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2008-12-16T06:15:00.000-08:00

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Major 30 Software Development Mistakes

2008-03-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

Software development is the process of framing a usable program to meet the requirements of the end users. In this system, user’s requirements are carefully studied and then a suitable program is made to meet the arising demands. However, sometimes, due to some mistakes software mat loss its importance. In this article, we’ll talk about these common mistakes that hamper the software development process:
1. Inability to understanding the user's needs.
2. Miscalculating the size of the project.
3. Lack of planning in the process.
4. Lack of testing of the final product.
5. Lack of picking up the right way of doing things.
6. Inappropriate way of handling things.
7. Not allowing a professional to plan the software development project.
8. No encouragement to the team to perform to the best.
9. Delaying the plan.
10.Installing of a software package is not enough. It needs an intelligent team to handle the things.
11.Changing of software tools while kicking off the project.
12.So not allow to add unnecessary things in it.
13.Sometimes, developers try to eliminate necessary tasks in order to shorten the project plan.
14.Inability to control the development project management.
15.Absence of high level business sponsorship.
16.Do not increase the size of your project team to speed up the working of a project.
17.Lack of unit testing.
18.Over exhaustion of software developers.
19.No system of handling of errors.
20.One mistakes leads to another. Check thoroughly.
21.Errors on part of a software development process.
22.Incompetence from hardware implementation.
23.No naming style or code conventions.
24.Application of global variables everywhere.
25.Lack of co-ordination of the software development process.
26.Inability of commenting the code.
27.Keeping information to yourself.
28.Performing database operations at the application layer instead of the database layer.
29.Invalidating your data.
30.Lack of load testing.

These are major 30 software development mistakes that need to be corrected to create good quality software to enhance the total work output and gains as well.
By Synapse India

8 Things People Need To Know About Gaming

2008-03-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

Video games are enjoyed by young and old. However the internet, magazines, and more are replete with untruths about gaming. The world is replete with things like “ gaming leads to violence; gaming ruins the eyesight; kids who get involved with video games become school drop outs or fall into bad company ,” and more.

As parents, teachers, and adults we need to separate truths from untruths and take decisions about video gaming based on research and proven facts. Here are a few points to consider:

1. Many are convinced that video and computer games spur violence in kids. The truth is that today
90 percent of the male population and 40 percent of the female population play video or computer games and according to federal crime statistics juvenile crime is quite low and not on the rise. Criminals are rarely created by gaming, more often than not it is a number of factors like broken homes, poverty, drug habits, and more.

2. A popular belief is that video gaming increases aggression among kids. Many studies are based on narrow field samples and does not represent a fair sampling. Media hype promotes the conclusion reached by studies that have poor methodology or analysis. Violence exists all around us in the news, in the movies, and more. The worst aggression is that exhibited by road rage. While violence in games exists it is not a primary factor that leads to aggressive behavior. Kids must be exposed to a holistic lifestyle and have good values ingrained in them at home and in school. Research has in no way established a direct link between gaming and violence although many involved in the school shootings were gamers.

3. Video and computer games are made for kids. While this may have been a fact a few years ago today gamers age from around 6-80+ years. Gaming is a passion with the young and old and advances in technology have created a following among adults too. Games are rated so that parents can make wise choices when purchasing games.

4. Games waste time and have no positive effects. This is an untruth and studies by child development and other experts have found that games heal, enhance eye-hand co-ordination, sharpen thinking power, teach kids to make quick decisions, and enhance creativity. Gaming according to several experts benefits children in many ways and even inculcates motivation and self confidence.

5. Video and computer games are exclusively for boys and men. While there is some truth in this, today the female sex is “shoulder to shoulder” with men in every field of endeavor. Statistics show that today more women play web based games than men and there are many women involved in designing and producing games.

6. Games teach kids to kill. While the military does use games to train soldiers there is no logical conclusion that every kid who plays video or computer games will become a soldier. Soldiers have a different profile and it is the military training that makes them soldiers not just gaming. In fact James Gee in his book “ What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy” establishes the “learning potential” of games; games inculcate problem solving abilities in gamers and teaches gamers to be team players.

7. Games are a waste of time is a wide belief. In fact experts prove that games can be positive if handled properly. Kids or adults must limit their gaming activities and indulge in other hobbies too. Games according to research allow gamers to role play and take important nation building decisions. Gamers can experience first hand what the decisions result in, this according to researches makes them consider the consequence of their actions before they make one not just I games but in real life too.

8. Video games make loners. Video and computer games are not isolating. In fact most gamers play in teams with people living all over the world. The internet has opened up many doors and gamers today learn from others, interact with many who are not even from their own culture or age. Gaming has no barriers and has created an open world.

Gaming is healthy if done right.

by: Timothy Rudon

Why Use a PDF Conversion Tool?

2008-03-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

PDF (Portable Document Format) was introduced by Adobe a couple of years ago. It spread fast around the world, becoming one of the most popular file formats available. PDF files can be read with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, but also with other specialized programs, no matter if you are on Windows, UNIX or another operating system.

PDF files became so popular because of their advantages over other file formats. I explained that they can be viewed on about any computer. Then, their file size is considerably smaller than a similar Word document. This is happening because on creation, images can be compressed, or converted to other format. A big problem for users is text fonts. If you write your Word documents using a fancy font, another person might not be able to view that document, because he doesn't have that particular font installed on his computer. With PDF files that problem is gone; fonts are embedded into the file, making it viewable for anyone.
Another powerful benefit of the PDF files is security. How many times you wanted to make sure your work is not modified, or even stolen. Now, it’s easy to protect your files with a password and 128 bits encryption.

Creating PDF files is quite easy. There are main 2 ways:
First one would be to make it from scratch. You start with a blank page, and add text and graphics the same way you do when you are working with Microsoft Word. At the end, create your bookmarks, choose security options and save the output PDF. Project can be saved and the work continued later if you have something else to add.
But, what happens if you already have your documents written in another text editor, like Microsoft Word. Using copy and paste to transfer your work into the PDF editor is an option, but it could lead to problems.

The best solution would be to use a PDF Conversion tool that will make a PDF file using your existing files as input. This is the second way to create PDF files, and maybe the easiest. The main advantage is that you don't have to change the way you work. The only modification is that at the end, you convert your files into PDF.

It might look difficult, but it's not. The majority of the PDF conversion tools use a PDF printer. This means that they convert to PDF by "printing" your files. Actually, this brings a lot of new options, because printing is available in wide range of applications. This means you can print to PDF from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, AutoCAD, and virtually any program that allows it.

I always prefer the second way.
By Ted Peterson

How To Build A Flash Game – Flash Beginners Guide 101

2008-03-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

Gaming is popular world wide and most people play games without knowing how a game is actually made. It takes inspiration, verve, technology, and more to create a game that captures the mind and heart of players all over the world.

The first step to making a game is to have a story. The story or plot is thought about and developed by game designers or players. Once the game is conceptualized, writers and artists work together on the storyboard and create sketches of the sequence with instructions for the technology team. The sketches are then scanned on to a computer and the next step is to breathe life into the story and characters.

Among the many ways to create a game a popular solution is Macromedia Flash MX. This allows the creation of rich, graphic and multimedia driven gaming. Flash has a player, authoring tool, and a file format. Flash allows game developers to use:
• Rich graphics.

• Create files that are user friendly and can be downloaded over the internet.

• Allows the import of graphic formats. This means designers can use Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand, or Fireworks to develop the game as long as the graphics are vector.

• Flash lends itself to the creation of quality graphics that can be broadcast over the internet.

Flash can be used to create action, adventure, educational, first-person shooter, puzzle, sports, or role playing games.

The actual process of creating a game is complex but involves:

• Creating the characters. Sketches are fine tuned until they are perfect. These are then transformed into 3D characters. The figures are scanned into a computer and a digital skeleton is created. This is what defines the size, shape, and movements of any figure in a game.

• Next the programmers use Flash to bring movement and emotions into the figures of the game.

• Movement and characterization of the figures is followed by special effects and creation of the environment. Skies, clouds, wind, reflections, shadows, and more add mystery and atmosphere to the game. Flash allows developers to produce realistic and complex environments. It is the environment that gives life and motion to a game. The 3D effects are created using polygons along with texture mapping.

• This is followed by coding. Codes are instructions written by developers that lends intelligence to the game and drives a game forward. The more complex a code the more thrilling a game. Codes establish logic to a game and generate the excitement and uniqueness.

• Once the coding is done the testing begins. The testing helps the developer fine tune the game before it is marketed. This is when the game is rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. The rating indicates the appropriateness of the game for different age groups.

Flash is user friendly and therefore popular software with game developers. The World Wide Web offers Flash Tutorials for those interested in developing games. There are articles and tips and guidelines as well.
by: Timothy Rudon

How to insert 0 before any number in Excel

2008-03-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried to insert 0 before sequel of numbers in Excel? You think that what’s the use of appending 0 before sequel of numbers because in mathematics 123 is same as 0123 but there are some areas where these two numbers are treated as different number. As in banks, if you have an account, definitely you have an account no. account no. is an entity which distinguishes you from all others so it must be unique to identify you. For example account no. 123 is different from 0123. Both the account no. belongs to two different persons, if you write 0123 in the cell of excel sheet, 0 will be automatically removed as we move to the next cell.
We can’t ignore zero as you know how it is important to us. You can add zero before any number by performing the following steps:

1. Open the MS Excel worksheet.
2. Write the number in the cell before you want to add zero.
3. Right click the mouse in the cell, select Format Cells… option. Format Cells window will be displayed.
4. Select the Numbers tab from the window then click Custom option from the left Category: section.
5. Select 0 option from the Type section.
6. Type the no. of zeroes as many as your number contains digit. For example, your number is 12345, so now you need to enter five zeros after the selected 0 in the type section i.e. 000000.
7. Click OK. The number of zeros entered by you will be converted to digits and the result would be 012345.

MS excel file which contain transaction records, amount payable, amount receivable, inventory control records gets corrupt due to virus attacks, hardware malfunction, improper system shutdown, error in the disk, power failure and many more. To repair excel file and recover formulas, images, charts, clip art, flow charts, text, worksheets and workbooks stored in excel file, excel recovery software must be employed. To repair corrupt excel files, several excel repair software are available in market, which help you to recover important data from corrupt excel files. RecoveryFix for Excel is one such tool to repair corrupt excel file. For more information visit http://www.repairexcelfile.net
By Data Recovery

7 Must Know Ways To Prevent Spam

2008-03-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Spam is the bane of everyone’s existence. Unsolicited mail flooding mail boxes has caused many problems world wide. The widely accepted definition of spam is “Electronic communication that contains material of a commercial, solicitational, or illegal nature, directed as part of bulk distribution to any address.”

The first step towards fighting spam is to learn how spam works. A useful source is CAUCE or the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email and the SpamCon Foundation. Log on to the World Wide Web and read about ant-spam laws, government stand against spam, and coalitions that are working towards prevention of spamming. Be sure to take part in anti-spam community efforts by joining forums and groups. Spam can be prevented from entering your mail box by:

1. Determining the IP address of the sender and blocking it.

2. Use blacklist services like SBL (http://www.spamhaus.org/sbl) or the RBL (http://www.mailabuse.org/rbl) that maintain lists of IP addresses that are know originators of spammers. Blacklist services are efficient in blocking spam as they use the latest methods in preventing spam.

3. Use the spam guard services offered by email services like gmail and yahoo.

4. White list services where only mail from known addresses are approved by the recipient.

5. Use heuristic engines that look for keyword patterns that match know spam rules and block messages that contain known patterns. Well known heuristic engines include SpamAssassin that has a high detection rate.

6. Networked vigilance an open source initiative that involves continued maintenance of a data base and then the mail server asks a centralized VR node, Vipul’s razor for spam listings.

7. Using Bayesian filtering engines like SpamBayes , http://www.spambayes.org/. This has its uses as well as downside.

Spam can also be blocked by configuring anti-virus software to scan emails for viruses. Desist from leaving your email address over the internet and signing up for freebies and news letters. Use a separate email account for this purpose. Stay abreast of anti-spam efforts and adopt the latest possible anti-virus software and firewall systems. Never open mails from people unknown to you and immediately report spam mails to the mail host/provider. Try standalone spam filtering software like Qurb eTrust Anti-Spam, iHate Spam, Spam Bully.

Experts at PC World reported that almost 75 percent of email is spam mail and that in their study they found that SpamCatcher was one of the most affordable and simplest of anti-spam tools. Another notable product was InBoxer which works only with Out Look.

Fighting spam is a world wide war and efforts are being made by software manufacturers, search engines, lay persons, as well as others.
by: Timothy Rudon

Fun Games to Play With the Family

2008-03-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

Many families today do not spend that much time together. Life seems to get in the way, and they end up going their separate ways and doing their own things. However, there are ways to bring the family closer, and one way is through the playing of games. With that in mind, however, it is important to find games that everyone can play, so that they can all have fun and enjoy what they are doing. Without the entire family being able to play, the people that are left out will be resentful and the goal of getting the entire family involved will be lost. Fortunately, there are many fun games available.
Some of the easiest ones to play are backyard games like horseshoes and beanbag toss. These are games that do not require a lot of set-up and preparation. In addition, they have simple rules and they are games that almost anyone of any age can play. Because of this, the entire family from very young children through to the elderly grandparents and even great-grandparents can play them. When games are available for such a large group of individuals, they can really help to keep families together. Sometimes, though, the weather is bad and games cannot be played outside. It may be too hot for everyone to enjoy it, or it may be raining or cold.

When outside games cannot be played, there are family games to play inside. Most people think of video and computer games, and those can be very enjoyable, but there are other games. Many people still like board games, and putting together a puzzle can be a fun family activity, as can doing an art project, making a scrapbook, or looking at family photos. For those that want a different kind of indoor game, though, there are many options that people used to play such as hide-and-seek or sardines. Searching the Internet for these kinds of games can provide parents with a list of many fun activities that the entire family can enjoy.

by: Dave Roth

The Benefits Of CRM Software

2008-03-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

CRM software, often called customer relationship management software, is becoming much more popular today than it was in years past. One reason for this is that more people understand what the software is and are deciding to use it. Another reason is that the software is getting better and easier to use. It has more features and benefits than it did in the past, and it is also becoming more user-friendly, which is very important. More people today are using the Internet for their businesses. As this trend continues to grow, there will be a larger need for CRM software, but only if it is found to be useful and compatible with the needs that a business owner or manager has.

There are a lot of benefits to CRM software, as well. Managers can use this software to keep track of their customers and vendors and organize them in many different ways. It is unfortunate that so many people only think of CRM software as being a datebook or contact-recording type of software. It does handle these functions, but it does a great deal more than that, which is something that many business people fail to realize today when they are presented with CRM software. This CRM software can be used to record names and dates. However, it also keeps track of sales, returns, important dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. In addition, it can help to remind salespeople of their prior commitments. This keeps them from missing deadlines, meetings, the returning of phone calls, or anything else that will affect the perception of them that their clients have.

Naturally, not missing deadlines is vital to a good business relationship. In addition, the CRM software can help a client feel as though he or she matters to a business. When a client feels important and valued, repeat business is much more likely than it would otherwise be. This is great for the business, but it is also good for the clients, because everyone in the relationship benefits from the efficiency that CRM software helps to create. Without CRM software, there is a good chance that there will be more problems in the interactions that are needed between clients and businesspeople. This is not to say that CRM software eliminates all chance of problems, but it does reduce them.

Those who use CRM software can also be more organized, because it is easier for them to find what they need when it comes to their customers, their vendors, and anything else that they need to keep close track of. It allows them to return calls more promptly, send out birthday cards, and keep customer information stored in a database where it can easily be retrieved by anyone who has authorized access to it. The main benefit to customers is that almost anyone in the company can help them, at least to some degree, because they can get to their information. This benefit of CRM software is the most important one because of the ability to let customers know that they are important to the company.
by: Dave Roth

Download Call Of Duty 4 Computer Game - Full Version, Free

2008-03-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

Call of Duty four is one of the best war games to have ever come out on computer. The game is set in the future and is about both Europe and the United States Of America fighting against Russian extremists and Middle Eastern Insurgents. The game can be played as single and also in the multi player style which is the most popular with fans.

Different Characters Of Call Of Duty 4:

1. Sergeant Paul Jackson. Part of a brigade in the middle east. He is seen through out the first levels the most.

2. Sergeant Mactavish. In the 22nd Regiment. He is seen through out a majority of the game. The most used character in call of duty four.

3. Yasir Al Fulani. He is the president of several fictional middle east rogue states in the game. He can be seen at the start and at the end levels.

Best Ways to buy and download this game:

1. Game Pass by Real Player. The game is expensive and can be downloaded in full version. The download time is short and the quality of the game is perfect. Just use the free trial and you can also download other full version games including world of warcraft.

2. Game Spot. Often this download is less expensive. But they offer technical support and a fantastic forum which makes game play a lot easier. The download time is very short as well. The files downloaded are reliable and do not contain viruses or any other form of spyware like other services.

Make sure you purchase these games as it is only fair on the industry if you do. It makes sure bigger and better games will also come out in the future as well.

Visit Download Call Of Duty 4 Full Version - Free - Over 20 000 Other Full Version Games as well! This is a must see site for fans wanting to download computer games and call of duty 4 for free. Visit Download Call Of Duty 4 Full Version - Free - Over 20 000 Other Full Version Games as well!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steven_Francesco_Simpson

Web 2.0? Or Is It More Like Web 16.0?

2008-03-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

It has become difficult to keep up with the meanings of all the new phrases and terms generated by modern technology. One of the most commonly used phrases on the world wide web (www) today is "Web 2.0." It seems like every web solutions company is using this phrase to sell its stuff. So to the average Joe who's not a geek, what is "Web 2.0"?

Well according to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia…

"[T]he phrase Web 2.0 can refer to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies [collaborative tagging schemes] — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004. Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs. According to Tim O'Reilly, '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.' Some technology experts, notably Tim Berners-Lee, have questioned whether one can use the term in a meaningful way, since many of the technology components of 'Web 2.0' have existed since the early days of the W!
eb."
There is no doubt the www has advanced significantly since inception, but there really is no new version of the www. It is simply much more useful to the everyday person.

However, if we counted each major innovation as a whole number and each minor revision as a tenth, we would already be into double digits. So why are we calling it "Web 2.0"?

If you have seen the latest Die Hard movie, or ever bought software for your computer, you will understand why we are not in Web 2.0. Even if we call it Die Hard 4.0 or MS Office 2007, it's still basically the same movie or tool. So what we are really experiencing now is more like Web 16.0.

If you have an in-depth, honest conversation with your web designers, they will tell you that Web 2.0 is a myth. So to explain how we got to Web 16.0, here's a history of the most significant events on the www.

WEB 0.1 -- 1958 – SAGE – Radar systems are first networked
WEB 0.2 -- 1960 – Packet switching is first created

WEB 1.0 – EMAIL – "A New Way to Send Unsolicited Mail Is Born"

Although the exact history of Email is a tad murky, it is generally accepted that it appeared in 1965, and was created so that people accessing a mainframe could communicate with each other. This was the first step in the interconnection of people, facilitating almost instant communication at no cost to the user.

WEB 1.1 -- 1967 – Markup language is created
WEB 1.2 -- 1969 – ARPA – A link is established between computers
WEB 1.3 -- 1696 – ARPA Net – First packet-switched network created

WEB 2.0 – WYSIWYG – "What You See Is What You Get (sometimes)"

With the invention of WYSIWYG in 1970, users could now be presented with a basic display of what their finished product would look like, as they were working on it. This removed the need to memorize complex code.

WEB 2.1 -- 1970 – ASP – First Application Service Provider (SAAS)
WEB 2.2 -- 1970 – Style sheets are created
WEB 2.3 -- 1971 – @ is created to separate hosts and users
WEB 2.4 -- 1973 – TCP/IP is created to simplify networking
WEB 2.5 -- 1973 – First connection to another country established
WEB 2.6 -- 1974 – The term "Internet" is adopted
WEB 2.7 -- 1976 – X.25 – The first network standard is approved
WEB 2.8 -- 1978 – International packet switching service created

WEB 3.0 – USENET– "The Black Market of the Internet"

Usenet was established in 1980 to offer mail and file transfers as well as give personal users access to news. Usenet is in fact a large network of servers all in communication with each other; a user posts something to the local server and that item is passed along to the other servers. Usenet was a major turning point because users could finally have an open conversation with anyone on the net, without needing to specifically know the user (unlike Email). The downside is that with a sometimes un-policed net capable of file transfers, the Usenet of today is a haven for piracy of all types, where anything you can imagine is accessible.

WEB 3.1 -- 1979 – Email is made available to personal computer users, millions of Nigerian Princes suddenly need public help

WEB 4.0 – REAL TIME CHAT – Going Outside Deemed "Obsolete"

Real-Time Chat was created in 1980 following users' frustrations with Usenet articles sometimes taking 24 hours to be updated. This signaled a turning point: online conversations became instant, albeit isolated into segregated groups.

WEB 4.1 -- 1980 – First ISPs created providing dialup internet
WEB 4.2 -- 1981 – TCP/IP becomes a standard
WEB 4.3 -- 1981 – US/Europe/Canada/Hong-Kong/Australia connect
WEB 4.4 -- 1983 – TCP/IP becomes the only standard
WEB 4.5 -- 1983 – First wide area network using TCP/IP operational
WEB 4.6 -- 1985 – FTP – The File Transfer Protocol is created
WEB 4.7 -- 1988 – IRC – Internet Relay Chat is created
WEB 4.8 -- 1988 – Bulletin Board Systems and Forums created

WEB 5.0 – HTML/HTTP/Web Pages – "It Has Begun…"

Around 1980, many researchers were using the internet, but they had no single way to create/display "documents" (web pages). Physicist Tim Berners-Lee and his colleagues needed a simple system for creating/displaying documents, but found that existing systems were too commercial, platform-specific or complicated for the average user. So they created their own relatively simple system, consisting of browsing software called "WorldWideWeb," a protocol for transmitting the information (HTTP) and a document annotation convention called "Hyper Text Markup Language" (HTML). This meant anyone could now create web pages using their simple language.

WEB 5.1 -- 1989 – Images can now be animated, oh the horror!
WEB 5.2 -- 1990 – The network now covers the entire world (publicly)

WEB 6.0 – Search – "Did You Mean: Google?"

Before 1990, there was no way to find a page; you had to know the specific location. Around 1991, search engines began indexing (storing) the content they found, giving users the ability to search for a page even if they didn't know the page's location.

WEB 6.1 -- 1991 – DNS – Dynamic Naming System is created
WEB 6.2 -- 1991 – The first text-based browser is created

WEB 7.0 – DHTML – "Because Non-Scrolling Text Is Boring"

The web was static until Dynamic HTML (DHTML) was created. DHTML introduced client-side scripting, allowing authors to include code in their web pages that performed an action upon being downloaded onto a user's computer. DHTML introduced rollover buttons and drop-down menus on web pages. It goes a long way to making the web more personalized.

WEB 7.1 -- 1993 – The first graphics based browsers are created
WEB 7.2 -- 1993 – Screen casts are first created
WEB 7.3 -- 1994 – Wikis are created; Britannica begins holding its breath
WEB 7.4 -- 1994 – The World Wide Web Consortium is formed
WEB 7.5 -- 1994 – CSS – Cascading Style Sheets created

WEB 8.0 – ONLINE DIARIES – "Teens Reportedly Misunderstood"

Online diaries were first created in 1994 as a means for people to store their diaries online for personal or public reading. Writers could now reach almost anyone worldwide at practically no cost, and everyone could create editorials on whatever subjects they liked, without fear of censorship.

WEB 8.1 -- 1996 – The first social bookmarking site created

WEB 9.0 – RANKED RESULTS – "The Online Popularity Contest"

Search engine results helped find things, but many of the results were useless or had nothing to do with the keywords used. As of 1996, search results started to be ranked based on a multitude of things, like how popular a page is. This made searching faster and easier, and significantly less painful.

WEB 9.1 -- 1996 – Flash is created, whole websites can now be animated
WEB 9.2 -- 1997 – The term "Blog" is adopted

WEB 10.0 – HIRED BLOGGERS – "Wow Isn't Product X Great!"

As of 1997, personal diaries began to evolve to what became known as "blogs." Many corporate websites and personal homepages had (and still do have) news sections, these were traditionally updated manually in a back-end system. With the advent of blogs, the commercial sector jumped in, seeing a new marketing medium.

WEB 10.1 -- 1998 – The first audio news site is created
WEB 10.2 -- 1999 – The first web-based operating system is created

WEB 11.0 – RSS – "Newspapers Deemed Obsolete"

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) was created due to the lack of a universal feed format. The creation of RSS means that users could now "subscribe" to feeds containing video, audio, text, or graphics. Users no longer had to trawl the web for new information, they could "subscribe" to a feed and have it sent to them directly.

WEB 12.0 – REMOTE SCRIPTING – "Waiting For 4 Seconds Now History!"

Remote scripting allows scripts running inside a browser to exchange information with a server, so that scripts could be triggered locally, processed remotely and have information returned directly to the browser. This made the web faster and easier to use, and removed the need to refresh the page for simple tasks like sorting.

WEB 12.1 -- 2001 – Blogs evolve from online diaries

WEB 13.0 – PODCASTING – "Now Everyone Can Avoid Listening To You By Choice Rather Than Circumstance!"

Podcasting originated as a portmanteau of the iPod® and broadcasting, although "portable on demand broadcasting" has now become the widely-accepted definition. Originally Podcasting was created to allow individuals to distribute their own radio shows, but it has become popular for a wide variety of things, from educational materials to the latest gaming news. Podcasting opens up distribution of audio content to anyone with a server, with users "subscribing" to the RSS feeds that appeal to them.

WEB 13.1 -- 2002 – Folksonomy is created, giving rise to "tags"

WEB 14.0 – VIDEO PODCASTING – "Web-Based One-Sided Conversations"

Shortly after Podcasting became popular, video Podcasting was created as a means to send the equivalent of TV episodes to users. Though similar to podcasting, the content was not limited to just "TV episodes". Video Podcasting opens up the video medium so that making a TV show is possible for anyone.

WEB 15.0 – VOIP – "High Tech, Dodgy Sounding Free Calls"

With the Voice Over Internet Protocol, telephone audio is sent over the internet, rather than a traditional phone line. This removes almost all cost involved, and also removes the need to have a physical phone line. What this means for consumers is calling becomes much simpler, easier and significantly cheaper.

WEB 16.0 – SAAS – "The Industry Makes a SaaS of Itself."

Software as a Service (SaaS) is just a new term for a concept that has been around since the dawn of the internet (ASP from 1970). SaaS refers to using a piece of software run/provided through the internet, and instead of paying a large one-off purchase price, you "rent" the software for as long as needed. So while SaaS is the buzzword of the day, the concept is decades old.

..The CONCLUSION?

So if you follow the basic rule that each total upgrade is a new ".0" then we are nowhere near Web 2.0. The story is really one of falling price, increasing reliability and bandwidth, coupled with ubiquitous access.

Simply put, "Web 2.0" is just shorthand for the development process outlined above. Bottom line, the web really becoming what the web really always should have been.

by: Stone Julian
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