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Maki & Brian
DeLaet
EduCyber founders
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Have you heard the latest buzzword - Web 2.0? Get used to it if you haven't already. A friend exclaimed “You mean I missed Web 1.0?” Well, no.
Web 2.0 is a concept not a product. There are lots of articles we could point you to to explain this concept but since I like to explain things in plain English, I'll give it a try with Web 2.0. Internet for the masses has been around for just over 10 years. It has grown and matured in a lot of ways. Now, in 2007, people are coming to view the Internet as a way for community to form, for sharing ideas, for blogging. All of these are a part of Web 2.0.
In one of the talks I deliver to groups, I talk about how with a web site, you can harness the power of databases. That is one of the driving forces of Web 2.0. Google , Yahoo , Microsoft Live and other search engines harness this power and serve it up to you. But Yahoo was one of the original Web 1.0 companies as well. In the beginning they had directories that you had to drill down through to find what you were looking for. With advanced search technology, data can be found no matter where it is located (and you don't even need to know where it came from in many cases).
Social networking is another feature of Web 2.0. The rise of sites like Myspace.com and YouTube.com have brought people together to meet, to discuss, to share and to create. And now networking sites of every ilk are popping up - in part because they are fashionable but also because they work. People can connect in new ways. Facebook.com boasts more than 15 million users - “many of whom you probably already know” as their site says. MySpace claims to have more than 100 million users. Surely some of those users would be someone that you could connect with, whether it be a potential client, someone who shares a hobby or interest, an old classmate, or perhaps even a possible mate or date.
There is indeed a lot more you information on Web 2.0 than will fit in this short article. Tim O'Reilly, one of the first to use the term, has a great article on what Web 2.0 is all about .
The word Office has come to mean a suite of productivity products from Microsoft that includes Word, Excel, Outlook and depending on your needs other programs like Access, OneNote and more. But Google, which has become a verb in its own right, is determined to give the Bill Gates and company a run for their money.
Enter Google's Docs and Spreadsheets . This cool new “product” from Google lets you keep all of your data online so you can edit, retrieve, use your documents from anywhere. And yes, you can import your Microsoft documents and use or save them in Docs and Spreadsheets. But can you afford it? If you can afford $0, you can. Check it out and let us know what you think.
But there's more to it than word processing and spreadsheets. What about email? Sign up for a free Google email account and you can manage your email from the same interface. And Google really does email pretty well. The interface provides you with all the bells and whistles of modern email clients from filters, to archiving and what about storage space? I've got 2.8 GB of space! That's a pretty big mailbox.
Just like the old cable TV commercials though, I have to say “But wait! There's more . . .” You can manage contacts, your calendar or group calendaring and much more. The docs and spreadsheets interface even lets me collaborate with others on a document. We can all login and work on it together.
It does sound pretty cool and I continue to learn more as I go, but . . . I have to confess I still use Microsoft and my testing of Office 2007 so far leaves me impressed with how they continue to improve upon their products.
Are you burning daylight or saving daylight? Huh? Our government, in it's *infinite wisdom* has decreed that time will change again this year. Only we're going to save oil by starting even earlier. So you'll need to make sure that your computers have the right patches installed so that we can all keep time properly.
Following last year's rules, Daylight Savings Time would start on April 1 (the first Sunday in April). On the new schedule, it starts on March 11 (the second Sunday in March). And then instead of ending the last Sunday in October, it will continue until the first Sunday in November.
So what does that mean for us? Well, if you use Microsoft Outlook, you will need to download and install the Outlook Time Zone Update Tool. Windows XP users (you need to have Service Pack 2 installed and shame on you if you don't already have it installed) need to install this update .
The part I hate worst about the time change is it always happens in the wee hours of the morning. I hate having to get up so early just to change my clocks. :-)
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© 2007 EduCyber, Inc. This newsletter is brought to you by EduCyber, Inc. EduNotes can be viewed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week online at http://www.educyber.com/edunotes/ . Visit us on the web at http://www.educyber.com or call us at (720) 275-4646. Permission is hereby granted to redistribute all or part of this newsletter as long as this entire copyright message is included.
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