Beautifying Wiki URL(s)

Recently, I started helping my sister for developing geetshabda . The site (project) aims to build the largest repository of information on music in local languages in India and especially Marathi - to begin with.

Due to this, I decided to get my hands dirty into MediaWiki.  Below tips should help you in setting up clean URL(s) for your media-wiki installation on GoDaddy.

    * When testing these instructions, be sure to launch a new browser instance to prevent browser caching from hiding the latest configuration changes.

[edit] .htaccess
Create .htaccess in wiki installation directory (with GoDaddy File Manager or by FTP) with this content:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^wiki/(.*)$ /index.php?title=$1 [PT,L,QSA]
RewriteRule ^wiki/*$ /index.php [L,QSA]
RewriteRule ^/*$ /index.php [L,QSA]

[edit] LocalSettings.php

Add the following to the end of LocalSettings.php (in Subdomain directory):

# SHORT URLS:
$wgScriptPath = ""; # Path to the actual files
$wgArticlePath = "/wiki/$1"; # Virtual path

It may be necessary to set $wgUsePathInfo to true with this code:

$wgUsePathInfo = true;

Best Programming Quote Ever.

It should be noted that no ethically-trained software engineer would ever consent to write a DestroyBaghdad procedure. Basic professional ethics would instead require him to write a DestroyCity procedure, to which Baghdad could be given as a parameter.

-Nathaniel_Borenstein

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Every house has a computer ?

Sent from my iPhone

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My phone's wall paper

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Marissa Mayer Talk @ Le Web

Today, I am posting a link to a 30 minute interview of Marissa Mayer by Michael Arrington.

It deals with all the topic of real time web, streams, future search and things Google is dabbling on right now.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2759667

1. For finding interesting topics, I used to search on google. 

2. Now? I get all those interesting data from twitter.

Google's approach towards solving all the problem including those with newspapers, real time web et all. are well talked about in this video.

Take Aways? 

1. Authoritarian Search . - (twitter, Experts on topic.)

2. Newspaper evolution - More of the approach of Google towards solving that. - Do you see some opportunities here?

3. 'Getting' Wave. - I should try out - my friends' 100 threads discussions onto that. Should be fun.

4. Goggles.

On another note, UStream.tv release the live broadcasting app today. - which is TOTALLY cool.

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Location Based Apps

You are in the midst Manhattan - and looking for some samosa? - Whip out smart phone and it tells you the nearest location - recommended by your followers / friends.

I remember, thinking about such ideas - in 2005/06 for my Graduate Projects. It was the future that time.  Today, its a reality.

Location based applications are going to come of age in 2010. Yelp, Foursquare & Loopt have already proven it. Many more would come up.

Foursquare - has taken it to entirely different 'interesting' level as a game which also ties up to a business model of location based coupons at places where you are the Mayor. FS is something to look forward to in 2010. But, in spite of all the hoopla about FS (foursquare?) , I prefer Gowalla - just because it is not tied to any particular city - and that could be the key for its rise to the top. [ Gowalla - is available where I live and FS in not! ]

With Twitter FINALLY having decided to Geo Enable within the Twitter platform - the world is gonna be a much smaller place. Believe me. There have been clients like Twitterrific which do so, using their own ways. - But having it within the platform - is great thing.

Trending topics in your neighborhoods (no-water today!! - india specific) - could provide  all together different insights. (Micro?) Location based news - is what gets  achieved with this.

And presenting it as a game (like FS) and still being able to cash on that - awesome.

On another note - micro payments from mobile - should not be that far away in the future now. Its been thought of by many, have been discussed at various meets..  but a very good and formidable solution was not in sight. (not that I was aware of). But with squareup - its gonna be awesome. I truly feel so.

There is still a lot of space in this area to innovate - especially in India - with the number of mobile device holders. and the rate at which the Telecom industry has grown (is growing). SMSOne from Pune, India which was TC'ed and PTed (Pune Tech'ed!) - is certainly impressive - and are doing well in that space. Best Wishes to them!

I see one more area - where location based apps coupled with sensor data could be powerful.

What is the geo-app you would like to use?

 

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Augmented Reality

Its one of the coolest technologies (which matured in 2009.), which interfaces the real world and the streams of data online - and making sense of all of that.

For me, this came through the iPhone 3GS - being accompanied with a compass. ( I read about and watched the Sixth Sense Technology demo's later.)

So, with GPS and the Compass box - the device knew where on earth you are and in which direction you are looking - providing a very powerful dataset.

Because of this - if you hold the phone is a particular direction - it knows what you are looking at! - thus helping to make sense of all of this data in the real world.

Pointing the phone towards a 'restaurant' - shows me the ratings, user comments and all that information available online!

This is certainly a very powerful way of deciphering physical world data. For me, this was like the culmination of the online and the physical worlds.

The kinds of applications being released - based on AR - are indeed very powerful. Yelp, Layar (as a platform) are just the beginning IMO.

I see this whole Augmented Reality tech in a way again referring to the 'recommendation' and NOT SEARCH model.

'You pull out your phone and point to a device - The Information Reaches you at lightening speed !'

And this cannot get more AWESOME that the below video. Google Launched Goggles today. AR is definitely here to stay! About apps. that I would like to see within next year - i would post about them in the next one! Till then, enjoy Goggles B-)

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