I think Web 2.0 is cool and here is why.

I use SmugMug for photo hosting. With unlimited storage I have almost our entire photo collection backed-up online. It’s also what lets me do the nifty slideshows you see on this site, and now hosts HD-quality video. Their product is great, but even more impressive is their company. I like them so much that I’ve subscribed to Don MacAskill’s blog (he’s their CEO), and am following him on Twitter.

As you may know, Twitter allows you to “follow” people and see whatever status updates, questions, or expressions they decided to post (aka “tweet”). It’s really great for maintaining a wide network of relationships.

I also like Facebook, mainly for maintaining more private, particular relationships with current and long lost friends. Facebook has a great social Photo application, but since all my pics are in SmugMug, I often don’t double-post them. Facebook has many third-party applications, a few of which import your SmugMug galleries. But they don’t let you select specific galleries, amongst other “non-ideals”.

So, one day I receive a tweet from Don (he has over a thousand followers, so every time he tweets they all get it):

I tweet back at him, because this is something that’s bothered me with all Facebook/SmugMug apps. I don’t hear anything back directly, since I’m sure he’s a very busy guy.

Weeks pass, and I get a few more tweets about how SmugMug is hiring for a “social programmer” position, someone who can write Facebook apps amongst other things. That’s great I think to myself, I’ve been wanting a good SmugMug app for Facebook. Then the job post appears on Don’s blog.

As I read the job description, I notice how he says their development is always triggered by client requests, and like a good blogger he includes backlinks to the things he references:

When I see the “tweets” link I’m curious to see who else tweeted him about the need for a SmugMug/Facebook app, so I click and lo and behold it’s the message I sent him:

Only in the Web 2.0 world is this kind of “interaction” possible.

September 11th is a huge day in history. On that day, in 1822, the Catholic church finally admitted that Galileo was right. (Of course, he’d been dead for nearly 200 years.) The Earth wasn’t the center of the universe, and indeed there exists the actual possibility that other planets with ecosystems just like ours may exist, but more importantly, that it’s “OK” to teach scientific truth (ie: heliocentrism) in school.

As I’m pondering the state of our world today, I feel sad for all the history that has brought us to this point. Decisions made not because of facts, but for the pursuit and protection of a myth. I love myth, but not at the cost of human life. Had the church recognized the truth about human’s place in the universe earlier, would that have prevented them from crusading to the holy land, sacrificing millions of lives, and permanently dividing the Arab and European worlds? Without that divide would we be in this mess today? Would the attacks on the twin towers have occurred?

I know that faith is the source of solace for many people, but historic decisions made by organized religion, defining reality by committee vote, are causing horrible repercussions, which we, and our children, are having to deal with.

Whose holy land is it? Who is the bastard? Does it really matter any more?

And when will we be able, if ever, to get a clean slate?

The image above captures the scene of Galileo’s trial before the Inquisition in 1633. “Nearly two centuries later, however, the weight of scientific evidence was so overwhelming that the College of Cardinals finally reversed itself and allowed the teaching of heliocentrism. Still, it would take another 170 years, until 1992, for a pope — in this case, John Paul II — to officially concede that, yes, the Earth isn’t stationary in the heavens. Eight years after that, in 2000, John Paul apologized for the way the Catholic Church treated Galileo.” (source)