Mashup is the much bandied about term of the Web 2.0 world. Wikipedia describes mashup as the �??web application hybrid�?? which uses content from more than one source to create a completely new service.

Have you ever wondered if there is a single source that lists all of the mashup efforts in one single place? Enter stage left: ProgrammableWeb�??s Mashup Matrix.

This matrix is an interactive (be warned: you can waste a lot of time there :)) look at the different data or content service combinations. Want to know if there are any flickr + google mashups? Browse to the intersection of those two and you can see that there are 20 of those at the last count. Click on the cell and you can see more details on each service. The matrix has about 118 mashup candidates, so the options are almost endless. And, if you are a programmer looking to create a new service, those empty spaces where no mashups currently exist should provide you some ideas and starting points.

So, go check out the Mashup Matrix. It should provide enough links for a rainy day.

Also, if you are interested in web technologies and application development, add ProgrammableWeb�??s blog to your feed reader. It would be worth it.

After Sun, HP, IBM, et al., have had a (vastly unsuccessful?) go at the concept of utility computing, it is now Amazon�??s turn with its latest announcement of EC2 – Elastic Compute Cloud (Limited Beta). What is EC2? It �??is a web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud.�?�

Amazon�??s utility computing concept relies on its other service, the S3 – Simple Storage Service, to provide storage while EC2 adds the elasticity layer on top. You store all your stuff in S3 and use EC2 to serve the stuff to the world (that really is a technical explanation :)).

EC2 is an on-demand service so you can require and boot up new server instances in minutes or so Amazon says. This would be handy for any organization that sees extreme ups and downs in its traffic. Amazon�??s pricing seems very competitive ($0.10 per instance-hour consumed, $0.20 per GB of data transferred outside of Amazon (i.e., internet traffic), storage costs are extra).

The question now is whether EC2 is the tipping point for the utility computing concept to catch on. Your guess is as good as mine, but I am sure Sun, HP, and IBM are watching this one closely.

For more information:

1. Review of Sun�??s grid concept and Amazon�??s EC2: http://blogs.zdnet.com/SAAS/?p=206
2. Step by step guide to get EC2 setup: http://overstimulate.com/articles/2006/08/24/amazon-does-it-again.html

Flex is an exciting technology from Adobe, that allows a programmer to create and publish highly interactive and expressive Web applications. Running in the Flash player on a user’s computers, Flex applications deliver innovative Web controls in a front-end interface that can be skinned and branded to meet most any creative needs. In addition, a Flex application can communicate with the server without having to refresh the Web page, resulting in a much more dynamic user experience than you find in traditional Web applications. The latest version of Flex (v. 2.0) improves upon the previous version in the number of Web controls available, layout capabilities and data services.

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If you haven’t seen Google’s Accessibility Search you should stop what you’re doing right now and take a look at where your site stacks up against the rest in your industry. Please note that at the moment this search engine is concerned with accessibility to the visually impaired only. I’m sure others will follow.

If you don’t see your site at the top of the search results page don’t worry. It could be something as minor as the term you searched, which may not be a META Tag or META Element in your HTML. This happens more often than not.

But it could be something major like not enough use of CSS or just plain bad code. If this is the case you’ve probably had the same Web site design for years and are just about ready to redesign.

Only this time you’ll have a tool to help you make certain your site’s on top of accessibility. :)

Cheers!

RedDot, which produces a Content Management System used by many a nonprofit, was acquired by Hummingbird last year. This month brings word that Hummingbird itself is to be acquired by Open Text Corporation. CMS Watch’s Tony Byrne predicts that RedDot customers won’t be affected much.