search results. The Ajax interface comes in handy to refine the keywords, or get more content from any single module.

Modules currently in action are... Yahoo Web, Flickr, News, Yahoo Answers, Amazon, and Map.

Start playing with it, and hope you like it!

Celebration with lights

Wish you all a very happy Diwali ~


Relevant pics from Flickr



Related News
An insider's guide to Diwali
Diwali in a sun 'n' sand setting
Healthy Diwali

Yahoo Answers
Good hindi songs to dance to for a diwali program?
HAPPY DIWALI to all of you,may the light shower u blessings from darkness/ignorace to knowledge?
diwali gretting?
Diwali SMS?

Some of my recent related posts

Click here for a list of all my previous blog-posts related to diwali
Have a crackling Diwali. May this season bring you good luck & happiness!

Powered by StuffaBlog

First Month Stats of my Webapp

Check out my webapp's visitor activity on its first month after the official launch on Sep 14, 2006. I'm glad at how its been well received by you all, and thanks for the support.


Site: Stuff a Blog

A Developer's Dream

I came across a well-written article that discusses the hidden desire in most of the software developers... Here is an excerpt that tells you what.

They all want to know how to start a company, get VC funding, sell the company, make millions and retire at a very young age.

The article also gives us an insight into what it takes to achieve this dream. It lists 3 things for you to create a software company.

1. First, you need to be dedicated
2. The second thing is you need to be a decent developer
3. Finally, you need a little bit of money
   

I liked the explanation that was given to the first point. Give it a quick read if you have time...

Shortcut for creative ideas

Here is an interesting find... A list of techniques to encourage our mind to come up with new & fresh ideas. Not just ideas to solve, but a list of techniques to create innovative problems too. Its all about tricking the mind to use its own potential.