Category Archives: web 2.0

Occasional reader – Airport security, future of journalism, working with Yahoo!

Posted on May 18, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

Some interesting reads from the past couple of weeks: The Airport Security Follies (New York Times blog) – Pilot Patrick Smith takes a look at the idiocy of our airport screening processes. Smith argues (and I fully agree) that airport … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, journalism, media, newspapers, reader, social networking, travel, web 2, web 2.0, weekly reader, yahoo | Comments Off on Occasional reader – Airport security, future of journalism, working with Yahoo!

The Internet’s perpetual motion machine

Posted on May 5, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

In my comment on Clay Shirky’s speech on the cognitive surplus, I mentioned the effect of increased content production on consumption patterns. I didn’t mention the Internet’s perpetual motion machine. I was reminded of that when I reviewed the post … Continue reading →

Posted in media, publishing, web 2.0 | Comments Off on The Internet’s perpetual motion machine

3D maps meet geotagged pictures

Posted on May 3, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

Microsoft’s Virtual Earth has a phenomenal addition to Live Search Maps that allows users to create virtual aerial tours. Here’s an example using pictures from my trip to Kauai: The tours can be exported as a video file and uploaded … Continue reading →

Posted in flickr, geotagging, maps, mashups, microsoft, photography, web 2, web 2.0 | 1 Comment

Pimp my ride at Yahoo! Brickhouse

Posted on April 24, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

Web 2.0 has brought a lot of innovation in how we connect with people. Sites like flickr, Wikipedia, Facebook and YouTube have unleashed the creativity of hundreds of millions of people across the planet. People have struggled to come up … Continue reading →

Posted in fun, random, web 2.0 | Comments Off on Pimp my ride at Yahoo! Brickhouse

Yahoo! Local gets Yelpy

Posted on December 13, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Yahoo! Local has rolled out some new features to increase the Web 2.0-ness of its local search product: RSS feeds. You can subscribe to feeds of all reviews near you. If you find a reviewer you like, you can stay … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, city guides, local search, search, web 2, web 2.0, yahoo, yelp | 1 Comment

Google My Maps gets bloggy

Posted on December 11, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google is continuing its efforts to turn its My Maps personal mapmaking tools into a geographic blogging platform. Back in October, they added profile pages for map creators. I wrote at the time that it would be nice to have … Continue reading →

Posted in google, local search, maps, mashups, web 2, web 2.0 | 1 Comment

Facebook improves News Feed algorithm

Posted on December 1, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

In a much anticipated move, Facebook has changed its News Feed algorithm. The new algorithm rewards applications that compel their audiences to interact with them regularly. Scrabulous is a great example of a winner from this change.   Under the … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, social networking, web 2, web 2.0 | Comments Off on Facebook improves News Feed algorithm

Flickr places provides a wide-angle view of the world

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

My friends who’ve seen me walk around with a GPS as I take pictures on vacation or hikes think I’m a little bit odd. But apparently, I’m not the only one. In the 15 months since Flickr officially supported geotagging, … Continue reading →

Posted in flickr, geotagging, maps, mashups, travel, web 2, web 2.0 | 1 Comment

Google’s My Maps becomes Our Maps

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google’s latest changes to My Maps allows you to collaborate on personal maps with others in much the same way you can share a Google Document or Spreadsheet. You can also allow anyone to edit a map. Group editing is … Continue reading →

Posted in google, maps, mashups, web 2, web 2.0 | 1 Comment

Google Maps tackles the last block problem

Posted on November 20, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

A longstanding problem with online maps and navigation devices is that your destination is often not where they say it is. When you reach the “destination”, you’re often a few hundred feet from where you wanted to be. There are … Continue reading →

Posted in google, local search, maps, satellite navigation, street view, web 2, web 2.0 | Comments Off on Google Maps tackles the last block problem