Becoming something…

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I’m beginning a weekly series reviewing, exploring, and living Web 2.0. Every Friday, I will take a look at this emerging approach to the internet and how it relates to our lives. Web 1.0, if I can call it that, lasted probably beyond the confines of a decade. Being in an age of exponential growth, only a few years after coining the term, Web 2.0, the proverbial ‘they’ are already talking about Web 3.0. Those actively pursuing careers and developing lives today will soon be inundated with this technology. It will be imperative to maintain knowledge as much as understanding Web 2.0 will surely enhance your life. Ready? It’s easy or supposed to be easy. I will bring facts so you understand what everything means and share with you what is out there to use.

Since the introduction was long, I’ll keep this part short. Web 2.0…

can refer to a trend in web design and development — a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services (such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies) which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users…

…it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs. -Wikipedia

Web 2.0 mind map

Are you on board? Share in what ways you are Web 2.0ed already. Any favorites? or are you just confused about it all?

Any solutions you are waiting to see?

…help me help you.

Note: Most of the links in this post lead to Wikipedia, a prime Web 2.0 example.

Edit: Found this great introductory slide-show

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There were a few comments on my entry regarding my site being blocked in China. I figured the whole issue deserved a blog entry, especially since controlled free-speech isn’t something we can all relate to very well. I’ll begin with the cut and dry of the situation but also direct you to my own personal knowledge and some interesting articles.

Now to the questions posed specifically about my site and why it might be banned. There are a few possible reasons:
1) My content has been read randomly by government moderators and has been blocked because of content.
2) Automatic filters picked out specific keyword combinations from my entries and deemed the content inappropriate.
3) My blog runs on a WordPress.org platform. This is important because I know that all WordPress.com hosted blogs are blocked.

[Note] My chances of “detection” on any of those three counts was increased by the fact that my site is a blog. Blogs, forums, and other discussion formats can be closely watched and quickly banned or event destroyed if hosted in China. Subversive or dynamic sharing of information is the most threatening. Even texting has proved a recent challenge to the Chinese government as it as been used to suddenly form public protest through instant coordination (but don’t worry, they are working on systems to monitor that too).

So I could have been blocked for hosting a blog, using WordPress, or based on content.

I hope this answers any questions and brings up many more. Please read further, Continue reading »

I feel so controversial! I also feel sad because I really planned to step up my blogging for the trip, sorry for the lack of content over the past week.

I’m not kidding though, I had no access to any part of my site (even uploads) the entire time I was in Beijing. Even friend’s computers couldn’t access the site (sometimes it just depends on what government controlled up-link it leaves on). It’s kinda cool to be among the ranks of Wikipedia, banned historical truths, and other such controversial information.

I do plan to look into it, as it is a group of people who might appreciate my Chinese content and other such life changing information. Oh, China.