Top100k Blog

The LAMP stack combines the top open source technologies available for the developer on the web.  The  Zend Cart Framework is a PHP library of modules that enhance this development stack and add many classes of built in objects that make object oriented web application programming possible.

LAMP is comprised of Linux operating system, the Apache web server, the MySQL database server and PHP hypertext Preprocessor.  This development technology is a growing and changing package that is supported by a community of users.  The Zend Cart library is a set of modules created by programmers from IBM.   After mastering objects in PHP you can move on to the Zend Framework.  It is worth the effort to learn these technologies to provide scalable web applications based on open source technologies.

Tune in later and I will provide the best links to these technologies.

Blogging on WordPress has become easier with QuickPress. It alows for quick blogs with out the hassles of too many options. Just type and go. Good job WP.

Security on the web takes a backseat to functionality and  aesthetics. Guidelines to security can be few and far between. These are just some of the most common security issues to be aware of when programming web applications using the CGI environment, Perl and PHP.

The CGI environment is the Common Gateway Interface used by Perl for access to an application on the web server through the user agent. Perl is a server-side programming language that uses an interpreter that compiles the script and executes it on the web server. PHP is the server-side preprocessing hypertext language that is embedded in SGML documents and parsed upon the user agent’s request for the document, then executed with the results displayed to the web application user.
This briefing includes sections on Programming Security & Web Security Resources. The next briefing will be on counter measures to combat threats to web application security.

See briefing

Erik Holm

We now have the dual search capabilities at Top100k.com allowing our visitors a more detailed way to find the information they need.  Now if you submit a site and it is approved you will automatically get an in-site search linked to your website.  This way our visitors can conduct research and you can get your site searched!  The double edge search is a double edge sword, in that it does requires a general search to find the site and then a specific search to find the research item within that site.  It requires a little more work from the visitor.  Since we are specializing in searching for research we hope that they will be comfortable with this more granulated approach.  It is important to find the information you want and sometimes other search engines are unsatisfactory.  Instead of conducting the second search our visitors can also just read our detailed description and go directly to the site itself to peruse it for information.  This allows them options in helping find the research information that they seek.

Add your own website or a favorite informational website to the Top100k,com with our easy to use forms.  Pick a category, fill out the form (no personal info required) and you r site will be added immediately.  We will review your input and add it to our database if approved.  Thanks for all your support!

Top100k.com the community search engine wiki site.

Erik Holm

Teach so you can learn.  That is the motto for WMPs new math mentoring program.  To help people with their math skills we are applying a web 2.0 wiki-influenced  philosophy that will allow math students to mentor other math students.

• By teaching others students the process will reinforce what they have already learned
• Learning how to teach is one of the most important things for young people to experience
• Once a student agrees to mentor another student they qualify to use our learning tools and  get a mentor

We allow people to be mentored only if they agree to mentor someone else first.  By using monitored blogs and chats  participating students will have their own personal mentors for a couple hours each week to help them with their math lessons.  This provides the mentoree with the help they need.

The website WebMathProjects.org is being redesigned to support this new math mentor program. It will be ready for the unveiling to be launched on March 10th.

Erik Holm
Director WebMathProjects.org

Joining multiple web 2.0 social marketing sites is a great way to find interesting websites, and promote your own websites and up their search engine ratings. Some of the most useful are listed below. These are different then the more popular social networking sites uTube, Facebook, MySpace. Those are meant to be for self promotion. Site promotion is better served by these more corporate related social marketing sites. Yahoo and Google both have their own areas where they allow for social networking and marketing.

These emerging web 2.0 sites allow users to promote and market there plat of websites. At top100.com we have a unique search engine wiki site that allows users to instatntly promote their site’s content without registration. These are then linked and marketed across the web.

Join us in our End of 2008 Top 16 Website Contest - vote for or submit your top sites for this last year. The winners will be used as the top 16 informational websites for all of 2009.

StumbleOn - Find interesting sites
LinkedIn - Connect to professionals
Digg - Rate web sites
Reddit - Search for popular sites
Technorati Profile

Happy Holidays!
Erik Holm

There is a new kid on the block, MathML. This standard, originally founded in 1998 by the World Wide Web Consoritum (w3.org), is a language used to publish mathematical formulas on the web. It has grown to maturity with MathML 2.0 and is now being implemented with increasing vigor. The purpose is to enhance the presentation of formulas, to increase functionality within the context of XML applications and to ensure usability to visually impaired users. The use of HTML and XHTML for formation of formulas is hindered by the restrictions of the markup language. So web developers usually resort to images which limits the formula as a functional device. By creating the Math Markup Language the W3 is setting a new standard for implementing math formulas within web applications that can coexist with XML.

The w3c interoperability report states:

There are a good number of software developments that have begun to make use of MathML. During the Candidate Recommendation review period the Math WG has received formal reports on ease or difficulties of implementations, especially in regard to new features introduced with MathML 2, from many of these efforts. There are several pairings of organizations mentioned below who have joint ventures using MathML for the interoperability it affords.

Design Sciene is a leading proponent of MathML and creator of innovative tools that publish edit and convert the Math Language. Their description of MathML states:

In MathML, these two styles of encoding are called content encodings and presentation encodings. Which kind of encoding is most appropriate for a given task will depend on the situation. MathML allows an author to use either kind of encoding, or mix them in a hybrid.

There is an excellent article by Robert Miner entitled The Importance of MathML to Math Communications

The importance of this standard to math teachers, web developers and students of mathematics is tremendous. The impact will ease the use of math and increase understanding in this critical academic area.

Erik Holm

At WIDM, LLC we have developed a series of web based IPs including websites, web applications and interactive digital media. By diversifying we can produce properties with different business models that have been proven in the industry and use multiple frameworks to present different products.

Advantages to this business plan include minimizing financial risk, tapping into multiple revenue streams and cross pollination marketing strategies. The latter is the concept of providing marketing between properties to get support from various customer bases. It also is an opportunity to increase the ranking of our properties on the large search engines. They use a relevancy factor in their ranking algorithm that is based on incoming links to a website. By interlinking multiple properties the ranking is increased as those incoming links are counted.

We are announcing the top 16 most informative web site contest at Top100k.com. Enter your favorite informative websites for conducting research that you want to be ranked in the top 16.

Erik Holm
Founder of WIDM, LLC

A web plat is a collection of interlinked web sites. Owning a series of connected web sites provides:

1. Higher search engine ratings
2. Increased marketing opportunities
3. Valuable assets

Having a group of web sites in a web plat allows the producers to link them in a way so that search engines will recognize the links and increase their relevancy ranking. Then cross-site pollination can be used for opening multiple markets. The new advantages of inexpensive virtual hosting is that your web server can now support more domain name URLs at one IP address, so websites have become a cheap investment for developing projects and business models while investing in diverse intellectual properties. They are vital part of IT business assets which can be leveraged or resold. For more information contact me. Thanks,

Erik Holm

The upcoming election season is exciting. It reminds me of open source software. There are two great candidates imbued with remarkable integrity available and as an independent I am happy with both of them. This makes for remarkably vibrant campaigns. The debate over open source software in comparison to proprietary software has been continuing for years. There are factions that espouse both types communities. It is the extremist points of view that can spoil things for everyone. Radical views that follow either a complete right wing or left wing viewpoint without question usually mask an ego driven agenda that is most often self serving. There is a place for open source software and proprietary software. Each one fulfills an evolutionary niche. What is great about OS it the ability for the community to analyze the software. That is why operating systems, web production platforms and client-side applications that have security implications are better when open. The community can evaluate the risks. Proprietary software offers the programmers a way to make great software and get paid for their creations without having to share it with others. This allows for the growth of excellent user software applications that would not be created in the shared open environment. Both sides have good points, and I am really looking forward to the upcoming debates.

For more about open source software see our book on the subject
Created by Webovations Interactive Digital Media:
Open Source Invasion

Erik Holm
Webovations.com
Top100k.com
Puget Sound Life