CoScriptor

Another nicely done tool from IBM......

While its concept is nothing new (think Web Marco tools like iMarco, Selenium etc), it adds in a few really nice touches.

1. Collaboration + Tagging => You can share and use script from others together with a standard tagging system. What really separates it is the private database that let you define/customise "variables"
2. Firefox integration => No need to startup a separate/additional program
3. Stored in easy to read text => the "source code" literally reads like a use case ..... can't wait to see its future integration with Rational tools. This flexible parser is probably the coolest touch.
4. Step run and running of script => Amazing done, with highlighting and direct script/web interface editing possible to accommodate any deviations. While Selenium does this too, CoScriptor is much narrower in its scope and hence able to do this more intuitively.
   

Firefox users should really give this a spin.

lists, sets and everything nice

Lists and sets, 2 very simple concepts but at the core of many many computer programs.

I simply love the idea behind listphile

Listphile is a powerful tool for organizing and collaborating around structured information. Call it a database tool, if you will (but please don't scare anyone away).

Listphile was borne of curiosity, and the belief that we learn more effectively when we have a framework for collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Simple, yet opens up a whole new world for developing mashups. I have a couple of prototypes written in .Net that does something similar => get a list of stuff and simply make it consumable via RSS. Originally i wanted to use it together with in Mashup with Google sets to create basic catalogues that are ready for use in rapid prototyping (Think of it as sample Northwind database on RSS crack :P). But Listphile did it and added in a dash of collaboration, really cool.

The potential for growth in this is immense, imagine a nice list of blogs, eating places etc, before mashing it up with geotags, they can be used by dropdown boxes to query it live instead of either coding it in the html pages or generating it off a stored database. I have always personally felt that there should be a repository for generic list information for things like countries, cities, last names etc. The other aspect that this can really take off is in the area of metadata. One of the problem with metadata as Cory Doctorow mentions

People are stupid - Even when there's a positive benefit to creating good metadata, people steadfastly refuse to exercise care and diligence in their metadata creation.

Take eBay: every seller there has a damned good reason for double-checking their listings for typos and misspellings. Try searching for "plam" on eBay. Right now, that turns up nine typoed listings for "Plam Pilots." Misspelled listings don't show up in correctly-spelled searches and hence garner fewer bids and lower sale-prices. You can almost always get a bargain on a Plam Pilot at eBay.

Constrain the metadata to a collaborative list that is managed by a community will certainly be the first step to better metadata and eventually a more semantic web.

For all those space fans out there

Every once in a while, Ted talks showcases technology that simply makes me go WOW. The Talk by Bill Stone is one such case. He plans to send a machine to bore through miles of ice and swim through a liquid underworld that may harbor alien life. And if that's not enough, he's also planning to mine lunar ice by 2015.

Sounds like a page out of a science friction novel? Watch the talk yourself and be the judge.

Technology.... works best standing on the shoulders of giants

I have recently taken onto listening to podcasts from educators corner as I transit to and from office. The session by Shai Agassi hit many notes that I felt was very true with respect to technology. These podcasts are a definite must listen for anyone who intends to do something in technology with business.