A Mashup Platform, that can double as iGoogle

The WSO2 Mashup Server 1.5 is out.

Check this article on a Mashup platform that not only allows you to create mashups using Web Services, RSS Feeds and Screen Scrapes, but also lets you create your own version of iGoogle, where users can import iGoogle gadgets as well as generate iGoogle gadgets for the mashups they create.

NxE's Fifty most influential female bloggers

The list includes Veronical Belmont at 33. I love Tekzilla and most of the Revision 3 stuff. If you haven't subscribed already to their podcasts, I suggest you do now !!!

Let Firefox 2 and 3 co-exist in your Linux box

It's quite simple actually. I had FF3 installed to begin with.

1. Backup your existing Firefox 3 profile. You do this by typing 'firefox -P' in the command line and saving the 'default' profile under a different name. I gave the name 'tyrell-ff3'
   
2. Install Firefox 2 and Firefox 2 Gnome support. I used Synaptic.
   
3. Launch Firefox 2 with 'firefox-2 -P' and create a new profile, I named it 'tyrell-ff2'. Note that your previous Firefox 3 profile is listed there as well.
4. Now you can launch each version of Firefox with the associated profiles.

Just to make sure I don't mix those two profiles and mess them up. I changed my Firefox 2 and 3 shortcuts to use the commands 'firefox-2 -P tyrell-ff2' and 'firefox -P tyrell-ff3' respectively. So instead of asking me to chose a profile, they will use the relevant profile automatically.

I also installed Firebug and Web Developer Toolbar extensions using Synaptic. So both are available in Firefox 2 and 3 by default. Since my reasons for co-existence are mainly development oriented, this is proving to be an ideal solution.

Hope this helps others too ...

WSO2 @ Microsoft TechEd North America

Jonathan co-presented an impressive demo on Web Services interoperability with Greg Leake, a director at Microsoft's Connected Systems Division. All this was as part of the keynote 'Dynamic IT' by Bob Muglia. The Webcast for the entire keynote can be found here.

Architectural Overview of Shindig, an OpenSocial Reference Implementation

Rajdeep Dua has published a new article explaining the architectural aspects of Shindig. Since I am working on a Shindig integration project myself these days, I find it pretty useful.

Expect more on my Shindig experiment with the WSO2 Mashup Server later ...

Why BitTorrent brings your router to its knees

A concise article explaining why everything else has to be put on hold when you download a torrent at full bandwidth. There are suggestions on how to fix this as well. Unfortunately those might be difficult to implement, unless BitTorrent clients such as Azureus decides to handle it at the application level.

Paul among the best CTOs of 2008

The best CTOs of 2008 | InfoWorld | News | June 02, 2008 | By Galen Gruman

"The CTO's job can be both exhilarating and thankless. Exhilarating in that you get to explore new technologies and figure out how to apply them to create new business opportunities or solve thorny business problems. Thankless in that there's always pressure to do more with less, solve the impossible, and get people to go along with change they may not appreciate the value of. The best CTOs use good people, the right technology, and management skills to meet business challenges."

WSO2's very own Paul Fremantle is on the list (though not surprisingly). Congratulations Paul !!!

Mashups Vs. SOA

Tension emerges between SOA and mashup camps | Service-Oriented Architecture | ZDNet.com

“the approach is not a black and white SOA vs. mashups choice for enterprise integration, but rather, use of mashups for the last mile of integration that may, in many cases, utilize data services, feeds, or other sources that more often than not are exposed as Web or RESTful Services.”

This is the approach we follow in the WSO2 Mashup Server. Not only do we provide a platform for the last mile integration, with support for consuming Data Services, Feeds, REST and SOAP Services, but we also allow the newly created Mashup to be exposed as a service, which in turn can be consumed by others.

How Google Friend Connect Works

Interesting read. With Facebook acting all paranoid all of a sudden regarding Friend Connect. it's good to know a bit of the internals at a glance.

Google Code Blog: How Google Friend Connect Works

What would you pay for your software?

Read more at Software Freedom | Lanka Linux User Group