Web 3.0 is a step up from web 2.0, where users can get personal assistance based on their experiences. The more a user searches using a Google search engine, the less they will have to search in order to get to where they want. The Internet will come to understand the users preferences from their previous searches and make use of the Internet a lot quicker and easier. An example of how web 3.0 can come in handy was given on this article http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-30.htm. In this example, readers were told to suppose that they would like to watch a movie and eat at a Mexican restaurant afterwards. In order to perform these tasks, they would use the Internet to search for a time and place for a movie theater, and find a Mexican restaurant that is near a theater, along with additional searches such as looking up reviews for these theaters and restaurants. All of this research would take an overwhelming amount of time, however, with web 3.0, the next time that this person searches for a similar search, all they would have to type would be something along the line of "I want to watch this movie, then eat at a Mexican restaurant later on." The Internet will acknowledge what the user is desiring, thanks to previous searches that led up to getting the Internet to understanding this person's preferences or liking. The same article refers to Web 3.0 as having a "personal assistance", because the more that you use it, the more that it will start to understand who you are. With web 3.0 getting to know who you are, it is easier to search for things and faster to move around the Internet. Web 2.0 was about getting connected with people around the world and sharing information to help each other out, and web 3.0 is about getting connected with the Internet to get information from the web itself. Web 3.0 will make it pleasurable how people will have less research to do and get the information that they want much faster than they would get with the current web.

Flickr photos

I took many photos during my visits to Japan, and I selected a few photo that I actually liked. I took a picture of some fireworks during an event in Kitakyushu, where thousands of people came and celebrated. I thought it would be interesting to snap a picture of the inside of a Japanese bus to compare with the ones in America. A few years ago, I visited Honshu and I took a picture of a statue of two legendary samurais (Musashi and Kojiro) battling. I snapped a picture of a shinkansen prior to getting on, and it's insanely fast. I chose these photos for this assignment, because I thought they were neat photos which also related to my blog topic, which would be Japan.

World War II

Podcast about the end of World War II

RSS feeds

One website that uses RSS feeds is ABC News. They explain that the purpose of using this feed is to make it easier for visitors to find summaries and links that contain brand new information on the website that they can easily discover. It's often easy for people to forget about a website, but thanks to the RSS feed, people can be reminded each time there is something new coming from that website.

http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3520115

Kanmonkyo

Kanmonkyo is a bridge that connects between Kiyakushu and Honshu - two of the four main islands of Japan. It is ranked as the 48th largest suspension bridge in the world, and it is 1068 meters long. 

The bridge opened in 1973, and the bridge has been crossed by nearly 29,000 vehicles daily in 2005. That number doubled to over 61,000 vehicles in 2010, due to the Kanmon tunnel being under construction, which left many passengers to have to cross over the bridge to get to Honshu (the tunnel from my third post). 

The Kanmon Tunnel has been in operation for 50 years, and its construction began over 70 years ago, and it has issues with deterioration. For that reason, the tunnel often needs to undergo large scale maintenance. When the tunnel is under maintenance, tunnel commuters are re-routed to the Kanmon Bridge, without having to pay an extra charge. On the other hand, when the bridge cannot be used because of adverse weather conditions such as a Typhoon, bridge commuters are re-routed to the tunnel, also without any extra fees. 

Shinkansen (bullet train)

The Shinkansen, which means "new trunk line", is a bullet train in Japan that's been around since 1964, and it can go as fast as 200 mph. The Shinkansens are not only famous for being an incredibly fast train, but it's also known for its safety - no fatal accidents have ever occurred. This year marks its 50th year anniversary, and so far over 10 billion passengers have been transported. An interesting fact about Shinkansens is that they are computerized to sense an earthquake, which would cause the train to slow down. Shinkansens link to many major cities in Kyushu, including Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, and Kagoshima. There is also a line connecting Nagasaki currently under construction.

Mount Aso

The largest active volcano in Japan is located in Kyushu, and it's called Mount Aso. It is a large enough volcano to be considered one of the largest volcanoes in the world, being 5,223 ft above sea level.



There were four major volcanic eruptions that occurred between 90,000 to 300,000 years ago, and the fourth eruption, called Aso 4, was massive enough to spread ashes all across Kyushu. Aso 4 has formed four cones after its eruption, called Mount Taka, Naka, Eboshi, and Kishima. Mount Naka is the only cone still active today.