Re: [tlug] W3C note on Cool URIs for Semantic Web

[Edward Middleton <emiddleton@example.com>]

David Shanahan wrote:
> >  Why do we use search engines like Google?
> >  Because the primitive WWW has no structures, all contents are just plaintext
> >  and we have to search for the information we need from the mess.
>
> I don't have problem with that ?
>
> >  One of its application I know is Exif. More strictly Exif + RDF.
> >  The idea is that Exif is too small to put information it.
> >  By separating the metadata( Exif) into an external data( RDF),
> >  computers can parse the files easier.
>
> Search engines (and not just google) already seem to be doing a good
> job of parsing all that messy text.
>
> I think we should be working harder to make computers understand our "mess"
> rather than working harder to fit our data into rigid structures.
>
> Of course we need some standards and URI's are a good example. They are
> cool because they are universal, they (should) point to the same thing
> for everyone.

That article was specifically about how URIs should be used to 
distinguish abstract resources from documents representing or relating 
to them.  If we look at the Windows is free article, the abstract 
resource is the article, a representation of that article might be an 
html or pdf document.  Both relate to the same resource but are distinct.

The semantic web is ultimately about representing information in ways 
that allow computers to use it to perform high level reasoning.  What 
todays search engines can do is low level data mining. i.e. this mess 
might be related to the words you entered.

The various standards that have been proposed to enable the semantic web 
are really no more rigid then valid html, uri's, the http, or tcp protocols.

They just face a chicken and egg problem.  You can't build all the 
fantastic applications to use the semantic web unless you have the data 
in that form, and there is no motivation to put it in that form unless 
there are cool applications to use it.

We are starting to see some cool application and hopefully as people 
start to see the potential the number will increase.  One interesting 
application is the use of FOAF[1] to avoid blog spam.  This is a problem 
that people have been trying to solve by making 'computers understand 
our "mess"', for a long time and there has been limited success.

Edward

1. http://www.foaf-project.org/
2. 
http://vannevarvision.wordpress.com/2007/11/02/want-to-comment-on-tim-berners-lees-blog-heres-how/