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Articles
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Get Started with Userplane Desktop
by John Fronckowiak
May 2, 2008
In conjunction with the release of Adobe AIR, AOL's Userplane introduced its latest version of Desktop based on the new Adobe technology. If you already have an existing online community, you can use the AIR implementation of Userplane Desktop, and rebrand it to serve your community. In other words, web sites and developers can build their own customized desktop application, after Userplane has done all the heavy lifting for them, so their users can receive individualized alerts, systems updates, and IM notification without being logged into the site. More... -
Creating a Custom Open AIM Chat Client Using Adobe AIR
by Richard Bates
April 23, 2008
In today's business world, the web isn't just a static repository of information: it's a dynamic plane of communication that lets people instantly interact with each other. AOL's latest release of its Open AIM API supports this idea by giving Adobe AIR and Adobe Flex developers the tools to move messaging functionality into their applications to create full-blown communication tools. This article lays the groundwork for that leap to the next level of communication by showing you how to create a functional chat application that you can embed in your AIR or Flex applications. More... -
MapQuest Data Manager 101: Step 2 - Table Maintenance
by Brian Knapp
April 7, 2008
Welcome back! In the first article of this series, I walked you through the basics of creating and populating a custom table of location data using MapQuest Data Manager. In this article I will take you through the remaining functions that Data Manager offers, and make you a Data Manager expert extraordinaire! More... -
Building an AOL Video Upload Application for Facebook
by John Fronckowiak
March 24, 2008
In this article I show you how to integrate the AOL Video Upload API into a Facebook application. Facebook is a leading social networking site, with over 64 million active users. As of September 2007, it ranked 7th in Internet traffic, according to Alexa. It is also the most popular web site for uploading photos, with 14 million photos uploaded daily. Providing a tool to upload videos to AOL Video has great use potential, and also is illustrative for developers looking to leverage AOL technologies into Facebook. More... -
Why AOL Is Web 2.0
by Brice Mason
March 13, 2008
Most people would classify the term Web 2.0 as a buzzword. Although that label is certainly true, Web 2.0 also represents a core set of guiding principles, a road map to the next generation of web application development. In the first part of this article, I will explain and reveal the meaning and purpose behind this overused and underappreciated term and at the same time demonstrate how AOL has effectively implemented Web 2.0 principles from both the developer and user perspectives. In the second half of this article, I will demonstrate how some of the most popular AOL services work together to produce a cohesive Web 2.0 application that uses PHP and the Ext JS JavaScript framework. More... -
MapQuest Data Manager 101: Step 1 - Creating and Populating a Custom Database
by Brian Knapp
February 7, 2008
MapQuest Data Manager is a powerful web application you can use to upload and maintain your own custom location data in a MapQuest-hosted database. By providing you with a facility to store your data on MapQuest servers, Data Manager frees you from having to maintain your own server to support whatever location-aware applications you are developing. In this series of articles, I will introduce you to the basics of Data Manager by taking you through the development of a simple application called PhotoTrek. More... Hi-Country Trips: a Trip Reservation System Using XDSP and Windows Sidebar Gadgets
By J. Jeffrey Hanson
February 28, 2008
In this article, I discuss how you can use the features provided by XDSP within a Windows Sidebar gadget to create a UI that gives users access to the features of XDSP right from their desktop, without launching a secondary application. Using this gadget, "guests" can join outdoor adventure trips, remove themselves from trips, and watch as their trip plans progress to completion, making necessary adjustments along the way. More...Open House On Demand, Part 2: A Video Open House Powered by OpenAuth, Video Uploads, Truveo, and the AOL Video Player
By John Fronckowiak
February 19, 2008
The goal of the Open House On Demand project is to provide an online virtual open house, supported by AOL technologies. Open House On Demand provides real estate brokers with a mechanism to upload videos of properties for sale to the AOL Video web site and to specify attributes of those properties--for example, property type, number of bedrooms, or year built. In addition, potential buyers will be able to search the property videos and view a virtual open house right in their web browsers. This article is presented in two parts: part one discusses the implementation of the video upload for property brokers, and in part two, which you are reading now, I discuss how potential buyers can search and view the videos. More...-
Creating Accessible Web 2.0 Applications Using AXS
By Brice Mason
February 11, 2008
Web developers are the ultimate communicators. We often are tasked with realizing the vision of an entire team whose job is to market, promote, and service their stakeholders. But what happens when your users are limited, or even excluded from, the experience you worked so hard to offer them? Whether it be a case of reduced vision, dexterity, or hearing, a growing percentage of users experience some form of barrier to accessibility. More... An Xdrive Primer
by Brice Mason
February 6 2008
AOL's Xdrive Data Service Platform (XDSP) is a complete virtual storage system you can use to enhance the services you offer to your users. Not only does it provide you with 5 gigabytes (GB) of user-allocated storage to start (and more, if you want), Xdrive also includes a set of services you can use to create, manage, and support a unique experience for your user base. This article will walk you through the development of an Xdrive client utility developed using Yahoo! User Interface Toolkit (YUI), a popular JavaScript library used to enable rapid application development. More...Building a Java-Based AIM Bot to Stay Up-To-Date on Your Flickr Activity
by Byron Johnson
January 27 2008
Social networking is currently one of the hot topics on the Internet. For some, it's synonymous with "Web 2.0." Although mega-social networking sites offer exciting new ways for people to connect online, one drawback is that now Internet users have more places to maintain various pieces of information such as photos, comments, tags, and contacts.Open House On Demand, Part 1: A Video Open House Powered by OpenAuth, Video Uploads, Truveo, and the AOL Video Player
By John Fronckowiak
January 18, 2008
The goal of the Open House On Demand project is to provide an online virtual open house, supported by AOL technologies. Open House On Demand provides real estate brokers with a mechanism to upload videos of properties for sale to the AOL Video web site and to specify attributes of those properties such as property type, number of bedrooms, or year built. In addition, potential buyers will be able to search the property videos and view a virtual open house in a web browser. This article is presented in two parts. In part one, which you are now reading, I will discuss implementing the video upload for property brokers. In part two, I will discuss how potential buyers can search and view the videos. More...Introducing AIM Bots: The AIM Personal Translator
By Jason Weiss
January 16, 2008
The AOL Instant Messenger (AIM®) Java software developer kit (SDK) provides Java developers with relatively easy access to AOL instant messaging functionality. The true power of the SDK comes into focus when additional technologies are integrated with AIM, and that's precisely what I cover here. In this article, I show you how to create a personal translator bot, a mashup that combines the AIM Java SDK with a Java wrapper for Google Translate. More...Introducing AOL Userplane Community Functions
By Thomas Myer
January 10, 2008
Unless you've been living under a rock, you're surely aware of all the blogging and buzz around community applications for web sites. Strictly speaking, of course, community isn't exactly new. After all, community is one-third of the irresistibly alliterative troika for web site success: community-content-commerce. More...-
Applying the AOL Journals Open Blog API
by Kevin Farnham
December 31, 2007
In his second article on the AOL Journals Open Blog API, Kevin Farnham demonstrates how to develop an application that applies the API to retrieve an AOL Journals blog list, a set of blog entries, and a comment from one of the entries. More... -
How Small Development Teams Make Everyday Life Better Using Web 2.0 Technologies
by Fred Stutzman
December 31, 2007
Web 2.0 technology has increasingly brought the Web into people's everyday lives. In this article, Fred Stutzman talks about several highly successful Web 2.0 applications, focusing on apps that were created by a single individual or a very small development team. More... -
Augmenting OpenID: the OpenID Token Exchange Protocol
Kevin Farnham
December 31, 2007
OpenID is an emerging standard in Internet identity. However, there are problems that remain to be addressed. In this article, Kevin Farnham talks about these problems and introduces potential solutions offered by the OpenID Token Exchange Protocol. More... -
TruveoCast: Building a Mac OS X Dashboard Widget to Share Your Truveo Video Favorites
by John Fronckowiak
December 13, 2007
AOL's Truveo is a one-stop site for searching and browsing the millions of videos available on the Internet. Truveo Video Search provides a rich searching mechanism, and an associated API that give users the ability to find the content they need. In addition, Truveo users can create a list of their favorite videos, and if they choose to make the favorites list public, other users can search it by using the user: search modifier. More... -
The Making Of… the NFL Video of the Day
by Mark Blomsma
December 14, 2007
The World Wide Web is becoming more and more a resource for video. Online newspapers are receiving competition from television stations when it comes to getting your attention online. If your computer is running Windows Vista, then the obvious way to keep informed about what's happening in the world is by running a Vista gadget that searches the Internet for new content. Of course, building a search engine inside a gadget is a little ambitious, but integrating a Vista gadget with Truveo Video Search is definitely within the realm of possibility. With the NFL competition in full swing, let's take a look behind the scenes of the making of an NFL Video of the Day gadget for Windows Vista. More... -
Connect with Your Site Visitors Easily Using WIMZI
by Robert Dempsey
December 5, 2007
In today's online world of Web 2.0 and social networking, when webizens visit a site they expect to be able to interact with other users, going beyond mere communication and creating true online relationships. To keep them coming back, a site must be interactive and allow users to connect with each other. WIMZI not only gives you all of that, but it also makes it easy for web developers to add that capability to the sites we build. More... -
Winamp Skins Development Tutorial
by Kevin Farnham
December 7, 2007
Winamp provides a powerful user interface development platform for creating Winamp skins. In this article, Kevin Farnham explores the platform's capabilities, and provides a step-by-step description of how he applied images and XML to develop the "Merlin" Winamp skin. More... -
Leveraging Web 2.0 Collaboration for Good
by Fred Stutzman
December 4, 2007
Blogs, wikis, and the various tools of social media define Web 2.0. In this article, Fred Stutzman shows how people are applying these tools to communicate and effectively collaborate in times of need. More... -
Web 2.0 and the Electoral Process
by Fred Stutzman
November 27, 2007
Over the past ten years, the internet has revolutionized political campaigns. In this article, Fred Stutzman looks at the various ways presidential candidates are applying Web 2.0 technologies to expand their interaction with voters. More... -
Introduction to MyAOL and Mgnet
by Kevin Farnham
November 29, 2007
The Web has grown to such enormous proportions that finding and managing content is the biggest problem people face when they venture online. In this article, Kevin Farnham introduces MyAOL and Mgnet, new AOL tools that apply personalized intelligence to help people organize their online activity. More... -
TruveoCast: Building a Mac OS X Dashboard Widget to Share Your Truveo Video Favorites
by John Fronckowiak
December 13, 2007
AOL's Truveo is a one-stop site for searching and browsing the millions of videos available on the Internet. Truveo Video Search provides a rich searching mechanism, and an associated API that give users the ability to find the content they need. In addition, Truveo users can create a list of their favorite videos, and if they choose to make the favorites list public, other users can search it by using the user: search modifier. More... -
The Making Of… the NFL Video of the Day
by Mark Blomsma
December 14, 2007
The World Wide Web is becoming more and more a resource for video. Online newspapers are receiving competition from television stations when it comes to getting your attention online. If your computer is running Windows Vista, then the obvious way to keep informed about what's happening in the world is by running a Vista gadget that searches the Internet for new content. Of course, building a search engine inside a gadget is a little ambitious, but integrating a Vista gadget with Truveo Video Search is definitely within the realm of possibility. With the NFL competition in full swing, let's take a look behind the scenes of the making of an NFL Video of the Day gadget for Windows Vista. More... -
Connect with Your Site Visitors Easily Using WIMZI
by Robert Dempsey
December 5, 2007
In today's online world of Web 2.0 and social networking, when webizens visit a site they expect to be able to interact with other users, going beyond mere communication and creating true online relationships. To keep them coming back, a site must be interactive and allow users to connect with each other. WIMZI not only gives you all of that, but it also makes it easy for web developers to add that capability to the sites we build. More... -
Winamp Skins Development Tutorial
by Kevin Farnham
December 7, 2007
Winamp provides a powerful user interface development platform for creating Winamp skins. In this article, Kevin Farnham explores the platform's capabilities, and provides a step-by-step description of how he applied images and XML to develop the "Merlin" Winamp skin. More... -
Leveraging Web 2.0 Collaboration for Good
by Fred Stutzman
December 4, 2007
Blogs, wikis, and the various tools of social media define Web 2.0. In this article, Fred Stutzman shows how people are applying these tools to communicate and effectively collaborate in times of need. More... -
Web 2.0 and the Electoral Process
by Fred Stutzman
November 27, 2007
Over the past ten years, the internet has revolutionized political campaigns. In this article, Fred Stutzman looks at the various ways presidential candidates are applying Web 2.0 technologies to expand their interaction with voters. More... -
Introduction to MyAOL and Mgnet
by Kevin Farnham
November 29, 2007
The Web has grown to such enormous proportions that finding and managing content is the biggest problem people face when they venture online. In this article, Kevin Farnham introduces MyAOL and Mgnet, new AOL tools that apply personalized intelligence to help people organize their online activity. More... Introducing the AOL Journals Open Blog API
by Kevin Farnham
November 29, 2007
The Open Blog API provides an interface for managing AOL Journals blogs from any device that can interact using HTTP. In the first part of two-article series, Kevin Farnham reviews the standards that form the API's basis and introduces the API's features. More...-
The New Presence
by Fred Stutzman
November 13, 2007
Online presence lets us know what our friends and associates are up to right now. In this article, Fred Stutzman traces the evolution of online presence, talks about today's most prominent informational, temporal, and geolocational presence applications, and glances into the future. More... -
Microsoft Silverlight and Truveo Video Search, Part Three
by Kirk Evans
November 9, 2007
This is the third and final article in a series demonstrating how to use Truveo Video Search and Silverlight together. In the first article in this series, Microsoft Silverlight and Truveo Video Search, Part 1, I showed some basic constructs of Silverlight, including the createSilverlight function. That article introduced XAML, showed how to use JavaScript to interact with events from the UI, and demonstrated how easy it is to set properties of our Silverlight application using JavaScript. The second part of our series, Microsoft Silverlight and Truveo Video Search, Part 2, showed how to dynamically generate items in the UI using the createFromXaml API call. More... -
AIM Fight! Building a Mac OS X Dashboard Widget to Measure Your Connectedness
by John Fronckowiak
November 7, 2007
The AIM Fight! service is best described by its developers at http://www.aimfight.com/whatisaimfight.php: Using a complicated algorithm, AIM Fight crawls through the depths of the Internet to answer the all-important question that plagues us all: How popular am I, right this second? As shown in Figure 1, your score is the sum of the current number of people online who have you listed as a buddy, out to three degrees. This means the score is constantly changing, and the winner of the battle will constantly change with it. More... -
Building an Xdrive Data Management Toolkit, Part 2
by Abel Lin
November 7, 2007
Part 1 of this series introduced you to a set of Perl-based tools that are part of a data management toolkit that we use at SundayMorningRides.com. That article primarily covered basic file/data manipulation: listing, I/O, etc. A large part of data management, of course, is sharing data. The examples in this article add to the functionality of the data management toolkit presented in part 1 by creating tools that allow you to use the AOL Open Xdrive (Xdrive) API as a data-sharing platform..More... -
Xdrive as Data Storage Device for Windows Vista Gadgets
by Mark Blomsma
November 5, 2007
AOL Open Xdrive (Xdrive) is the always-on, always-there online storage facility offered by AOL. Xdrive gives you 5 gigabytes (GB) of online data storage, completely free of charge! All you need to do is sign up by creating an account, and you're in business. Aside from an online interface that lets you browse the web and upload and download files to the online storage space, Xdrive also offers an application programming interface (API) that you can use to access, manage, upload, and download files from within your own application.More... -
Exploring the Facebook Platform, Part 2
by Fred Stutzman
October 24, 2007
In the second and final article in his series on the Facebook Platform, Fred Stutzman demonstrates how to develop an actual Facebook Platform application, from registering for a developer key to writing your FBML and creating a PHP-based Facebook application.More... -
Microsoft Silverlight and Truveo Video Search, Part Two
by Kirk Evans
October 19, 2007
In the second article in his three-part series on integrating the Truveo Video Search API with Microsoft Silverlight, Kirk Evans demonstrates how to construct a dynamically updateable user interfaces using Silverlight, Javascript, XAML, and AJAX in conjuction with Truveo.More... Web 2.0 Security
by Tim Heagarty
Oct 16, 2007
Web 2.0 opens up a host of opportunities for security compromises. In the second article in his three-part series, security expert Tim Heagarty talks about the difficulties and risks related to data integrity within Web 2.0 applications. More...-
Building an Xdrive Data Management Toolkit
By Abel Lin
Sep 26, 2007
Data management is acutely challenging for small and medium sized organizations that might not have the necessary local infrastructure (or in the case of backups and archives, the necessary off-site infrastructure) to provide an adequate data management system. Fortunately, tools like the AOL OpenXdrive (Xdrive) API exist to help you manage your data. More importantly, you can we can access Xdrive from the Xdrive Data Service Platform (XDSP), which lets developers access the storage, services, and functions of the XDSP programmatically through a set of Web services. Read More... -
Elephant's Pajamas: Building a Truveo Video Joke-of-the-Day Mac OS X Dashboard Widget
By John Fronckowiak
Sep 26, 2007
Elephant's Pajamas is a Mac OS X Dashboard widget, powered by AOL Truveo, that provides access to funny joke videos. Truveo is a one-stop destination for searching video resources available all over the Internet, including AOL Music, AOL Video, YouTube, CNN, NBC, Fox News, and much more. Elephant's Pajamas uses the Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) API provided by Truveo to search through all the funny joke videos available from the resources aggregated by Truveo, and then randomly select one video, which the user can view in their Web browser. This article shows how I developed Elephant's Pajamas, using the technologies that only Truveo provides. Read More... -
Securing the Blogosphere Through OpenID: Relying Parties, Unite
By Eston Bond
Sep 20, 2007
More than 120 Million OpenID URLs have been created by identity providers, but there are still relatively few sites where you can log in using OpenID. In his second article on OpenID, Eston Bond analyzes the technology's current state and emerging trends. Read More... -
A Primer for OpenID with PHP
by Jack Herrington
Sep 21, 2007
OpenID is another one of those "cool technologies you've never heard of" type of deals. OpenID is an open source initiative that provides a way for Web users to register their identity in one place and then use that identity anywhere on the Web that supports OpenID. This means that, as a user, you don't have to keep creating (and remembering) new user names and passwords at every site you visit. And, as a service provider, you can identify and authenticate users that show up at your site without having to do all of the user management involved in giving them access. The list of services that support OpenID is growing, but not as fast as it should be given how cool and useful OpenID is. Hopefully, this article will help with that. Read More... -
Introduction to the Open Xdrive API
by Kevin Farnham
September 21, 2007
The Open Xdrive API provides a JSON interface through which Xdrive.com users can access and manipulate their online storage. In this introductory article, Kevin Farnham outlines the key Xdrive API components and demonstrates how to use the API in an example application. More... -
Introduction to MapQuest® Advantage™ API
by Kevin Farnham
Sep 14, 2007
The MapQuest® Advantage™ API is a rich mapping API that is used by hundreds of businesses, both large and small, to provide their customers with online mapping services. MapQuest has its roots in cartography from a time prior to the existence of the World Wide Web. This brings significant advantages to MapQuest that other geospatial platforms cannot provide: namely, MapQuest's enormous database of place-related information. When you search for a place using MapQuest, you are searching through multiple databases, through data that has been carefully gathered, scrutinized, and updated. Read More... -
Introduction to the AOL Pictures JSON API
by Kevin Farnham
Sep 14, 2007
There are two AOL Pictures APIs: an ATOM feed and a JSON API. In this article, Kevin Farnham introduces both APIs, and illustrates a method for developing AOL Pictures Web applications using the JSON API. Read More... -
Microsoft Silverlight and Truveo Video Search
by Kirk Evans
Sep 14, 2007
When building web-based applications, you often have to make a compromise between creating high-quality, engaging user experiences and the amount of coding effort required to build those applications. Microsoft Silverlight makes it easy to build engaging media experiences and rich internet applications (RIAs). In this article, we will show how to leverage the Truveo Video Search API using Microsoft Silverlight. Read More... -
Exploring the Facebook Platform, Part 1
by Fred Stutzman
Aug 23, 2007
In the first article in his series on the Facebook Platform, Fred Stutzman introduces the Platform, describes the motivation and goals behind it, and talks about some very successful applications developed by early adopters. Read More... -
Creating AIM-Enabled Applications in Java, Part 3
by James Turner
Aug 13, 2007
Well, it's been a busy season for Larry and his llama store (for more on Larry, see part one and part two of this series). True, most of his employees quit because of his intrusive and obnoxious human resource practices, but sales are booming! Read More... -
Using WebAIM with ASP.NET 2.0 and ASP.NET AJAX, Part 4: Sending Instant Messages
by Christian Wenz
July 24 2007
AOL’s WebAIM API provides a very comfortable means to incorporate a JavaScript-powered AIM client in a web page. With some extra effort it is also possible to control most of WebAIM’s features using a server-side technology. The first three articles in this series showcased some of the features of ASP.NET AJAX and the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit and implemented the first building blocks to write a web interface to AIM. This article starts where part three of the series ended, so make sure to read the previous three articles and take special care regarding system requirements and information about the license keys. Using WebAIM with ASP.NET 2.0 and ASP.NET AJAX, Part 5: Receiving Instant Messages
by Christian Wenz
July 24 2007
AOL’s WebAIM API provides a very comfortable means to incorporate a JavaScript-powered AIM client in a web page. With some extra effort, it is also possible to control most of WebAIM's features using a server-side technology. The preceding four articles in this series showcased some of the features of ASP.NET AJAX and the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit and implemented the first building blocks to write a web interface to AIM, including sending instant messages (IMs) to AIM contacts. This article is the final installment of the series and continues where the previous part ended: after sending IMs, the application will finally receive the functionality to receive messages, as well.Creating an AIM Lite Plugin to Send a File
by Doug Schwartz
July 11, 2007
In my previous article, I created an AIM Lite plugin that sent a text file as part of an IM. In this article I show a simple way to send any file during an IM session, using a new plugin. More...The Long Tail of Philanthropy
by Fred Stutzman
June 25, 2007
Web 2.0 technologies are impacting many of our lives in interesting ways. Whether it be the broadening or deepening of friend relationships with social networks, or the sharing of our thoughts and opinions with blogs, many of us have been impacted by the Web's social revolution. The Web is evolving into a tool that fundamentally feels right to humans, and many people are taking note. More...- Browse All Articles
