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Intel Releases Mashups for the Masses
News_and_info writes "Intel has released an online tool called Mash Maker with the intent of allowing anyone to create mashups. They offer some training on how to use it, but the tool is fairly easy to use out of the gate. I see it more as a rudimentary semantic browser. From the article: 'Mashups have still not really penetrated the mainstream. My mother is not using mashup sites, and she is definitely not creating them. Even if there was a mashup out there that did exactly what she wanted, the chances are that she wouldn't know it existed, and would be confused by it if she tried to use it ... With Mash Maker, mashups are part of the normal browsing experience. As you browse the web, the Mash Maker toolbar displays buttons representing mashups that Mash Maker thinks you might want to apply to your current page.'"
Karma-whoring Wikipedia-link explanation of mashups. Thanks!
The dude behind this (Rob Ennals) worked for SCO after training in a lab funded by Microsoft. http://berkeley.intel-research.net/rennals/
Actually, the word "mashup" does not exist on any of those pages. But at least we now know that "mashup" has something to do with the semantic web.
Mashup = Buzzword for "site that mixes contents from more than one site".
"Go forth, and be excellent to each other" --Bill & Ted
It does have its uses.
For example, when I was looking for my current apartment, I wanted to see all available apartments on craigslist that were within sane walking distance from where I worked. By mashing up google maps and craigslist, you get a pushpins on the map type of view, without having to grab 30 or so and search them individually. Saved me a lot of time and a heck of a lot of web searches.
One could apply the same thing to trying to find the closest veterinarian, closest hospital, bike repair shop, etc. Closest shoe store that sells some line of shoes that you like. Heck, you could take that and combine it with Cityguide/Citysearch descriptions or reviews, and you could make an interactive nightlife map a whole lot faster, and with probably a lot less plagiarism, than making one from scratch.
It's just a way of tying together various services and making something that serves a more specific purpose. That's all it is. There's no reason to whine about how the world is leaving you behind.
Businesspeople have taken to using the phrases,
The problem is, none of them seem to know what either of the above actually mean...
Intel does a lot of research. They've researched video codecs, face recognition, complex optimizers, and similar technologies in the past. Their goal is to generate demand for faster processors, though it's more honourably done (research of useful technologies) than the usual (fill the next version of Windows with shit).
I was about to say 13256278887989457651018865901401704640, but it appears this number is private property.
Short version: Site A has a service, and an API to access that service. Site B has another service with its own API. Some guy comes in, grabs the two services and mashes them up into one piece. Wikipedia has an article on the subject, and suggests mapping Craiglist listings on a Google Maps map as an example of a mashup.
REALLY Short version: Imagine the stuff you do with the standard *NIX toolchain and pipes. Now apply the concept to the web.
After reading Intel's description of their product I have no interest, but the mashup idea, despite the stupid name, had its early expression in some really brilliant and useful work. Check out http://www.chicagocrime.org/ for a superb example. Of course, this was created by programming (using the nifty django framework, which uses python, by one of its creators) rather than by clicking on a toolbar.