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saturday, october 23 '04

A year and a half ago, I wrote a Webmonkey article asking where metadata might be headed next. What hidden information should we add to web pages to make them more searchable? For example, G.P.S. coordinates (longitude & latitude) would be an obvious boon for smartphone / mobile surfers - imagine standing on any street corner, and searching for all restaurants within walking distance.

The question remains unresolved, but it’s increasingly visible. Notable in the last few weeks were Jeff Bezos’ talk at the Web 2.0 conference, along with this ‘Metadata for the Masses’ essay over at Adaptive Path. And, as anybody with a few thousand digi-cam snapshots knows, the metadata issue applies just as well to individual photos as it does to web pages.

I like the small ideas, though, always have. That’s why I was a fan of super-simple GeoURL; ‘twas a great trend, at least until the site went kaput. Finally, though, I’ve found a replacement: A2B.cc - another location-based search engine which parses a variety of geographical markup, including old GeoURL tags.

On an entirely different note, we just learned our new row house came with a one-way cat door. Kitty-cats can come in, but can’t leave. And that explains why, yesterday, upon arriving home after a long afternoon stroll through Trinity and St. John’s, a heretofore unknown black-and-white tabby was lounging on our sofa. Meow!

cambridge kitty

wednesday, february 25 '04

…quick, then, before they hit the lights, a run-down on Mighty Atom Syndication.

sunday, august 17 '03

this blog now seems to be officially shuttered for the summer. ‘cause it’s sunny out.

elsewhere, though, there’s this: Metadata, Mark II, an overview of some nifty metadata technologies.

friday, may 16 '03

the pet store behind the market has a parakeet who screeches “Ciao!!” when you walk in the door. he’ll say other stuff in Italian, too. and for some reason, this impresses the hell outta me.

vaguely similar: today, a vespa cruised past at quite a decent clip, carrying just an old man (a veritable geezer, in fact), the crook of his walking cane wrapped around his neck, and its staff clutched between his knees. we wagered he must’ve been clockin’ an honest 25-30mph, and that over cobblestones, to boot. bello!

elsewhere, an introductory “Sharing Your Site with RSS” bit i wrote for Webmonkey is up.

lambretta.jpg

glass of pimms no. 1 cup

cow in grantchester meadows

azure sake bottle

cheese shop, amsterdam

frog hiding in a pond, cambridge, UK

spring flowers, trinity hall, cambridge

st. johns college, cambridge

magdalene formal hall, after the christmas M.C.R. banquet, cambridge

trees, near the Trinity Backs, cambridge

punts on the cam river, near trinity hall, cambridge.

cheddar cheese, covent garden, london.

trafalgar square screening of pet shop boys soundtrack to battleship potemkin, london

jim edes bedroom, kettle's yard, cambridge, U.K.

floor rug, kettles yard, cambridge.

plants and light, kettles yard, cambridge

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