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

Everyone,

   Here's a doodle poll to determine the time of the telecon/irc chat
[1]. Give it a quick look and we'll schedule this!

[1] http://www.doodle.com/49wrevk3k2ieivdy

           cheers,
            harry


On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 5:45 PM, Dan Brickley <danbri@danbri.org> wrote:
> +cc: sylvain@apache.org, <ate@douma.nu>, "Robin Berjon" <robin@berjon.com>,
>
> Hi all!
>
> This went quiet for a while, but it's time to get a call scheduled. To
> remind you all: the idea is to have a special topical call of the W3C
> Social Web incubator group, where we bring together people working on
> Web-based widget/gadget/app platforms  and the APIs that they use. Our
> particular concern is to identify areas for collaboration and further
> work around 'social' aspects, such as user profiles, 'social graph'
> and addressbook APIs, buddylists/rosters, groups, authentication etc.
> In particular, we are interested to avoid unnecessary fragmentation
> between apps written to W3C's Widget and DAP specs, and apps written
> to be run inside Web-based containers such as OpenSocial and Facebook.
>
> We have no preconceptions about what sort of convergence makes sense;
> this is a fact-finding mission! The W3C SocialWeb incubator is a
> purely exploratory activity. If the call helps parties working with
> one Web-based technology stack better understand the work of parties
> developing a similar stack, it will have been useful. If it helps us
> document these differences, similarities and design tradeoffs so we
> can identify some practical next steps, it will have been successful.
>
> I'd like to find volunteers to give short intros to the W3C work (we
> should cover both the DAP APIs and W3C Widgets); to OpenSocial APIs,
> to Facebook APIs and also to the Apache Wookie work, which seems the
> most thorough attempt so far to integrate these worlds.
>
> Just to make this concrete: W3C's Device APIs WG is about to publish
> http://dev.w3.org/2009/dap/contacts/  ... imagine a web developer who
> makes widgets for a living; on phones, desktops and running inside
> sites like facebook and the various opensocial containers. How can we
> make such developers' lives easier in the coming months?
>
> Harry will followup with a doodle to begin the impossible task of
> finding a telecon slot...
>
> cheers,
>
> Dan
>
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 9:52 AM, Scott Wilson
> <scott.bradley.wilson@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Dan,
>>
>> I'm definitely interested - count me in too.
>>
>> In general I think the distinction between Mobile, Web, and Desktop widgets
>> is pretty thin now and getting ever thinner - e.g. the device APIs intended
>> for mobile phones apply pretty well to most notebooks/netbooks (e.g. they
>> have cameras, batteries, shared address books (on macs at least),
>> geolocation via Skyhook, etc.)
>>
>> This is partly why we developed an implementation of the W3C Widgets specs
>> in a web application context even though the spec was being primarily
>> written from a mobile and desktop perspective, and even though this would
>> potentially compete with Shindig/OpenSocial (Apache likes competition :-).
>>
>> Some brief answers to the list of questions on the wiki:
>>
>> 1. Can W3C Widgets access an addressbook on a phone?
>>
>> Yes, if the implementation supports the BONDI contacts API or (in the
>> future) W3C DAP
>>
>> 2. What implementation experience exists that combine W3C Widgets with
>> OpenSocial or similar APIs
>>
>> Apache Wookie (incubating) is a W3C Widget engine that can also integrate
>> the Apache Shindig (incubating) OpenSocial container. It also includes the
>> Google Wave Gadget API to allow W3C Widgets to access shared state and
>> participant information. I've also experimented with exposing BONDI device
>> APIs in web widgets using Wookie, enabling a web widget to take a picture
>> from a user's webcam e.g. to use as their avatar.
>>
>> 3. To what extent can these architectures allow for decentralised extension
>> of schemas
>>
>> Both Wookie and Shindig support a "Features" extension mechanism that
>> exposes additional JavaScript APIs at runtime to widgets/gadgets - is that
>> what you meant?
>>
>> 4. What javascript APIs are developed / under development, and whether these
>> might allow developers some code portability between widget platforms
>>
>> On my radar: W3C Widget Object, W3C DAP, Google Wave Gadget API, OpenSocial,
>> JIL.
>>
>> Some providers offer shim code to slip between these as available, e.g. the
>> Vodafone Betavine SDK provides a JS lib that uses either BONDI AppConfig API
>> , W3C Widget API, or cookies to store preferences based on what it can find
>> in the current document scope.
>>
>> S
>>
>> On 30 Sep 2009, at 15:10, Dan Brickley 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).
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Received on Tuesday, 19 January 2010 20:30:09 UTC