Category Archives: web 2

Newspapers vs. search engines

Posted on April 7, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

The Tribune company’s soon-to-be owner, Sam Zell doesn’t like search engines. From the Washington Post: In conversations before and after a speech Zell delivered Thursday night at Stanford Law School in Palo Alto, Calif., the billionaire said newspapers could not … Continue reading →

Posted in google, media, newspapers, publishing, web 2, web 2.0 | 7 Comments

Map your world with Google Maps

Posted on April 5, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google today released a feature I’ve been wanting for a long time — the ability to make your own maps. You can add placemarkers and draw lines and shapes on the map. You can also add pictures to a map, … Continue reading →

Posted in flickr, google, local search, maps, personalization, web 2, web 2.0 | 7 Comments

A new local platform from Topix

Posted on April 2, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’ve written before about the need for newspapers to go hyperlocal — allow readers to get ultra-targetted news about where they live from their neighbors. Topix, a company owned by newspaper companies, is offering a platform to do that. Topix … Continue reading →

Posted in blogs, journalism, media, newspapers, web 2, web 2.0 | 1 Comment

Watching time go by, flickr style

Posted on March 26, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

A terrific presentation from Andrew Tomkins of Yahoo! Research at ICWSM today. He mentioned Yahoo’s Taglines – another way of visualizing flickr data. Flickr photos and the top tags for each day float by. (It gets better if you start … Continue reading →

Posted in flickr, web 2, web 2.0, yahoo | Comments Off

Stupid Twitter GPS trick

Posted on March 23, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Watch my progress from the cab, to Dulles airport, to the moon rover, to the plane, to Denver International Airport, to my rental car, to Vail Pass and finally sitting in my hotel room typing this. Done with Twitter GPS. … Continue reading →

Posted in gps, twitter, web 2, web 2.0, where, wireless, wireless data | 1 Comment

The world’s atwitter about Twitter

Posted on March 17, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

You know you’ve made the big time when the Wall Street Journal writes about you. (Either that, or you’ve jumped the shark.) Twitter got a lot of love this week, both from the Journal and at the SXSW conference. Twitter … Continue reading →

Posted in blogs, flickr, gps, instant messaging, lbs, mobile, social networking, twitter, web 2, web 2.0, where, wireless, wireless data | 11 Comments

Hard numbers on reader participation

Posted on March 8, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

With as much attention as user voting models (such as Digg), email to a friend links, etc., are getting, I’ve wondered what the ratio of passive vs. active consumers is. Having been in the business for 12 years, I know … Continue reading →

Posted in newspapers, statistics, web 2, web 2.0 | Comments Off

USA Today goes community crazy

Posted on March 5, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

USA Today got a facelift over the weekend, with heaping doses of community thrown in. The new site allows you to vote stories up, comment on stories and vote on comments. Selected quotes from user comments are displayed on the … Continue reading →

Posted in journalism, media, newspapers, web 2, web 2.0 | 1 Comment

My commute as a metaphor for user-generated content

Posted on March 1, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I was stuck on the Dulles Toll Road this morning because a car caught on fire a mile or so ahead of me. (Yes, that’s two back-to-back hellish commutes.) As I watched the helicopter hover above the car, I thought … Continue reading →