> ok peter allen - i've got a new topic for an "art of the dumb question"
> podcast

> i've just looked at a number of articles on "microformats" aimed at
> newbies but still don't get what they're talking about.

> can you have a go at a non-geeky podcast on microformats in a way that
> passes "the bus stop test"? (ie something anyone at a bus stop would
> understand)

> ta nicely.. :-)

> r

> Thanks for the provacative "dumb question." Two nights ago I stayed up
> playing with Webmaster Tools and last night writing about them.  Just an
> example of the power of microformats. :^)
>  Anyway, because your question sparked my interest as content for my
> classes, I wrote a somewhat lengthy explanation.  I see Microformats as a
> way to provide a guide to the information on the Web without filtering it
> through a single point of editing. I read this back to my non-techie husband
> and he helped me see the big picture benefit of this--Microformats as a way
> to share information .  Hope you don't mind if I recycle this response to my
> classes, lenses and blog.  I already created a Squidoo lens
> <http://www.squidoo.com/microformat_how_to_use>that uses the content below
> (there are a few modules left to complete.

> Any comments are appreciated.

> Best regards,

> Susan

>  <http://www.DirectMarketingMBA.com>

> *Microformats and their Importance*
> by Susan F. Heywood www.DirectMarketingMBA.com

> *Summary*

> Microformats are an evolution in Web programming languages that use
> special tags in Web pages to help computers identify information they
> contain.  This enables systems to use the tags to display the most relevant
> information, identify common relationships, and link to additional relevant
> information.  Microformats speed Web use and enable aggregating, sharing and
> display of Web content.  Python, Ajax, Ruby on Rails and SOAP are some of
> the technologies associated with using Microformats to create content
> pages.

> *Before Microformats Web 1.0*

> Think about searching the Web for data.  When we type in apple, for
> instance, we might find information about the fruit, the computer company,
> the record label, people with the last name Apple and a multitude of other
> results.  We then have to decide what information is relevant to our needs.
> The first thing Microformats can do is define the nature of the information
> they contain.  They are a way to use code in the Web pages to tell
> searchers' systems about the content on the page so that the search returns
> the most likely results.

> Let's assume we want to learn about Apple the computer company.  We might
> find financial data on the company, reviews of products, products for sale,
> blog posts, videos and other information.  Microformats enable pages to be
> classified and for systems to read the classifications and display the
> results we want, again, reducing our need to look at each likely page to
> decide what we are likely to want to see.

> As you can imagine, when each Web page used different formatting
> instructions it was be very difficult to share information (think 1994.
> )With standardized ways to define the type of information in Web pages, we
> can use our preferred definitions to specify content that we want to see and
> save our preferences on sites that use the Microformat

> *Microformats - Stylesheets for the whole Web*

> Microformats are a way to organize the code in a Web page
> to identify chunks of data by the type of data that they are, similar to
> what we do when we change a row or column in a spreadsheet to a certain
> format. A tag is a small piece of code on a Web page that replaces many
> lines of code with other tags or formatting instructions containing more
> detailed information.

> Microformats help other computers read the information on the page more
> easily, by creating a standard definition similar to a style sheet for the
> Web. Like a template, the code tags tell Web users what type of data is
> included between the tags. Once this is known, the receiving computer knows
> where to store the information and how to display it.

> As the Web has evolved, programming languages have evolved that have *defined
> standard ways to categorize, store and display pages* and to *display the
> information they contain*. Over time, Microformats are developing as
> the standards condense the formatting into smaller and smaller chunks, which
> are generally defined, and also to define *"chunks of chunks"* *or modules
> * so that information can be easily shared with users of many types of
> systems through a variety of browsers.

> *Micoformats - The basis of Web 2.0*

> Because Microformats contain all of the information needed to display the
> information on the page, the module can be used on other sites and shared
> easily with others, without users needing to be on the page or site where
> the data "lives," and without loading the entire page that contains it.

> Users can decide what information we want to see displayed regularly as it
> is updated, both from sites we specify and from sites we discover based on
> our preferences.  We can aggregate the content using sites like Google's
> personalized pages, MySpace, intranets, classrooms and other community
> sites.  In this application, Microformats form the basis of the social media
> applications included in Web 2.0

> *The Main Reasons Microformats are Important:*

> *  They speed the display of pages because the receiving computers store
> the basic information about the types of data they expect to receive and how
> it should be treated. Using Web pages is more efficient and faster.

> * Sharing and use of information among computers of different types and
> of Web sites is possible. Google Adwords are an example of this.

> * Sharing information on the Web by inserting modules of from different
> sites onto one page, to import it into other applications, and to share it
> with others, while maintaining the integrity of the original source.  Google
> personalized pages and Google AdWords are examples of this.

> * Querying and discovering other research and others who are searching
> helps drive collaboration.  An emerging trend in this area is the use of
> social media and networking sites.

> * Search Engine Optimization has the tendency to create bad behaviors
> lthat limit the relevance of search to users.  Microformats help ensure that
> content is what we expect it to be as searchers.

> ###
>  Susan F. Heywood
> www.DirectMarketingMBA.com
> --
>    *Susan F. Heywood*

> sheywo...@gmail.com

> Google me<http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Susan+F.+Heywood%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UT...>

>   DirectMarketingMBA.com/Blog <http://www.directmarketingmba.com/blog>

> <http://add.my.yahoo.com/rss?url=http://feeds.feedburner.com/directmar...>
> Resume, samples and quotes <http://resume.susanheywood.com>
> ----- Original Message -----
>  *From:* peter allen <pgp...@gmail.com>
> *To:* teachAndLearnOnline@googlegroups.com
> *Sent:* Tuesday, August 29, 2006 8:57 PM
> *Subject:* :: TALO :: Re: the art of the dumb question 2

> sorry,  that one's out of my range of expertise - i cant add a thing
> beyond what i found in wikipedia

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microformats

> I think shaggy would be the evil genius we need to call onto for this
> one.... shaggy?

> On 8/30/06, rgrozdanic <rgrozda...@gmail.com> wrote:

> > ok peter allen - i've got a new topic for an "art of the dumb question"
> > podcast

> > i've just looked at a number of articles on "microformats" aimed at
> > newbies but still don't get what they're talking about.

> > can you have a go at a non-geeky podcast on microformats in a way that
> > passes "the bus stop test"? (ie something anyone at a bus stop would
> > understand)

> > ta nicely.. :-)

> > r