The intricate World “WIDE” Web

As I travel around to the different PaperThin customers, I have the opportunity to meet other individuals that are truly connected to the web. The kind of people that read or write in Web logs (blogs), that not only understand the value of an RSS feed but actually use them. What I find to be interesting is that each of the places that I go, I eventually get into a conversation about their usage of the web. The only way that I can explain what I see is like this:Imagine if you would that there are 4 local channels for TV. And in each major metropolitan area those 4 channels are controlled by 4 different media companies. So in New York, Channel 1 is controlled by Company ABC and in LA, Channel 1 is controlled by Company XYZ. I know that this is not a good representation of the Web because the Web is global but what I guess I am talking about is the "undercurrent" of the web. We have all experienced the global web (you get the same funny video from three random people and your like 'yeah already saw that, that was funny') but this "local" web can be described by the type of information that travels in certain social circles.

For instance, I was travelling to DC and one of the people that I met there showed me this site:

www.wwtdd.com

Now this is a bit of a cult site but it has some interesting content and has been around for quite some time. This person appears to be completely connected to the world of hollywood and has all sorts of dirt on everyone. Some of the content that he posts is original and other pieces are referencs to news stories with either "this is the truth behind the story" or "here is some more information". When I returned from DC I heard on the radio someone mention this site.

Then while I was in Minnesota I spoke with one of their developer/designers (Forbes Robertson – funny guy) and he shared with me this which I guess I could have found from going to google viedo but who would have thought to type in "Trailer Park Boys" in the google video box.

http://www.trailerparkboys.com/

Wither way I find this hilarious.

And lastly, Mike Hyland (from Seton Hall) had this on his forum:

http://www.mikull.com/video/vw.wm (caution this may be a bit tasteless but since this is a serious topic, a funny video turns it around in a new light)
So what I guess I am saying is that even though we live in a world where the Web is connecting us all, we still need some social interaction in order to share our experiences of the Web. That is why I spend most of my time reading blogs (like the ones on the right). It represents a "pulse" on the Internet. What is truly out there from a content perspective and where the web is heading.

Well that's it for now…

Challenges of a CMS implementation

Just wanted to give a good ol CommonSpot shout out to the team at Seton Hall. It was a pleasure working with them during the Advanced Developers training. They launched with CommonSpot during the 4^th quarter of 2005 and I must say they have a great looking site (and that is not just because they are using CommonSpot). Anyways we had some good conversations that I wanted to share.

One of the biggest struggles with CMS implementations is the multiple number of teams that need to be involved and the differences amongst those teams. In most CMS installs you will have a Web team. These will be comprised of Developers and Designers. The Web team may or may not be a part of the IT department. So if the web team is not a part of the IT department then you have the IT department themselves. Primary role for this group is to manage the Servers. Main struggles for this group is that they most times they will manage the application servers but know little about the applications that sit on top of the application servers. Not having first hand knowledge of the applications causes difficulties because they know little about necessary settings required for performance or stability. The last group which is involved with the publishing process is either the Public Relations/Marketing group or the Communications group. A less technical group by nature, this group is often responsible for the general direction of the web site. However, since in most cases, they don’t Eat, Sleep and Breath the Internet, they have a difficult time understanding what is truly possible for the Web site. In my opinion, the successful web teams out there have an individual that can coordinate all of these groups, understands technology (Not only what is an RSS Feed but uses them on a daily basis) and communicates sound business ideas effectively.

We also had a few beers and talked about some of the new technologies coming out. We all agreed that we are looking forward to the new “Keanu Reeves” movie coming out “Scanner Darkly”. I put his name in quotes because although he was in the movie and did all of the “acting”, the movie is actually a cartoon. There is a really good article about it in the latest Wired magazine if you are interested ( LINK)

I also have permalinks over to Lee and Mike Hyland’s blogs on the right. Go check them out.