Thursday, December 31, 2009

2010 New Year's Resolutions from the RWW Geeks & Friends

Forget losing weight or finding the perfect life partner: All we want to do is make 2010 the biggest geek-out year ever.



The ReadWriteWeb crew have collectively planned to take over the world next year by honing our nerd super-powers. From programming in Python to building AI houses, we've resolved to be smarter, more curious, more technical and way geekier than we were last year. Read our resolutions, and definitely let us know what you plan to do to be the best geek you can be in 2010.


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The editor-in-chief himself, Mr. Richard MacManus, is known for his fascination with machine-to-machine communication via the Internet of Things. This year promises to be an interesting one at the MacManus residence if Richard's resolutions hold true.



"One of my goals for 2010," he said, "is to experiment with Internet of Things in my own house and life, using tools like Pachube and sensors. We'll see how that goes..."



We wish you lots of luck, boss! If all goes well, you'll be a prime candidate for the first episode of Geek Cribs, and we'll all be very, very jealous.



Our own ReadWriteStart warrior, Dana Oshiro, is going to be a busy bee this year.



"I'm finding that the coolest ideas come out of academic institutions and enthusiast groups before they're ever thought of as business-related products. In 2010 I plan on attending more hackathons, dev camps and emerging tech conferences like SIGGRAPH."



In addition to all that conference-hopping, Dana's going to be doing some web work of her own. "Honestly, I need to revamp my personal website Villagers With Pitchforks. I haven't changed the design in years."



Alex Williams, our resident enterprise expert, is also known in certain circles as an experienced podcasting pro. His resolution is something the ReadWriteWeb team would all love to see happen.



He told us that he wants to use 2010 to "make an informative and entertaining podcast for ReadWriteWeb Enterprise that is lively, smart and fun."



What do our friendly readers think? Would you like to listen to awesome news about what companies and people are moving and shaking in the world of enterprise technology? What folks do you most want Alex to talk to, and what topics would you find most interesting? And where would you be most likely to listen to a RWW podcast? At your laptop, in your car, while walking your dogs? Let us know in the comments!



Our newest startup blogger, Chris Cameron, said he wants to use 2010 to press the flesh and put faces with names, so to speak.



"Since I'm the new kid on the block and fresh out of J-school with my M.M.C., my new year's resolution is to get acquainted with as many people as possible in the web/tech/startup industry and develop a healthy amount of sources."



As seasoned journos, it's our sworn duty to protect cub reporters from no-account rabble rousers, so we asked Chris who he specifically wanted to meet this year. He replied, "I'd love to develop some contacts from the bastions of the Web (Twitter, Facebook, Google, Digg, etc.)."



You're in good company, kid. We'd like to meet those guys, too. Just kidding! As a RWW blogger, you're sure to have Kevin Rose and Biz Stone on speed dial in no time. We wish you luck.



Another ReadWriteNoob is Abraham Hyatt, our intrepid Production Editor. He's got a full slate of resolutions this year.



He told us he wants to have more one-on-one time with "the bloggers I read every day, the people whose tweets I look forward to, the friends who surprise me with what they post."



He also said he's going to start paying attention to things outside the tech sphere and his geographical scene. "I want to change the fact that I have no idea what's changing in journalism in China."



And finally, Abraham let us in on how he's keeping his finger on the pulse of technology. "I want to learn from my 5-year-old niece as she begins using the Web. I just hooked her up with her first kids browser and the way she interacts with the Web will be a hint of what's to come for all of us online in the next decade."



Add in learning how to code and blogging more, two of his other resolutions, and Abraham's got a full dance card for the rest of the year!



As for me, I plan to learn Python this year. I've realized in 2009 that it's harder to be a tech writer when you don't have a hacker-esque depth of understanding about APIs and web apps. After talking to Leah Culver, Mark Jeffrey and a bunch of other really smart programmers, I think Python is a great place to start learning about programming languages. So this year, I'm tackling a 900-page O'Reilly book, and I'm not giving up until I have a working web app of my own! Next up, Haskell.



Via Twitter, we heard from a few of our friends, including entrepreneur Renato Valdés Olmos, who pointed us to this pretty web app for those without resolutions who yearn to start small. And everyone's favorite O.G (that's "original geek" in these parts), Chris Pirillo, just couldn't resist the opportunity to get sassy. "My geekiest new year's resolution," he said, "is 2560x1600."



So, what great and glorious plans have you got for 2010? Will you be hacking your way to entrepreneurial greatness by starting your own web company? Will you be building hardware? Are you resolving to start a new career path, go to a new conference or meet a lifelong tech hero?



Let us know your resolutions in the comments!


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2009 In Social Media: A Cartoon Review

2009cartoonreview_1209.pngIt was the okay-est of times, it was the meh-est of times.



From the election of the first American social media president... to a nod to social media from the mainstreamiest of mainstream media (Oxford Dictionary, for god's sake!)... it's been a big, tumultuous sprawling toddler of a year, prone to tantrums and potty accidents but adorable nonetheless.



Here, then, is 2009 the way it was meant to be remembered... in doodles.


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More Noise to Signal.


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ReadWriteWeb's Top 5 Web Trends of 2009

Over the last week we ran a series of posts outlining the five biggest Internet trends of this year: Structured Data, Real-Time Web, Personalization, Mobile Web / Augmented Reality, Internet of Things. Effectively this was ReadWriteWeb's State of the Web 2009.


We've now compiled the main points into a single presentation, available on Slideshare and embedded below. You can view the presentation in full screen by clicking the "full" button at the bottom of the presentation. You can also download the presentation as a Powerpoint file. All of the links in the presentation are clickable, should you wish to explore a certain topic more.


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redux_150x150.png

Editor's note: This story is part of a series we call Redux, where we'll re-publish some of our best posts of 2009. As we look back at the year - and ahead to what next year holds - we think these are the stories that deserve a second glance. It's not just a best-of list, it's also a collection of posts that examine the fundamental issues that continue to shape the Web. We hope you enjoy reading them again and we look forward to bringing you more Web products and trends analysis in 2010. Happy holidays from Team ReadWriteWeb!





  1. Structured Data

  2. The Real-Time Web

  3. Personalization

  4. Mobile Web & Augmented Reality


  5. Internet of Things


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Most Popular Hulu Video in 2009? It's a Motherlover

hulu_logo_sep08.pngA year-end thank-you note from Hulu CEO Jason Kilar offered some statistics to show us just how much the nearly three-year-old service has grown.



Back in April, the service became one of the top three Internet video providers, alongside Google - which includes YouTube and Google Video - and Fox, according to comScore.


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Kilar includes a number of statistics in his note to show that the site has continued its climb in popularity during the rest of 2009.



"Monthly users of Hulu, as measured by comScore, grew to over 43 million, a 95 percent increase over this time last year.

Monthly streams, as measured by comScore, grew to 924 million, a 307 percent increase from this time last year.



Hulu's content library doubled over the past year. We now offer over 14,000 hours of premium content, up from 5,600 hours at this time last year."



The addition of Disney as a content partner last April surely provided a traffic boost, as the ABC owner brought television sensations like "Lost", "Grey's Anatomy" and other prime-time hits to the site.



A live video of Obama's inauguration topped the list of embedded videos for 2009, while "Saturday Night Live", "Family Guy", "The Office", "The Simpsons" and "Naruto Shippuden" were the most popular shows of the year.



But what was the overall winner for 2009 on Hulu, you might be wondering? A decidedly NSFW SNL short called "Motherlover".





For those of you who still haven't made the digital television switch but still want to watch, Hulu will be streaming the ball drop in Times Square tonight starting at 10 pm EST.



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