Issue #2324

• WEALTHY: Biting back with 3 inflation junkies (Andrew Gordon)
• HEALTHY: The cancer-fighting benefits of bacteria (Kelley Herring)
• WISE: Tim O’Reilly, Tim Berners-Lee, and Buckwheat on the future of the World Wide Web.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• Get a big jump on 99% of your competitors with Web 3.0 (Charlie Byrne)
• Is that website really down? (Jason Holland)
• It’s Fun to Know… about fish hibernation
• Add "protracted" to your vocabulary

== Advertisement ==

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Eye doctor Dr. Ray Gottlieb is a genius.

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This eye chart isn’t like any you’ve seen before.

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- Martin Sussman, founder and President of the Cambridge Institute for Better Vision

The Upside to Inflation

By Andrew Gordon

Can you make money from inflation? Sure you can. Just figure out where the inflation is coming from.

The culprits? Oil and commodities – including those "soft" agricultural ones, like corn, wheat, and coffee (all at all-time highs). Looking at the portfolios of my trade services, I can tell you the kind of companies that are advancing from these rising prices.

• Mining equipment. Miners have the money and incentive to dig for more stuff, as coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, and silver are all going up.
• Agriculture equipment and fertilizer. Same scenario, with farmers replacing miners and coal and metals replaced by corn, wheat, rice, and soy beans.
• Oilfield equipment. Same scenario, with oil companies replacing farmers and crude replacing agricultural products.

When the market recently dipped by half a percent, shares of my recommended mining equipment company went up 9.5 percent. My oil rig maker rose 7.1 percent. My fertilizer company rose "only" 5.5 percent.

Not every week is going to be this good. But the trend is unmistakable. Shares of these companies (and those like them) are going strong, and should continue to do so. Inflation is taking a bite out of your earning power, yes? Now you know how to bite back.

[Ed. Note: ETR's Investment Director, Andrew Gordon, is the editor of INCOME, a monthly financial advisory service that uncovers income-generating stocks that promise safety (first and foremost), along with much-higher-than-average profit potential.]

Click to comment on this article.

"Network effects driven by user participation lead to increasing returns in the size and value of the databases that are created as a result. As the Web 2.0 platform matures, we expect to see more companies capitalizing on these insights. Information may want to be free, but valuable information, it seems, is, as always, still being hoarded."

Tim O’Reilly, O’Reilly Media Inc.

"The current craze for social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace would eventually be superseded by networks that connected all types of things, not just people, thanks to a ground-breaking technology known as The Semantic Web."

Tim Berners-Lee

"I don’t know where we goin’ but we sure is on our way."

Buckwheat, "The Little Rascals"

ETR’s 7-Minute Guide to Web 3.0 – the Coming Information Revolution

By Charlie Byrne

There’s a revolution brewing on the Internet, and it doesn’t matter whether you are a retailer or a restaurant owner, a service provider or a professional, a hard-goods merchant or an information marketer, or anything and everything in between. If you work for or own a business, this WILL affect you.

I’m talking about Web 3.0 – The Semantic Web.

Now I know what you may be thinking…

"Wait a minute! I’m just getting up to speed on Web 2.0. You know, social networking, the read/write Web, the two-way Web, all that stuff… whatever you want to call it. I’m not ready for Web 3.0 yet!"

Well, yes. You definitely should be getting up to speed on Web 2.0. And we’ll be covering that important topic more right here in Early to Rise in the coming weeks and months. We’ll be explaining how to detect and avoid the myths… and how you can profit from the real opportunities.

But I believe what’s coming in Web 3.0 is going to be even more exciting… and potentially much more profitable for you or your company.

The best news is that you can start actively preparing for Web 3.0 right now. You can make some very quick, cheap, and easy Web 3.0-oriented changes to your online presence almost immediately. They could have a much faster and greater ROI (return on investment) than many Web 2.0 techniques. Plus, you’ll be getting a big jump on 99 percent of your competitors. In fact, you can start leaving them in the dust today.

Sound interesting? Okay, then let’s get going!

First, let me take you back in time for a moment. A quick "history lesson" will make it easy for you to understand the foundation of Web 3.0…

Back in 1983, I was a systems analyst at Reuters Ltd., the international news and financial information provider. Our primary business was assembling and selling electronic feeds of stock market information. This included raw market information (buy/sell prices, volume, etc.) sent to us from over 100 exchanges around the globe.

Now 1983 was six years before the debut of the World Wide Web, and so our subscribers (typically major brokerage houses and exchange trading floors) received our real-time feed over a private network (phone or satellite). The information was then displayed on custom-made CRT terminals that were basically dumbed-down TV screens. No graphics, no windows, just plain text. A typical ticker feed of information might look something like this:

IBM 43.50 +0.25 8,235… PMI 72.25 -1.75 1,525…

(You’ve probably seen a similar display in New York ’s Times Square or on CNBC’s "crawl.")

Our subscribers quickly trained themselves to understand that this meant, for example, that 8,235 shares of IBM had just been sold at $43.50, 25 cents higher than the previous trade. And that Philip Morris International had traded at $72.25, down $1.75, volume 1,525 shares.

Now stick with me here, because you’re about to find out the SINGLE most important key to understanding Web 3.0.

Though it was easy for our subscribers to look at that "raw text" and know what every item ("field") meant, everything changed with the introduction of the IBM PC in 1985. Suddenly, a new, powerful analytical tool was sitting on millions of desktops. And instead of traders processing that cryptic stream of characters themselves, they wanted their computers to do it. For graphing, importing to spreadsheets, advanced analysis, etc.

But getting a computer to "understand" the text was a whole different matter.

Computers can scan documents and try to "guess" at which info is significant – a process sometimes called "scraping." But we knew that our subscribers’ computer programs would work with much more precision if we actually TOLD the computer with absolute certainty what each field represented (symbol, price, volume, etc.) and then gave it the related value. In other words, we didn’t want the computers to have to scrape for the data they needed. So we developed a new information feed that included "tags" for each information item as it came across.

Here’s how it worked in a nutshell…

When a subscriber’s PC started up, we’d send it a table of relationships (tags), something like this:

Next, we coded the real-time stock market stream so that each value (price, volume, etc.) coming down the line was unambiguously tied to its field code.

So instead of the feed looking like this:

IBM 43.50 +0.25 8,235… PMI 72.25 -1.75 1,525…

It now looked like this, with tags (field code) and values coming in together in pairs:

This was huge! Instead of sending raw and somewhat random TEXT, we were now sending precisely defined DATA. (Hint: Another name for Web 3.0 is "The Data Web.")

We could now transmit much more useful related information, with higher resolution and complete certainty. For example, yesterday’s closing price… number of block (high-volume) trades today… dividends paid… and literally hundreds of other important numbers. We’d simply create new Field IDs for each datum and send them to the PC at start-up.

When the PC began receiving the data stream, it would recognize exactly when these fields appeared and what the corresponding data meant. Analysis programs or spreadsheets could then manipulate the data as our subscribers desired, and add tremendous value to what we were giving them.

Are you with me so far? Good, because now you’re going to see what this means for you and your business… even if you own a pizzeria!

You see, our team had created logic from chaos for that stock exchange feed. But when the World Wide Web came along, no one was there to do the same. No one "owned" or "managed" the Web’s content. And so, until now, it’s largely been just like that old stock market text stream before any individual items had been tagged.

Just one gigantic Tower of Babel.

Web 3.0 aims to change that. It aims to transform much of the key TEXT information on the Web – the stuff that people really want and need access to (but often can’t locate) – into a highly structured and interconnected Web of easily reachable DATA.

Initial structures are focusing on very specific information that is commonly of interest to Web users. Already defined are…

• A formal structure for specifying CONTACT information for people, places, and organizations…
• A formal structure for specifying date-based EVENTS…
• A formal structure for specifying CLASSIFIED ADS (think CraigsList)…
• A formal structure for specifying recommendations and REVIEWS (of anything – music, books, products, etc.)…
• A formal structure for specifying RELATIONSHIPS between people (think Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)…
• A formal structure for specifying SYNDICATION of content.

Many more will follow.

So that’s some of the background and a bit of the theory.

Now, let’s take a quick look at a very simple website example – and how, with a few easy steps, we could prepare it for Web 3.0.

Let’s say you own a local pizzeria, and you’ve got your little website out on the Internet. The home page looks something like this:

Gregory’s House of Pizza

Open Daily Noon to 10PM

2006 Power Drive, Venice

802 555 1212

Come to Fifth Anniversary Party for Free Slice of Pizza – April 28th.

Customer Reviews:

"Great Pie, Just like I had in New York " – J.K.

"Best Pizza in California " – M.D.

Your site has a decent amount of useful information – all easily understood by most people. But your human customers have to find your page first. And they’d most likely look for it via one of the major search engines.

So Google and Yahoo have to "scrape" your Web page and make some guesses…

• They GUESS that Gregory’s House of Pizza is a restaurant, not the TV show "House" whose lead character is named Gregory House…
• They GUESS 2006 Power Drive is an address, not an automobile feature…
• They GUESS the location is Venice, CA, not Venice, Italy…
• They GUESS this series of digits (802 555 1212) is the phone number.

And then, when your site appears in the search results, the Web user still has some work to do.

Let’s say he’s new in town, and wants to load information for the top local pizzerias into his PDA or computer.

To save the information about your business in his Contacts List, he’s got to cut and paste your information manually or enter it by hand.

If he wants to go to your special anniversary party, he’s got to manually enter it into his Calendar.

If he wants to see a map and get directions, he’s got to hope Google or Yahoo guessed your location correctly.

Lots of room all around for errors, inconvenience, and just plain "the hell with it"… right?

But suppose there was a better way to get your company’s information to Google, Yahoo, and the Web user himself? And that it was easy to do and 100 percent correct?

Suppose your customers could have easy access to your information through specific, unambiguous tags for…

• Your Contact Information – so that, with the click of a mouse, a visitor to your Web page could instantly import it into his PDA/Computer Contacts List, with all fields uniquely specified…
• Your Events – so that, with the click of a mouse, a visitor to your Web page could import the date/time into his personal Calendar…
• Reviews submitted by your customers – so that Web spiders could help build recommendation and review sites and include your information in a common format (number of stars, date reviewed, comments). Keep in mind that consumer recommendations are one of the foundations of Web 2.0.

Well the good news is that your site can to some extent leapfrog Web 2.0 - and have these Web 3.0 features… as soon as today!

It’s really quite simple, thanks to new "hidden" structures called Microformats that you or your Web programmer can add to your existing Web pages.

Most visitors won’t even know they are there – yet. But once they are in place, a lot of interesting things start happening.

For example, Yahoo recently announced search engine and results listings support for Microformats. Here’s an example from Yahoo of a pre-Microformat restaurant search result listing:

And here’s an example of one where the restaurant website added Microformats:

See how much more useful this can be to someone searching for your business on the Web?

Google, of course, is coming on board as well.

This means your humble little website could start receiving a more prominent search results position as soon as you add Microformats to it.

In the near future, your Web browser will be able to detect websites that have Microformatted data. And with a mouse click, you’ll be able to save that phone number, that address, that event date right into your Contact or Time Management program.

(Microformat detection and data export is actually available now as an add-on to Firefox, and will be built in to the upcoming Internet Explorer 8 release.)

And Microformats are just the first step. Related technologies such as RDFa (resource description framework) are not far behind.

This is a glimpse into the future of the Web. It’s almost like there’s a new, improved "phonebook" being built to index every business in the world – and you have a chance to get listed early! Because you can jump into this exciting future trend right now with a fairly small amount of work.

Yes, there are still plenty of questions and lots more to explain about Web 3.0. As you can imagine, I simplified and summarized a great deal today.

So in upcoming articles, I’ll step back and explain how and when we can look for Web 3.0 to hit the "mainstream." After all, none of this matters unless there are compelling reasons for consumers to adopt it. Is high resolution Search and Search Results really going to be the "killer app" that lights the Web 3.0 fuse? Or something else?

We’ll talk about both bottom-up and top-down approaches for building Web 3.0-enabled content (including some nifty new stuff from my old friends at Reuters).

We’ll drill down a bit into specifics, and I’ll show you a live example of an Early to Rise page with working Microformats on it, and give you every detail you need to create one yourself in just a few minutes’ time. ( For a preview, see my blog post here.)

And you’re sure to be hearing from our SEO experts, Alexis Siemon and Rick Maggio, on how you can leverage this technology to the maximum extent possible going forward.

The Data Web – Web 3.0 – is coming.

Keep reading ETR, and we’ll show you why, and how, to get there.

[Ed. Note: Charlie Byrne is Associate Publisher of Early to Rise. If you have any questions or comments on this article, or what Web 3.0 topics you'd like to see covered in the future, please leave a comment on his Blog.

And for step-by-step instructions on starting your own Internet business, get ETR's Magic Button program. Click here to learn more.]

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== Highly Recommended ==

Your gut started telling you something wasn’t right, didn’t it?

You did your part. You tried out some of the Internet programs, maybe even put up a website or two, but it didn’t happen as expected did it?

And yet, you KNOW a few are getting rich off the Internet by pushing a button. You see them in coffee shops with their backs to the wall, smiling at their laptops. I should know, I’m one of them…

I was about to take the rest of the week off as usual, but something compelled me to grab another coffee and write you this letter. They say writing all your frustrations down eases them. Maybe so, but I just want to be able to sleep soundly tonight… Click to continue.

Troubleshooting Tip: Is That Website Really Down?

By Jason Holland

You’re trying to check your e-mail account or your favorite online news site… but the homepage just won’t load. Is it your computer? Maybe you have a virus. Maybe you have accidentally enabled a setting that’s blocking the site. Or is the website itself down? It can be a frustrating as you try to load the page again and again, with no luck and no idea what’s going on.

Next time this happens, just enter the "broken" Web address at downforeveryoneorjustme.com. It will tell you if the website is accessible to other users. If it is, then you know to start looking at your own computer for the solution.

(Source: Download Squad and Lifehacker)

Click to comment on this article.

Protection With Probiotics

By Kelley Herring

You probably know that probiotics – the bacteria found in yogurt, buttermilk, and other cultured dairy products – can improve gastrointestinal health. Now new research shows another way these good-for-you germs guard against disease.

Researchers at the Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health found that probiotics deactivate carcinogens that can damage DNA. And in doing so, they may help protect against one of the most prevalent cancers – colon cancer.

To get the cancer-fighting benefits of probiotics, kefir is your best culinary bet. (It has the highest concentration of probiotics.) Just watch out for the flavored varieties, which can be loaded with sugar and extra calories. Ideally, opt for a high-quality probiotic supplement (with "live and active" on the label) to get the maximum beneficial bacteria per serving, calorie- and sugar-free.

[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the founder and CEO of Healing Gourmet (www.healinggourmet.com), and is editor-in-chief of the Healing Gourmet book series. Learn more about how simple lifestyle choices can improve your health by reading ETR's free natural health e-letter.]

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It’s Fun to Know: Fish Hibernation

It turns out bears, squirrels, and other woodland creatures aren’t the only animals to sleep through the winter. Marine biologists have discovered that Antarctic cod hibernate too. The cod reduce eating to about once a week, slow their heart rates, and settle down on the ocean floor during the coldest part of the year. Researchers believe this allows the fish to survive the region’s dark winters, when it’s hard for them to find food.

(Source: National Geographic )

== Highly Recommended ==

The Greatest Medical Discovery of the Century

Scientists have discovered a remarkable substance that has the power to prevent diabetes, stop heart disease before it starts, and kill cancer cells on contact. In fact, this substance has been shown to prevent and treat more than 20 major diseases in all!

However, more than 85% of the population is deficient in this disease-killer at least part of the year. And believe it or not, medical professionals and health authorities actually advise people to avoid the single greatest source of this vital substance.

Click here to learn why you probably haven’t heard about this revolutionary discovery.

Word to the Wise: Protracted

"Protracted" (proh-TRAK-tid) – from the Latin for "to drag forth" – means drawn out or prolonged.

Example (as used by Terrence Rafferty in The New York Times): "[Bette Davis's] breakthrough role… came in John Cromwell’s 1934 adaptation of the W. Somerset Maugham novel Of Human Bondage, in which she plays the coldhearted Cockney temptress Mildred Rogers, a vile specimen who cruelly – and protractedly – abuses the affections of a sensitive, artistic, clubfooted young medical student."

Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 5:30 am and is filed under Daily Issues .