Accomplishments as of June 30th

The first of my tasks was to get basic PHP script (the language I intend to use) running from my account on the UCD Netsoc server. I then set up a Facebook application on which to display the generic "Hello World!". I find the Facebook Developer website and the w3schools tutorials for PHP and MySql increasingly excellent resources as the data I wish to display becomes more complex. The information I work with comes from two databases. The function of the first is to map Facebook IDs to VidAs IDs and store the names of users. The second has two tables: one to house data related to video content and the other to keep track of download events. In order to enable testing of whatever queries I might make, I filled these databases with random data. Using the MySql Query Browser was very helpful. It allowed me to quickly check if my queries were returning the correct results and make alterations through the graphical user interface.

Having thought about the relationships between data items, I used a series of queries to extract certain data to push to Facebook. My application now has a title (VidasFB) and two tabs with dynamic highlighting. One of these lists the ten most recent downloads of connected friends (e.g., Molly Hogan and Sheila Ward downloaded The Shawshank Redemption (1994) on 2008-06-24 13:56:01), while the other details the ten most popular downloads (e.g., The Godfather (1972) downloaded twice, watched by Maureen Gavin, Rose Conway, Anne Fitzgerald, Kathleen Daly and Francis Semple).

The next step will be to develop an interface to the VidAs system so that video content can be accessed. This will be done via set-top box. By means of Bluetooth, users will request a movie to download and the set-top box will register who was present for the watching of the film. This information will then be available for the Facebook application, thus adding to social connectedness.

Project Overview

A peer to peer video distribution platform named VidAs is being developed by UCD's Performance Engineering Laboratory. Its purpose will be to distribute large content libraries on a considerable scale. My ODCSSS project involves integrating this system with Facebook. The required capabilities include:

• mapping between VidAs and Facebook user IDs;
• showing most recent downloads of video content among connected users;
• identifying popular content among friends;
• facilitating access to such content by developing an interface to the VidAs system.

This project will enable connected friends to remotely share video viewing preferences, thereby enhancing social connectedness.

Supervisors:
Dr. John Murphy
Dr. Seán Murphy
Dr. Hamid Nafaa