Creating standalone desktop web applictions

This is the age of bowser based web applications. Browser like google Chrome provides a way to create webb application shortcuts to your desk top with out loading the actual browser. The interface will let you open an exclusive browser window only for your favourite application like Gmail or Facebook. No adress bars, no menus just your app. Cool eh!?
Here are some tricks that will allow you to ceate standalone web applications. Sometimes these are called Rich Internet Applications or RIA

1. Firefox

The feature is not built in, however there are add-ons avialable which will let you do the job.Prism is such an application. Prism allows you to run web applications (like Gmail or Facebook, for example) in a single browser window, separate from your main Firefox application. Prism is a standalone application. Now a firefox extension named Refractor is available, which does the function directly from Firefox.
After installing the refractor add-on you can create applications right from ther firefox while you browse.



An article on the Wired magazine:click here

2. Gogle Chrome.

Google Chrome has this feature built in. You can make any webpage a desktop application by clicking on the 'create application' button.


The standalone blogger application looks like this



3. Adobe Air

Adobe AIR is used to make completely independent desktop web applications with out needing any web browser.Though this is not for novice users, it is aa good tools for web developers. Using Adobe AIR standalone desktop web applications can be developed. You need to install a AIR runtime on your operating system.
Click here for Adobe AIR page
You can get lot of applications by googling.
Here are some popular links:

http://www.adobe.com/products/air/showcase/

http://www.sizlopedia.com/2008/03/08/10-most-useful-adobe-air-applications/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/some_adobe_air_apps_worth_a_look.php

4. Google gears

Google gears is a software which enables offline functionality to web application.Once offline, Gears saves all work on local database on your computer, you can still work with out internet connection. The next time when you gets the connection, Gears syncs the changes to the server. This combined with the desktop app featrures, is creating the ways to the RIA (Rich Internet Applicaation}.

10 google services that are less popular

Though Google is ubiquitous in the internet, many of the services provided by Google are not well known to the public. These are very useful free tools you can use for from website promotion to day to day uses.

1. Google Sites
Category: Publishing
This service is a free hosting medium, that you can use to make website. The site is hosted at google's server. Formerly it was Jotspot. The company was aquired by google. Sites can be built with ease using simple and efficient user interface.

2. Google Trends
Category: Statistics
Trends service allows you to find popularity of keywords over time. You can compare two or more keywords to know relative popularity. It provides a list of top 100 keywords on a hourly basis(hottrends). this is very useful for website promotions and marketing.

3. Google Suggest
Category: Search
Google suggest recommends in real time as you type on the searchbar. This note only saves the typing time but also helps discover useful information as you type that otherwise may have missed.

4. Google Adurl
Category: Advertising /publishing
This is a feature that allows you to add a site or page to the google search index. This is useful for web administrators and bloggers.

5. Google Mashup Editor
Category: Publishing
This application is rarely known to the public. The application allows to create useful applications using simple syntaxes. The applications can access,process and display data in a meaningful way. Useful for content providers.

6. Google SMS
Category: Mobile/Search
This is particularly for mobile applications. It allows to querry google using mobile devices.

7. Google Reader
Category: News/Aggregation
This service allows to get news and updates from many sites in one place. This is done using RSS feeds from the websites.

8. Google Talk Gadget
Category: Communication
This is a less known application. It allows users to use google talk without installing anything on your computer. Truly portable.

9. Google Sets
Category: Search
This service allows the user to generate a list from one or more keywords. Sets automatically categories the keywords and generates similar keywords. This service is very useful for web administrators in SEO(search engine optimization).

10. Google Notebook
Category: Utility
Google notebook is a utility that allows to create,edit and save small notes online.
This will be useful while researching the web.

The semantic web - the rise of the omniscient

Semantic(defenition:related to meaning) web is a term given to identify a new pattern of development of the Internet. The semantic web also known as the data web is an initiative to give meaning to the data hidden in the web and give the ability for knowledge discovery. The proposal is to add meta data with the actual data so that the data can be processed by machines. Which will enable to discover hidden association that is hardly visible in the current framework. The semantic web is based on a set of frameworks to structure data, query and process it.
The Semantic web stack consists mainly the data representation frameworks like RDF framework, OWL framework and the SPARQL query language. These are in draft phase at the W3 consortium.
To understand how the semantic web will be, try to recollect the "people you may know" suggestions made by your social networking site like Orkut or Facebook. These web application processes your friends list and your friends' friends lists and guesses whom you may be knowing. You save time to search each friends long friends list and gets useful informations effortlessly. This is how you can imagine about Semantic web. In this case the processing is done by the web application on the data you provided to that application only. In semantic web the processing can be applied to the entire web provided they conform to the standards.
These experts says is one step forward to the direction of an Artificial Intelligent web. Something we have heard only in the Science fiction like the Skynet in Terminator series. Already a lot of web companies are busy creating the next big thing on the Internet after Google. A list of sites are given below to guide your imagination.

1. Twine.com


2. Powerset.com


3. Hakia.com-the semantic searchengine


4. Swoogle-another


5. Twine.com

Another possibility is the natural language querry processing. You may be able to serch using plain english rather than keywords.


6. Trueknowledge

To know more about the technology that may change the future of the web and our life here are some useful links.

1. semantic web wikipedia ariticle


2. semantic web activity on w3.org


3. SIMILE project at MIT

Thus the emergence of the semantic web may be the rise of the omniscient machines.

The Global Consciousness Project

Humans are said to be selfaware, conscious animals. We are said to be evolved from animals. Life started as unicellular eucariots and evolved in to complex forms in time. An obvious fact in the complexity is the cooperative community of simpler forms. Like that the multicellular animals are nothing but a community of unicellular life forms. And the higher order animals continue the patterns by forming communities and groups. The phenomenon is visible from insects like bees and ants to mamals like humans. This is the fractal nature of life. It keeps forming higher order forms.



To concieve the concept you may want to look up at some of these concepts.

• Fractals


• Evolution


• Superorganism


• Gaia theory


• Noosphere


• Collective Intelligence

The Global Consciousness Project is a scientific experiment conducted by the Princeton University research group called PEAR ( Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research ). The project is a search for the existence of a global mind as we can concieve from the above theories. In a parellel world of computers, something similar is happening. A global brain is being developed by so called distributed intelligence. We can see that the patterns of the internet is going to be more and more complicated day by day. The emerging technologies like Semantic Web, Cloud computing and grid computing etc. are making the belief stronger that the direction is organic and naturally towards the same direction as that of how the neurons formed the human brain.

The GCP or Global Consciosness Project places devices called REGs (Random Event Generators), which are well-developed white noise generators distributed all over the world . These devices generate a random number per second continuously. Then the data is collected and statistically analysed. The data is then compared with real real world events. The sources say that these random data characteristics correlate with real world events which affect the consciousness of a large number of people. This is said to be an indication of a growing global consciousness. Thus we are capable of conscious evolution.
There is a counterpart of this in the world of computers. Which is another story. which I will tell you in another recent post.

10 most useful web sites for everyone

This is a list of the ten most useful websites for everyone.


1. Google - The search god

Dive in to the deep web. Google needs no introduction.

2. Wikipedia - The Internet's goddess of knowledge.

If your need is knowledge. Wikipedia is there. Tap into the wisdom of the crowds. Wikipedia will quench all your thirst for knowing the unknown. Use it with intelligence and virtuousness.

3. Delicious - The memory of the Internet.

Bookmark what is delicious on the web. We can enjoy the creamy dish that surfaces from the crowd's wisdom. The site allows to save bookmarks online. Plus you can share it with the public and see what others are bookmarking. Add some tags and you can organize and retrieve your favoourite links when needed.

4. Blogger - Your own place on the web world.

Log your consciousness. Those who want there place on the world and the the web, can have your own for free. Populate it with your thoughts, photos, blogs ,activities, reviews etc.Share with others. See what they are saying about you and your stuff.

5. Wikimapia - For all those wander lusters. Maps, the editable map make you feel like you own the earth.

This is a collaborative map tool based on Google maps. The site allows you to mark places and add details about the place. Discover your neighborhood from the locals.There are satellite, map and hybrid views. Much like Google earth, plus you don't need to install anything. Just go to wikimapia.org and you can wander where ever you want. Ofcourse not live data.

6. Gmail - Email is now Gmail!!

The email nowadays got renamed to gmail. The amazing gmail with its clean interface, fast response and manageability along with the fast search feature rules out any other from competition. Add with it calendars, chat, news feeds, docs... Oh mama, My stomach is full.

7. BBC News - Clean, extensive, specialized and diverse News.

If you are looking for news. BBC is there in the business for a longtime. Very vast number of news ariticles, videos, images, opinions,polls and interviews. Unique look and feel and usability makes it unforgettable.

8. Orkut - Social enjoyment!!

Stay in touch with your friends where ever they are. Discover new friends, activity partners, like minded. Plus share your feelings, thoughts and life with those you know and love. Applications, groups, scraps, and networking makes it ultra social..

9. Youtube- Videos videos and more videos....

Never ending flow of streamin media. Gigantic collection of user contributed videos, in numerous categories fulfills your visual needs. Search and discover what ever you want to see. Add user power, comment and promote others content.

10. Flickr- publish all your snaps to the web.

Photos, the beauties and beasts frozen in time. Upload all those memorable moments trapped between the shutters to the world wide web. Tag and organize.Search and discover. Share with others. See others snaps. Places, people, animals, birds, mountains, oceans, night life...