You’ve probably already heard of OpenID. For those of you who haven’t, it’s a new and upcoming standard for user authentication (and fellow Gizbuzz blogger Huw gave a nice introduction here).

I personally think OpenID is a great idea, and I’m a proponent of the idea and the standard. For a web development project I’m working on at the moment, we’re going to be using OpenID as the sole authentication system for users. That is to say, you will need an OpenID to actually sign up for the service and it will be the single system controlling your sign in.

There’s a problem though. The average computer user has never heard of OpenID, doesn’t really understand it and might be turned away from using this new service if they don’t very quickly ‘get’ how to sign up. We could have just shunned OpenID, built another proprietary username/password system and be done with it.

As a web service provider, though, I feel we have a responsibility to be pushing for new standards and helping spread OpenID. After all, it’s only through the widespread adoption of standards that the web is what it is today.

So we want to push OpenID and bring it to the forefront. What do we need to do?

Service adoption

I’m doing my bit here. New services (and existing ones) need to either support OpenID or use it as their single authentication solution. Until services force people to get OpenIDs, people simply won’t bother.

Huw mentioned in a follow-up comment on our previous OpenID post:

“I initially got an OpenID because Zooomr required me to have one. Now I use it on other services.”

If that’s the case for techies, it will be the same, if not more difficult, to convince the average user to get an OpenID. Which means new services need to push.

User education

Users need to be shown the benefits of OpenID to them – the fact that they don’t need to remember millions of passwords, maintain separate accounts on different services.

Privacy. Interoperability. Time saving.

We need to sell OpenID to them on the benefits to the end user (and leave the techie stuff where it belongs).

Interoperability with other credential systems

AOL have already done an excellent job at this by giving everyone with an AOL/AIM Screen Name an OpenID, in the form of openid.aol.com/screenname.

Now we need everyone else to join in. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, I’m looking at you. Maybe we have to do something to sweeten the deal for them, I don’t know. Without the support of the big players, OpenID will be in for a tough fight.

Advertising

This sort of ties in with user education, but still, we need OpenID to get advertised and publicised. Again, stress the benefits for the end user and where appropriate, also show the technical advantages.

The more people who know what OpenID is, the more people might use it.

I personally am very keen to see OpenID becoming a success and I hope that with enough effort, it can become a part of the future of the web.

Is your social network more important than your messaging buddies? There has been little to challenge the dominance of the big IM networks over the years but services like Mosoto are going to do a pretty good job. Mosoto was only possible due to the release of the Facebook API and with the possibility of other social networks creating APIs we could see other sites such as hi5 and Bebo added to the mix. On the other hand, MySpace’s instant messaging client hasn’t done much to dent the popularity of the established IM services; but then again, there is a difference. MySpace created their own proprietary IM client whilst Facebook is relying on independent developers to use their API to create such services. As a result I think that features built around Facebook will be far more compelling since quality will rise out of competition between developers trying to create the best new services.

If Mosoto and others succeed in making instant messaging mainstream on your social network, the likes of MSN, AIM and Yahoo Messenger should wonder where their futures lie.

Well, I'm actually going to write a quick tutorial on how you make OpenSearch plugins (which is what that Gizbuzz one was). Normally, my tutorials are the realm of Gizbuzz's sister site FOSSwire, but since this one has quite a lot of relevance to the web in general (not just free/open source software), I thought I'd put it on Gizbuzz.

OpenSearch is a standard being pushed by Amazon's research arm, A9.com. To create a search plugin, you simply need to write a really short XML file containing instructions to the web browser on how to perform the search. The search plugins currently are supported in both Firefox 2.0.x and Internet Explorer 7. Unfortunately, Microsoft's implementation is sadly incomplete, so to retain full cross-browser support you can't use all features of OpenSearch.

Start off by opening up a text editor. Not a word processor, just use something like Notepad (or a dedicated code editor if you have one). Paste in the following as a template:

Let's have a look at each line in detail:

This line starts off our document. Like the root <html> tag in a web page, it describes what type of document this is.

This line identifies the 'short name' of your search plugin. This is the name that will appear on the list of search providers and is the normal text used to identify this search plugin. Keep it nice and short and sweet ('Google', 'eBay' and 'Gizbuzz' are all nice, short names for this).

This should be a slightly longer description of what exactly you are searching (for example 'Gizbuzz Blog Archive').

Unless you have a specific reason to change this, leave it as it is.

This is the line that actually makes it all happen, and it's the hardest line to set up (but still really easy). You need to fill the template element with a URL that will perform your search.

The easiest way to snag such a URL is to do this. Head over to the desired site and perform a search for something recognisable (like OPENSEARCHTEST). Now, copy the URL from your browser's location bar and paste it in.

Simply replace OPENSEARCHTEST in the pasted URL with {searchTerms}, and let OpenSearch do the rest.

If you can't see that in the URL of the search results page, you may have come across a site that uses a slightly different method of doing a search. I'm not going to go into how to work with these kind of searches in this tutorial, but I might follow up on this a bit later.

Finally, we close everything off. Save that file with a .xml extension and upload it onto a web server somewhere.

The one last step you probably want to do is to actually provide the ability to add your search plugin to a browser. There are two main ways to do this:

Add it to the browser with metadata

The first way is to add it to a web page's metadata. In the <head> section of your page:

Simply fill in the URL and a description of your plugin and then if you go to your site, you should notice the arrow on the search box will glow a different colour. Click this, and you should be able to add your new plugin!One potential pitfall - the URL for your plugin must be absolute (it must contain the http:// and the full domain name as well as the path to the XML file).

Add a button

If you want your plugin to be more noticeable, you might want to make a button on your website, which, when clicked, adds the plugin. In your page, include the following JavaScript:

Now make a button which calls this JavaScript when clicked:

Once again, fill in your URL in the JavaScript. The same absolute URL pitfall applies here too.

Finishing up

Once you've built your OpenSearch plugin and you're broadcasting it on a web page using either (or both) of the above methods, anyone using Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2 can add that search plugin. Once they have, they can just click the arrow on the search box, choose the new plugin and get searching straight away!

I think I've pretty much covered everything - apart from searches that use POST, and of course a couple of advanced topics (like how to add pretty icons to your search plugins). If people liked this, I'll make sure to revisit these topics in a future tutorial!

The subject of the interview was the project to found a nation on the ideals of a free culture. The effort has been dubbed the "FreeNation" project, and already has gained support from a wide community that spans the globe. Initially created by The Pirate Bay (a BitTorrent tracker) as an effort to navigate around copyright laws, the project has advanced into a fully-fledged redesign of human culture in an attempt to fix the problems that we have faced up until this stage of our existence.

On "core"

"We are forming an organization that is fluid, and has equality through the 'ranks'. Today I may be head of a group, tomorrow I might be digging a ditch."

This equality and community building was always in focus throughout the interview. They have good reason too - the FreeNation community had lashed out harshly when a small group of members ("dubbed as 'core' thanks to Brokep, Public Relations of The Pirate Bay" said GhostOutlaw) attempted to push the project forward more quickly by creating their own IRC channel which was password protected. Their secrecy and connection to the Pirate Bay lead to confusion and uproar in a week old project.

"The initial starting of core was a few members who found that some of the IRC chat was a little to spammy to actually have a cohesive discussion," explained GhostOutlaw. "[We are a] 'structure group' -- we are trying to form the skeleton or structure to allow us to achieve our goals," added Democritus. "The idea is that when we CAN handle the huge influx of interest, we will actually be able to accept those into our community and give them JOBS!!!"

No one knows exactly what jobs will be available. For now, this "structure group" is focused primarily on releasing a website and rolling out a public relations move that will help encourage increased donations. Although the plans aren't set in stone as to how the website will be put in place, Dpx said that they "plan to have a wiki and a forum, that much has been decided."

"But I know it's island fever and I got it real bad" - The Beach Boys

The overall plan for FreeNation is to buy an island, on which the group will promote a free culture. It was said most concisely by Democritus: "We wish to establish a collective of like minded individuals on an island colony, to provide a place where a new society can be born and raised, to learn from our own mistakes, and those of the past to provide a better future for all of mankind."

Details were vague, and I was routinely assured that "we are working out what exactly the goals are." It is understandable - the project has only been around for ten days. Community was stressed as well. GhostOutlaw pointed out that "the end result will be whatever the community wants to be. It's a community project and a community effort."

The community was built around the proposition of providing The Pirate Bay a safe haven from copyright laws. When the community took over the reigns, the idea was morphed. As Democritus told me, the idea was now much more focused on creating a new type of society that would promote Free Culture from all angles. When I asked about The Pirate Bay's connection to the FreeNation Foundation, I was told that "what we have now is a highly evolved form of TPB's idea. They did want to start a country for servers. They are part of our community."

Looking forward

The FreeNation Foundation's proposal is one that will continue to receive accolades and attacks. It's a dramatic proposal that, whilst not yet successful, shows the power the internet holds in bringing people together. If the foundation achieves their goal, this new open culture will dramatically alter the landscape of culture all over the world.

The plan needs guidance though. As of now, it seems to be in more than capable hands. With the "group-formerly-known-as-core" helping to guide discussion and establish an infrastucture for conversation, the community's input is relevant now more than ever. "As the community grows, it will shape and change and evolve. We are looking forward to being part of this process."

Update: Digg here!

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Read more about the FreeNation Foundation by visiting their website and wiki.

In 2006, we conceptualized Web 2.0. We determined what it was about, the theories and ideas that made it happen. We perfected our AJAX and polished our gradients, creating the beginnings of a social web.

The problem though, was that Web 2.0, generally, did not get past the tech community. Really, does your family share in the joys of social bookmarking? Do your friends obsess over the wonders of The Long Tail? I'd venture to say no. It isn't anyone's fault, it is simply that we have built up the architecture for a revitalised internet, but haven't brought in the general public to experience it.

This will change in 2007. Sure, folks already enjoy the wonders that MySpace has brought us. Even a site like Digg has thrust itself into the top sites online (at least according to Alexa, but who trusts Alexa?). But I'm not talking about those sites, I'm talking about the underbelly of the web that will effectively change how you operate, collaborate, and socialize. Digg is a glorified message board. A pretty one, a fancy one, but that's what it is. MySpace is debatably Web 1.0 - it's only saving grace is the ideals behind the site. It certainly doesn't employ Web 2.0 design or development techniques.

No, those sites will get to the public easily, they aren't breaking the mold. But sites that challenge the very way we run our lives such as event-management platforms, or the way we compute such as online office suites, will make 2007 the year to break into the public eye. I have no doubt of this, in fact we've already seen this with Digg which I mentioned before. Digg is arguably the first web 2.0 site to achieve mainstream success, and is leading the way for other services.

The effects are obvious and far-reaching. Unlike the first web boom, web 2.0 is largely created by small teams (as opposed to major companies). The burst of traffic that these sites receive will cause several things:

1. Web hosts will need to acclimate to a new mid-range market where affordability is key. Media Temple's excellent (gs) Grid Server has already foreshadowed this new market. Systems such as (gs) Grid Server will prove doubly useful because of the unpredictable nature of the social web - no one can predict the Digg effect.
2. Buyouts will be plentiful, and so will sell-outs. eBay has become the new hot spot for websites to sell themselves out, expect that to continue (and increase in frequency). The management costs will be too much. Tucows took the leap and bought an eBay sell-out (Kiko), I see this as being the norm too (larger companies buying dead property on eBay). Easier than other methods!

As such, it won't be a bubble like the last time around - it will be an implosion, but not necessarily an implosion leading to the deaths of these products. Businesses will collapse and be rolled up into larger companies. Don't be surprised to see investors take advantage of the situation by buying these dead companies and merging them under one banner.

Ultimately though, the products will stagnate because they are no longer labors of love. The people who built the application out of enjoyment and excitement for their ideas will be long gone, leaving programmers-for-hire to finish the job and maintain everything for profit, sacrificing an ideal that I think is core to web 2.0 - people before profit.

And that's how it'll go down. Promise*.

* = Not an actual promise.