Ruby On Rails 2.0 Launched

Ruby On Rails Version 2.0 was released on Friday. Rails or RoR is a free, open source application framework using Ruby programming language. It is aimed at increasing the speed and ease with which database-driven web sites can be created. Ok, I am not a hard-core programmer so I won't even begin to try to interpret the changes in v2 but here is a listing for those of you who can decode this:

• Multiple Controller View Paths - Rails now supports multiple view paths for each controller


• SOAP has been replaced with REST - SOAP is considered too complex and RoR is more focused on building REST-ful applications


• Improved Security features - to protect against phishing with provisions to guard against cross-site request forgery (CRSF) intrusions and cross-site forgery (XSF) attacks. Improved testing support and backing for Atom feeds critical to application updates


• ActiveResource feature added - which encapsulates web services and makes them as easy to use as databases. This is similar to the ActiveRecord feature for encapsulating database calls in Rails

Download here.

The Future of Online Platforms

It was another jam packed event at the Googleplex, with tonnes of great food, great companies and fantastic panel on "The Future of Online Platforms". Before the speakers talked about the future, Ismail Ghalini, focused on the definition of the platform. Twenty years ago, we all understood what a platform is. It's essentially an OS, and you had three options: MS-DOS if you want the large market, Mac OS if you're edgy, and UNIX if you're really technical. They all did pretty much the same thing, had fairly similar business models, and people built applications that could be ported from one to the other (somehow). What is a platform today? What is it made of? How do you use to build not only applications but real businesses on top of it? What are thebusiness models? Can I build for multiple of them at the same time? What do the ecosystems look like? Who do I talk to in order to getstarted? That kind of thing. Does it make sense? It was a controversial and fun event and we will have to video soon for all to view.

Google's Eric Schmidt Defines Web 3.0

Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, was recently asked how he would define Web 3.0 and what Web 3.0 means to Google.

I am paraphrasing below so watch the video as well.

Web 2.0 is a different way of building applications using Ajax as the underlying technology.

Web 3.0 are applications that are pieced together which are relatively small, the data is in the cloud, apps can run on any device (PC or mobile), apps are very fast, very customizable, apps distributed virally by social networks and email, not store bought.

It's a very different application model from the mainframe era and PC industry, likely to be very very large, low barrier to entry, new generation of tools being introduced by Google and others make it relatively easy to do, solves a lot of problems, and works everywhere.