Since I've previously done some work on the Taxonomy Cloud Drupal module, I wanted to share with those coming through here an update I've completed on the .module file that will fix well known issues with Internet Explorer.  This new IE fix will properly play the flash movie in IE, whereas previously there had often been issues with the movie showing as a blank block.

Taxonomy Cloud isn't my project, but since I find it useful I wanted to make sure any updates I have, you have too. If you have any questions about this fix or any other Taxonomy Cloud issues, please feel free to let me know in the comments.

Just thought I would point out that you can get a sneak peak at Wolfram|Alpha, the new search engine / knowledge engine / supercomputing not really sure what to call it. A nice treat for those nerds stuck inside on a Friday night.

I know this is going to be a short diary, and I hope you forgive me for that, but thought it would be appropriate to let the community know it's out there, whether you have a physics quiz that you want it to answer or just want to play around with it for a while and see what it can do.

Anyway, you can check it out here. Report back in the comments, please.

Web 3.0 is a term often thrown around these days, yet I see little evidence that there's been any major leap to warrant its use.  That is, until now, considering what I've been hearing about Wolfram Alpha.  

The UK's Independent has a nice writeup on Wolfram Alpha, giving us an insight into how this next generation search engine (knowledge engine?) will change the way we think about the internet.  

To put it simply, Wolfra Alpha will answer whatever question you ask it in an intelligent and useful way.  It will also provide related data.  For example, if you searched for the name 'bob', it would tell you that Bob is a common male name, followed by data on numbers of people named Bob, and a chart plotting the use of the name Bob over time.

On the other hand you can ask it much more complex questions, for example, the Independent mentions that you can ask it what the weather was like on the day John Kennedy died, and it can cross-reference the data and provide a relavent answer. It's also very good at complex mathematical computations.

Not only is this being heralded as a giant leap for web technology, it's being discussed in a broader sense as a tool that will revolutionize the way we think about the internet, in that it's the next step towards a well organised convergence of everything that can be found on the web.

A thought on politics: If this is indexed to work with public campaign and political data, will this become an incredibly powerful tool for calculating in a flash everything from politicians' donations from certain lobbies to how a politician votes on certain issues over time?  Just think of the possibilities a tool like this can provide towards a more open government.

Recently, I've become more and more involved in Drupal development for music-related websites.  Crime in Stereo has a new Drupal website that I've created, as does Shock Value Records.  As I've worked more and more on web development with a musical focus, I've been struck by how effective Drupal is as a platform for musicians, especially when compared to the run of the mill html or flash sites you often come across.

Record labels, musicians, bands, and other musical entities stand to gain a lot through the use of a CMS such as Drupal.  The ability to create simple posts with no knowledge of HTML, and with a platform easily accessible from a mobile phone, opens a world of opportunity to musical entities.  It fascilitates expanded use of technology by bands particularly, as they'll have access to their website from the road and can even post blogs or send out blast emails from their mobile phone.

This ability to interact on a deeper level with your website, and by extention your fan base, is becoming essencial as people come to expect web 2.0 style social interaction from nearly every website they visit.  This is particularly true in the world of music, where barriers are being broken down and an engaged audience is essencial to survival.

Drupal is also a cost-effective solution for often cash strapped bands and record labels, as a simple site can be implemented with little cost by someone such as myself who has already built the necessary framework.

I'll be posting again very soon about an upcoming music project that I'm very excited about, but you'll have to wait for the details.

Just wanted to give a quick update to point out that I have a new logo for the site.  Let me know what you think.

 As I'm sure you've heard Time Warner Cable has, very unfortunately, created a tiered price structure based on bandwith usage for their high speed internet services.  This is unfair for a multitude of reasons, most notably that in many markets they have a monopoly and what they're doing is basically price gouging.  You can rest assured that if this goes unchallenged, more companies will follow suit.

For some of us, this may just be an annoyance.  It may mean cutting down on recreational internet usage or increasing your cable bill cost each month.  But taken as a whole, what this really creates unfair access to information, thus ensuring that it's harder for those who are less wealthy to access information at a time when it's imperitive that we, as a society, increase access to those very same groups.    In fact, we're paying them to increase access in the new stimulus bill.

If we are to flourish as a society in the 21st century and compete globally, if we are to improve our education system and rise to new challenges, we will need to ensure that the next generation has the best access to information and learns from a young age to adapt new technologies.

Thankfully for us (not so much for Time Warner), Representative Eric Massa of New York has a plan to do something about all of this.  Rep. Massa has promised a forthcoming bill in the House of Represenatives designed "to curb tiers, particularly in areas where a broadband provider owns a monopoly on service."

Good on you, Rep. Massa.

I think this is a really interesting idea, and deserves to be pointed out. A father and son decided to try to do something to help a homeless man named Tim, by having him wear a sign that said "pimpthisbum.com" while he was on the street.

Its gone so well that they've raised a ton of money for Tim, who has since gone through alcohol treatment (which was provided free through a donation on the site) and reconnected with family he didn't know he still had (also through the site).

Now they're branching out to raise money for another homeless man, with plans to continue growing and supporting the homeless. They've even gotten some national media attention for the project.

Oh, and before you head over to check out pimpthisbum.com, here's Tim:

The Wayback Machine, provided by the internet archive, is a fantastic tool for researching what the world wide web looked like at previous points in history.  Today, I decided to use this tool to look at the world of Barack Obama, and how his now famous whirlwind political rise left a fast and rapidly expanding footprint on the internet.

 Here's an interesting way to look at it: On May 30th, 2004, the first day for which an archived Wikipedia page is available, Barack Obama's Wikipedia page had 340 words, counting menus and footnotes.  Today, that number is 14, 129.  Wikipedia now has ~41.55 times the amount of information about Barack Obama as it did just four short years ago.

Another interesting avenue of exploration is scanning through Barack Obama's campaign website over the years, which was first archived on April 15th, 2004.

There are many ways in which the wayback machine can give you an insight into the world of politics as it once was, and into the rise and fall of politicians and how their footprint is felt across the internet.  I suggest you have yourself a peek. 

My default browser is Google Chrome. These days I can't live without it, it just has so much to offer to everyone, from the casual browser to the experienced web developer. So, things I really enjoy about Google Chrome:

"I don't get Twitter." It's a phrase I've been hearing a lot lately. Maybe it's because of my increased activity on Twitter, or perhaps it has more to do with the fact that everyone's been so 'atwitter' about it.  

In either case, I'm talking about Twitter. A lot. I'm talking to those that can't get enough, those that have Twitter yet don't use it very often, and to a lot of non-believers.  I think there's a pretty good concensus among everyone that nobody's quite figured out what Twitter is yet, and that has a lot to do with the fact that Twitter can be a lot of things to a lot of different people.

The one thing Twitter is not is "just Facebook status messages", as some I've run into have oft stated.  So, for those interested in learning more about what Twitter is to me and to some of those around me and in the media, and perhaps for those a little intimidated, confused, or perhaps even scared by the concept, Twitter:

• Twitter is a way for media personalities and politicians to interact in new and exciting ways, often without a filter.
• Twitter is a way for Michael Ian Black to make us laugh.
• Twitter is how Rainn Wilson pointed out one of the most interesting pieces of art I've seen in a long time.
• Twitter can help you get a job.
• Lance Armstrong used Twitter to seek help finding his stolen bike.
• Twitter can let fans get a peak into the lives of athletes. 
• Twitter can let you know when DailyKos or OpenLeft or any of your other favorite blogs (and newspapers) post something new.
• Twitter helps you connect with old friends (and sometimes old fads).
• Twitter helps you take the temperature of a community, for example the progressive community or the conservative community.
• Twitter lets me know when Drupal modules come out and when they're updated.
• Twitter can tell you the weather. Or the score.
• Twitter can help with voting.
• Twitter gives stock tips.
• You might even tweet at the person sitting right next to you.
• At some point along the way, you'll even get sick of hearing about all the things you can do with Twitter.

Twitter is all of these things and more.  Twitter is even not for everyone (although if it's not for you Twitter's CEO might not think highly of you).  

In any case, it's certainly not "just Facebook status messages".