Re: Drafting page for W3C SocialWeg incubator "widgets and social A PIs" call - feedback welcomed

+1 for having the discussion and seeing where it leads. Count me in! :) thanks, js

-- Sent from my Palm Pre
David Recordon wrote:

Hi Dan,

I think that it would be really useful to have documented before the

meeting how the OpenSocial (including Portable Contacts and Activity

Streams) compares to the Widgets API and what gaps exist.  I'm also

not convinced that the current OpenSocial REST API is the right answer

(it's a bit clunky), but the ideas in it are definitely correct.



--David



On Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 3:10 PM, Dan Brickley <danbri@danbri.org> wrote:

> Hi folks (am Cc:'ing some folk I hope would be interested in joining

> such a call, note that this isn't an exclusive list, just a starter

> thread....).

>

> http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/socialweb/wiki/WidgetsDiscussion is a

> draft page for a meeting we're planning in the W3C SocialWeb Incubator

> Group, where we hope to draw upon experience from both the W3C Widgets

> and OpenSocial efforts, to identify possibilities for common APIs for

> things like user profiles, addressbooks/contacts, social graph etc.

>

> I'm circulating it at this stage for feedback on the agenda proposal.

> Do you think such a meeting could be useful?

>

> I know for example there are investigations into opening up APIs into

> phone addressbooks for use with W3C Widgets; and in the OpenSocial

> scene there has been an adoption of the PortableContacts protocol,

> which operates over HTTP. And in every environment, people are

> extending schemas with custom fields and structures. Apache have also

> recently taken on the Wookie work, which explores the combination of

> W3C Widgets and OpenSocial. In this context, I'd like to get relevant

> parties together to compare notes, plans and experiences, and to

> identify areas in which various kinds of convergence might be

> possible.

>

> Feedback welcomed in this thread, or from XG members directly into the

> wiki. Let's deal with the content first before getting into call

> scheduling mechanics...

>

> cheers,

>

> Dan

>

> http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/socialweb/wiki/WidgetsDiscussion wiki

> text copied below to save you clicking...

>

> This is an agenda-drafting page for a special session of the Social

> Web Incubator Group, devoted to the topic of social APIs in "widget"

> technologies.

>

> The agenda is being drafted by Dan Brickley, and is open to XG members

> and interested parties, some of whom we'll invite explicitly (if you

> want to contribute, contact Dan, danbri@danbri.org):

>

> =Background=

>

> There are two broad categories of installable Web widget: those that

> are deployed within a Web page or site (eg. OpenSocial), and those

> that are installed within a (typically desktop or mobile) widget

> platform. Both allow quick and easy authoring of small embedded apps

> using standard Web technologies, and both traditions are exploring

> richer APIs - mainly exposed in Javascript - for making use of the

> context within which the app is embedded. This meeting is called to

> explore ways of avoiding fragmentation, such that application authors

> who want to make use of user profile, addressbook/contacts and similar

> information might make use of a common approach regardless of widget

> platform.

>

>

> =Goals of the Meeting=

>

> * invited short status presentations from w3c widget, opensocial and

> Apache Wookie (which combines these) groups

> * identify current state of social APIs (incl. user profiles, 'social

> graph', contacts db, authentication, etc.) in at least OpenSocial and

> W3C Widgets work

> * document state of current published plans where such data will be

> exposed by a widget platform to 3rd party widgets; eg. addressbook

> APIs exposed to Mobile widgets

> * answer or make plans for answering questions such as:

> ** can W3C Widgets access an addressbook on a phone?

> ** what implementation experience exists that combine W3C Widgets with

> OpenSocial or similar APIs

> ** to what extent can these architectures allow for decentralised

> extension of schemas

> ** how do these schemas relate to vcard (and which versions)

> ** role of portable contacts

> * What javascript APIs are developed / under development, and whether

> these might allow developers some code portability between widget

> platforms

> * identify possible recommendations for final report, and

> collaboration / prototyping opportunities

>

> =Where and When=

>

> The SocialWeb XG currently meet at 13:00 UTC. It is looking to change

> soon to meet at 15:00UTC. If these times don't fit the schedule of

> would-be participants, we can investigate a special-case time slot.

> The meetings are usually conducted by teleconf using W3C's audio

> bridge, Zakim; but also accompanied by IRC chat (irc.w3.org 6665

> #swxg).

>