Two is Better than One

Everytime a traditional office application is re-implemented as an online service, the concept for Office 2.0 gets further validation. Yet in many instances, sceptics will dismiss it as an oddity that is not worth paying attention to, until a second implementation of the same service is provided. Much like it takes two to tango, the […]

Taxonomy of Rule

This article was authored by Francis Ip

What is a rule? One of the dictionary definitions is “A generalized statement that describes what is true in most or all cases: In this office, hard work is the rule, not the exception.” In essence, a rule governs the permissible behaviour within a given context and set of conditions. Using this definition as baseline, let us explore the way in which we classify rules. [Continue…]

First Office 2.0 Acquisition

Today, Google announced the acquisition of Upstartle, the company that developed Writely, an Office 2.0 alternative to Microsoft Word. This marks the first significant Office 2.0 acquisition by one of the major Web 2.0 players, and I would expect many more to follow this year, mainly from Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft. It also means that […]

First IT|Redux Breakfast

Weblogs are great networking tools, but nothing can beat the old-fashioned face-to-face meeting, especially when it comes with good food and drinks. With that in mind, I have decided to organize regular events during which readers of this blog will be able to meet and discuss about recently-covered topics. The first event of this type will be a breakfast to take place at the Sofitel in Redwood City, CA on Tuesday, April 18, 2006, from 8:00 AM to 10 AM. [Continue…]

Zoho Creator goes Live

The good folks at AdventNet did it once again: Zoho Creator is now live and kicking. If you’re looking for a free Office 2.0 alternative to Microsoft Access, do not go any further. Truth be told, it’s a little bit rough around the edges — some display bugs, no ability to get public forms to populate private […]

Diigo Redux

Some time ago, I explained why I felt that browser extensions such as as plugins and toolbars should be considered harmful. I also mentioned that some of the most advanced features of social bookmarking tools like Activeweave or Diigo only worked with browser extensions, even though I was convinced that they could have been implemented […]

Help Needed

With the multiplication of services I am currently using, the need for integration across them is becoming more and more pressing. I have started working on some Office 2.0 mashup projects, but generating new ideas tends to take much less time than implementing older ones, and I could definitely use some help. If you have […]

Google Page Creator

I finally managed to get access to Google Page Creator, Google’s new web page development service. I developed this page as a proof of concept. To be honest, I am not very impressed. The service works, is easy to use, sports a minimalist user interface that is very much in line with Google’s tradition, but […]

Things are Coming Together

Yesterday, someone reacted to my recent article covering jotForms and Wufoo, and asked me what the use could be for an online form builder that does not offer proper database support and integration capabilities. The short answer is: not much! But this should not let us discard such services right off the bat. Instead, I view them as fantastic proofs of concept that are demonstrating what Office 2.0 is capable of. Such attempts provide us with all the pieces we need, which we can then integrate into a broader framework. Initially, syndication interfaces and open APIs will let us build such mashups ourselves, but moving forward, most of the pieces will come together into unified platforms.

Office 2.0 Milestone 1

With the release of Thumbstacks, an online alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint, Office 2.0 reached Milestone 1: all major components of a standard office productivity suite are now available as online services.

BEA Jumps into BPMS

BEA’s acquisition of Fuego this week is a welcome validation of the BPMS market, but what a surprising way to go about it! Probably the strangest BPM acquisition since TIBCO spent big bucks on a workflow engine that couldn’t even receive a JMS message.