Master Foo on Web Mashups

It was late in the morning (around 5:30 a.m.) by the time Master Foo arrived at the training center.

"I am sorry I am late", he said as he sat down. "I had trouble finding Raw Sienna. It was hidden under my meditation box."

The students looked at each other askance from behind the screens of their laptops. "Raw Sienna? What is that and what has that got to do with developing 21st Century Web Applications using mashup technologies?." The students had paid good money to attend this training course and had lugged their laptops up Pentimenti Mountain the night before to be here. Not to mention the fact that they had risen from their freezing tent beds at 5 a.m. to suit Master Foo's schedule.

"Before we begin looking at the details of mashup application development, I would like to draw you a picture", said Master Foo.

From the countless folds in his robes he proceeded to extract a scroll of paper, a small vial of a clear liquid (presumably water), three artist brushes of varying sizes and 6 small tubes of paint.

"It will be a landscape. Please pay close attention to the mixing of colors."

Over the next twenty minutes, Master Foo created a landscape watercolor painting of the view from the top of Pentimenti mountain. It had a brilliant blue sky created with Cerulean Blue[1] for the lighter parts and Ultramarine[2] for the darker parts. Beneath the sky there were many - perhaps dozens of shades of green used for the trees, bushes and grass. As he worked, Master Foo picked up colors one at a time on his brush and mixed them deftly in small plastic containers.

"Master Foo", one of the students asked, "you have used two types of blue and you sourced them directly from individual tubes of paint. Yet, you have used many shades of green but they are all mixed from other colors. Why is that?"

"How many different greens can you count in my picture?", asked Master Foo.

"I cannot count them exactly, there are many."

"How many types of green did you see on your hike up Pentimenti Mountain?"

"I do not know. A countless number I guess."

"Indeed so.", Master Foo replied. "Now tell me, how many types of application do you envisage building on the Web using mashup technologies in your career?"

"A countless number!", blurted one of the students over the top of his iBook.

"Indeed so.", Master Foo replied, grinning as he again turned his attention to his painting.

"Color mixing is a limitless universe of potentiality. Out of these 6 tubes of paint I can make a limitless number of colors given enough time and creativity. By learning how to use each color both on its own, and in combination with the other colors, my color palette is unlimited."

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