| Making Connections with Sphere |
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| Wednesday, 25 July 2007 | |
There’s an adage about how the older we get, the more we know that we don’t know. When I was young, I was content getting news from one source. I seldom thought about a story’s origin, accuracy or other views. Now when I see an interesting online article, I’m apt to see what else has been written about the subject. That’s where an interesting free service called Sphere comes in. It has several ways of finding related content from different sources. (Includes online tutorial)
Sphere Widget and LayoutMost likely, you’ve seen links to Sphere content on major media sites such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and popular blogs. As example, here’s a screen snap from All Things Digital. To the right of the date, is a link for Sphere. If you place your mouse over the link, it indicates “Related Blogs and Articles”. This feature allows me to see who else has written articles related to this one.  Click to enlarge When I click this link, Sphere provides a pop over with more content. The box is divided into four sections, which nicely match the style of the publisher’s website.  Click to enlarge Section 1 provides related articles from the publisher’s site you’re viewing. Usually, there are three headlines with publication dates. Since there are no other articles on this site about Ooma, Sphere finds other relevant concepts such as alternative phones. The information is dynamic so if new articles were written Sphere would adjust the results. Section 2 shows articles related to this story, but are not on this site. Unlike the first section, you’ll see the article source and a link to view more items. Section 3 provides links to other websites. These are recommendations from this site’s authors and not Sphere. This section is great for discovering new websites. Section 4 has a link for bloggers to get the widget. If you use WordPress, there is a plug-in. Otherwise, you can add content using a FeedBurner flare. I should mention that these sections descriptions aren’t absolutes. The publishing partner has a say in the design. You can see in the New York Times example below, publishers don’t need to include stories from their own site. Also, there is an ad for the New York Times Travel section rather than the Sphere widget.  Click to enlarge Sphere Bookmarklet for BrowsersWhat’s appealing about Sphere is that you’re not dependant on a publisher to find related content. You can install a toolbar bookmarklet to Internet Explorer or Firefox to get similar results. When you see an article that interests you, simply click the toolbar button to see related items. This feature works best for pages that have one subject. In other words, the service wouldn’t work well on our home page since we show the lead paragraphs for seven stories. When you use the bookmarklet, Sphere won’t create a pop over, but shows a full page of related content. The example below shows content related to our article on CCleaner and system maintenance. You can also can change the timeframe or sort order.  Click to enlarge Getting Content from the Sphere SiteSphere also allows you to view breaking stories from their site. Rather than seeing related articles from a publisher, you’re viewing news by popular topics. The topics include US, World, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Technology and Business. The design allows you to click a topic from the left column and see five related headlines in the second column. When you click a headline, it displays with a text snippet and thumbnail in the third column and becomes the Currently viewed item. Your path is highlighted in orange text. You can click the story’s headline to read the full content. Although the headlines look truncated, you can mouse over them to see the full title. On occasion, you may see what looks to be the same story, but from a different publisher. Sometimes this happens if the article is syndicated. Other times, the stories are different, but share the beginning portions of a headline.  Click to enlarge The fourth column or Related Content column represents blogs or news sources that relate to your displayed story. By default, related Blog stories show, but you can click the News link for other sources. The news sources tend to be wire services such as BBC, Yahoo! News, Washington Post and so on. On the outset, you might think this is where the functionality ends, but it doesn’t. You can continue to click stories from the fourth column and drill down further. Each time you click a headline from Related Content column, it replaces the Currently viewed item and text snippet. The system also adjusts by displaying new related content. Sphere is one of those services you need to try to appreciate the value. If you’re someone that likes to see relationships or do research, you will value this service. Cost: Free
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 September 2007 ) |
