You just have to love the simplicity of badges and widgets. Badges are simply code that allow you to incorporate functionality into your web site. Flickr, Facebook and even Twitter provide you with some simple code that when dropped into an HTML/PHP/ASP/.Net page on your site pull content from those sites into yours.
You can see an example of this in the sidebar of my site. The second column now displays a Twitter badge that displays my last 5 Twitter postings (affectionally known as “tweets”).The code was provided by Twitter (http://twitter.com/badges). You can select one of three styles of badges. I am using the HTML version that immediately leverages the CSS file I use to control my site’s presentation.
I normally don’t have a problem explaining new technologies to people but Twitter really caused me to pause and think.
A Twitterer for more than a few months now I find it a great way to stay in touch with friends and colleagues. Now that I use Twitterific I am able to submit and track Twitter posts all day long.
Cali Lewis (of GeekBrief.TV) latest show discussed a video created by the team at CommonCraft Show that does a great job explaining how Twitter works and why you would want to use it. It is really short and worth watching.
I have been invited by Lullabot to speak at the DrupalCon convention in Boston this Wednesday, March 5th. The title of the talk is “How IBM uses Drupal”. I will be discussing the many ways the Centers for Solution Innovation have been using Drupal. If you happen to be in Boston, and you are a big fan of Drupal .. come on by.
It has been over 3 months since the launch of ZudaComics.com web site and I have continued to observe a stream of articles published around the country about DC Comics’ foray into the online world of web comics. What is so refreshing after reading so many articles is Brian McTavish’s piece published on Feb 19th in the Kansas City Star which covers more than a simple regurgitation of the DC Comics’ press release.
Brian does a great job exploring the Zuda site and what it means to both comic creators as well as their readers. Zuda is changing the way people view and interact with online comics. What I believe is even more important however is the fact that it was a company like DC Comics, a major player in the comic book publishing space, providing the mechanism that allows professional and amateur talent alike to share their creativity with the world. And that is the people, the readers, who decide which work merits support and recognition.Check-out the entire article at the Kansas City Star.
