Bruno Abrantes

If you’re into this “Web” thing, which, if you’re reading this, I imagine you are, then you probably already read a lot of blogs about it. On the off chance you don’t, here is a list of the seven best blogs currently written about Web design, development, or just the Web in general.

(…) more after the jump ›

Shelfari is a website for people who like to read. Put simply, you can create a virtual shelf containing all the books you’ve read, are currently reading and wish to read in the future. You can then share that with your friends, or maybe just jot down that perfect Christmas wish-list (I know my list is always chock full of books).

The concept may not sound all that innovative, and it really isn’t. Shelfari’s design is, though. Clean, crisp Web 2.0 looks combine perfectly with Wood or Mahogany textures reminiscent from that old study your grandfather used to spend whole afternoons reading, and the virtual bookshelf feature is really well implemented. No Flash here, it’s all CSS and Javascript under that beautiful hood. They also let you customize your shelf as a widget so you can include it on your blog or page. Visit the site, fall in love with it, and as long as you’re there, check out my profile.

This post on Techcrunch today raises some interesting questions about what the Web 3.0 will be like. Some say it will be all about the Semantic Web, while others such as myself profess a complete shift from the desktop towards “the cloud” (not that the two are mutually exclusive). What this article’s author suggests is something completely different: the next big challenge is about creating intelligent information filters that reduce the noise we currently experience from all the sources of information we consume. Hundreds of news pouring down from the web into our reader, millions of tweets from the hundreds of people we follow, there’s just no end! Or is there? Go read the article!

Finally, some time to breath. This year’s edition of SAPO Codebits was good (although last year’s was better, an opinion shared by all my friends who attended both editions) and, between talks, presentations and rushing to finish my own project within the 24 hour deadline (more on that later, by the way), I didn’t have much time to interact with the outside world. 

The event ended last Saturday, but my forgetful mind made me lose my Macbook charger at the event, so that’s why I’ve been kept silent so far. Luckily, I was able to get it back today. 

With all that said, I leave you with a Flickr set of some photos I took at the event. Not many photos, I know, but since I’m such a pro photographer must of the ones I took ended up blurry :P.

A collection of videos and slideshow presentations from this year’s FOWA is online here. FOWA is a conference about, well, the future of web applications. Quite an interesting read, if you’re into this sort of thing.