The Sun BabelFish Blog
Don't panic !
BOF-5911: Building a Web 3.0 Address Book
To give everyone a chance to try out the So(m)mer Address Book, I have made it available via Java Web Start: just click on the picture to the right, and try it out.
The Address Book is currently demoware: it shows how one can build virally an open distributed social network client that solves the social network data silo problem (video). No need to have an account on every social networking site on which you have friends, and so maintain your data on each one. You can simply belong to one network and link to all your friends wherever they are. With one click of a button you can publish your social network to your own web server, using ftp, scp, WebDAV, or even Atom. You can then link to other people who have (or not in fact), a foaf file. By pressing the space bar when selecting a friend, the Address Book with then GET their file. So you can browse your social network.
To get going you can explore my social network by dragging my foaf file icon 
onto the first pane of the application.
In BOF-5911 which I will be presenting on Thursday at 7:30pm I will be presenting the social networking problem, demonstrating how the So(m)mer Address Book solves it, and showing in detail how it is build, what the problems are, and what work remains. I will also discuss how this can be used to create global single sign on based on a network of trust.
Update
An improved version of the presentation I gave is now available online with audio as Building Secure, Open and Distributed Social Network Applications
Posted at 12:50AM May 07, 2008 [permalink/trackback] by Henry Story in Java | Comments[5]
Note on comments:
- I know the forms below are a little small. We have asked for years for this to be changed, but I don't think it's going to happen soon. In Apple's Safari you can resize the entry box with you mouse. For people using other browsers click on this javascript link, that should allow you to resize your form.
- Comments are moderated, so they will take a little time to appear. Currently moderation means I have to read them personally. Hopefully with OpenId deployment, this will become more automated.
- HTML markup no longer works here, due to some decision made somewhere. Sorry about that.
- If you are having trouble posting, it may be that you need javascript to be enabled. I don't think javascript should be needed for submitting a form, but that's the way it is here.
- Check your comments by using the preview button...
Henry,
This is pretty cool. What lib are you using to speak FTP/WebDav/SMB ?
Posted by ocean on May 07, 2008 at 02:51 AM CEST #
Hi Ocean,
I tried to list all the libraries I am using on the Address Book web site
https://sommer.dev.java.net/AddressBook.html
I am currently using the VFSFileChooser which itself uses the Apache Apache Commons VFS libraries as stated here:
http://vfsjfilechooser.sourceforge.net/links.html
I probably could also use Restlets... but then I would have to do the UI.
There is a good buzz at JavaOne around JavaFX I might rewrite the UI in JavaFX, to go back to the language it was initially written in (F3). In June when they are going to release a stable version.
Posted by Henry Story on May 07, 2008 at 03:20 AM CEST #
Hi Henry,
I tried it out, and I think this is very cool! However I just created my own foaf file, and tried to use the "Open foaf URL.." from the menu, but nothing happened.. I guess it could be my foaf file that are bad or are missing some property (although it validates okay :). See http://www.erlingwl.com/foaf.n3#me
Posted by Erling on May 07, 2008 at 11:39 AM CEST #
Posted by JIRA: Rio on June 04, 2008 at 01:50 PM CEST #
Hi. Does this not work on IE7? I cant seem to get it loaded..
Posted by Mark on December 09, 2008 at 03:43 PM CET #