We just pushed out a new version (0.42) that finally has Firefox support. This still isn't as well tested under Firefox 3 as under Firefox 2, but it seems to work pretty well.

Let us know what you think...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp2ZptXDdOU

The Mash Maker web site now has a Mashup Showcase, listing mashups that we like:

http://mashmaker.intel.com/docweb/browsemash.php

If you click on one of these mashups from within Mash Maker it will take you directly to the example page that mashup was created for and apply that mashup.

The new 0.4 release of Mash Maker saves a screenshot with each mashup you create. If we like your mashup then this screenshot will be shown in the Mashup Showcase.

The Mash Maker extractor editor has now seen a major overhaul and is now much closer to being ready for widespread use. The old "structure" first model has now been replaced by a "pick first" model where you pick things you like from the page, and then build structure from what you have picked.

If you found the old extractor editor difficult to use then give it another go. The new version really is much much better.

We have now finally switched Mash Maker to the new layout engine. This is one that has been coming for some time, and I'm pleased that we now finally have it out. Gone are the days of widgets appearing in the wrong places and having to be the full width of the window. Mash Maker now has a proper layout engine that allows one to put widgets wherever one wants on the page and resize them arbitrarily.

This one feature makes a huge difference to the quality of the mashups that you can create in Mash Maker.

One of the first things you will probably notice when you install the new version is that the number of available widgets has significantly increased. This is because Mash Maker now has support for Google Gadgets. You can now add any Google Gadget to a web page, just as if it was a Mash Maker widget.

Obviously, there are a lot of things that Google Gadgets can't do that full-blown Mash Maker widgets can - add icons to the page, understand the data on the page, send data to other widgets, etc. However there are a lot of Google Gadgets that are very useful and so we think that this is a great feature.

There will be some docs going up soon giving more info on using Google Gadgets with Mash Maker.

http://mashmaker.intel.com/docweb/Widget_API.html

The API is very simple. If you can write a web page with javascript then you should be able to write a widget.

It is also very powerful. Widgets can see the data that Mash Maker has extracted from the page, add visualizations to the page, communicate with other widgets on the page, and communicate with remote servers.

Go write some widgets!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ov6Rd0WXLo

In particular:

• Widgets: You wanted to do more with your mashups than what was possible using just "copy/paste" and linked data. We now support a general class of "widgets" which can potentially do pretty much anything to a page. You'll be hearing a lot more about widgets in the future.
• Live Data: You wanted to be able to apply a mashup to only some of the data on a page, rather than all of it. Per-item mashups now only apply to an item if the appropriate action icon is clicked for that item.
• Decoupled Sharing: You wanted to be able to play around with a mashup before having to give it a name and publish it. These concepts are now decoupled. Clicking "paste" will just add data to a page. You don't have to name it until you like it.
• Settings: You wanted page enhancements that were more configurable than just "on or off". Every widget you add to the page can potentially have a settings panel that you can use to configure it in interesting ways.
• Widget Browsing: You wanted an easier mashup browsing interface than a cramped toolbar. Widgets can now be selected from a sidebar.
• Easier Widget Ratings: Most of you never even noticed that you could rate a widget by right clicking on it. This functionality is now presented in a much more obvious place - in the widget selector sidebar.

We'll be blogging more about all these features over the coming days.

This new version still has holes in it, and there is a lot of functionality still to be added, but we thought it was time we let you guys have a play with it to see what you thought. After all, that's what the technology preview release is for :-)

Enjoy...

Now one can preview an enhancement before publishing it (well duh!) and the enhancement is described as a simple plain-english paragraph, rather than a series of ugly dialog boxes.

The enhancement guessing logic is also improved, so hopefully the default settings will often be correct from the get go, removing the need for you to mess with this UI at all.

Let us know what you think :-)

If so, then send me a mail (robert.ennals@intel.com), as we have a slot for a intern this summer.

Perhaps the most prominent new features of this release are two features that we've been talking about for a while: Mashup bookmarks, and Microformat support.

Mashup bookmarks allow one to bookmark a mashup just as easily as one can bookmark a page. Just go to the bookmarks menu in FireFox and select "Bookmark this mashup...", rather than "Bookmark this page...". This will let you add a bookmark that records not only what the current page is, but also what mashups were applied to it.

In fact, a Mash Maker bookmark is just a normal FireFox bookmark, with a Mash Maker URL. The great thing about Mash Maker URLs is that you can link to them on web pages and mail them to your friends, just like a normal URL. If the other user has Mash Maker installed then following the URL will give them the mashup. If they don't then the URL will take them to a page that tells them how to get Mash Maker.

The other key new feature is support for Microformats. Microformats are a fast-growing new web standard for embedding semantic meaning into web pages. If a page has microformats then Mash Maker can understand their semantic meaning, even if the page does not have an extractor written for it.

This new version also contains a good load of bug fixes. If you have been trying to do something and getting frustrated by a bug, then try again. You may find the bug has now gone away.

Lots more still to be done though. We've got many more exciting things planned. Watch this space for more updates.

Come along to watch my talk, ask questions, or do whatever. It should be fun.

We will also be doing a live streaming video, for those who would rather watch from meatspace. I'll update this blog post with the URL once I know what it will be.

Here I am in costume backstage. I'm dressed as a "Zombie Vampire Gorilla" - which is of course a mashed up Halloween costume.

Making my entrance.

Discussing monster mashups and explaining my costume.

Costume shed, and being more serious.

The New New Internet was a really fun event. Lots of fun stuff going on and some really great speakers.

http://thenewnewinternet.com/

Should be fun, particularly as I'm planning to give the talk in a gorilla suit (wondering why? You'll have to come see the talk).