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Web 2.0 Model - Web2.0 Tutorials

Web 2.0 includes two major model move, one is ‘user generated content’ and other is ‘thin client computing’.

1. User Generated Content
   User generated contents refer to those content which user can upload it on the Web 2.0 based software especially social networking sites in the form of text, audio, video, pictures, movies and many more on the low level or the mass level itself. The advantage of this move is the content can spread very rapidly on the mass level and truly talented authors, artists, musicians and moviemakers can gain an audience quickly and easily that was not so easy in the past. ‘Orkut’, ‘YouTube’, ‘Wikipedia’ and blogs are the best examples of User generated Content Paradigm.
2. Thin Client Computing
   Data and applications are stored on Web servers, and a user can access these from any computer through a Web browser. This is known as thin client computing. Though, it is not a new concept for the Internet, but in Web 2.0 user can access any data from the massive server through Browsers. Browsers interpret scripts in such a way, that the data are accessed extremely quick no matter which hardware or software environment they reside in. ‘Google’, ‘Live’, ‘Yahoo’ and ‘msn’ is the best examples of thin client computing.

Origin of Web 2.0

Before the origin of Web 2.0, Web 1.0 was known as a term ‘Web’ that was like warehouse of information and static content. Then, as time passes, with the advancement of technology and software, a huge amount of data and content became dynamic and returning custom results to users. With the evolution of new century, the Web became much more interactive. It allowed the users to play, stop, rewind and fast-forward through audio and video content. It was Web 1.5. But gradually, Web-based applications act like local applications, but on a worldwide level with the social illusion just before since last two or three years. This is known as Web 2.0.

The concept of “Web 2.0” began with a conference brainstorming session between O’Reilly and MediaLive International in 2003. Dale Dougherty, web pioneer and O’Reilly VP, noted that the dotcom companies were being crashed very rapidly despite of having quality and right marketing strategy. It is assumed that something is common in all the dotcom companies that were not being distinguished by the client and being the causes of crashing. Though they observed that Web applications have a lot more than it had been used so far. They decided to do something different with web application, thus the concept of Web 2.0 has been evolved. O’Reilly had presented the feature of Web 2.0 in 2004 in a conference claiming the new version of Web. It began to popular since then.

Google, Live, Orkut, YouTube etc are the best examples of Web 2.0. In the model of Web 2.0 O’Reilly had presented that the Web 2.0 based software can do better business and are more efficient. This causes the revolution and many more web applications replacing the most common and popular Web applications e.g. Google AdSense replaced Double Click, Flickr replaced Ofoto, Napster replaced mp3.com, Wikipedia replaced Britannica Online, Web logs replaced personal websites, Search Engine Optimization replaced domain name speculation, Wikis replaced Content Management System while folksonomy replaced taxonomy. There is a long list of Web 2.0 that is accepted widely. But the controversy is still going on about the definition of Web 2.0. Some people are criticizing it saying that it is a meaningless marketing buzzword while many people heartily accept it and enjoy it too

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Innovations associated with “Web 2.0” Web-based applications and desktops

Ajax, the rich internet application technique has prompted the development of web-sites that copy personal computer applications like (M.S. Office package) word processing, the spreadsheet, and slide-show presentation while some wiki sites replicate many features of PC authoring applications. Some sites perform collaboration and project management functions. Web 2.0 also innovated various browser based operating system that works like an application platform not merely operating system as it copy the user experience of desktop operating systems having similar features and function like a PC environment. They have as their distinctive characteristic to run within any modern browser.

Rich Internet applications
The new feature included in the Web 2.0 based application in which user does not need to refresh the page, the whole page or a portion of page get refreshed automatically like in some real time web page. E.g. Cricket websites, Share Market etc. Some of the richinternet application techniques are Ajax, Adobe Flash, Flex, Nexaweb, OpenLaszlo and Silverlight and many more.

Server-side software
Web 2.0 application server functions on existing web server architecture but strongly depend on back-end software. The weaving of software varies only nominally due to methods of publishing via using dynamic content management but web services usually need highly vigorous database and workflow support. It has analogues to traditional intranet functionality of an application server. Vendor moves towards to date fall either under a universal server approach or under a web-server plugin approach. (A universal server refers to a common server that bundles most of the necessary functionality in a single server platform while under a plugin refers to standard publishing tools enhanced with API interfaces and other tools.)

Client-Side Software
Web 2.0 provides several extra functions that a usercan use according to its own ability and requirements. It can be accessed in various forms like an HTML page, Javascript, Flash, Silverlight or Java. All these methods reduce the server workload and increase the accessibility of the application.

XML and RSS
Web 2.0 supporters consider the syndication of site content as a Web 2.0 feature includes because it standardized protocols that allows users to implement data for other purpose like for using another website, a browser plugin or a separate desktop application. XML based protocols like RSS, RDF and atom allow syndication. As the popularity of these technologies increase by name of Web feed because of its high usability the RSS icon replaced by more user-friendly icons.

Specialized protocols

Social networking sites uses the specialized protocols like FOAF (Friend of A Friend) and XFN (XHTML Friends Network), which enhance the functionality of the site by allowing end users to interact directly without centralized website.

Web protocols

Web communication protocols support the Web 2.0 infrastucture. Major Web protocols are:

• REST (Representational State Transfer) provides a way to access and manipulates data on a server using the HTTP verbs GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE.
• SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) includes POSTing XML messages and requests to a server to follow the quite complex but pre-defined instructions.

Usually servers use proprietary APIs, even though standard web-service APIs have also been used vastly. Web service communications mostly involve some form of XML.

Besides above protocols, WSDL (Web Services Description Language) is also used for web services. The composition of WSDL with UDDI is expected to promote the use of Web services worldwide.

Web 2.0 and Language Learning Technologies

Web 2.0 technologies are new and evolving techniques for learning language, but new added features like video, file sharing, blogs, wikis,  podcastingin and many more included features in Web 1.0 have made Web 2.0 very popular among the scholars, educators and students. The user of these technologies have appreciated the social networking and wikis aspect quating it as a natural helper for a constructivist learning methodology.

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Characteristics of Web 2.0

Though there is a controversy still going on over the definition of Web 2.0, yet it has some basic common characteristics. These include:

1. Web 2.0 use network as a platform as it deliver or receive applications thoroughly via a browser.
2. Users gets, manipulates and controlled the data on the site.
3. Participatory architecture in which user can add or edit value to the application according to their requirement.
4. A rich, interactive, user-friendly interface based on Ajax or similar frameworks.
5. Some social-networking aspects.
6. Enhanced graphical interfaces such as gradients and rounded corners (absent in the so-called Web 1.0 era).

Usage of Web 2.0
After emerging of Web 2.0, it is being vastly used because of its wide range of variety and very attractive features. Descriptive list of Web 2.0 tools are endless even though we can say that the new generation of Internet approximately uses its tools. Web 2.0 tools include Weblogging, Wikis, Social networking, Podcasts, Feeds, Social bookmarking, and Cascading Style Sheet. The Approach behind using Web 2.0 is different. Some uses it accidentally as for browsing purpose. Some uses it to fulfill theirs’ job because they need it. Some uses it by curiosity as they want to check it and some uses it by default as they have no knowledge about it. Overall, many people and companies use it but they don‘t know why? The reason may vary, but its utility is still undoubted.

Technical Overview
Web 2.0 has a complex and growing technology that includes server-software, content-syndication, messaging- protocols, standards-based browsers with plugins and extensions, and various client-applications. All these differ in functions and approaches but provide all the requirements beyond the expectation such as information- storage, creation, and dissemination capabilities.

A web 2.0 website may usually feature a number of following techniques:

• Rich Internet application techniques, optionally Ajaxbased
• Cascading Style Sheet, CSS
• Semantically valid XHTML markup and the use of Microformats
• Organization and collection of data in RSS/Atom
• Clean and meaningful URLs
• Excessive use of folksonomies (in the form of tags or tagclouds)
• Use of wiki software either completely or partially (where partial use may grow to become the complete platform for the site) partially, e.g. the LAMP solution stack
• XACML over SOAP for access control between organizations and domains
• Blog publishing
• Mashups (A mix up of content and Audio usually from different musical style)
• REST or XML Webservice APIs

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Introduction
Web 2.0, a phrase is a cluster term for the new phase of World Wide Web, which was coined by O’Reilly and Media live International in 2003 and popularized by the first Web 2.0 conference in 2004. There is no certain definition of Web 2.0, even though; it stands for the transformation of the web into a full-fledged computing platform.

Web 2.0 is not a modified version of World Wide Web, but it is a different way to utilize Internet into web platform like weblogs, social book marking, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds (and other forms of many-to-many publishing), social networking web, Web APIs, Web standards and online Service Provider. It is like open sourcing and genuine interactivity in which user can upload anything, download anything and can use the content according to its own wish. There is no restriction of more or less measure of content, uploading and downloading. All these are absolutely free.

According to ‘O’Reilly, the inventor of Web 2.0, “Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform”. So Web 2.0 is a new way of business via Internet. It’s really a new business tactic that is being used on the mass level across the world. The success of ‘YouTube’, ‘Orkut’, ‘MySpace’, ‘Google’, ‘live’, ‘Wikipedia’ and many more websites are the biggest examples of Web 2.0.

Definitions and Components
As we have already mentioned that Web 2.0 has not any specific definition. Many users have defined its in their own way. According to Wikipedia, “Web 2.0 is a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users. Ultimately Web 2.0 services are expected to replace desktop computing applications for many purposes.”

On the other hand, according to Wall Street Technology powered by CMP ‘United Business Media’, the coinventor of Web 2.0, “Web 2.0 refers to Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) that use the Internet as a platform to create interactive user interfaces that resemble PCbased applications. Typically, RIAs emphasize online collaboration among users.”

Several supporters of Web 2.0 have defined it according to their uses, observations and experiences, but in brief, we can say that:

• Web 2.0 is a conversion of websites from unique information structure having the sources of content and functionality. That’s why being a computing platforms it serves web applications to end-users.
• Web 2.0 is a new way of organizing and categorizing of the content, audio, video, pictures and movies highly stressing to the growth of the economic value of the Web.
• Tim O’Reilly, the father of Web 2.0 along with his colleague John Battelle summarized the key principles Web 2.0 applications in 2005. According to them:
  • The web as a platform
  • Data as the driving force
• Network effects created by an architecture of participation
• Innovation in assembly of systems and sites composed by pulling together features from distributed, independent Developers (a kind of “open source” development)
• Lightweight business models enabled by content and service syndication
•  The end of the software adoption cycle (“the perpetual beta”)
• Software above the level of a single device, leveraging the power of the “Long Tail”
• Ease of picking-up by early adopters

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Creating water texture effect in photoshop - photoshop tutorial

Start by applying a water color gradient to the background in radial mode.

From filter menu select distort>>zig zag. Apply settings as shown.

Duplicate the layer. From filter menu select distort>>glass. Apply settings as shown.

Change the layer mode to soft light.

Duplicate the layer. From filter menu select distort>>glass. Apply settings as shown.

Change the layer mode to linear burn.

Tags: water texture effect, watertexture photoshop tutorial, watertextureeffect, watertexturephotoshoptutorial