Akamai, Coradiant to Speed Web Apps
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Akamai and Coradiant have announced products that help businesses eliminate Internet-related application performance bottlenecks.
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New .mobi and .jobs, a shift in the ownership of .net
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Rivals F5 Networks and Redline Networks are announcing new Web-enabled application delivery tools that are designed to accelerate data processing by shifting workloads off of servers.
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Travis Swicegood is teasing us with some output from a script in his latest blog post:   So my free time of late (what there is of it) has been spent on a project that's getting really close to v0.1 release. In other words, its first functional release. If you've ever run a test using the PEAR installer or know what a .phpt file looks like, you might be able to guess what I've been up.   Keep an eye on his blog for more information on his "secret project".
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(InfoWorld) - Fast Search & Transfer ASA has developed an enterprise desktop search tool that retrieves data from users' PCs, as well as from internal servers and the public Web. Fast Search, in Oslo, Norway, will unveil and begin shipping the application on Tuesday at a price of US$25 per seat. Discounts apply on purchases of over 1,000 seats. Fast Personal Search can be used on its own or in conjunction with server-based search platforms from Fast or other vendors. The ideal set-up is with the Fast Enterprise Search Platform, which lets users take advantage of all of its features, a spokesman said. The application is designed to let employees fetch data from multiple sources with a single query. Fast Personal Search also lets users act on files it retrieves. From within its search-results interface, the application lets users open, launch or print found files. It also offers a variety of ways to sort and cluster results. The application comes with security and administration tools to help IT departments configure, deploy and manage it. Fast Search is also making available a software development kit so that its partners can create services and products based on the new product. Matt Brown, a Forrester Research analyst, liked the product's user interface and set of features for end users and IT managers. It's clear that the application will add value to companies that already have Fast Search's server platform, he said. However, he questioned the decision to charge for the product. Considering that desktop search tools tend to be free, he wondered how willing companies will be to pay for it. "I haven't seen companies making huge investments specifically for desktop search," he said. Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. offer free enterprise desktop search tools. X1 Technologies Inc. recently joined them, making its enterprise desktop application, previously priced from $74.95, available free. And Microsoft has aggressive plans to make enterprise search pervasive in its operating systems. "Looking out five years, I'm not bullish that desktop search will live forever as a standalone category," Brown said. In the meantime, beta tester Kevin Madden is excited about Fast Personal Search. He is chief executive officer of Clooster Inc., a startup that makes software to improve the rendering and visualization of results from other desktop search tools. His company has partly integrated its Clooster Desktop with the Fast product and found the process to be simple and straightforward, using the Fast software development kit. Clooster is now completing the integration. "We're excited with its performance and features," Madden said.ADVERTISEMENTMAKE SOA REAL WITH IBM WEBSPHERE PODCASTStreamline processes and maximize efficiency within a proven service oriented architecture. Take back control of your business processes with IBM WebSphere.
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When hard a work coding, browser windows with manual entries have a nasty habit of multiplying (at least when I work). So, neededless to say, I was happy to find GotAPI.com, a site that compiles the reference materials for several different web development languages into one handy browser window.  The page, by default, searches HTML resources, including the W3C specs and Microsoft's MSDN materials. Those and the w3schools website show up often in the other languages available - CSS, XSL, XML, and XPath. The PHP manual that's referenced is just pulled from the PHP.net site, but it's still nice to have it all right there.  When searching, a "suggeted terms" box pops up to help you narrow down the search faster. It searches not only the beginnings of the words for your term, but it looks inside them as well, matching anywhere.   It would be nice if the site had some kind of bookmarking system built into it - then you could keep a reference and just flip back and forth between the pages with a single click of the mouse.
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(InfoWorld) - The OpenAjax Alliance, formed to boost interoperability in the AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) realm, has put forth an aggressive roadmap that recognizes the growing trend toward mashups. Speaking at the AJAXWorld conference in Santa Clara on Monday, Jon Ferraiolo, OpenAjax operations manager and an IBM Web architect, detailed the upcoming release of the OpenAjax Hub 1.0 and the follow-up 1.1 release. Other projects including the OpenAjax Registry and IDE accommodations for AJAX also were noted by Ferraiolo. With the hub, the alliance aims to iron out interoperability issues between AJAX toolkits. "Sometimes, they actually prevent each other from working. They step on each other," Ferraiolo said. Developers can use the hub to integrate multiple toolkits within the same Web page while toolkit developers can use it to allow toolkits to talk to other toolkits. While the 1.0 hub is useful in mashup scenarios where all components come from a trusted source, version 1.1 adds a security layer for untrusted components to protect from any components that might be malicious. The 1.0 version of the hub, to include AJAX library registration and a publish-and-subscribe engine, is due by the end of this year. Version 1.1 is planned for approval next year, although a full implementation is slated to be ready by the end of 2007. "One of the key features [in version 1.1] is secure mashups," said Ferraiolo. "It's very much a security-focused enhancement providing a secure mashup framework," he said. IBM-contributed technology called SMash, for Secure Mashups, is being included in version 1.1. It provides for secure handling of third-party mashup components. Also in the security arena, the alliance has formed an AJAX Security Task Force Version 1.1 also is slated to include publishing and subscribing across frames as well as publish-and-subscribe between clients and servers. Also featured is support for the Comet programming technique to push data from the server to client. Server push is desirable particularly in mashups and portals, according to the alliance. The hub was called "absolutely essential" by attendee and author Dave Mosby. "It provides mechanisms for us to bridge between different components so that they can begin to talk to each other," Mosby said.Â  In other develpments at the alliance, the planned OpenAjax Registry will provide an AJAX toolkit and JavaScript global object registration authority to prevent JavaScript object collision within complex AJAX applications. The registry is to be managed by the OpenAjax Interoperability Working Group. Population of the registry begins this fall. OpenAjax is holding an event this week called OpenAjax InteropFest, in which companies like Microsoft are testing their AJAX toolkits for conformance with OpenAjax. Microsoft, with its Microsoft AJAX Library, has passed the conformance test, according to Microsoft.Â  The alliance also has launched a task force for mobile AJAX with a white paper planned on how to be successful with the concept. Also, the alliance will explore APIs for access to mobile device services. Device APIs would be exposed to JavaScript on these devices. A mobile AJAX workshop is planned for this Friday. "Mobile devices are getting AJAX," said Ferraiolo. An AJAX management task force, meanwhile, is being launched to make sure AJAX applications perform on a consistent basis. Another task force to be formed will focus on searchability to optimize the ability for search engines to find AJAX applications. Another OpenAjax effort is its IDE working group, which will attempt to accommodate multiple AJAX toolkits and IDEs. The alliance is trying to develop a standard XML file that describes JavaScript functions and other APIs, widgets and their properties. This project is intended to assist developers with user interface components such as widget pallets. Code compilation and type-checking on JavaScript functions also would be part of the effort. Proposals from Microsoft, Adobe Systems, and Aptana have been submitted for consideration by the IDE working group. OpenAjax Alliance features members like IBM and Microsoft.
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A great presentation by Ilia Alshanetsky from the International PHP Conference 2004. The only thing I would like to point out is that MMCache is still being actively developed, as evidenced by the CVS activity at sourceforge.  PS: You might need to use Mozilla to view this. IE sometimes doesn't work properly. I thought IE was a defacto standard :-)
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A quick post from janschneider.de talks about questions regarding the PHP5 compatibility of Horde, IMP, or other applications on the Horde mailing list
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Blog: Online-commerce giant releases faster APIs, shows off desktop application written with Adobe Systems' AIR.
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As mentioned by the Zend Developer Zone, the Royal Pingdom website has recently posted their look at what the most popular websites on the internet are running. There aren't many surprises in the list, but we'll save those for later. First, a quote:   TechCrunch, FeedBurner, iStockPhoto, YouSendIt, Meebo, Vimeo and Alexaholic. These are some of the most popular websites on the Internet. You have heard about them, you have read about them and you have most likely used or visited at least one of them. But how often have you read about what these websites are actually running on? This article dives into the facts and figures about the underlying hardware and software that keep these sites running smoothly in spite of their massive popularity.   As mentioned, there's no real surprises in the list - Linux still tops out on the server popularity, Apache and MySQL dominate their fields and, according to the numbers, PHP is still on top in the web world. Of course, there are some that these software just won't meet the needs of, so he mentions those too - Meebo with Lighttpd, Alexaholic with IIS and SQL Server, and TechCrunch/FeedBurner with Java and Tomcat.   Check out this PDF report for the full results of their survey.
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(InfoWorld) - Call it the second Internet bubble, a Web 2.0 revolution, or just a resurgence in really useful tools for busy end-users -- Web applications are catching on quickly. The advantages are clear for applications that work well on the Web: Anytime and anywhere access to your data, good application speed over a broadband connection, automated backups, and streamlined user interfaces that are far easier to use than the bloatware of yesteryear. Well-known services, such as Plaxo.com and Basecamp.com, offer to mobile users the added benefit of being able to tap into their contacts or projects from a smartphone. One of the most compelling reasons to use applications on the Web is that they are almost all free -- at least for now. Here are a few new -- or at least lesser-known -- Web sites that can serve as good replacements for equivalent desktop software. In this roundup, I'll cover the features that make each one noteworthy and offer a few ideas for other candidates worth exploring. Gliffy Gliffy is a flow chart and diagram application that works exactly like Microsoft Visio. To create a flow chart, you just drag icons onto the document area. You can then use arrows and other pointers to create the chart. Like many full-blown Web apps, Gliffy allows you to collaborate with other users by sharing your flow chart in a public workspace. Brainstorming sessions, marketing demos, or just a clear plan on how to implement a hardware or software rollout in a large company become quick and easy -- there's no desktop client to install or site registration to think about. Although Gliffy lacks the pizzazz of a commercial application -- some of the icons for creating a networking flow chart, for example, look too simplistic -- the Web application ran without any problems in both IE7 and Firefox. It does lack a way to quickly align objects or rotate them in set increments using a modifier key. As with most Web apps, Gliffy stores your diagrams automatically and introduces new features without requiring an upgrade. Priscila Melendez, a senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, is a Gliffy user. "I used Gliffy when working on a marketing effort to share network security diagrams with other team members who were off-site," Melendez said. "The ability to share the images created and then to be able to save and use them in publications and documents makes this a great collaboration tool. I believe the way diagrams can be generated and shared is the greatest asset, especially as more companies are starting to open up to telecommuting." ThinkFree Anyone who relies heavily on a word processor for business communication, project documentation, or even just quick cover letters probably already knows the features they like best. For me, one feature that is obviously missing from Web word processors -- including ZoHo Writer and Google Documents -- is the inline spell checker. ThinkFree, billed as "the best online office on earth," distinguishes itself by offering a spell checker -- and it even has custom dictionaries. When you misspell a word, ThinkFree adds a red underline that you can click on to select the correct spelling. It might seem trivial, but because this feature is missing from many other online word processors, it's a definite plus. Of course, ThinkFree Office offers a bevy of additional features: 1GB of storage for documents, Microsoft Office read-and-write support, a global search for both public and private documents and two options for word processing -- a quick edit function with a limited (but more intuitive) feature set, and a power edit mode with more advanced functions. ThinkFree supports word processing, spreadsheets, and online presentations. It uses Java, which means it should support multiple browsers, but at press time, it didn't work with the latest version of Firefox 2. In Internet Explorer 7, all three beta apps worked without any crashes. YouSendIt One of the nagging problems of Web e-mail is that there is no progress indicator that shows you when a large attachment is transferring to the recipient. In Microsoft Live Mail and Gmail, you just wait until you return to the inbox. Even in Microsoft Outlook, the progress bar isn't terribly accurate about how long it will take to send a large attachment. And it's also a guessing game as to whether the recipient can receive a large file or not. One solution to this problem is YouSendIt. The free version allows you to send a 100MB file to any recipient -- neither the sender nor receiver has to register for an account. What I like about YouSendIt more than other options like DropSend.com and MailBigFile.com is that it actually works. I tested about 10 files, each one to a different recipient, and they all worked flawlessly. Other services tend to stall or lose track of the upload. YouSendIt offers scaled membership levels for different transfer capabilities. The $4.99-per-month Plus version, for example, can send attachments up to 2GB in size. There's also an enterprise-level version with extremely high bandwidth so that once you transmit the file, it will become available as a fast download for other corporate users. GrandCentral Think of GrandCentral as a more intuitive and Web-enabled alternative to fixed mobile convergence, allowing you to use one unified phone number for work, home, and cell phone. Granted, it's not an enterprise application with an application programming interface that you can tie into corporate networks, and there are no security features for corporate compliance. But for sales agents or other mobile workers who want more control of their voice communications, GrandCentral works perfectly. Once you understand the benefits of unified messaging -- that people trying to contact you call one number, but all of your phones ring at the same time -- you can go well beyond this core functionality to personalized greetings by phone, call recording, call screening and blocking, and a unique feature called RingShare that plays something different than the traditional "ring ring" sound for callers while they wait for you to pick up. You can even program it so different groups of people hear different sounds. Xdrive Some laptop users have learned the harsh reality of magnetic-media storage: Your local disk can fail, and if you don't have a recent backup for Outlook, your business documents and even seemingly trivial settings like Internet Explorer bookmarks, there's no way to retrieve lost data. Some external storage drives, such as the Western Digital MyBook, provide an Internet storage option, but they're hard to configure and use. Xdrive.com has a new beta service called Web Backup that offers more control over online backups. Just register at xdrive.com (AOL users, just log in with your AOL account) and click on the Beta button and then click Web Backup. You can configure Xdrive to archive documents, photos, and even IE favorites with just a few clicks. Unlike competitors like Mozy.com, it runs entirely on the Web, so you can use it on any computer to archive the contents of that PC. Xdrive is entirely free and comes with 5GB of storage. You can also upload a large file and then share the link with a co-worker so he can download it. An ancillary service called Xdrive Shows is an online presentation system for photos of business slides. Web apps or Web 2.0? You might wonder: what's the difference between a Web application and Web 2.0? Some would say "not much." But Web 2.0 is a broad term that implies usefulness and social engineering. Twitter.com is a good example of a Web 2.0 site because it doesn't look like a desktop application running on the Web, yet it's useful and has a distinct social aspect. Meanwhile, a Web application is less about connecting with friends or even connecting to other Web services and more about being productive. Some people believe that sites like Twitter.com could be part of a short-lived fad and that they don't appeal as much to the business user. John Brandon is a freelance writer and book author who worked as an IT manager for 10 years.
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The tools, part of an upcoming Visual Studio update, are focused on making it easier to create customized Web applications.
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After over a year in development, Opera Software has release the first public Alpha build of Opera 9.5, the next version of its popular alternative Web browser. The main focus of Opera 9.5 seems to be performance and compatibility with sites, and users are already reporting a big speed boost from Opera 9.23.
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In a follow-up to a previous blog post, Alexey Zakhlestin shares a few more thoughts on the project and the proper object hierarchy's going for.   actually, I changed it completely 3 times already in my thoughts. I finally "see the light"(tm) and will implement it on a weekend. I think about converting SCGI-part to a simple "driver" and move all http-related stuff to a separate driver-agnostic set of classes. This way, I would be able to implement FastCGI as anther driver without altering applications. If you have any better ideas - let me know.   He also includes a link to another sample application that uses the functionality to create a pie chart (including some benchmarks) with the help of the eZ components framework.
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Cameron Olthuis wants to share the tools that he finds th emost useful with the entire web, so he's posted them here on his blog.   His list includes libraries from all different technologies, not just PHP. Several are Javascript-related, but it's always good to have a complete toolkit on hand when trying to tackle some of the more difficult things.   Included in his list are things like:  Moo.fx - a Javascript effects library Swat - an open source web application toolkit PEAR - the PHP package repository Mochikit - lightweight Javascript library    Be sure to check out the post and its comments for more great resources!
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OpenLink Software are pleased to announce release 2.1 of the OpenLink AJAX Toolkit (OAT).    This release introduces the following new features:     * Enhanced RDF Parser (includes support for RDF/XML and RDF/N3)    * New Faceted RDF Data Browser    * RDF Graph Visualization Control with sidebar for Graph Density manipulation    * New RSS Reader Control    * Visual SPARQL Query Builder added to + Form Designer's Data Source control    * OpenAjaxAlliance conformance    * Inter-control messaging system    * Enhanced Tree and Dock Controls    * Enhanced Anchor tag that facilitates lookups to SQL, XML, and RDF Data Sources via In Page Activation of Data Driven Web Pages    * Updated Animation API  For further information, please see:   Project homepage on sourceforge.net: http://sourceforge.net/projects/oat   File downloads: http://sourceforge.net/projects/oat/files   Live Features Demonstrations: http://demo.openlinksw.com/DAV/JS/demo/index.html