We believe there really is a new era emerging in the Web's evolution. So what's next?  What will define Web 3.0?

One explanation is that:

Here are a few trends that are distilling the conversation and, in the process, defining Web 3.0:

1. Aggregators

 No one wants to manage accounts on 25 different social sites. This frustration has driven the creation of tools like iGoogle, FriendFeed and Netvibes — all aimed at streamlining your social Web into one space. But more importantly, it has led to the reinvention of Facebook as the ultimate social aggregator.

Recent redesigns of Facebook have turned it into a place where your photos, videos and blog posts can be easily (and automatically) funneled into one place. That's an approach that FriendFeed pioneered years ago, but there's a big difference: Your friends are actually using Facebook.

And now they can even comment on your shared items without leaving the social network. That's bad news for YouTube and other sites that need traffic to create ad revenue, but it's good news for users who don't want to scramble all over creation just to say "Cute video!"

2. Simple sharing

 We've all been seeing those "Share this!" buttons for years now. If you're a marketer or PR person, you've probably plastered them all over your work in hopes of helping it "go viral." But the reality is that these links to sites like Digg or Reddit just haven't been that useful.

That's finally starting to change thanks to Web and smartphone tools that simplify the sharing process.

A few examples:

 • Hootsuite's Ow.ly Social Bar: A bit more comprehensive than TBuzz, this tool shares sites but then also makes it easy for the viewer to share it again. So if you like the link I send you to, you can click a button at the top of the page and keep the share train rolling.

• Smub.it: Designed to make sharing easier on an iPhone, Smub actually works on just about any device with a Web browser. You simply add "smub.it/" in front of any URL, and it will pull up a page of simple buttons to share that site on Twitter, Facebook, Digg, etc.

3. Un-Sites

The design-heavy microsite has been under serious assault lately. Why? Because businesses and marketers are realizing that there's an infinite supply of content out there, being refreshed every day. Why go through all the trouble of creating 100% of your site's content yourself?

And here's another point: A few years ago, if you wanted video on your site, you had to write or find a code that would let you host the video. Big pain in the butt. Now Google is dumping millions of dollars into making YouTube the best, most advanced video service on the planet. Why would you still go it alone, when you can just embed YouTube on your own site for free?

Right now, this concept is being pushed to its limits by ad agencies and others who want to get buzz by showing how minimalist their Web design can be. The most notable examples are Modernista's pop-up home page, the similar Skittles project by Agency.com, and most recently BooneOakley's bizarre conversion of its agency site into a YouTube video. (watch bellow)

For now, these kinds of projects are mostly just publicity stunts. But there's no denying that repurposed content from sites like Twitter and YouTube is going to become the norm with almost any site design in the near future.

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On another angle we've heard that if Web 1.0 was characterized by connecting people to content, and Web 2.0 is connecting people to people, then Web 3.0 is certainly connecting objects to people and to eachother. The Internet of things. Tim O’Reilly has also been talking about this for a while.

Inanimate objects can be embedded with sensors and connected wirelessly to the Internet. This enables us mere human objects to effectively communicate with those formerly inanimate objects. The hope is that as we are able to collect data from these embedded objects and analyze it we’ll be able to make better, more informed decisions based on all the available information we have.

This requires, of course, better analytics to makes sense of it all. But coupled together (data+ analytics) it’s truly the next transformative era of computing. 

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So what's your take on the term "Web 3.0"? Is it a bold new era? Or just a reorganization of all the information we have today? I'd love to hear what trends you've noticed and where you think they're taking us.

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Original Blog Posts: thesocialpath.com  and  asmarterplanet.com

At Destiny Tech we believe that if you reduce travel and meet virtually and collaborate online instead, you can save both time and money. We know that there is a time and place for travel, but we believe that with the right tools, a little know-how, and some adventurous spirit, you can save money, be more productive, and lower your environmental impact.
 

   V.S. 

We use these tools in every project, meet remotely, use IP phone technology to teleconference with professionals and customers all over the world and best of all, save you time and Money. This collaboration saves us time and money so we extrapolate these savings into your final price.

Personally we prefer CITRIX GoTo Meeting (To do online meetings) but there are a lot of collaboration tools (and a lot of free ones online). We also use Google Docs (to share documents), instant messaging tools for easy & fast communication and Ip phones for free international teleconferences. We also have these tools working with our mobile devices (iphones) to help everybody be connected at all times, updated with the project growth and also communicated with new requests, changes, etc.

Commuting to work and traveling for business is often unavoidable. There are many good reasons to travel: There is nothing like a face-to-face meeting to forge a relationship or read subtle body language cues; spending time immersed in a different culture opens our eyes, minds and hearts; traveling to a client, partner or donor shows them that they are important to you and your organization. However, many of us travel when not necessary. Not only does travel use up money and valuable time that you could be spending in other ways, but it's costly to the environment.

We are rethinking work-related travel (including commuting), just like may non-profits and for-profit companies. Here you have a list of 10 recommendations for reducing or eliminate business travel without completely losing the advantages of meeting face-to-face. We encourage everyone to use these suggestions so organizations and individuals can use technology to save time, reduce travel costs, and reduce impact on the environment at the same time.

10 Ways to Change (Save TIME, Save MONEY & Save the environment too):

Here are 10 technology tips to help you reduce your need to travel:

1. Measure your travel: Determine your organization's travel and commuting environmental footprint as well as the amount of money your organization is spending on travel. Make a list of meetings, training's, and events attended by your staff or volunteers that might be suitable for teleconferencing, Web or video conferencing.

 

2. Attend online trainings using a webbing service or screen-casting to observe its effectiveness, and how you might use it to substitute for a meeting or training at your organization.

 

3. Try out one or more telephone conferencing services. Some good options are: Ready-Talk, Care2Call, and FreeConferenceCall.com, Skype, Vonage, etc. GotoMeeting has its own phone component for teleconferencing wile having the WEB conference.

 

4. Try one or more Web conferencing services. Some good options are: GotoMeeting, ReadyTalk, Microsoft Communicator, and WebEx.

 

5. Check into video conferencing services. Some basic free options are: Skype and gmail voice and video chat.

 

6. Explore an online virtual world environment like Second Life to see how that tool might provide a fun and more personal meeting environment.

 

7. Use instant messaging technologies (chat/IM) like Skype, Pidgin, or AOL Instant Messaging (AIM) to allow more spontaneous communications. Or consider tools like Communicator 2007 that include instant messaging as part of a robust online communications package.

 

8. Collaborate and share documents online. Some free services are: 4shared.com, GoogleApps Education, Google Docs, Microsoft Office Online, Google Groups, and Yahoo Groups.

 

9. Encourage staff to telecommute. Technologies like remote desktop software like pcAnywhere, virtual private networking (VPN), voice over IP (VoIP), and virtual PBX can help make working at home as effective as coming into the office. Many corporations and very large non-profits have used custom-built VoIP infrastructures to facilitate unified communications for years, but VoIP products and systems have recently become more accessible for small-to-medium organizations too making it easier to effectively work from home and stay in touch (Vonage ip phones is a great example of this technology coming available for people and small organizations)

 

10. Look for conferences that have a virtual component or will be recorded and can be accessed online, such as the Craigslist Foundation's Nonprofit Boot Camp. Or ask a local volunteer or board member to attend and report back to your group instead of asking someone to travel.

• One 4,150 KM (2,578 mile) flight emits 762 pounds of CO2 per person, which is equivalent to 5% of the CO2 emissions from the electricity use of an average home for one year. The IPCC estimates that aviation emissions are currently 492 million tons per year and growing at a rate of 6% annually.
• Telecommuters last year saved 840 million gallons of gasoline and reduced carbon emissions by almost 14 million tons.
• The Telework Coalition estimates that $20,000 per year can be added to the bottom-line of your organization per full-time teleworking employee in reduced real estate needs and related overhead expenses.
• Allowing your staff and volunteers to work remotely has proven to increase both productivity and job satisfaction.

Original Blog post: techsoup.org