http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/
Kingsley Idehen's Blog Data Space
I have seen the future and it's full of Linked Data! :-)
kidehen@openlinksw.com
kidehen@openlinksw.com
2024-03-28T11:18:36Z
Virtuoso Universal Server 08.03.3327
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Virtuoso Linked Data Deployment In 3 Simple Steps
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2010-10-29#1642
2010-10-29T22:54:32Z
2010-11-02T11:55:31.000005-04:00
<p>Injecting <a class="auto-href" href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id0x17012e18">Linked Data</a> into the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web">Web</a> has been a major pain point for those who seek personal, service, or organization-specific variants of <a class="auto-href" href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/DBpedia" id="link-id0x196518a8">DBpedia</a>. Basically, the sequence goes something like this: </p> <ol> <li> You encounter DBpedia or the <a class="auto-href" href="http://community.linkeddata.org/dataspace/organization/lod#this" id="link-id0x1b26d008">LOD</a> Cloud Pictorial.</li> <li> You look around (typically following your nose from link to link). </li> <li> You attempt to publish your own stuff. </li> <li> You get stuck. </li> </ol> <p>The problems typically take the following form:</p> <ol> <li> Functionality confusion about the complementary Name and Address functionality of a single <a class="auto-href" href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Identifier" id="link-id0xa108a00">URI</a> abstraction </li> <li> Terminology confusion due to conflation and over-loading of terms such as Resource, <a class="auto-href" href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Locator" id="link-id0x1b3d08f8">URL</a>, Representation, Document, etc. </li> <li> Inability to find robust tools with which to generate Linked Data from existing <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data">data</a> sources such as relational databases, CSV files, XML, Web Services, etc. </li> </ol> <p>To start addressing these problems, here is a simple guide for generating and publishing Linked Data using <a class="auto-href" href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com" id="link-id0x1a7841e0">Virtuoso</a>.</p> <h3>Step 1 - RDF Data Generation</h3> <p>Existing RDF data can be added to the Virtuoso RDF Quad Store via a variety of built-in data loader utilities.</p> <p>Many options allow you to easily and quickly generate RDF data from other data sources:</p> <ul> <li> Install the Sponger Bookmarklet for the <a href="http://uriburner.com" id="link-id0x1aa50800">URIBurner service</a>. Bind this to your own <a class="auto-href" href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SPARQL" id="link-id0x1a4255e0">SPARQL</a>-compliant backend RDF database (in this scenario, your local Virtuoso instance), and then Sponge some HTTP-accessible resources. </li> <li> Convert relational DBMS data to RDF using the Virtuoso RDF Views Wizard. </li> <li> Starting with CSV files, you can <ul> <li>Place them at an HTTP-accessible location, and use the Virtuoso <a class="auto-href" href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/Whitepapers/html/VirtSpongerWhitePaper.html" id="link-id0x16f7ba58">Sponger</a> to convert them to RDF or; </li> <li> Use the CVS import feature to import their content into Virtuoso's relational data engine; then use the built-in RDF Views Wizard as with other <a class="auto-href" href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Relational_database_management_system" id="link-id0x1982ea80">RDBMS</a> data. </li> </ul> </li> <li> Starting from XML files, you can <ul> <li> Use Virtuoso's inbuilt XSLT-Processor for manual XML to RDF/XML transformation or;</li> <li>Leverage the Sponger Cartridge for <a class="auto-href" href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/GRDDL" id="link-id0x1b350968">GRDDL</a>, if there is a transformation service associated with your XML data source, or;</li> <li>Let the Sponger analyze the XML data source and make a best-effort transformation to RDF.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h3>Step 2 - Linked Data Deployment</h3> <p> Install the <a href="http://download.openlinksw.com/packages/6.2/virtuoso/fct_dav.vad" id="link-id0x19845ad0">Faceted Browser VAD package (<code>fct_dav.vad</code>)</a> which delivers the following:</p> <ol> <li> Faceted Browser Engine UI</li> <li> Dynamic Hypermedia Resource Generator <ul> <li>delivers descriptor resources for every <a class="auto-href" href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Entity" id="link-id0x1b3a69f0">entity</a> (data object) in the Native or Virtual Quad Stores</li> <li>supports a broad array of output formats, including HTML+<a class="auto-href" href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/RDFa" id="link-id0x1a92d2f8">RDFa</a>, RDF/XML, N3/Turtle, NTriples, RDF-JSON, OData+Atom, and OData+JSON. </li> </ul> </li> </ol> <h3>Step 3 - Linked Data Consumption & Exploitation</h3> <p> Three simple steps allow you, your enterprise, and your customers to consume and exploit your newly deployed Linked Data -- </p> <ol> <li> Load a page like this in your browser: <code>http://<cname>[:<port>]/describe/?uri=<entity-uri></code> <ul> <li> <code><cname>[:<port>]</code> gets replaced by the host and port of your Virtuoso instance</li> <li> <code><entity-uri></code> gets replaced by the URI you want to see described -- for instance, the URI of one of the resources you let the Sponger handle. </li> </ul> </li> <li> Follow the links presented in the descriptor page. </li> <li>If you ever see a blank page with a hyperlink subject name in the About: section at the top of the page, simply add the parameter "&sp=1" to the URL in the browser's Address box, and hit [ENTER]. This will result in an "on the fly" resource retrieval, transformation, and descriptor page generation.</li> <li> Use the navigator controls to page up and down the data associated with the "in scope" resource descriptor. </li> </ol> <h3>Related</h3> <ul> <li> <a href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/describe/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flinkeddata.uriburner.com%2Fabout%2Fid%2Fentity%2Fhttp%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fo%2FASIN%2F006251587X" id="link-id0x1a8aeaf8">Sample Descriptor Page</a> (what you see post completion of the steps in this post) </li> <li> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com/weblog/kidehen@openlinksw.com%27s%20BLOG%20%5B127%5D/1639" id="link-id0x1af66f38">What is Linked Data, really?</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com/weblog/kidehen@openlinksw.com%27s%20BLOG%20%5B127%5D/1613" id="link-id0x1acdbc58">Painless Linked Data Generation via URIBurner</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/dav/wiki/Main/VirtRDFInsert" id="link-id0x1abe3b18">How To Load RDF Data Into Virtuoso</a> (various methods)</li> <li> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/dav/wiki/Main/VirtBulkRDFLoader" id="link-id0x1a441ff0">Virtuoso Bulk Loader Script for RDF</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/dav/wiki/Main/VirtCsvFileBulkLoader" id="link-id0x190382e8">Bulk Loader Script for CSV</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/dataspace/dav/wiki/Main/VirtRdb2RDFViewsGeneration#OneClickLinkedDataGenerationAndDemployment" id="link-id0x1ac9c9c0">Wizard based generation of RDF based Linked Data from ODBC accessible Relational Databases </a> </li> </ul>
URIBurner: Painless Generation & Exploitation of Linked Data (Update 1 - Demo Links Added)
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2010-03-10#1613
2010-03-10T17:52:03Z
2010-03-11T10:16:34.000003-05:00
<h2>What is URIBurner? </h2> <p>A service from <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/organization/openlink#this" id="link-id11a8a2768">OpenLink Software</a>, available at: <a href="http://uriburner.com" id="link-id11ace9988">http://uriburner.com</a>, that enables anyone to generate structured descriptions -on the fly- for resources that are already published to HTTP based networks. These descriptions exist as hypermedia resource representations where links are used to identify: </p> <ul> <li> the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Entity" id="link-id11ae10768">entity</a> (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data">data</a> object or datum) being described,</li> <li>each of its attributes, and</li> <li>each of its attributes values (optionally).</li> </ul> <p>The hypermedia resource representation outlined above is what is commonly known as an <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Entity-attribute-value_model" id="link-id121aec368">Entity</a>-Attribute-Value (EAV) Graph. The use of generic HTTP scheme based Identifiers is what distinguishes this type of hypermedia resource from others.</p> <h2>Why is it Important?</h2> <p> The virtues (dual pronged serendipitous discovery) of publishing HTTP based <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id11f5f53e8">Linked Data</a> across public (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web" id="link-id11b14e1f8">World Wide Web</a>) or private (Intranets and/or Extranets) is rapidly becoming clearer to everyone. That said, the nuance laced nature of Linked Data publishing presents significant challenges to most. Thus, for Linked Data to really blossom the process of publishing needs to be simplified i.e., "just click and go" (for human interaction) or REST-ful orchestration of HTTP CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations between Client Applications and Linked Data Servers.</p> <h2>How Do I Use It?</h2> <p> In similar vane to the role played by FeedBurner with regards to Atom and RSS feed generation, during the early stages of the Blogosphere, it enables anyone to publish Linked Data bearing hypermedia resources on an HTTP network. Thus, its usage covers two profiles: Content Publisher and Content Consumer. </p> <h3> </h3> <h3>Content Publisher </h3> <h3> </h3> <p>The steps that follow cover all you need to do:</p> <ul> <li>place a <link /> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Tag" id="link-id11a62f908">tag</a> within your HTTP based hypermedia resource (e.g. within section for HTML )</li> <li>use a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Locator" id="link-id11e7e5228">URL</a> via the @href attribute value to identify the location of the structured description of your resource, in this case it takes the form: http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/{scheme-or-protocol}/{your-hostname-or-authority}/{your-local-resource}</li> <li>for human visibility you may consider adding associating a button (as you do with Atom and RSS) with the URL above.</li> </ul> <p> That's it! The discoverability (SDQ) of your content has just multiplied significantly, its structured description is now part of the Linked Data Cloud with a reference back to your site (which is now a bona fide HTTP based Linked Data <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Spaces" id="link-id120a6e5c8">Space</a>).</p> <h4>Examples</h4> <p> <strong>HTML+<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/RDFa" id="link-id11ae8fdc8">RDFa</a> based representation of a structured resource description:</strong> </p> <blockquote> <link rel="describedby" title="Resource Description (HTML)"type="text/html" href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/http/example.org/xyz.html"/></blockquote> <p> <strong>JSON based representation of a structured resource description:</strong> </p> <blockquote><link rel="describedby" title="Resource Description (JSON)" type="application/json" href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/http/example.org/xyz.html"/></blockquote> <p> <strong>N3 based representation of a structured resource description:</strong> </p> <blockquote><link rel="describedby" title="Resource Description (N3)" type="text/n3" href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/http/example.org/xyz.html"/></blockquote> <p> <strong>RDF/XML based representations of a structured resource description</strong>: </p> <blockquote><link rel="describedby" title="Resource Description (RDF/XML)" type="application/rdf+xml" href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/http/example.org/xyz.html"/></blockquote> <h3>Content Consumer</h3> <p>As an end-user, obtaining a structured description of any resource published to an HTTP network boils down to the following steps:</p> <ol> <li>go to: http://uriburner.com</li> <li>drag the Page Metadata Bookmarklet link to your Browser's toolbar</li> <li>whenever you encounter a resource of interest (e.g. an HTML page) simply click on the Bookmarklet</li> <li>you will be presented with an HTML representation of a structured resource description (i.e., identifier of the entity being described, its attributes, and its attribute values will be clearly presented).</li> </ol> <h3>Examples</h3> <ul> <li> <a href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/entity/http/www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1591842778" id="link-id11ba54a48">Description of a Book culled from an Amazon web page</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/entity/http/www.bestbuy.com/site/Flip+Video+-+UltraHD+Camcorder+-+Black/Chrome/9281984.p?id=1218073822126&skuId=9281984" id="link-id11f621848">Description of a product offering culled from a BestBuy web page</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/entity/http/reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-eos-5d-mark/4505-6501_7-33280763.html?tag=tpr" id="link-id115f27e08">Description of a product (a camera) culled from a CNET web page</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/entity/http/cgi.ebay.com/23PORT-Canon-SLR-EOS-5D-Mark-II-Body-Only-New_W0QQitemZ140367785136QQcategoryZ31388QQcmdZViewItem#Offer" id="link-id120b4b258">Description of the same CNET product as an Offer on eBay</a> (exposed by the description above via seeAlso property value).</li> </ul> <p>If you are a developer, you can simply perform an HTTP operation request (from your development environment of choice) using any of the URL patterns presented below:</p> <a id="HTML:"> </a><strong>HTML: </strong> <ul> <li> <tt>curl -I -H "Accept: text/html" http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/{scheme}/{authority}/{local-path} </tt> </li> </ul> <h4> <a id="JSON:"> </a>JSON:</h4> <ul> <li> <tt>curl -I -H "Accept: application/json" http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/{scheme}/{authority}/{local-path} </tt> </li> <li> <tt>curl http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/data/json/{scheme}/{authority}/{local-path}</tt> </li> </ul> <h4> <a id="Notation_3_N3:"> </a>Notation 3 (N3):</h4> <ul> <li> <tt>curl -I -H "Accept: text/n3" http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/{scheme}/{authority}/{local-path} </tt> </li> <li> <tt>curl http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/data/n3/{scheme}/{authority}/{local-path}</tt> </li> </ul> <ul> <li> <tt>curl -I -H "Accept: text/turtle" http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/{scheme}/{authority}/{local-path}</tt> </li> <li> <tt>curl http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/data/ttl/{scheme}/{authority}/{local-path} </tt> </li> </ul> <h4> <a id="RDFXML:"> </a>RDF/XML:</h4> <ul> <li> <tt>curl -I -H "Accept: application/rdf+xml" http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/id/{scheme}/{authority}/{local-path} </tt> </li> <li> <tt>curl http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/data/xml/{scheme}/{authority}/{local-path} </tt> </li> </ul> <h2>Conclusion</h2> <p>URIBurner is a "deceptively simple" solution for cost-effective exploitation of HTTP based Linked Data meshes. It doesn't require any programming or customization en route to immediately realizing its virtues. </p> <p> If you like what URIBurner offers, but prefer to leverage its capabilities within your domain -- such that resource description URLs reside in your domain, all you have to do is perform the following steps:</p> <ol> <li> <a href="http://download.openlinksw.com/virtwiz/" id="link-id1158f8658">download a copy of Virtuoso</a> (for local desktop, workgroup, or data center installation) or</li> <li>instantiate <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/dav/wiki/Main/VirtInstallationEC2" id="link-id11e03e558">Virtuoso via the Amazon EC2 Cloud</a> </li> <li>enable the Sponger Middleware component via the RDF Mapper VAD package (which includes <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/dav/wiki/Main/VirtSpongerCartridgeSupportedDataSources" id="link-id1205ffe78">cartridges for over 30 different resources types</a>)</li> </ol> <p>When you install your own URIBurner instances, you also have the ability to perform customizations that increase resource description fidelity in line with your specific needs. All you need to do is develop a custom extractor cartridge and/or meta cartridge. </p> <h2>Related:</h2> <ul> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/dataspace/dav/wiki/Main/VirtSponger" id="link-id120582118"> Virtuoso Sponger Middleware</a> -- (technology behind <a href="http://uriburner.com" id="link-id11b634448">URIBurner Service</a>)</li> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/screencasts/virtuoso-rdf-middleware3.swf" id="link-id12082e958">Animation demonstrating how the Virtuoso Sponger works</a>.</li> </ul>
Revisiting HTTP based Linked Data (Update 1 - Demo Video Links Added)
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2010-03-04#1611
2010-03-04T15:16:14Z
2010-03-08T09:59:37.000010-05:00
<p>Motivation for this post arose from a series of Twitter exchanges between <a href="http://ouseful.wordpress.com/about/#this" id="link-id115699ae8">Tony Hirst</a> and I, in relation to his <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Blog" id="link-id11a0cbc08">blog</a> post titled: <a href="http://ouseful.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/so-what-is-it-about-linked-data-that-makes-it-linked-data%e2%84%a2/" id="link-id1158f8ce8">So What Is It About Linked Data that Makes it Linked Data⢠?</a> </p> <p>At the end of the marathon session, it was clear to <a href="http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/person/kidehen#this" id="link-id11557da58">me</a> that a blog post was required for future reference, at the very least :-)</p> <h3>What is <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id11a7ee3a8">Linked Data</a>?</h3> <p>"<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Reference_(computer_science)" id="link-id11a682338">Data Access by Reference</a>" mechanism for Data Objects (or Entities) on HTTP networks. It enables you to Identify a Data Object and Access its structured Data Representation via a single Generic HTTP scheme based Identifier (HTTP <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Identifier" id="link-id125037288">URI</a>). Data Object representation formats may vary; but in all cases, they are <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Hypermedia" id="link-id115548f78">hypermedia</a> oriented, fully structured, and negotiable within the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Context_%28language_use%29" id="link-id11c955888">context</a> of a client-server message exchange.</p> <h3>Why is it Important?</h3> <p> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information" id="link-id125154778">Information</a> makes the world tick!</p> <p>Information doesn't exist without data to contextualize.</p> <p>Information is inaccessible without a projection (presentation) medium. </p> <p>All information (without exception, when produced by humans) is subjective. Thus, to truly maximize the innate heterogeneity of collective human intelligence, loose coupling of our information and associated data sources is imperative.</p> <h3>How is Linked Data Delivered?</h3> <p>Linked Data is exposed to HTTP networks (e.g. <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web" id="link-id125321238">World Wide Web</a>) via hypermedia resources bearing structured representations of data object descriptions. Remember, you have a single Identifier abstraction (generic HTTP URI) that embodies: Data Object Name and Data Representation Location (aka <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Locator" id="link-id1249a7a88">URL</a>).</p> <h3>How are Linked Data Object Representations Structured?</h3> <p>A structured representation of data exists when an <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Entity" id="link-id1250630d8">Entity</a> (Datum), its Attributes, and its Attribute Values are clearly discernible. In the case of a Linked Data Object, structured descriptions take the form of a hypermedia based <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Entity-attribute-value_model" id="link-id126ed7608">Entity</a>-Attribute-Value (EAV) graph pictorial -- where each Entity, its Attributes, and its Attribute Values (optionally) are identified using Generic HTTP URIs. </p> <p>Examples of structured data representation formats (content types) associated with Linked Data Objects include:</p> <ul> <li>text/html</li> <li>text/turtle</li> <li>text/n3</li> <li>application/json</li> <li>application/rdf+xml</li> <li>Others </li> </ul> <h3>How Do I Create Linked Data oriented Hypermedia Resources?</h3> <p>You markup resources by expressing distinct entity-attribute-value statements (basically these a 3-tuple records) using a variety of notations:</p> <ul> <li>(X)HTML+<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/RDFa" id="link-id1252975b8">RDFa</a>,</li> <li> <a href="http://n2.talis.com/wiki/RDF_JSON_Specification" id="link-id115015458">JSON</a>,</li> <li> <a href="http://www.dajobe.org/2004/01/turtle/" id="link-id116458478">Turtle</a>,</li> <li> <a href="http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Notation3" id="link-id11a62f9f8">N3</a>,</li> <li> <a href="http://swdev.nokia.com/trix/trix.html" id="link-id11a8f56b8">TriX</a>,</li> <li> <a href="http://www4.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/bizer/TriG/" id="link-id117156978">TriG</a>,</li> <li> <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-rdf-syntax/" id="link-id126f52a58">RDF/XML</a>, and</li> <li>Others (for instance you can use Atom data format extensions to model EAV graph as per OData initiative from Microsoft).</li> </ul> <p>You can achieve this task using any of the following approaches:</p> <ul> <li>Notepad</li> <li>WYSIWYG Editor </li> <li>Transformation of Database Records via Middleware</li> <li>Transformation of XML based <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web">Web</a> Services output via Middleware</li> <li>Transformation of other Hypermedia Resources via Middleware</li> <li>Transformation of non Hypermedia Resources via Middleware</li> <li>Use a platform that delivers all of the above.</li> </ul> <h3>Practical Examples of Linked Data Objects Enable</h3> <ul> <li>Describe Who You Are, What You Offer, and What You Need via your structured profile, then leave your HTTP network to perform the REST (serendipitous discovery of relevant things)</li> <li>Identify (via map overlay) all items of interest based on a 2km+ radious of my current location (this could include vendor offerings or services sought by existing or future customers)</li> <li>Share the latest and greatest family photos with family members *only* without forcing them to signup for Yet Another Web 2.0 service or Social Network</li> <li>No repetitive signup and username and password based login sequences per Web 2.0 or Mobile Application combo</li> <li>Going beyond imprecise Keyword Search to the new frontier of Precision Find - Example, Find Data Objects associated with the keywords: Tiger, while enabling the seeker disambiguate across the "Who", "What", "Where", "When" dimensions (with negation capability)</li> <li>Determine how two Data Objects are Connected - person to person, person to subject matter etc. (LinkedIn outside the walled garden)</li> <li>Use any resource address (e.g <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Blog" id="link-id124fd8118">blog</a> or bookmark URL) as the conduit into a Data Object mesh that exposes all associated Entities and their social network relationships</li> <li>Apply patterns (social dimensions) above to traditional enterprise data sources in combination (optionally) with external data without compromising security etc.</li> </ul> <h3>How Do <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/organization/openlink#this" id="link-id124fd0d98">OpenLink Software</a> Products Enable Linked Data Exploitation?</h3> <p>Our data access middleware heritage (which spans 16+ years) has enabled us to assemble a rich portfolio of coherently integrated products that enable cost-effective evaluation and utilization of Linked Data, without writing a single line of code, or exposing you to the hidden, but extensive admin and configuration costs. Post installation, the benefits of Linked Data simply materialize (along the lines described above).</p> <p>Our main Linked Data oriented products include:</p> <ul> <li> <a href="http://ode.openlinksw.com" id="link-id125058d68">OpenLink Data Explorer</a> -- visualizes Linked Data or Linked Data transformed "on the fly" from hypermedia and non hypermedia data sources </li> <li> <a href="http://uriburner.com" id="link-id1251db6a8">URIBurner</a> -- a "deceptively simple" solution that enables the generation of Linked Data "on the fly" from a broad collection of data sources and resource types</li> <li> <a href="http://ods.openlinksw.com/wiki/ODS/" id="link-id1252caae8">OpenLink Data Spaces</a> -- a platform for enterprises and individuals that enhances distributed collaboration via Linked Data driven virtualization of data across its native and/or 3rd party content manager for: Blogs, Wikis, Shared Bookmarks, Discussion Forums, Social Networks etc</li> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/overview/index.htm" id="link-id124809b58">OpenLink Virtuoso</a> -- a secure and high-performance native hybrid data server (Relational, RDF-Graph, Document models) that includes in-built Linked Data transformation middleware (aka. Sponger). </li> </ul> <h3>Related</h3> <ul> <li> <a href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616.txt" id="link-id125306d78">Hypertext Transfer Protocol 1.1 RFC</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.odata.org/docs/%5BMC-APDSU%5D.htm#_Toc246716495" id="link-id11c948e98">Open Data Protocol Glossary</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com/weblog/kidehen@openlinksw.com%27s%20BLOG%20%5B127%5D/1543" id="link-id126fae278">Simple Explanation of RDF and Linked Data Dynamics</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=linked%20data%0D%0A&type=text&output=html" id="link-id1252e0018">Collection of post from the past about Linked Data</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com/weblog/kidehen@openlinksw.com%27s%20BLOG%20%5B127%5D/1584" id="link-id124fefea8">Are We There Yet Re. Web++?</a> -- includes link to <a href="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail4233.html" id="link-id125188078">podcast conversation with Jon Udell</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/gary_flake_is_pivot_a_turning_point_for_web_exploration.html" id="link-id11a501c28">Web of Linked Data Pivoting Demo from TED</a> -- by Microsoft's Gary Flake </li> <li> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G29DBIEcIuQ" id="link-id1204fff18">Microsoft Pivot atop Virtuoso Quad Store's Faceted Browser Engine</a>-- My Demonstration of EAV model transcending data representation variations (i.e., RDF's EAV data model data served up in Microsoft CXML data representation format). </li> </ul>
Take N: Yet Another OpenLink Data Spaces Introduction
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2009-04-22#1542
2009-04-22T18:46:18Z
2009-04-22T15:32:06.000020-04:00
<h3>Problem:</h3> <p>Your Life, Profession, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web">Web</a>, and <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Internet" id="link-id0x1c6687f8">Internet</a> do not need to become mutually exclusive due to "<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information" id="link-id0x1c6696e8">information</a> overload".</p> <h3>Solution:</h3> <p> A platform or service that delivers a point of online presence that embodies the fundamental separation of: Identity, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data">Data</a> Access, Data Representation, Data Presentation, by adhering to Web and Internet protocols.</p> <h3>How:</h3> <p> Typical post installation (Local or Cloud) task sequence:</p> <ol> <li> Identify myself (happens automatically by way of registration)</li> <li>If in an LDAP environment, import accounts or associate system with LDAP for account lookup and authentication</li> <li> Identify Online Accounts (by fleshing out profile) which also connects system to online accounts and their data</li> <li>Use Profile for granular description (Biography, Interests, WishList, OfferList, etc.)</li> <li>Optionally upstream or downstream data to and from my online accounts</li> <li>Create content Tagging Rules</li> <li>Create rules for associating Tags with formal URIs</li> <li>Create automatic Hyperlinking Rules for reuse when new content is created (e.g. <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Blog" id="link-id11a7c660">Blog</a> posts)</li> <li>Exploit Data Portability virtues of RSS, Atom, OPML, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/RDFa" id="link-id13f54d50">RDFa</a>, RDF/XML, and other formats for imports and exports</li> <li>Automatically <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Tag" id="link-id121ddff0">tag</a> imported content</li> <li>Use function-specific helper application UIs for domain specific data generation e.g. AddressBook (optionally use vCard import), Calendar (optionally use iCalendar import), Email, File Storage (use WebDAV mount with copy and paste or HTTP GET), Feed Subscriptions (optionally import RSS/Atom/OPML feeds), Bookmarking (optionally import bookmark.html or XBEL) etc..</li> <li>Optionally enable "Conversation" feature (today: Social Media feature) across the relevant application domains (manage conversations under covers using NNTP, the standard for this functionality realm) </li> <li>Generate HTTP based <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Entity" id="link-id13d5d378">Entity</a> IDs (URIs) for every piece of data in this burgeoning <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Spaces" id="link-id11a69670">data space</a> </li> <li>Use REST based APIs to perform CRUD tasks against my data (local and remote) (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SPARQL" id="link-id11a76e10">SPARQL</a>, GData, Ubiquity Commands, Atom Publishing)</li> <li>Use OpenID, OAuth, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Friend_of_a_friend" id="link-id11c9b3e0">FOAF</a>+SSL, FOAF+SSL+OpenID for accessing data elsewhere</li> <li>Use OpenID, OAuth, FOAF+SSL, FOAF+SSL+OpenID for Controlling access to my data (Self Signed Certificate Generation, Browser Import of said Certificate & associated Private Key, plus persistence of Certificate to FOAF based profile data space in "one click")</li> <li>Have a simple UI for <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Entity-attribute-value_model" id="link-id14015bd0">Entity</a>-Attribute-Value or Subject-Predicate-Object arbitrary data annotations and creation since you can't pre model an "<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Open_world_assumption" id="link-id11cd8548">Open World</a>" where the only constant is data flow</li> <li>Have my Personal <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Identifier" id="link-id142beee8">URI</a> (Web ID) as the single entry point for controlled access to my HTTP accessible data space</li> </ol> <p> I've just outlined a snippet of the capabilities of the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/OpenLink_Data_Spaces" id="link-id13d64740">OpenLink Data Spaces</a> platform. A platform built using OpenLink <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com" id="link-id13d74170">Virtuoso</a>, architected to deliver: open, platform independent, multi-model, data access and data management across heterogeneous data sources. </p> <p> All you need to remember is your URI when seeking to interact with your data space.</p> <h3>Related</h3> <ol> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/dataspace/dav/wiki/Main/GetAPersonalURIIn5MinutesOrLess" id="link-id13c97948">Get Yourself a URI (Web ID) in 5 Minutes or Less!</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=%22data%20spaces%22&type=text&output=html" id="link-id1431e088">Various posts over the years about Data Spaces</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com/weblog/kidehen@openlinksw.com%27s%20BLOG%20%5B127%5D/1415" id="link-id11f837f0">Future of Desktop Post</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://bnode.org/blog/2009/04/22/semantic-web-apps-to-simplify-my-life" id="link-id1393f8a8">Simplify My Life Post</a> by <a href="http://bnode.org/about" id="link-id11da0cc8">Bengee Nowack</a> </li> </ol>
Introducing Virtuoso Universal Server (Cloud Edition) for Amazon EC2
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2008-11-28#1489
2008-11-28T19:27:12Z
2008-11-28T16:06:02.000006-05:00
<h3>What is it?</h3> <p>A pre-installed edition of <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com" id="link-id14bea838">Virtuoso</a> for Amazon's EC2 Cloud platform.</p> <h3>What does it offer?</h3> From a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web">Web</a> Entrepreneur perspective it offers: <ol> <li> Low cost entry point to a game-changing Web 3.0+ (and beyond) platform that combines <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SQL" id="link-id11309b38">SQL</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Resource_Description_Framework" id="link-id135f7988">RDF</a>, XML, and Web Services functionality</li> <li> Flexible variable cost model (courtesy of <a href="http://aws.amazon.com/devpay/" id="link-id17941018">EC2 DevPay</a>) tightly bound to revenue generated by your services</li> <li> Delivers federated and/or centralized model flexibility for you SaaS based solutions</li> <li> Simple entry point for developing and deploying sophisticated database driven applications (SQL or RDF <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id14ea6b10">Linked Data Web</a> oriented)</li> <li> Complete framework for exploiting OpenID, OAuth (including Role enhancements) that simplifies exploitation of these vital Identity and <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data">Data</a> Access technologies</li> <li>Easily implement RDF Linked Data based Mail, Blogging, Wikis, Bookmarks, Calendaring, Discussion Forums, Tagging, Social-Networking as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Spaces" id="link-id11519928">Data Space</a> (data containers) features of your application or service offering</li> <li>Instant alleviation of challenges (e.g. service costs and agility) associated with <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/DataPortability" id="link-id111cb610">Data Portability</a> and Open Data Access across Web 2.0 data silos</li> <li> LDAP integration for <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Intranet" id="link-id114a8270">Intranet</a> / <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Extranet" id="link-id10fe4f08">Extranet</a> style applications.</li> </ol> <p>From the DBMS engine perspective it provides you with one or more pre-configured instances of Virtuoso that enable immediate exploitation of the following services:</p> <ol> <li> RDF Database (a Quad Store with <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SPARQL" id="link-id11911bf8">SPARQL</a> & SPARUL Language & Protocol support)</li> <li> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SQL" id="link-id110544c8">SQL</a> Database (with <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Open_Database_Connectivity" id="link-id1524c7d0">ODBC</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Java_Database_Connectivity" id="link-id14cfb658">JDBC</a>, OLE-DB, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/ADO.NET" id="link-id110ec6c8">ADO</a>.NET, and XMLA driver access)</li> <li>XML Database (XML Schema, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XQuery" id="link-id10ebf218">XQuery</a>/<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XPath" id="link-id142a7898">Xpath</a>, XSLT, Full Text Indexing)</li> <li>Full Text Indexing.</li> </ol> <p>From a Middleware perspective it provides:</p> <ol> <li> RDF Views (Wrappers / Semantic Covers) over SQL, XML, and other data sources accessible via SOAP or REST style Web Services</li> <li> Sponger Service for converting non RDF <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information" id="link-id11931c60">information</a> resources into RDF <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id118f7168">Linked Data</a> "on the fly" via a large collection of pre-installed RDFizer Cartridges.</li> </ol> <p>From the Web Server Platform perspective it provides an alternative to LAMP stack components such as <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/MySQL" id="link-id10f7b780">MySQL</a> and Apace by offering</p> <ol> <li> HTTP Web Server</li> <li> WebDAV Server</li> <li> Web <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Application_server" id="link-id1268daa8">Application Server</a> (includes <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/PHP" id="link-id1585d238">PHP</a> runtime hosting)</li> <li> SOAP or REST style Web Services Deployment</li> <li> RDF Linked Data Deployment</li> <li> SPARQL (SPARQL Query Language) and SPARUL (SPARQL Update Language) endpoints</li> <li>Virtuoso Hosted PHP packages for <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/MediaWiki" id="link-id15568818">MediaWiki</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Drupal" id="link-id110bd7a8">Drupal</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/WordPress" id="link-id10f66918">Wordpress</a>, and <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/PhpBB" id="link-id13fda4d0">phpBB3</a> (just install the relevant Virtuoso Distro. Package). </li> </ol> <p>From the general System Administrator's perspective it provides:</p> <ol> <li> Online Backups (Backup Set dispatched to S3 buckets, FTP, or HTTP/WebDAV server locations)</li> <li>Synchronized Incremental Backups to Backup Set locations</li> <li>Backup Restore from Backup Set location (without exiting to EC2 shell).</li> </ol> <p>Higher level user oriented offerings include:</p> <ol> <li>OpenLink Data Explorer front-end for exploring the burgeoning Linked Data <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Giant_Global_Graph" id="link-id11646dc8">Web</a> </li> <li> Ajax based SPARQL Query Builder (iSPARQL) that enables SPARQL Query construction by Example</li> <li>Ajax based SQL Query Builder (QBE) that enables SQL Query construction by Example.</li> </ol> <p>For Web 2.0 / 3.0 users, developers, and entrepreneurs it offers it includes Distributed Collaboration Tools & Social Media realm functionality courtesy of <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/OpenLink_Data_Spaces" id="link-id11009930">ODS</a> that includes:</p> <ol> <li> Point of presence on the Linked Data Web that meshes your Identity and your Data via URIs</li> <li> System generated Social Network Profile & Contact Data via <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Friend_of_a_friend" id="link-id1185a1c0">FOAF</a>?</li> <li> System generated <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SIOC" id="link-id14791890">SIOC</a> (Semantically Interconnected Online Community) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Spaces" id="link-id1577cad8">Data Space</a> (that includes a Social Graph) exposing all your Web data in RDF Linked Data form</li> <li> System generated OpenID and automatic integration with FOAF</li> <li> Transparent Data Integration across Facebook, Digg, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, Twitter, and any other Web 2.0 data space equipped with RSS / Atom support and/or REST style Web Services</li> <li> In-built support for SyncML which enables data synchronization with Mobile Phones.</li> </ol> <h3>How Do I Get Going with It?</h3> <ul> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/dataspace/dav/wiki/Main/ODSInstallationEC2" id="link-id114e1600">Standard Installation Guide</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/dataspace/dav/wiki/Main/VirtEC2AMIDBpediaInstall" id="link-id110a98e8">Personal or Service Specific DBpedia Installation Guide</a> </li> </ul>
Dynamic Linked Data Constellation
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2008-10-09#1454
2008-10-09T21:23:25Z
2008-10-17T10:45:53.000004-04:00
<p>Now that the virtues of dynamic generation of RDF based <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id14c429a0">Linked Data</a> are becoming clearer, I guess it's time to unveil the <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com" id="link-id13d7c7e0">Virtuoso</a> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/Whitepapers/html/VirtSpongerWhitePaper.html" id="link-id115d0c20">Sponger</a> driven Dynamic Linked Data constellation diagram.</p> <p>Our diagram depicts the myriad of <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data">data</a> sources from which RDF Linked Data is generated "on the fly" via our data source specific RDF-zation cartridges/drivers. It also unveils how the sponger leverages the Linked Data constellations of <a href="http://umbel.org/" id="link-id14bd5700">UMBEL</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/DBpedia" id="link-id110f5a48">DBpedia</a>, <a href="http://www.bio2rdf.org/" id="link-id11494bc0">Bio2Rdf</a>, and others for lookups.</p> <map name="GraffleExport"> <area shape="circle" coords="723,292,36" href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/html/http://xbel.sourceforge.net/bookmarks/xbel.xbel" /> <area shape="circle" coords="423,309,36" href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/html/http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/grddl-wg/doc29/hotel-data.html" /> <area shape="circle" coords="592,285,36" href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/html/http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3067/2590298570_304a594899_t.jpg" /> <area shape="circle" coords="685,220,36" href="http://linkeddata.uriburner.com/about/html/http://microformats.org/feed/" /> <area shape="circle" coords="817,182,36" 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What is Linked Data oriented RDF-ization?
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2008-10-06#1453
2008-10-06T20:14:26Z
2008-10-07T17:35:24-04:00
<p>RDF-ization is a term used by the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Semantic_Web" id="link-id14b4ebd0">Semantic Web</a> community to describe the process of generating RDF from non RDF <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data">Data</a> Sources such as (X)HTML, Weblogs, Shared Bookmark Collections, Photo Galleries, Calendars, Contact Managers, Feed Subscriptions, Wikis, and other <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information" id="link-id13f2a2e0">information</a> resource collections. </p> <p>If the RDF generated, results in an <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Entity" id="link-id11281278">entity</a>-to-entity level network (graph) in which each entity is endowed with a de-referencable HTTP based ID (a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Identifier" id="link-id148200f0">URI</a>), we end up with an enhancement to the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web">Web</a> that adds <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id112a5980">Hyperdata</a> linking across extracted entities, to the existing Hypertext based Web of linked documents (pages, images, and other information resource types). Thus, I can use the same <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Locator" id="link-id10ebc630">URL</a> linking mechanism to reference a broader range of "Things" i.e., documents, things that documents are about, or things loosely associated with documents.</p> <p>The <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com" id="link-id144304a8">Virtuoso</a> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/Whitepapers/html/VirtSpongerWhitePaper.html" id="link-id14a96400">Sponger</a> is an example of an <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=rdf%20middleware&type=text&output=html" id="link-id14d36938">RDF Middleware</a> solution from <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/organization/openlink#this" id="link-id117e5c50">OpenLink Software</a>. It's an in-built component of the Virtuoso <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Virtuoso_Universal_Server" id="link-id14b4d0e0">Universal Server</a>, and deployable in many forms e.g., Software as Service (SaaS) or traditional software installation. It delivers RDF-ization services via a collection of Web information resource specific Cartridges/Providers/Drivers covering Wikipedia, Freebase, CrunchBase, WikiCompany, OpenLibrary, Digg, eBay, Amazon, RSS/Atom/OPML feed sources, XBRL, and many more.</p> <p>RDF-ization alone doesn't ensure valuable RDF based <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id14a75b48">Linked Data</a> on the Web. The process of producing RDF Linked Data is ultimately about the art of effectively describing resources with an eye for <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Context_%28language_use%29" id="link-id1442fea0">context</a>. </p> <h3>RDF-ization Processing Steps</h3> <ol> <li> Entity Extraction</li> <li> Vocabulary/Schema/Ontology (Data Dictionary) mapping</li> <li> HTTP based Proxy URI generation</li> <li>Linked Data Cloud Lookups (e.g., perform <a href="http://umbel.org/about/" id="link-id14432f00">UMBEL</a> lookup to add "isAbout" fidelity to graph and then lookup <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/DBpedia" id="link-id14485f40">DBpedia</a> and other <a href="http://community.linkeddata.org/dataspace/organization/lod#this" id="link-id115ea410">LOD</a> instance data enclaves for Identical individuals and connect via "owl:sameAs")</li> <li> RDF <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Resource_Description_Framework" id="link-id14ae31c0">Linked Data Graph</a> projection that uses the description of the container information resource to expose the URIs of the distilled entities.</li> </ol> <p>The animation that follows illustrates the process (5,000 feet view), from grabbing resources via HTTP GET, to injecting RDF Linked Data back into the Web cloud:</p> <div> <object> <embed src="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/screencasts/virtuoso-rdf-middleware.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="800" height="600"></embed> </object> </div> <p>Note: the Shredder is a Generic Cartridge, so you would have one of these per data source type (information resource type).</p>
The Linked Data Market via a BCG Matrix (Updated)
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2008-09-25#1442
2008-09-25T20:42:49Z
2008-09-26T12:36:56-04:00
<p>The sweet spot of <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web">Web</a> 3.0 (or any other Web.vNext moniker) is all about providing Web Users with a structured and interlinked <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data">data</a> substrate that facilitates serendipitous discovery of relevant "Things" i.e., a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id10db3b48">Linked Data</a> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Giant_Global_Graph" id="link-id170db618">Web</a> -- a Web of Linkable Entities that goes beyond documents and other <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information" id="link-id110a5d30">information</a> resource (data containers) types.</p> <p>Understanding potential <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id19e21c60">Linked Data</a> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Giant_Global_Graph" id="link-id16d008d0">Web</a> business models, relative to other Web based market segments, is best pursued via a<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/BCG_diagram" id="link-id14734148"> BCG Matrix</a> diagram, such as the one I've constructed below:</p> <br /> <img src="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/ldp_presentation/images/linked_data_sdq_quadarant.png" /> <br /> <h3>Notes:</h3> <h4>Link Density</h4> <ul> <li>Web 1.0's collection of "Web Sites" have relatively low link density relative to Web 2.0's user-activity driven generation of semi-structured <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id14c302d8">linked data</a> spaces (e.g., Blogs, Wikis, Shared Bookmarks, RSS/Atom Feeds, Photo Galleries, Discussion Forums etc..)</li> <li>Semantic Technologies (i.e. "<strong>Semantics Inside</strong> style solutions") which are primarily about "Semantic Meaning" culled from Web 1.0 Pages also have limited linked density relative to Web 2.0</li> <li>The <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id1286ab58">Linked Data</a> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Giant_Global_Graph" id="link-ide81ab20">Web</a>, courtesy of the open-ended linking capacity of URIs, matches and ultimately exceeds Web 2.0 link density.</li> </ul> <h4>Relevance</h4> <ul> <li>Web 1.0 and 2.0 are low relevance realms driven by hyperlinks to <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information" id="link-id173db890">information</a> resources ((X)HTML, RSS, Atom, OPML, XML, Images, Audio files etc.) associated with Literal Labels and Tagging schemes devoid of explicit property based resource description thereby making the pursuit of relevance mercurial at best</li> <li>Semantic Technologies offer more relevance than Web 1.0 and 2.0 based on the increased <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Context_%28language_use%29" id="link-id124de510">context</a> that semantic analysis of Web pages accords</li> <li>The <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id111c4850">Linked Data</a> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Giant_Global_Graph" id="link-id16e4e4c0">Web</a>, courtesy of URIs that expose self-describing data entities, match the relevance levels attained by Semantic Technologies.</li> </ul> <h4>Serendipity Quotient (SDQ)</h4> <ul> <li>Web 1.0 has next to no serendipity, the closest thing is <a href="http://google.com" id="link-id16dceec8">Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky" button</a> </li> <li>Web 2.0 possess higher potential for serendipitous discovery than Web 1.0, but such potential is neutralized by inherent subjectivity due to its human-interaction-focused literal foundation (e.g., tags, voting schemes, wiki editors etc.)</li> <li>Semantic Technologies produce islands-of-relevance with little scope for serendipitous discovery due to <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Identifier" id="link-id18078e60">URI</a> invisibility, since the prime focus is delivering more <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Context_%28language_use%29" id="link-id1253cc38">context</a> to Web search relative to traditional Web 1.0 search engines.</li> <li>The <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id0x201d0ae8">Linked Data</a> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Giant_Global_Graph" id="link-id10c7fb70">Web</a>'s use of URIs as the naming and resolution mechanism for exposing structured and interlinked resources provides the highest potential for serendipitous discovery of relevant "Things"</li> </ul> <p>To conclude, the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data">Linked Data</a> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Giant_Global_Graph" id="link-id0x23ebbf90">Web</a>'s market opportunities are all about the evolution of the Web into a powerful substrate that offers a unique intersection of "Link Density" and "Relevance", exploitable across horizontal and vertical market segments to solutions providers. Put differently, SDQ is how you take "The Ad" out of "Advertising" when matching Web users to relevant things :-)</p>
Commercializing the Semantic Web
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2008-05-16#1362
2008-05-16T20:02:45Z
2008-05-16T16:15:29.000001-04:00
<p>Unfortunately, I could only spend 4 days at the recent <a href="http://www2008.org/" id="link-id196acf60">WWW2008</a> event in <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Beijing" id="link-id1974fe28">Beijing</a> (I departed the morning following the <a href="http://events.linkeddata.org/ldow2008/" id="link-id1863f858">Linked Data Workshop</a>), so I couldn't take my slot on the "Commercializing the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Semantic_Web" id="link-id18990f90">Semantic Web</a> panel" etc.. Anyway, thanks to the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web">Web</a> I can still inject my points of view in the broad Web based discourse. Well so I hoped, when I attempted to post a comment to Paul Miller's ZDNet domain hosted <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Blog" id="link-id180d6750">blog</a> thread titled: <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/semantic-web/?p=132" id="link-id12d206c0">Commercialising the Semantic Web</a>.</p> <p>Unfortunately, the cost of completing ZDNet's unwieldy signup process simply exceeded the benefits of dropping my comments in their particular space :-( Thus, I'll settle for a trackback ping instead.</p> <p>What follows is the cut and paste of my intended comment contributions to Paul's post.</p> <p>Paul,</p> <p> As discussed earlier this week during <a href="http://blogs.talis.com/nodalities/2008/05/kingsley-idehen-talks-about-openlink-software-linked-data-and-the-semantic-web.php" id="link-id1332fb48">our podcast session</a>, commercialization of <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Semantic_Web" id="link-id17382338">Semantic Web</a> technology shouldn't be a mercurial matter at this stage in the game :-) It's all about looking at how it provides value :-)</p> <p>From the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id10d4f4a8">Linked Data</a> angle, the ability to produce, dispatch, and exploit "<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Context_%28language_use%29" id="link-id13bed160">Context</a>" across an array of "Perspectives" from a plethora of disparate <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data" id="link-id1731e5f0">data</a> sources on the Web and/or behind corporate firewalls, offers immense commercial value.</p> <p> <a href="http://developer.yahoo.com/searchmonkey/" id="link-id1975d248">Yahoo's Searchmonkey</a> effort will certainly bring clarity to some of the points I made during the podcast re. the role of URIs as "value consumption tickets" (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data" id="link-id173eb7b0">Data</a> Services are exposed via URIs). There has to be a trigger (in user space) that compels Web users to seek broader, or simply varied, perspectives as a response to <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data" id="link-id0x1c7e7f60">data</a> encountered on the Web. Yahoo! is about to put this light on in a big way (imho).</p> <p>The "self annotating" nature of the Web is what ultimately drives the manifestation of the long awaited <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Semantic_Web" id="link-id0xa18a83e8">Semantic Web</a>. I believe I postulated about <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=self%20annotation&type=text&output=html" id="link-id173d7458">"Self Annotation & the Semantic Web" in a number of prior posts</a> which, by the way, should be <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&type=text&kwds=self%20annotation&OpenSearch" id="link-id10b12208">DataRSS compatible right now</a> due to Yahoo's support of OpenSearch <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data">Data</a> Providers (which this <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Blog" id="link-id170b8df8">Blog</a> Space has been for eons).</p> <p>Today, have many communities adding strucuture to the Web (via their respective tools of preference) without explicitly realizing what they are contributing. Every RSS/Atom feed, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Tag" id="link-id183d5178">Tag</a>, Weblog, Shared Bookmark, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/WikiWord" id="link-id10c5e758">Wikiword</a>, Microformat, Microformat++ (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Embedded_RDF" id="link-id16d8ee40">eRDF</a> or <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/RDFa" id="link-id1059a688">RDFa</a>), <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/GRDDL" id="link-id1090ae10">GRDDL</a> stylesheet, and RDFizer etc.. is a piece of structured data.</p> <p>Finally, the different communities are all finding ways to work together (thank heavens!) and the results are going to be cataclysmic when it all plays out :-)</p> <p>Data, Structure, and Extraction are the keys to the Semantic Life! First you get the Data in a container (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information" id="link-id180e5648">information</a> resource), and then you add Structure to the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information" id="link-id103801e0">information</a> resource (RSS, Atom, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Microformats" id="link-id17825e40">microformats</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/RDFa" id="link-id189a8738">RDFa</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Embedded_RDF" id="link-id1933d5c0">eRDF</a>, SIOC, FOAF, etc.), once you have Structure RDFization (i.e. transformation to <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id19744878">Linked Data</a>) is a synch thanks to <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Resource_Description_Framework" id="link-id180dde30">RDF</a> Middleware (as per <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&type=text&kwds=self%20annotation&OpenSearch" id="link-id16dc3130">earlier RDF middleware posts</a>).</p>
Semantic Web Patterns: A Guide to Semantic Technologies (Update 2)
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2008-03-27#1329
2008-03-27T00:08:13Z
2008-07-16T21:43:36-04:00
<p>For all the one-way feed consumers and aggregators, and readers of the original post, here is a variant equipped hyperlinked phrases as opposed to words. As I stated in the prior post, the post (like most of my posts) was part experiment / dog-fodding of automatic tagging and hyper-linking functionality in <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/OpenLink_Data_Spaces" id="link-id0x194f56f0">OpenLink Data Spaces</a>. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com" id="link-id0x1bddde00">ReadWriteWeb</a> via <a href="http://alexiskold.wordpress.com/" id="link-id154ae848">Alex Iskold's post</a> have delivered another iteration of their "Guide to Semantic Technologies". </p> <p>If you look at the title of this post (and <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Er/readwriteweb/%7E3/257943334/semantic_web_patterns.php" id="link-id10a9a900">their article</a>) they seem to be accurately providing a guide to Semantic Technologies, so no qualms there. If on the other hand, this is supposed to he a guide to the "<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Semantic_Web" id="link-id0x15ccef28">Semantic Web</a>" as prescribed by <a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/card#i" id="link-id0xb94a2d40">TimBL</a> then they are completely missing the essence of the whole subject, and demonstrably so I may add, since the entities: "<a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com">ReadWriteWeb</a>" and "<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/iskold" id="link-id0x19960308">Alex Iskold</a>" are only describable today via the attributes of the documents they publish i.e their respective blogs and hosted <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Blog" id="link-id0x1a719968">blog</a> posts.</p> <blockquote> <p>Preoccupation with Literal objects as describe above, implies we can only take what "ReadWriteWeb" and "<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/iskold">Alex Iskold</a>" say "Literally" (<a href="http://dbpedia/resource/Grep" id="link-id0xbc8568f8">grep</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/regular_expression" id="link-id0x1d915e70">regex</a>, and <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XPath" id="link-id0xbc617820">XPath</a>/<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XQuery" id="link-id0x150e1c50">Xquery</a> are the only tools for searching deeper in this Literal realm), we have no sense of what makes them tick or where they come from, no history (bar "About Page" blurb), no <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data">data</a> connections beyond anchored text (more pointers to opaque data sources) in post and blogrolls. The only connection between this post and them is the my deliberate use of the same literal text in the Title of this post.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/card#i">TimBL</a>'s vision as espoused via the "<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Semantic_Web">Semantic Web</a>" vision is about the production, consumption, and sharing of Data Objects via HTTP based Identifiers called URIs/IRIs (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id0xb867ced0">Hyperdata</a> Links / <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id0x3c8f438">Linked Data</a>). It's how we use the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web">Web</a> as a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/federated_database_system" id="link-id0xbcb04f20">Distributed Database</a> where (as <a href="http://www.cs.umd.edu/~hendler/2003/foaf.rdf#jhendler" id="link-id0xb8595f18">Jim Hendler</a> once stated with immense clarity): I can point to records (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Entity" id="link-id0xbc9c8ab8">entity</a> instances) in your database (aka <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Spaces" id="link-id0x3b911c0">Data Space</a>) from mine. Which is to say that if we can all point to data entities/objects (not just data entities of type "Document") using these Location, Value, and Structure independent Object Identifiers (courtesy of HTTP) we end up with a much more powerful Web, and one that is closer to the "Federated and Open" nature of the Web.</p> <p>As I stated in a prior post, if you or your platform of choice aren't producing de-referencable URIs for your data objects, you may be Semantic (this data model predates the Web), but there is no "<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web" id="link-id0xbcb968b0">World Wide Web</a>" in what you are doing.</p> <h2>What are the Benefits of the Semantic Web?</h2> <ul> <strong>Consumer</strong> - "Discovery of relevant things" and be being "Discovered by relevant things" (people, places, events, and other things)</ul> <ul> <strong>Enterprise</strong> - ditto plus the addition of enterprise domain specific things such as market opportunities, product portfolios, human resources, partners, customers, competitors, co-opetitors, acquisition targets, new regulation etc..)</ul> <h2>Simple demo:</h2> <blockquote> <p>I am a <a href="http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/person/kidehen#this" id="link-id0x150661b0">Kingsley Idehen</a>, a Person who authors <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen" id="link-id0x3b956d0">this weblog</a>. I also share bookmarks gathered over the years across an array of subjects via <a href="http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/kidehen/bookmark/KingsleyBookmarks" id="link-id0x164fecb0">my bookmark data space</a>. I also subscribe to a number of RSS/Atom/RDF feeds, which I share via my feeds subscription data <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Spaces">space</a>. Of course, all of these data sources have Tags which are collectively exposed via my <a href="http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/kidehen/weblog/MyBlogDataSpace/tagcloud" id="link-id0x15188c50">weblog tag-cloud</a>, feeds subscriptions <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Tag" id="link-id0x5f38b98">tag</a>-cloud, and <a href="http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/kidehen/bookmark/KingsleyBookmarks/tagcloud" id="link-id0xb93c2a50">bookmarks tag-cloud</a> data spaces.</p> <p>As I don't like repeating myself, and I hate wasting my time or the time of others, I simply share <a href="http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/kidehen" id="link-id0x3aeba98">my Data Space</a> (a collection of all of my purpose specific data spaces) via the Web so that others (friends, family, employees, partners, customers, project collaborators, competitors, co-opetitors etc.) can can intentionally or serendipitously discover relevant data en route to creating new <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information" id="link-id0x14e35d78">information</a> (perspectives) that is hopefully exposed others via the Web.</p> </blockquote> <p>Bottom-line, the Semantic Web is about adding the missing "Open Data Access & Connectivity" feature to the current Document Web (we have to beyond <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/regular_expression">regex</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia/resource/Grep">grep</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XPath">xpath</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XQuery">xquery</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Full_text_search" id="link-id0x1c1bf9c8">full text search</a>, and other literal scrapping approaches). The <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data">Linked Data</a> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Giant_Global_Graph" id="link-id0x14c9e0e8">Web</a> of de-referencable data object URIs is the critical foundation layer that makes this feasible.</p> <p> Remember, It's not about "Applications" it's about Data and actually freeing Data from the "tyranny of Applications". Unfortunately, application inadvertently always create silos (esp. on the Web) since <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Entity">entity</a> data modeling, open data access, and other database technology realm matters, remain of secondary interest to many application developers.</p> <p>Final comment, RDF facilitates Linked Data on the Web, but all RDF isn't endowed with de-referencable URIs (a major source of confusion and misunderstanding). Thus, you can have RDF Data Source Providers that simply project RDF data silos via Web Services APIs if RDF output emanating from a Web Service doesn't provide out-bound pathways to other data via de-referencable URIs. Of course the same also applies to Widgets that present you with all the things they've discovered without exposing de-referencable URIs for each item.</p> <p>BTW - my final comments above aren't in anyway incongruent with devising successful business models for the Web. As you may or may not know, OpenLink is not only a major platform provider for the Semantic Web (expressed in our UDA, <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com" id="link-id0xb919b098">Virtuoso</a>, OpenLink Data Spaces, and OAT products), we are also actively seeding Semantic Web (tribe: Linked Data of course) startups. For instance, <a href="http://zitgist.com/about/" id="link-id0x1481b218">Zitgist</a>, which now has <a href="http://community.linkeddata.org/dataspace/person/mkbergman#this" id="link-id0xb869bb18">Mike Bergman</a> as it's CEO alongside <a href="http://fgiasson.com/me/" id="link-id0x1d18fe50">Frederick Giasson</a> as CTO. Of course, I cannot do <a href="http://zitgist.com/about/">Zitgist</a> justice via a footnote in a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Blog">blog</a> post, so I will expand further in a separate post.</p> <h2>Additional <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information">information</a> about this blog post: </h2> <ol> <li> I didn't spent hours looking for URIs used in my hyperlinks</li> <li> The post is best viewed via an RDF Linked Data aware user agents (<a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/rdfbrowser" id="link-id0x19af3468">OpenLink RDF Browser</a>, Zitgist <a href="http://dataviewer.zitgist.com" id="link-id0x13b17138">Data Viewer</a>, <a href="http://www4.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/rdf_browser" id="link-id0xbc8579e0">DISCO Hyperdata Browser</a>, <a href="http://dig.csail.mit.edu/2005/ajar/release/tabulator/0.8/tab.html" id="link-id0x18ad0ec8">Tabulator</a>).</li> </ol>
Semantic Web Patterns: A Guide to Semantic Technologies (Update 1)
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2008-03-26#1328
2008-03-26T22:44:00Z
2008-07-16T21:43:04-04:00
<p> <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com" id="link-id11846528">ReadWriteWeb</a> via <a href="http://alexiskold.wordpress.com/" id="link-id154ae848">Alex Iskold</a> have delivered another iteration of their "Guide to Semantic Technologies". </p> <p>If you look at the title of this post (and <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Er/readwriteweb/%7E3/257943334/semantic_web_patterns.php" id="link-id10a9a900">their article</a>) they seem to be accurately providing a guide to Semantic Technologies, so no qualms there. If on the other hand, this is supposed to he a guide to the "<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Semantic_Web" id="link-id0xbcb19320">Semantic Web</a>" as prescribed by <a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/card#i" id="link-id0xb8725878">TimBL</a> then they are completely missing the essence of the whole subject, and demonstrably so I may add, since the entities: "<a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com" id="link-id0x16804040">ReadWriteWeb</a>" and "<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/iskold" id="link-id0x13f08538">Alex Iskold</a>" are only describable today via the attributes of the documents they publish i.e their respective blogs and hosted <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Blog" id="link-id0x1850ca98">blog</a> posts. </p> <blockquote> <p>Preoccupation with Literal objects as describe above, implies we can only take what "<a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com">ReadWriteWeb</a>" and "<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/iskold">Alex Iskold</a>" say "Literally" (<a href="http://dbpedia/resource/Grep" id="link-id0xb95a6a40">grep</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/regular_expression" id="link-id0x1a719968">regex</a>, and <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XPath" id="link-id0xb89d78b8">XPath</a>/<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XQuery" id="link-id0x1bddde00">Xquery</a> are the only tools for searching deeper in this Literal realm), we have no sense of what makes them tick or where they come from, no history (bar "About Page" blurb), no <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Data">data</a> connections beyond anchored text (more pointers to opaque data sources) in post and blogrolls. The only connection between this post and them is the my deliberate use of the same literal text in the Title of this post.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/card#i">TimBL</a>'s vision as espoused via the "<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Semantic_Web">Semantic Web</a>" vision is about the production, consumption, and sharing of Data Objects via HTTP based Identifiers called URIs/IRIs (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id0x150e7be0">Hyperdata</a> Links / <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id0x18e50818">Linked Data</a>). It's how we use the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web">Web</a> as a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/federated_database_system" id="link-id0x194f56f0">Distributed Database</a> where (as <a href="http://www.cs.umd.edu/~hendler/2003/foaf.rdf#jhendler" id="link-id0x17043b38">Jim Hendler</a> once stated with immense clarity): I can point to records (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Entity" id="link-id0x1476f788">entity</a> instances) in your database (aka <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Spaces" id="link-id0x2621140">Data Space</a>) from mine. Which is to say that if we can all point to data entities/objects (not just data entities of type "Document") using these Location, Value, and Structure independent Object Identifiers (courtesy of HTTP) we end up with a much more powerful Web, and one that is closer to the "Federated and Open" nature of the Web.</p> <p>As I stated in a prior post, if you or your platform of choice aren't producing de-referencable URIs for your data objects, you may be Semantic (this data model predates the Web), but there is no "<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web" id="link-id0xb860eec8">World Wide Web</a>" in what you are doing.</p> <h2>What are the Benefits of the Semantic Web?</h2> <ul> <strong>Consumer</strong> - "Discovery of relevant things" and be being "Discovered by relevant things" (people, places, events, and other things)</ul> <ul> <strong>Enterprise</strong> - ditto plus the addition of enterprise domain specific things such as market opportunities, product portfolios, human resources, partners, customers, competitors, co-opetitors, acquisition targets, new regulation etc..)</ul> <h2>Simple demo:</h2> <blockquote> <p>I am a <a href="http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/person/kidehen#this" id="link-id0x15394798">Kingsley Idehen</a>, a Person who authors <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen" id="link-id0x2556670">this weblog</a>. I also share bookmarks gathered over the years across an array of subjects via <a href="http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/kidehen/bookmark/KingsleyBookmarks" id="link-id0x142eaa10">my bookmark data space</a>. I also subscribe to a number of RSS/Atom/RDF feeds, which I share via my feeds subscription data <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Spaces">space</a>. Of course, all of these data sources have Tags which are collectively exposed via my <a href="http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/kidehen/weblog/MyBlogDataSpace/tagcloud" id="link-id0x140b8050">weblog tag-cloud</a>, feeds subscriptions <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Tag" id="link-id0x15158d60">tag</a>-cloud, and <a href="http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/kidehen/bookmark/KingsleyBookmarks/tagcloud" id="link-id0xb8652490">bookmarks tag-cloud</a> data spaces.</p> <p>As I don't like repeating myself, and I hate wasting my time or the time of others, I simply share <a href="http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/kidehen" id="link-id0x13b63208">my Data Space</a> (a collection of all of my purpose specific data spaces) via the Web so that others (friends, family, employees, partners, customers, project collaborators, competitors, co-opetitors etc.) can can intentionally or serendipitously discover relevant data en route to creating new <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information" id="link-id0x14365150">information</a> (perspectives) that is hopefully exposed others via the Web.</p> </blockquote> <p>Bottom-line, the Semantic Web is about adding the missing "Open Data Access & Connectivity" feature to the current Document Web (we have to beyond <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/regular_expression">regex</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia/resource/Grep">grep</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XPath">xpath</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XQuery">xquery</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Full_text_search" id="link-id0x15ccef28">full text search</a>, and other literal scrapping approaches). The <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data">Linked Data</a> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Giant_Global_Graph" id="link-id0x1a2810b8">Web</a> of de-referencable data object URIs is the critical foundation layer that makes this feasible.</p> <p> Remember, It's not about "Applications" it's about Data and actually freeing Data from the "tyranny of Applications". Unfortunately, application inadvertently always create silos (esp. on the Web) since <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Entity">entity</a> data modeling, open data access, and other database technology realm matters, remain of secondary interest to many application developers.</p> <p>Final comment, RDF facilitates Linked Data on the Web, but all RDF isn't endowed with de-referencable URIs (a major source of confusion and misunderstanding). Thus, you can have RDF Data Source Providers that simply project RDF data silos via Web Services APIs if RDF output emanating from a Web Service doesn't provide out-bound pathways to other data via de-referencable URIs. Of course the same also applies to Widgets that present you with all the things they've discovered without exposing de-referencable URIs for each item.</p> <p>BTW - my final comments above aren't in anyway incongruent with devising successful business models for the Web. As you may or may not know, OpenLink is not only a major platform provider for the Semantic Web (expressed in our UDA, <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com" id="link-id0x19e44e80">Virtuoso</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/OpenLink_Data_Spaces" id="link-id0xb8637720">OpenLink Data Spaces</a>, and OAT products), we are also actively seeding Semantic Web (tribe: Linked Data of course) startups. For instance, <a href="http://zitgist.com/about/" id="link-id0x397b940">Zitgist</a>, which now has <a href="http://community.linkeddata.org/dataspace/person/mkbergman#this" id="link-id0x5fabcf0">Mike Bergman</a> as it's CEO alongside <a href="http://fgiasson.com/me/" id="link-id0xb84720f8">Frederick Giasson</a> as CTO. Of course, I cannot do <a href="http://zitgist.com/about/">Zitgist</a> justice via a footnote in a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Blog">blog</a> post, so I will expand further in a separate post.</p> <h2>Additional <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information">information</a> about this blog post:</h2> <ol> <li> I didn't spent hours looking for URIs used in my hyperlinks </li> <li> The post is best viewed via an RDF Linked Data aware user agents (<a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/rdfbrowser" id="link-id0x3ac1b68">OpenLink RDF Browser</a>, Zitgist <a href="http://dataviewer.zitgist.com" id="link-id0x1d8e7ec0">Data Viewer</a>, <a href="http://www4.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/rdf_browser" id="link-id0x19af3468">DISCO Hyperdata Browser</a>, <a href="http://dig.csail.mit.edu/2005/ajar/release/tabulator/0.8/tab.html" id="link-id0x1532e630">Tabulator</a>).</li> </ol>
Driving Lanes on the Web based Information Super Highway
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2008-03-04#1318
2008-03-04T23:16:32Z
2008-03-04T18:17:56-05:00
<p>Post absorption of<a href="http://blogs.talis.com/nodalities/2008/03/web_3g.php" id="link-id19156118"> Web 3G commentary</a> emanating from the <a href="http://blogs.talis.com/nodalitie" id="link-id1c37b868">Talis blog</a> space. <a href="http://iandavis.com/id/me" id="link-id1a6b3360">Ian Davis</a> appears to be expending energy on the definition of, and timeframes for, the next Web Frontier (which is actually here btw) :-)</p> <p> <a href="http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/person/danieljohnlewis#this" id="link-id1907f9f8">Daniel Lewis</a> also penned an <a href="http://vanirsystems.com/danielsblog/2008/03/04/web-3g/" id="link-id18f8f740">interesting post in response to Ian's</a>, that actually triggered this post.</p> <p>I think definition time has long expired re. the Web's many <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=web%20dimensions&type=text&output=html" id="link-id1a41b078">interaction dimensions, evolutionary stages, and versions</a>.</p> <p>On my watch it's simply demo / dog-food time. Or as <a href="http://danbri.org" id="link-id17847778">Dan Brickley</a> states: <a href="http://danbri.org/words/2008/03/04/288" id="link-idb4a34a8">Just Show It</a>.</p> <p>Below, I've created a tabulated view of the various lanes on the Web's <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information_superhighway" id="link-id17cff4c8">Information Super Highway</a>. Of course, this is a Linked Data demo should you be interested in the universe of data exposed via the links embedded in this post :-)</p> <table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <caption> The <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web" id="link-id167bd1a8">Web</a>'s Information Super Highway Lanes </caption> <tr> <td width="97" valign="top"></td> <td width="194" valign="top"></td> <td width="302" valign="top"></td> <td width="330" valign="top"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="97" valign="top"><div align="center"></div></td> <td width="194" valign="top"> <p align="center"> <strong>1.0</strong> </p></td> <td width="302" valign="top"> <p align="center"> <strong>2.0</strong> </p></td> <td width="330" valign="top"> <p align="center"> <strong>3.0</strong> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="97" valign="top"> <p> <strong>Desire</strong> </p></td> <td width="194" valign="top"><p align="left"> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information" id="link-id16c0b9a0">Information</a> Creation & Retrieval </p></td> <td width="302" valign="top"><p align="left">Information Creation, Retrieval, and Extraction </p></td> <td width="330" valign="top"><p align="left">Distillation of Data from Information </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="97" valign="top"> <p> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Idea_virus" id="link-id17003280">Meme</a> </p></td> <td width="194" valign="top"><p align="left">Information Linkage (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Hypertext" id="link-id1b939870">Hypertext</a>) </p></td> <td width="302" valign="top"><p align="left">Information Mashing (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Mashup_%28web_application_hybrid%29" id="link-id18baf9e0">Mash-ups</a>)</p></td> <td width="330" valign="top"><p align="left"> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id18f01838">Linked Data</a> Meshing (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Hyperdata" id="link-id18a1de38">Hyperdata</a>)</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="97" valign="top"> <p> <strong>Enabling Protocol</strong> </p></td> <td width="194" valign="top"> <p align="left"> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Hypertext_Transfer_Protocol" id="link-id190ed430">HTTP</a> </p></td> <td width="302" valign="top"><p align="left">HTTP</p></td> <td width="330" valign="top"><p align="left">HTTP</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="97" valign="top"> <p> <strong>Markup </strong> </p></td> <td width="194" valign="top"> <p align="left"> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/HTML" id="link-id1a41b438">HTML</a> </p></td> <td width="302" valign="top"><p align="left"> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XHTML" id="link-id18d4a340">(X)HTML</a>& various <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XML" id="link-id17faf780">XML</a> based formats (RSS, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Atom_%28standard%29" id="link-id17928df0">ATOM</a>, others) </p></td> <td width="330" valign="top"><p align="left"> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Turtle_(syntax)" id="link-id17b22478">Turtle</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Notation_3" id="link-id1c871a58">N3</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/RDF/XML" id="link-id1c508bf8">RDF/XML</a>, others</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"><strong>Basic Data Unit </strong></td> <td valign="top"><div align="left">Resource (Data Object) of type "Document" </div></td> <td valign="top"><div align="left">Resource (Data Object) of type "Document" </div></td> <td valign="top"><div align="left">Resource (Data Object) that may be one of a variety of Types: Person, Place, Event, Music etc.</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="97" height="148" valign="top"> <p> <strong>Basic Data Unit Identity </strong> </p></td> <td width="194" valign="top"><p align="left">Resource <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Locator" id="link-id1bd05908">URL</a> (Web Data Object Address) </p> <p align="left">Â </p> </td> <td width="302" valign="top"><p align="left">Resource URL (Web Data Object Address)</p> <p align="left">Â </p> </td> <td width="330" valign="top"><p align="left">Unique Identifier (<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Identifier" id="link-id174404d8">URI</a>) that is indepenent of actual Resource (Web Data Object) Address. </p> <p align="left">Note: An Identifier by itself has no utility beyond Identifying a place around which actual data may be clustered. </p> <p align="left">Â </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="97" valign="top"> <p> <strong>Query or Search</strong> </p></td> <td width="194" valign="top"><p align="left"> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Full_text_search" id="link-id18d3d020">Full Text Search</a> patterns</p></td> <td width="302" valign="top"><p align="left">Full Text Search patterns</p></td> <td width="330" valign="top"> <p align="left">Structured Querying via <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SPARQL" id="link-id175ebd30">SPARQL</a> </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="97" valign="top"> <p> <strong>Deployment</strong> </p></td> <td width="194" valign="top"><p align="left"> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Web_server" id="link-id1a6b0b28">Web Server</a> (Document Server)</p></td> <td width="302" valign="top"><p align="left">Web Server + Web Services Deployment modules</p></td> <td width="330" valign="top"><p align="left">Web Server + Linked Data Deployment modules (Data Server)</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="97" valign="top"> <p> <strong>Auto-discovery </strong> </p></td> <td width="194" valign="top"><div align="left"><link rel="alternate"..></div></td> <td width="302" valign="top"><p align="left"><link rel="alternate"..></p></td> <td width="330" valign="top"><p align="left"><link rel="alternate" | "meta"..>, basic and/or transparent content negotiation</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"><strong>Target User </strong></td> <td valign="top"><div align="left">Humans </div></td> <td valign="top"><div align="left">Humans & Text extraction and manipulation oriented agents (Scrappers) </div></td> <td valign="top"><div align="left">Agents with varying degrees of data processing intelligence and capacity </div></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Serendipitous Discovery Quotient (SDQ)</td> <td valign="top">Low</td> <td valign="top">Low</td> <td valign="top">High </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="97" valign="top"> <p> <strong>Pain</strong> </p></td> <td width="194" valign="top"><p align="left">Information Opacity</p></td> <td width="302" valign="top"><p align="left">Information Silos</p></td> <td width="330" valign="top"><p align="left">Data Graph Navigability (Quality)</p></td> </tr> </table>
10 Reasons to use OpenLink Data Spaces (ODS)
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2008-02-08#1314
2008-02-08T17:33:45Z
2008-02-08T17:08:43-05:00
<p>Via post by <a href="http://vanirsystems.com/danielsblog" id="link-id1480d7c0">Daniel Lewis</a>, titled:<a href="http://vanirsystems.com/danielsblog/2008/02/08/10-reasons-to-use-openlink-data-spaces/#comments" id="link-id1320a618">10 Reasons to use OpenLink Data Spaces</a> </p> <blockquote> <p>There are quite a few reasons to use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenLink_Data_Space" id="link-id103eb060">OpenLink Data Spaces (ODS)</a>. Here are 10 of the reasons why I use ODS:</p> <ol> <li>Its native support of DataPortability Recommendations such as <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/RSS" id="link-id18957e88">RSS</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Atom_%28standard%29" id="link-id1410a9c0">Atom</a>, <a href="http://www.apml.org/" id="link-idfde4b90">APML</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Yadis" id="link-id1328c260">Yadis</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/OPML" id="link-id10133f70">OPML</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Microformat" id="link-id16e19be0">Microformats</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Friend_of_a_friend" id="link-id12deef98">FOAF</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SIOC" id="link-id15fb99b0">SIOC</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/OpenID" id="link-id1390ae10">OpenID</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OAuth" id="link-id14dcce70">OAuth</a>.</li> <li>Its native support of Semantic Web Technologies such as: <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Resource_Description_Framework" id="link-id15fc75a0">RDF</a> and <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SPARQL" id="link-id14255238">SPARQL</a>/<a href="http://jena.hpl.hp.com/~afs/SPARQL-Update.html" id="link-id15fe2e40">SPARUL</a> for querying.</li> <li>Everything in ODS is an <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Object_%28computer_science%29" id="link-id11c204a0">Object</a> with its own <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Identifier" id="link-id14812560">URI</a>, this is due to the underlying <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Object-relational_database" id="link-idf663e08">Object-Relational</a> Architecture provided by <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Virtuoso_Universal_Server" id="link-id1484e4c8">Virtuoso</a>.</li> <li>It has all the social media components that you could need, including: <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Blog" id="link-id10120b58">blogs</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Wiki" id="link-id14d9a608">wikis</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Social_network_service" id="link-idf0b3a30">social networks</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Aggregator" id="link-id188d7c78">feed readers</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Customer_relationship_management" id="link-id134a2c48">CRM</a> and a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Calendar" id="link-idf66af80">calendar</a>.</li> <li>It is expandable by installing pre-configured components (called VADs), or by re-configuring a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/LAMP_%28software_bundle%29" id="link-id102e8008">LAMP</a> application to use <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Virtuoso_Universal_Server" id="link-id13fe2b68">Virtuoso</a>. Some examples of current VADs include: <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/MediaWiki" id="link-id1011d9f0">MediaWiki</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/WordPress" id="link-id13624060">Wordpress</a> and <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Drupal" id="link-id100c4510">Drupal</a>.</li> <li>It works with external webservices such as: <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Facebook" id="link-id131fe6d0">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Del.icio.us" id="link-idfdd1580">del.icio.us</a> and <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Flickr" id="link-id1496aff0">Flickr.</a> </li> <li>Everything within OpenLink Data Spaces is <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id17114c00">Linked Data</a>, which provides more meaningful information than just plain structural information. This meaningful information could be used for complex inferencing systems, as ODS can be seen as a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Expert_system" id="link-id15ea4108">Knowledge Base</a>.</li> <li>ODS builds bridges between the existing static-document based web (aka â<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Web_1.0" id="link-idf08b338">Web 1.0</a>â), the more dynamic, services-oriented, social and/or user-orientated webs (aka â<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Web_2.0" id="link-idfde26e0">Web 2.0</a>â) and the web which we are just going into, which is more data-orientated (aka â<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Web_3.0" id="link-idf9b7328">Web 3.0</a>â or âLinked Data Webâ).</li> <li>It is fully supportive of <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Cloud_computing" id="link-id189480d0">Cloud Computing</a>, and can be installed on <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Amazon_Elastic_Compute_Cloud" id="link-id10026778">Amazon EC2</a>.</li> <li>Its released free under the GNU <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/GNU_General_Public_License" id="link-id16002fb0">General Public License (GPL)</a>. [note]However, it is technically dual licensed as it lays on top of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtuoso_Universal_Server" id="link-id132d4238">Virtuoso Universal Server</a> which has both Commercial and GPL licensing[/note]</li> </ol> </blockquote> <p>The features above collectively provide users with a Linked Data Junction Box that may reside with corporate intranets or "out in the clouds" (Internet). You can consume, share, and publish data in a myriad of formats using a plethora of protocols, without any programming. ODS is simply about exposing the data from your Web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 application interactions in structured from, with Linking, Sharing, and ultimately Meshing (not Mashing) in mind.</p> <p> <strong>Note:</strong> Although ODS is equipped with a broad array of Web 2.0 style Applications, you do not need to use native ODS apps in order to exploit it's power. It binds to anything that supports the relevant protocols and data formats.</p>
Semantic Data Web Epiphanies: One Node at a Time
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2008-01-17#1300
2008-01-17T22:59:00Z
2008-01-18T02:27:27.000004-05:00
<p>In 2006, I stumbled across <a href="http://www.jasonkolb.com" id="link-id17165b98">Jason Kolb</a> (online) via a 4-part series of posts titled: <a href="http://www.jasonkolb.com/weblog/2006/08/reinventing_the_1.html" id="link-id14204cf8">Reinventing the Internet</a>. At the time, I realized that Jason was postulating about what is popularly known today as "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_portability" id="link-id1412b280">Data Portability</a>", so I made contact with him (blogosphere style) via a post of my own titled: <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com/weblog/kidehen@openlinksw.com%27s%20BLOG%20%5B127%5D/1033" id="link-id13b1cb20">Data Spaces, Internet Reinvention, and the Semantic Web</a>. Naturally, I tried to unveil to Jason the connection between his vision and the essence of the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Semantic_Web" id="link-id143117f0">Semantic Web</a>. Of course, he was skeptical :-)</p> <p>Jason recently moved to <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Massachusetts" id="link-id13c4a470">Massachusetts</a> which lead to me pinging him about our earlier blogosphere encounter and the emergence of a <a href="http://dataportability.org/" id="link-id17395c60">Data Portability Community</a>. I also informed him about the fact that <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Tim_Berners-Lee" id="link-id105507f0">TimBL</a>, myself, and a number of other Semantic Web technology enthusiasts, frequently meet on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology" id="link-id1719f798">MIT</a> hosted <a href="http://esw.w3.org/topic/CambridgeSemanticWebGatherings" id="link-id1734d460">Cambridge Semantic Web Gatherings</a>, to discuss, demonstrate, debate all aspects of the Semantic Web. Luckily (for both of us), Jason attended the last event, and we got to meet each other in person.</p> <p>Following our face to face meeting in Cambridge, a number of follow-on conversations ensued covering, Linked Data and practical applications of the Semantic Web vision. Jason writes about our exchanges a recent post titled: <a href="http://www.jasonkolb.com/weblog/2008/01/the-semantic-we.html" id="link-id13be6280">The Semantic Web</a>. His passion for Data Portability enabled me to use <a href="http://esw.w3.org/topic/FoafOpenid" id="link-id141516a8">OpenID and FOAF integration</a> to connect the Semantic Web and Data Portability via the Linked Data concept.</p> <p>During our conversations, Jason also eluded to the fact that he had already encountered <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenLink_Software" id="link-id17038218">OpenLink Software</a> while working with our <a href="http://data.openlinksw.com/oplweb/product_category/odbc#this" id="link-id14325f08">ODBC Drivers</a> (part of or <a href="http://data.openlinksw.com/oplweb/product_family/uda#this" id="link-id11ab1008">UDA product family</a>) for <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Informix" id="link-id125858d0">IBM Informix</a> (<a href="http://data.openlinksw.com/oplweb/product/odbc-informix-st#this" id="link-id13b85e30">Single-Tier</a> or <a href="http://data.openlinksw.com/oplweb/product/odbc-informix-mt#this" id="link-id13edceb0">Multi-Tier</a> Editions) a few years ago (interesting random connection).</p> <p>As I've stated in the past, I've always felt that the Semantic Web vision will materialize by way of a global epiphany. The count down to this inevitable event started at the birth of the blogosphere, ironically. And accelerated more recently, through the emergence of <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Web_2.0" id="link-id171d4ec8">Web 2.0</a> and <a href="http://dbpedia.org/page/Social_network" id="link-id140da830">Social Networking</a>, even more ironically :-)</p> <p>The blogosphere started the process of Data Space coalescence via RSS/Atom based semi-strucutured data enclaves, Web 2.0 RDFpropagated Web Service usage en route to creating service provider controlled, data and information silosRDF, Social NetworkingRDF brought attention to the fact that User Generated Data wasn't actually owned or controlled by the Data Creators etc.</p> <p>The emergence of "Data Portability" has created a palatable moniker for a clearly defined, and slightly easier to understand, problem: the meshing of Data and Identity in cyberspace i.e. individual points of presence in cyberspace, in the form of "Personal Data Spaces in the Clouds" (think: doing really powerful stuff with .name domains). In a sense, this is the critical inflection point between the document centric "Web of Linked Documents" and the data centric "Web or Linked Data". There is absolutely no other way solve this problem in a manner that alleviates the imminent challenges presented by information overload -- resulting from the exponential growth of user generated data across the Internet and enterprise Intranets.</p>
W3C's SPARQLing Data Access Ingenuity
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2008-01-15#1295
2008-01-15T22:58:53Z
2008-01-17T15:41:04.000006-05:00
<p>The W3C officially unveiled the SPARQL Query Language today via a press release titled: <a href="http://www.w3.org/2007/12/sparql-pressrelease" id="link-id10074ca8">W3C Opens Data on the Web with SPARQL</a>.</p> <h2>What is <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SPARQL" id="link-id10183f60">SPARQL</a>?</h2> <p>A query language for the burgeoning Structured & <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id10426b18">Linked Data</a> Web (aka <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Semantic_Web" id="link-idffde090">Semantic Web</a> / <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Global_Graph" id="link-id103e3688">Giant Global Graph</a>). Like <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SQL" id="link-id103365f8">SQL</a>, for the Relational Data Model, it provides a query language for the Graph based <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/RDF" id="link-id103e33e8">RDF</a> Data Model.</p> <p>It's also a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Representational_State_Transfer" id="link-id1036a3d0">REST</a> or <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SOAP" id="link-id103b36d8">SOAP</a> based Web Service that exposes SPARQL access to RDF Data via an endpoint. </p> <p>In addition, it's also a Query Results Serialization format that includes <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/XML" id="link-id1023bc60">XML</a> and <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/JSON" id="link-id102c3f88">JSON</a> support.</p> <h2>Why is it Important?</h2> <p>It brings important clarity to the notion of the "Web as a Database" by transforming existing Web Sites, Portals, and Web Services into bona fide corpus of Mesh-able (rather than Mash-able) Data Sources. For instance, you can perform queries that join one or more of the aforementioned data sources in exactly the same manner (albeit different syntax) as you would one or more SQL Tables. </p> <h3>Example:</h3> <p>-- SPARQL equivalent of SQL SELECT * against my personal data space hosted FOAF file</p> <b><pre> SELECT DISTINCT ?s ?p ?o FROM <http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/person/kidehen> WHERE {?s ?p ?o}</pre></b> <p>-- SPARQL against my social network -- Note: My SPARQL will be beamed across all of contacts in the social networks of my contacts as long as they are all HTTP URI based within each data space</p> <b><pre>PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> SELECT DISTINCT ?Person FROM <http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/person/kidehen> WHERE {?s a foaf:Person; foaf:knows ?Person}</pre></b> <p>Note: you can use the basic <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/sparql" id="link-id1007d9b8">SPARQL Endpoint</a>, <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/isparql" id="link-id102c3e08">SPARQL Query By Example</a>, or <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/sparql_demo" id="link-id10201f98">SPARQL Query Builder Demo tool</a> to experiment with the demonstration queries above.</p> <h2>How Do I use It?</h2> <p>SPARQL is implemented by RDF Data Management Systems (Triple or Quad Stores) just as SQL is implemented by Relational Database Management Systems. The aforementioned data management systems will typically expose SPARQL access via a SPARQL endpoint.</p> <h2>Where are it's implementations?</h2> <p>A SPARQL implementors Testimonial page accompanies the SPARQL press release. In addition the is a growing collection of implementations on the<a href="http://esw.w3.org/topic/SparqlImplementations" id="link-id10066ca8"> ESW Wiki Page for SPARQL compliant RDF Triple & Quad Stores</a>.</p> <h2>Is this really a big deal?</h2> <p>Yes! SPARQL facilitates an<a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/presentations/Virtuoso_Sponger_1/Virtuoso_Sponger_1.html" id="link-id101ee5b0"> unobtrusive manifestation of a Linked Data Web</a> by way of natural extension of the existing Document Web i.e these Web enclaves co-exist in symbiotic fashion. </p> <p>As <a href="http://dbpedia.org" id="link-id1037edc0">DBpedia</a> very clearly demonstrates, Linked Data makes the Semantic Web demonstrable and much easier to comprehend. Without SPARQL there would be no mechanism for <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/presentations/Virtuoso_Deploying_Linked_Data/Virtuoso_Deploying_Linked_Data.html" id="link-id10455da8">Linked Data deployment</a>, and without Linked Data there is no mechanism for Beaming Queries (directly or indirectly) across the Giant Global Graph of data hosted by Social Networks, Shard Bookmarks Services, Weblogs, Wikis, RSS/Atom/OPML feeds, Photo Galleries and other Web accessible Data Sources (Data Spaces).</p> <h2>Related items</h2> <ul> <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/cooluris/" id="link-id102021d8">Cool URIs</a> </ul> <ul> <a href="http://sites.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/suhl/bizer/pub/LinkedDataTutorial/" id="link-id1020d5c0">Publishing Linked Data Tutorial</a> </ul> <ul a="a" href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/ODSSIOCRef"> Detailed SPARQL Query Examples using SIOC Data Spaces</ul> <ul> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/ODSFOAFRef" id="link-id102c4608">Detailed SPARQL Query Examples using FOAF Data Spaces</a> </ul>
Semantic Web Killer Application?
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2008-01-10#1293
2008-01-10T19:49:00Z
2008-02-04T20:32:42.000003-05:00
<p>In response to the <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com" id="link-id0x1f562c28">ReadWriteWeb</a> piece titled: <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/semantic_web_what_is_the_killer_app.php" id="link-id0x16961368">Semantic Web: What is the Killer App.</a> by <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/about_alex.php" id="link-id0x16909678">Alex Iskold</a>:</p> <p>Information overload and Data Portability are two of the most pressing and imminent challenges affecting every individual connected to the global village exposed by the Internet and World Wide Web. I wrote an earlier post titled: <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com/weblog/kidehen@openlinksw.com%27s%20BLOG%20%5B127%5D/1267" id="link-idfeb7718">Why We Need Linked Data</a> that shed light on frequently overlooked realities about the Document Web.</p> <p>The real Killer application of the Semantic Web (imho) is <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id10571ef0">Linked Data</a> (or Hyperdata), just as the killer application of the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web" id="link-id102be888">Document Web</a> was Linked Documents (Hyperlinks). Linked Data enables human users (indirectly) and software agents (directly in response to human instruction) to traverse Web Data Spaces (Linked Data enclaves within the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Global_Graph" id="link-id10b6ba08">Giant Global Graph</a>).</p> <p>Semantic Web applications (conduits between humans and agents) that take advantage of Linked Data include:</p> <p> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/DBpedia" id="link-id10fcc8f8">DBpedia</a> - General Knowledge sourced from <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Wikipedia" id="link-id10570808">Wikipedia</a> and a host of other Linked Data Spaces.</p> <p>Various Linked Data Browsers: <a href="http://dataviewer.zitgist.com" id="link-id139a2300">Zitgist Data Viewer</a>, <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/rdfbrowser" id="link-id12fb46f0">OpenLink RDF Browser</a>, <a href="http://www4.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/rdf_browser" id="link-idff652c0">DISCO Browser</a>, and TimBL's <a href="http://dig.csail.mit.edu/2005/ajar/ajaw/tab.html" id="link-idff63998">Tabulator</a>.</p> <p> <a href="http://zlinks.zitgist.com/" id="link-idff62b90">zLknks </a>- Linked Data Lookup technology for Web Content Publishing systems (note: more to come on this in a future post).</p> <p> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenLink_Data_Spaces" id="link-id1054a708">OpenLink Data Spaces</a> - a solution for Data Portability via a Linked Data Junction Box for Web 1.0 ((X)HTML Document Webs), 2.0 (XML Web Services based Content Publishing, Content Syndication, and Aggregation), and 3.0 (Linked Data) Data Spaces. Thus, via my URI (when viewed through a Linked Data Browser/Viewer) you can traverse my Data Space (i.e my Linked Data Graph) generated by the following activities:</p> <ul>Blog Posts publishing</ul> <ul>My RSS & Atom Content Subscriptions (what used to be called a "Blogroll")</ul> <ul>My Bookmarks (from my Desktop and Del.icio.us)</ul> <ul>and other things I choose to share with the public via the Web</ul> <p> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Virtuoso_Universal_Server" id="link-idff89b08">Virtuoso</a> - a Universal Server Platform that includes <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/VOSRDF" id="link-id12ff8810">RDF Data Management</a>, <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/presentations/Virtuoso_Sponger_1/Virtuoso_Sponger_1.html" id="link-idf7739b8">RDFization Middleware</a>, <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/presentations/RDF_Mapping_Presentation_W3C_workshop3/RDF_Mapping_Presentation_W3C_workshop3.html" id="link-id1025ca28">SQL-RDF Mapping</a>, <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/presentations/Virtuoso_Deploying_Linked_Data/Virtuoso_Deploying_Linked_Data.html" id="link-id1324db10">RDF Linked Data Deployment</a>, alongside a hybrid/multi-model, virtual/federated data service in a single product offering.</p> <p></p>BTW - There is a <a href="http://events.linkeddata.org/ldow2008/" id="link-id117a0190">Linked Data Workshop</a> at this years <a href="http://www2008.org/" id="link-id102abe28">World Wide Web conference</a>. Also note the <a href="http://esw.w3.org/topic/HCLS/WWW2008" id="link-id100c3a88">Healthcare & Life Science Workshop</a> which is a related Linked Data technology and Semantic Web best practices realm.
Discussion: OpenLink Data Spaces
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2007-12-01#1280
2007-12-01T15:41:56Z
2007-12-01T15:26:12-05:00
<p>I've been a little busier than usual, of late. So busy, that even minimal blog based discourse participation has been a challenge. Anyway, during this quiet period, a number of interesting data streams have come my way that relate to <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/OdsIndex" id="link-id142b7e40">OpenLink Data Spaces</a> (ODS). Thus, in typical fashion, I'll use this post (via <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Identifier" id="link-id1474d810">URI</a>s) to contribute a few nodes to the <a href="http://dig.csail.mit.edu/breadcrumbs/node/215" id="link-id149d8210">Giant Global Graph </a>that is the Web of Structured <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data" id="link-id139f9190">Linked Data</a>, also known as the <a href="http:dbpedia.org/resource/Semantic_Web" id="link-id1470e588">Data Web, Semantic Data Web, or Web of Data</a> (also see <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q='data%20web'&type=text&output=html" id="link-id13a4f828">prior Data Web posts</a>).</p> <p>Here goes:</p> <ol> <li> <a href="http://bizcast.typepad.com/" id="link-id14769268">Alan Wilensky</a> recalls his <a href="http://bizcast.typepad.com/clients/2007/11/social-networks.html" id="link-id14478c48">early encounters with OpenLink Data Spaces</a> (circa. 2004)</li> <li> <a href="http://www.vanirsystems.co.uk/foaf.rdf" id="link-id14516938">Daniel Lewis</a> shares his "<a href="http://vanirsystems.com/danielsblog/2007/11/29/where-is-the-semantic-web-well-it-is-here-already/" id="link-id149e2518">state of the Semantic Data Web"</a> findings</li> <li> <a href="http://vanirsystems.com/danielsblog/2007/11/30/openlink-data-spaces/" id="link-id14cddaf0">Daniel Lewis experiences OpenLink Data Space first hand</a> en route to creating Data Spaces in the Clouds (the <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com/weblog/kidehen@openlinksw.com%27s%20BLOG%20%5B127%5D/1261" id="link-id146c35c8">Fourth Platform</a>).</li> </ol> <p>In addition, in one week, courtesy of the Web, UK Semnantic Web Gatherings in <a href="http://blogs.talis.com/nodalities/2007/11/cindy_che_and_other_interestin.php" id="link-id14304738">Bristol</a> and <a href="http://oxford.geeknights.net/2007/nov-28th/" id="link-id145589d8">Oxford</a>, I <a href="http://vanirsystems.com/danielsblog/2007/11/21/wanted-job/" id="link-id1399de08">discover</a>, interview, and employ Daniel :-) Imagine how long this would have taken to pull off via the Document Web, assuming I would even discover Daniel.</p> <p>As with all things these days, the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/World_Wide_Web" id="link-id1477a7e0">Web</a> and <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Internet" id="link-id14c3f428">Internet</a> change everything, which includes talent discovery and recruitment.</p> <p>A Global Social graph that is a mesh of Linked Data enables the process of recruitment, marketing, and other elements of busines management to be condensed down to a sending powerful beams across the aforementioned Graph :-) The only variable pieces are the traversal paths exposed to your beam via the beam's entry point URI. In my case, <a href="http://kidehen.idehen.net/dataspace/person/kidehen#this" id="link-id1395e5f0">I have a single URI</a> that exposes a Graph of critical paths for the Blogosphere (i.e data spaces of RSS Atom Feeds). Thus, I can discover if your profile matches the requirements associated with an opening at OpenLink Software (most of the time) before you do :-)</p> <p>BTW - I just noticed that John Breslin described ODS as social-graph++ in his recent post, titled: <a href="http://www.johnbreslin.com/blog/2007/11/30/tales-from-the-sioc-o-sphere-part-6/" id="link-id14c82bc8">Tales from the SIOC-o-sphere, part 6</a>. In a funny way, this reminds of a post from the early blogosphere days about <a href="http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/news/1427/commercial-server-supports-four-weblog-apis" id="link-id14a24c58">platforms and Weblog APIs </a>(circa. 2003) about ODS (then exposed via the Blog Platform realm of <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Virtuoso_Universal_Server" id="link-id14745100">Virtuoso</a>).</p>
Fourth Platform: Data Spaces in The Cloud (Update)
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2007-09-22#1261
2007-09-22T23:43:00Z
2008-10-26T17:59:33-04:00
<p>I've written extensively on the subject of <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=data%20spaces&type=text&output=html" id="link-id134c2280">Data Spaces</a> in relation to the <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=data%20web%0D%0A&type=text&output=html" id="link-id105aef90">Data Web</a> for while. I've also written sparingly about <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/OdsIndex" id="link-id105bd100">OpenLink Data Spaces</a> (a Data Web Platform that build using Virtuoso). On the other hand, I haven't shed much light on installation and deployment of OpenLink Data Spaces.</p> <p> <a href="http://blog.jonudell.net" id="link-id14347f20">Jon Udell</a> recently penned a post titled: <a href="http://blog.jonudell.net/2007/09/21/the-fourth-platform/" id="link-id1439ed48">The Fourth Platform</a>. The post arrives at a spookily coincidental time (this happens quite often between Jon and I as demonstrated last year during our <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/ju_idehen.mp3" id="link-id107d17a8">podcast</a>; the "Fourth" in his Innovators Podcast series).</p> <p>The platform that Jon describes is "Cloud Based" and comprised of Storage and Computation. I would like to add Data Access and Management (native and virtual) under the fourth platform banner with the end product called: "Cloud based Data Spaces". </p> <p>As I write, we are releasing a Virtuoso AMI (Amazon Image) labeled: virtuoso-dataspace-server. This edition of<a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com" id="link-id13543210"> Virtuoso</a> includes the OpenLink Data Spaces Layer and all of the OAT applications we've been developing for a while.</p> <h2>What Benefits Does this offer?</h2> <ol> <li>Personal Data Spaces in the Cloud - a place where you can control and consolidate data across your Blogs, Wikis, RSS/Atom Feed Subscriptions, Shared Bookmarks, Shared Calendars, Discussion Threads, Photo Galleries etc</li> <li>All the data in your Data <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Spaces">Space</a> is <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SPARQL" id="link-id1149a4f8">SPARQL</a> or <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/GData" id="link-id107a9f28">GData</a> accessible.</li> <li>All of the data in your Personal Data Space is <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data">Linked Data</a> from the get go. Each Item of data is <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Uniform_Resource_Identifier">URI</a> addressable</li> <li> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SIOC" id="link-id104f4160">SIOC</a> support - your Blogs, Wikis, Bookmarks etc.. are based on the SIOC ontology for Semantically Interlinking Online Communities (think: Open social-graph++) </li> <li> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Friend_of_a_friend" id="link-id105beb78">FOAF</a> support - your FOAF Profile page provides a URI that is an in-road to all Data in your Data Space.</li> <li> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/OpenID" id="link-id1144e138">OpenID</a> support - your Personal Data Space ID is usable wherever OpenID is supported. OpenID and FOAF are integrated as per latest FOAF specs</li> <li>Two Integration with Facebook - You can access your Data Space from Facebook or access Facebook from your Data Space</li> <li>Unified Storage - The WebDAV based filesystem provides Cloud Storage that's integrated with Amazon S3; It also exposes all of your Data Space data via a traditional filesystem UI (think virtual Spotlight); You can also mount this drive to your local filesystem via your native operating system's WebDAV support</li> <li> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SyncML" id="link-id11128f48">SyncML</a> - you can sync calendar and contact details with your Data Space in the cloud from your Mobile phone.</li> <li>A practical Semantic Data Web solution - based on Web Infrastructure and doesn't require you to do anything beyond exposing URIs for data in your Data Spaces.</li> </ol> <h2> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Amazon_Elastic_Compute_Cloud" id="link-id115d1920">EC2</a>-AMI Details:</h2> <ul>AMI ID: ami-e2ca2f8b</ul> <ul>Manifest file: virtuoso-images/virtuoso-dataspace-server.manifest.xml</ul> <h2>Installation Guide:</h2> <ol> <li>Get an Amazon Web Services (AWS) account</li> <li>Signup for S3 and EC2 services</li> <li>Install the EC2 plugin for Firefox</li> <li>Start the EC2 plugin</li> <li>Locate the row containing <b>ami-7c31d515  Manifest virtuoso-test/virtuoso-cloud-beta-9-i386.manifest.xml </b>(sort using the AMI ID or Manifest Columns or search on pattern: virtuoso, due to name flux)</li> <li>Start the Virtuoso Data Space Server AMI</li> <li>Wait 4-5 minutes (*take a few minutes to create the pre-configured Linux Image*)</li> <li>Connect to http://<public_dns_name_of_your_instance>http://your-ec2-instance-cname:8890/ Log in with user/password dba/dba</public_dns_name_of_your_instance> </li> <li>Go to the Admin UI (Virtuoso Conductor) and change the PWDs for the 'dba' and 'dav' accounts (*Important!*)</li> <li>Give the "SPARQL" user "SPARQL_UPDATE" privileges (required if you want to exploit the in-built Sponger Middleware)</li> <li>Click on the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/OpenLink_Data_Spaces">ODS</a> (OpenLink Data Spaces) link to start an Personal Editon of OpenLink Data Spaces (or go to: http://your-ec2-instance-cname/dataspace/ods/index.html)</li> <li>Log-in using the username and password credentials for the 'dav' account (or register a new user note: OpenID is an option here also) Create an Data Space Application Instance by clicking on a Data Space App. Tab</li> <li>Import data from your existing Web 2.0 style applications into OpenLink Data Spaces e.g. subscribe to a few RSS/Atom feeds via the "Feeds Manager" application or import some Bookmarks using the "Bookmarks" application</li> <li>Then look at the imported data in Linked Data form via your ODS generated URIs based on the patterns: http://your-ec2-instance-cname/dataspace/person/your-ods-id#this (URI for You the Person), http://your-ec2-instance-cname/dataspace/person/your-ods-id (FOAF File URI), http://your-ec2-instance-cname/dataspace/your-ods-id (SIOC File URI)<br /> </li> </ol> <h2> (OAT) from your Data Space instance</h2>Install the OAT VAD package via the Admin UI and then apply the URI patterns below within your browser:<br /> <ol> <li>http://<public_dns_name_of_your_instance>:8890/oatdemo - Entire OAT Demo Collection</public_dns_name_of_your_instance> </li> <li>http://<public_dns_name_of_your_instance>:8890/rdfbrowser - RDF Browser</public_dns_name_of_your_instance> </li> <li>http://<public_dns_name_of_your_instance>:8890/isparql - SPARQL Query Builder (iSPARQL)</public_dns_name_of_your_instance> </li> <li>http://<public_dns_name_of_your_instance>:8890/qbe - SQL Query Builder (iSQL)</public_dns_name_of_your_instance> </li> <li>http://<public_dns_name_of_your_instance>:8890/formdesigner - Forms Builder (for building Meshups based on RDF, SQL, or Web Servives Data Souces)</public_dns_name_of_your_instance> </li> <li>http://<public_dns_name_of_your_instance>:8890/dbdesigner - SQL DB Schema Designer (note a Visual SQL-RDF Mapper is also on it's way</public_dns_name_of_your_instance> </li> <li>http://<public_dns_name_of_your_instance>:8890/DAV/JS/ - To view the OAT Tree (there are some experimental demos that are missing from the main demo app etc..) </public_dns_name_of_your_instance> </li> </ol> <p>There's more to come!</p>
Semantic Web Value Proposition
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2007-09-20#1254
2007-09-21T02:23:00Z
2007-09-21T08:05:07.000009-04:00
<p>The motivation behind this post is a response to the <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com">Read/WriteWeb</a> post titled: <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/semantic_web_difficulties_with_classic_approach.php">Semantic Web: Difficulties with the Classic Approach</a>.</p> <p>First off, I am going to focus on the Semantic Data Web aspect of the overall Semantic Web vision (a continuum) as this is what we have now. I am also writing this post as a deliberate contribution to the discourse swirling around the real topic: Semantic Web Value Proposition.</p> <h2>Situation Analysis</h2> <p>We are in the early stages of the long anticipated<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Knowledge_economy"> Knowledge Economy</a>. That being the case, it would be safe to assume that information access, processing, and dissemination are of utmost importance to individuals and organizations alike. You don't produce knowledge in a vacum! Likewise, you can produce Information in a vacum, you need Data.</p> <h2>The Semantic Data Web's value to Individuals</h2> <b>Problem:</b> <p>Increasingly, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Blog">Blogs</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Wiki">Wikis</a>, <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Social_bookmarking">Shared Bookmarks</a>, Photo Galleries, Discussion Forums, Shared Calendars and the like, have become invaluable tools for individual and organizational participation in Web enabled global discourse (where a lot of knowledge is discovered). These tools, are typically associated with <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Web_2">Web 2.0</a>, implying Read-Write access via <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Web_service">Web Services</a>, centralized application hosting, and data lock-in (silos).</p> <p>The reality expressed above is a recipe for "<a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Information_overload">Information Overload</a>" and complete annihilation of ones effective pursuit and exploitation of knowledge due "Time Scarcity" (note: disconnecting is not an option). Information abundance is inversely related to available processing time (for humans in particular). In my case for instance, I was actively subscribed to over 500+ RSS feeds in 2003. As of today, I've simply stopped counting, and that's just my Weblog Data Space. Then add to that, all of the Discussions I track across Blogs, wikis, message boards, mailing lists, traditional usnet discussion forumns, and the like, and I think you get the picture. </p> <p>Beyond information overload, Web 2.0 data is "Semi-Structured" by way of it's dominant data containers ((X)HTML, RSS, Atom documents and data streams etc.) lacking semantics that formally expose individual data items as distinct entities, endowed with unambiguous naming / identification, descriptive attributes (a type of property/predicate), and relationships (a type of property/predicate).</p> <b>Solution:</b> <p>Devise a standard for Structured Data Semantics that is compatible with the <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com/weblog/kidehen@openlinksw.com%27s%20BLOG%20%5B127%5D/1231">Web Information BUS</a>.</p> <p>Produce <a href="http://www.mkbergman.com/?p=153">structured data</a> (entities, entity types, entity relationships) from Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 resources that already exists on the Web such that individual entities, their attributes, and relationships are accessible and discernible to software agents (machines).</p> <p>Once the entities are individually exposed, the next requirement is a mechanism for selective access to these entities i.e. a query language. </p> <p> Semantic Data Web Technologies that facilitate the solution described above include:</p> <b>Structured Data Standards:</b> <ul> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/RDF">RDF</a> - Data Model for structured data</ul> <ul>RDF/XML - A serialization format for RDF based structured data</ul> <ul> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Notation_3">N3</a> / <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Turtle_%28syntax%29">Turtle</a> - more human friendly serialization formats for RDF based structured data</ul> <b>Entity Exposure & Generation:</b> <ul> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/GRDDL">GRDDL</a> - enables association between XHTML pages and XSLT stylesheets that facilitates loosely coupled "on the fly" extraction of RDF from non RDF documents</ul> <ul> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/RDFa">RDFa</a> - enables document publishers or viewers (i.e those repurposing or annotating) to embed structured data into existing XHTML documents</ul> <ul> <a href="http://research.talis.com/2005/erdf/wiki/Main/RdfInHtml">eRDF</a> - another option for embedding structured RDF data within (X)HTML documents</ul> <ul> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/%7Ekidehen/?id=1172">RDF Middleware</a> - typically incorporating GRDDL, RDFa, eRDF, and custom extraction and mapping as part of a structured data production pipeline</ul>. <b>Entity Naming & Identification:</b> <p>Use of URIs or IRIs for uniquely identifying physical (HTML Documents, Image Files, Multimedia Files etc..) and abstract (People, Places, Music, and other abstract things). </p> <b>Entity Access & Querying:</b> <ul> <p> <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SPARQL">SPARQL</a> Query Language - the <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SQL">SQL</a> analog of the Semantic Data Web that enables query constructs that target named entities, entity attributes, and entity relationships</p> </ul> <ul> <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-sparql-protocol/">SPARQL Protocol</a> - a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Representational_State_Transfer">REST</a> or <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/SOAP">SOAP</a> style Web Service for transporting SPARQL Queries to Structured Data Sources.</ul> <ul> <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-sparql-XMLres/">SPARQL Results Serialization Formats</a> - query results serialization formats that includes XML(sparql+xml) and JSON.</ul> <h2>The Semantic Data Web's value to Organizations</h2> <b>Problem:</b> <p>Organizations are rife with a plethora of business systems that are built atop a myriad of database engines, sourced from a variety of DBMS vendors. A typical organization would have a different database engine, from a specific DBMS vendor, underlying critical business applications such as: Human Resource Management (HR), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Accounting, Supply Chain Management etc. In a nutshell, you have DBMS Engines, and DBMS Schema heterogeneity permeating the IT infrastructure of organizations on a global scale, making Data & Information Integration the biggest headache across all IT driven organizations.</p> <b>Solution:</b> <p>Alleviation of the pain (costs) associated with Data & Information Integration. </p> <b>Semantic Data Web offerings:</b> <p>A dexterous data model (RDF) that enables the construction of conceptual views of disparate data sources across an organization based on existing web architecture components such as HTTP and URIs.</p> <p>Existing middleware solutions that facilitate the exposure of SQL DBMS data as RDF based Structured Data include:</p> <ul> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/VOSSQLRDF">Virtuoso's Meta Schema Language for RDF Views of SQL Data</a> (also see the <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/Whitepapers/pdf/Virtuoso_SQL_to_RDF_Mapping.pdf">Virtuoso SQL-RDF Technical White Paper</a>)</ul> <ul> <a href="http://sites.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/suhl/bizer/D2RQ/">D2RQ</a> </ul> <ul> <a href="http://ccnt.zju.edu.cn/projects/dartgrid">DataGrid</a> </ul> <ul> <a href="http://esw.w3.org/topic/RdfAndSql">Others</a> </ul> <p> BTW - There is an upcoming <a href="http://www.w3.org/2007/03/RdfRDB/">W3C Workshop covering the integration of SQL and RDF data</a>.</p> <h2>Conclusion</h2> <p>The Semantic Data Web is here, it's value delivery vehicle is the URI. The URI is a conduit to Interlinked Structured Data (RDF based Linked Data) derived from existing data sources on the World Wide Web alongside data continuously injected into the Web by organizations world wide. Ironically, the Semantic Data Web only platform that crystallizes the: Information at Your Fingertips vision, without development environment, operating system, application, or database lock-in. You simply click on a <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Linked_Data">Linked Data URI</a> and the serendipitous exploration and discovery of data commences.</p> <p>The unobtrusive emergence of the Semantic Data Web is a reflection of the soundness of the underlying Semantic Web vision.</p> <p>If you are excited about <a href="http://dbpedia.org/resource/Mashup_%28web_application_hybrid%29">Mash-ups</a> then your are a Semantic Web enthusiast and benefactor in the making, because you only "Mash" (brute force data extraction and interlinking) because you can't "Mesh" (natural data extraction and interlinking). Likewise, if you are a social-networking, open social-graph, or portable social-network enthusiast, then you are also a Semantic Data Web benefactor and enthusiasts, because your "values" (yes, the values associated with the properties that define you e.g your interests etc) are the fundamental basis for portable, open, social-networking, which is what the Semantic Data Web hands to you on a platter without compromise (i.e. data lock-in or loss of data ownership).</p> <b>Some practical examples of Semantic Data Web prowess:</b> <ul> <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/DAV/JS/rdfbrowser/index.html?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.readwriteweb.com%2Farchives%2Fsemantic_web_difficulties_with_classic_approach.php">Read/WriteWeb via the OpenLink Data Web Browser</a> (click on the different viewing tabs to see what structured data exploitation in action)</ul> <ul> <a href="http://browser.zitgist.com/?uri=http%3A//www.readwriteweb.com/archives/semantic_web_difficulties_with_classic_approach.php">Read/WriteWeb via the Zitgist Data Web Browser</a> </ul> <ul> <a href="http:/dbpedia.org">DBpedia</a> (*note: I deliberately use DBpedia URIs in my posts where I would otherwise have used a Wikipedia article URI*)</ul> <ul> <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/zitgist-browser-linker/">Zitgist zLinks</a> - <a href="http://www.mkbergman.com/?p=400">Mike Bergman's Blog Post also demonstrating zLinks</a> </ul>
Enterprise 0.0, Linked Data, and Semantic Data Web
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2007-06-14#1224
2007-06-14T15:28:26Z
2008-02-04T23:19:26.000001-05:00
<p>Last week we <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/press/virt_501.htm">officially released Virtuoso 5.0.1</a> (in Commercial and Open Source Editions). The press release provided us with an official mechanism and timestamp for the current Virtuoso feature set.</p> <p>A vital component of the new Virtuoso release is the finalization of our SQL to RDF mapping functionality -- enabling the declarative mapping of SQL Data to RDF. Additional technical insight covering other new features (delivered and pending) is provided by <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblogs/oerling/">Orri Erling</a>, as part of a series of post-Banff posts.</p> <h2>Why is SQL to RDF Mapping a Big Deal?</h2> <p>A majority of the world's data (especially in the enterprise realm) resides in SQL Databases. In addition, Open Access to the data residing in said databases remains the biggest challenge to enterprises for the following reasons:</p> <ol> <li> SQL Data Sources are inherently heterogeneous because they are acquired with business applications that are in many cases inextricably bound to a particular DBMS engine </li> <li> Data is predictably dirty </li> <li> DBMS vendors ultimately hold the data captive and have traditionally resisted data access standards such as ODBC (*trust me they have, just look at the unprecedented bad press associated with ODBC the only truly platform independent data access API. Then look at how this bad press arose..*) </li> </ol> <p> Enterprises have known from the beginning of modern corporate times that data access, discovery, and manipulation capabilities are inextricably linked to the "Real-time Enterprise" nirvana (hence my use of 0.0 before this becomes 3.0).</p> <p>In my experience, as someone whose operated in the data access and data integration realms since the late '80s, I've painfully observed enterprises pursue, but unsuccessfully attain, full control over enterprise data (the prized asset of any organization) such that data-, information-, knowledge-workers are just a click away from commencing coherent platform and database independent data drill-downs and/or discovery that transcend intranet, internet, and extranet boundaries -- serendipitous interaction with relevant data, without compromise!</p> <p>Okay, situation analysis done, we move on.. </p> <p>At our most recent (<a href="http://esw.w3.org/topic/CambridgeSemanticWebGatherings/Meeting/2007-06-12_Gathering">12th June</a>) monthly <a href="http://esw.w3.org/topic/CambridgeSemanticWebGatherings">Semantic Web Gathering</a>, I unveiled to <a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/card#i">TimBL</a> and a host of other attendees a simple, but powerful, demonstration of how <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linked_Data">Linked Data</a>, as an aspect of the <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2007/tc20070409_961951.htm">Semantic Data Web</a>, can be applied to enterprise data integration challenges.</p> <h2>Actual SQL to RDF Mapping Demo / Experiment</h2> <h4>Hypothesis</h4> A SQL Schema can be effectively mapped declaratively to RDF such that SQL Rows morph into RDF Instance Data (Entity Sets) based on the Concepts & Properties defined in a Concrete Conceptual Data Model oriented Data Dictionary (<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/rdf/rdf_schema.asp">RDF Schema</a> and/or <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/rdf/rdf_owl.asp">OWL Ontology</a>). In addition, the solution must demonstrate how "Linked Data in the Web" is completely different from "Data on the Web" or "Linked Data on the Web" (btw - <a href="http://kasei.us/people/Tom_Heath/">Tom Heath</a> eloquently unleashed this point in his recent <a href="http://blogs.talis.com/nodalities/2007/06/tom_heath_talks_with_talis_abo.php">podcast interview with Talis</a>). <h4>Apparatus</h4> An Ontology - in this case we simply derived the <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/DAV/home/demo/Public/Queries/SQLRDFIntegraton/Explore_Northwind_Ontology.isparql">Northwind Ontology</a> from the XML Schema based CSDL (<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/adonet/archive/2007/01/30/entity-data-model-part-1.aspx">Conceptual Schema Definition Language</a>) used by Microsoft's public <a href="http://astoria.mslivelabs.com/Default.aspx">Astoria demo</a> (specifically the <a href="http://astoria.mslivelabs.com/termsOfUseNorthwind.aspx?returnURL=Northwind">Northwind Data Services demo</a>). SQL Database Schema - <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/library/media/1033/technet/images/prodtechnol/sql/2000/maintain/sscpop07_big.gif">Northwind</a> (comes bundled with ACCESS, SQL Server, and Virtuoso) comprised of tables such as: <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/schemas/northwind#Customer">Customer</a>, <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/schemas/northwind#Employee">Employee</a>, <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/schemas/northwind#Product">Product</a>, <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/schemas/northwind#Category">Category</a>, <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/schemas/northwind#Supplier">Supplier</a>, <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/schemas/northwind#Shipper">Shipper</a> etc. <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/virtuoso/">OpenLink Virtuoso</a> - SQL DBMS Engine (although this could have been any <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Database_Connectivity">ODBC</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Database_Connectivity">JDBC</a> accessible Database), <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/virtuoso/Whitepapers/pdf/Virtuoso_SQL_to_RDF_Mapping.pdf">SQL-RDF Metaschema Language</a>, HTTP URL-rewriter, WebDAV Engine, and DBMS hosted XSLT processor Client Tools -<a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/isparql/"> iSPARQL Query Builder</a>, <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/DAV/JS/rdfbrowser/index.html">RDF Browser</a> (which could also have been <a href="http://www.w3.org/2005/ajar/tab">Tabulator</a> or<a href="http://sites.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/suhl/bizer/ng4j/disco/"> DISCO</a> or a standard Web Browser) <h4>Experiment / Demo</h4> <ol> <li> Declaratively map the Northwind SQL Schema to RDF using the Virtuoso Meta Schema Language (see: <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/DAV/home/demo/Public/Queries/SQLRDFIntegraton/northwind_sql_rdf.sql">Virtuoso PL based Northwind_SQL_RDF script</a>) </li> <li> Start browsing the data by clicking on the URIs that represent the RDF Data Model Entities resulting from the SQL to RDF Mapping </li> </ol> <h4>Observations</h4> <ol> <li> Via a single Data Link click I was able to obtain specific information about the Customer represented by the URI <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/Northwind/Customer/ALFKI">"ALFKI"</a> (act of URI Dereferencing as you would an Object ID in an Object or Object-Relational Database) </li> <li> Via a <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/DAV/home/demo/Public/Queries/SQLRDFIntegraton/Explore_Northwind.isparql">Dynamic Data Page </a> I was able to explore all the entity relationships or specific entity data (i.e Exploratory or Entity specific dereferencing) in the Northwind Data Space </li> <li> I was able to perform similar exploration (as per item 2) using our <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/DAV/home/demo/Public/Queries/SQLRDFIntegraton/Explore_Northwind_Customer_ALFKI.wqx">OpenLink Browser. </a> </li> </ol> <h4>Conclusions</h4> <p>The vision of data, information, or knowledge at your fingertips is nigh! Thanks to the infrastructure provided by the Semantic Data Web (URIs, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_Description_Framework">RDF Data Model</a>, variety of RDF Serialization Formats[<a href="http://www.dajobe.org/2004/01/turtle/">1</a>][<a href="http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Notation3">2</a>][<a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2002/WD-rdf-syntax-grammar-20020325/">3</a>], and Shared Data Dictionaries / Schemas / Ontologies [<a href="http://xmlns.com/foaf/spec/">1</a>][<a href="http://rdfs.org/sioc/spec/">2</a>][<a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/swbp-skos-core-guide/">3</a>][<a href="http://musicontology.com/">4</a>][<a href="http://bblfish.net/work/atom-owl/2006-06-06/AtomOwl.html">5</a>]) it's now possible to Virtualize enterprise data from the Physical Storage Level, through the Logical Data Management Levels (Relational), up to a Concrete Conceptual Model (Graph) without operating system, development environment or framework, or database engine lock-in.</p> <h2>Next Steps</h2> <p>We produce a shared ontology for the CRM and Business Reporting Domains. I hope this experiment clarifies how this is quite achievable by converting XML Schemas to RDF Data Dictionaries (RDF Schemas or Ontologies). Stay tuned :-) </p> <p>Also watch <a href="http://news.com.com/1606-2-6189377.html">TimBL amplify and articulate Linked Data value</a> in a recent interview.</p> <h2>Other Related Matters</h2> <p>To deliver a mechanism that facilitates the crystallization of this reality is a contribution of boundless magnitude (as we shall all see in due course). Thus, it is easy to understand why even "her majesty", the queen of England, simply had to get in on the act and <a href="http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page1880.asp">appoint TimBL to the "British Order of Merit</a>" :-)</p> <p>Note: All of the demos above now work with IE & Safari (a "remember what Virtuoso is epiphany") by simply putting Virtuoso's DBMS hosted XSLT engine to use :-) This also applies to my earlier collection of demos from the <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=hello%20data%20web&type=text&output=html">Hello Data Web</a> and other <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=.isparql&type=text&output=html">Data Web & Linked Data related demo style posts</a>.</p>
Semantic Web Data Spaces
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2007-04-13#1185
2007-04-13T21:15:54Z
2007-04-13T18:19:29.000001-04:00
<b>Web Data Spaces</b> <p>Now that broader understanding of the Semantic Data Web is emerging, I would like to revisit the issue of "<a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q='data%20spaces'&type=text&output=html">Data Spaces</a>".</p> <p>A Data Space is a place where Data Resides. It isn't inherently bound to a specific Data Model (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_model">Concept Oriented</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_model">Relational</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchical_database">Hierarchical</a> etc..). Neither is it implicitly an access point to Data, Information, or Knowledge (the perception is purely determined through the experiences of the user agents interacting with the Data Space.</p> <p>A Web Data Space is a Web accessible Data Space.</p> <p>Real world example:</p> <p>Today we increasing perform one of more of the following tasks as part of our professional and personal interactions on the Web:</p> <ol> <li>Blog via many service providers or personally managed weblog platforms</li> <li>Create Event Calendars via <a href="http://upcoming.com">Upcoming.com</a> and <a href="http://eventful.com">Eventful</a> </li> <li>Maintain and participate in Social Networks (e.g. <a href="http://facebook.com">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://orkut.com">Orkut</a>, <a href="http://myspace.com">MySpace</a>)</li> <li>Create and Participate in Discussions (note: when you comment on blogs or wikis for instance, you are participating in, or creating, a conversation)</li> <li>Track news by subscribing to <a href="http://web.resource.org/rss/1.0/">RSS 1.0</a>, <a href="http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html">RSS 2.0</a>, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom_(standard)">Atom</a> Feeds</li> <li>Share Bookmarks & Tags via <a href="http://del.icio.us">Del.icio.us</a> and other Services</li> <li>Share Photos via <a href="http://flickr.com">Flickr</a> </li> <li>Buy, Review, or Search for books via <a href="http://amazon.com">Amazon</a> </li> <li>Participates in auctions via <a href="http://ebay.com">eBay</a> </li> <li>Search for data via <a href="http://google.com">Google</a> (of course!)</li> </ol> <p> <a href="http://www.johnbreslin.com/">John Breslin</a> has nice a <a href="http://www.johnbreslin.com/blog/wp-content/20051015a.gif">animation depicting the creation of Web Data Spaces</a> that drives home the point.</p> <b>Web Data Space Silos</b> <p> Unfortunately, what isn't as obvious to many netizens, is the fact that each of the activities above results in the creation of data that is put into some context by you the user. Even worse, you eventually realize that the service providers aren't particularly willing, or capable of, giving you unfettered access to your own data. Of course, this isn't always by design as the infrastructure behind the service can make this a nightmare from security and/or load balancing perspectives. Irrespective of cause, we end up creating our own "Data Spaces" all over the Web without a coherent mechanism for accessing and meshing these "Data Spaces".</p> <b>What are Semantic Web Data Spaces?</b> <p>Data Spaces on the Web that provide granular access to RDF Data.</p> <b>What's OpenLink Data Spaces (ODS) About?</b> <blockquote> <p>Short History</p> <p>In anticipation of this the "Web Data Silo" challenge (an issue that we tackled within internal enterprise networks for years) we commenced the development (circa. 2001) of a distributed collaborative application suite called OpenLink Data Spaces (ODS). The project was never released to the public since the problems associated with the deliberate or inadvertent creation of Web Data silos hadn't really materialized (silos only emerged in concreted form after the emergence of the Blogosphere and Web 2.0). In addition, there wasn't a clear standard Query Language for the RDF based Web Data Model (i.e. the SPARQL Query Language didn't exist).</p> </blockquote> <p> Today, ODS is delivered as a packaged solution (in Open Source and Commercial flavors) that alleviates the pain associated with Data Space Silos that exist on the Web and/or behind corporate firewalls. In either scenario, ODS simply allows you to create Open and Secure Data Spaces (via it's suite of applications) that expose data via SQL, RDF, XML oriented data access and data management technologies. Of course it also enables you to integrates transparently with existing 3rd party data space generators (Blogs, Wikis, Shared Bookmrks, Discussion etc. services) by supporting industry standards that cover:</p> <ol> <li> Content Publishing - Atom, <a href="http://www.sixapart.com/developers/product_documentation/movable_type/">Moveable Type</a>, <a href="http://www.xmlrpc.com/metaWeblogApi">MetaWeblog</a>, Blogger protocols </li> <li> Content Syndication Formats - RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0, Atom, OPML etc. </li> <li> Data Management - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL">SQL</a>, <a href="http://www.w3.org/RDF/">RDF</a>, XML, Free Text </li> <li> Data Access - SQL, <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-sparql-query/">SPARQL</a>, GData, Web Services (SOAP or REST styles), WebDAV/HTTP </li> <li> Semantic Data Web Middleware - <a href="http://www.w3.org/2004/01/rdxh/spec">GRDDL</a>, <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt">XSLT</a>, SPARQL, XPath/XQuery, HTTP (Content Negotiation) for producing RDF from non RDF Data ((X)HTML, Microformats, XML, Web Services Response Data etc). </li> </ol> <p>Thus, by installing ODS on your Desktop, Workgroup, Enterprise, or public Web Server, you end up with a very powerful solution for creating Open Data access oriented presence on the "Semantic Data Web" without incurring any of the typically assumed "RDF Tax".</p> <p>Naturally, ODS is built atop <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com">Virtuoso</a> and of course it exploits Virtuoso's feature-set to the max. It's also beginning to exploit functionality offered by the OpenLink Ajax Toolkit (<a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/DAV/JS/demo/index.html">OAT</a>).</p>
Data Web, Googlebase, and Yahoo!
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2007-03-22#1165
2007-03-22T23:04:21Z
2007-03-22T19:14:55-04:00
<p>A defining characteristic of the Data Web (Context Oriented Web 3.0) is that it facilitates Meshups rather than Mashups.</p> <p>Quick Definitions:</p> <ul> Mashups - Brute force joining of disparate Web Data</ul> <ul> Meshups - Natural joining of disparate Web Data </ul> <p> Reasons for the distinction:</p> <ul>Mashups are Data Model oblivious.</ul> <ul>Meshups are Data Model driven.</ul> <p>Examples:</p> <ul> Mashups are based on RSS 2.0 most of the time (RSS 2.0 is at best a Tree Structure that contains untyped or meaning challenged links.</ul> <ul> Meshups are RDF based and the data is self describing since the links are typed (posses inherent meaning thereby providing context).</ul> <p>So what? You may be thinking.</p> <p>For starters, I can quite easily Mesh data from Googlebase (which emits RSS 2.0 or Atom) and other data sources with the Mapping Services from Yahoo!</p> <p>I can achieve this in minutes without writing a single line of code. I can do it because of the Data Model prowess of RDF (self-describing instance-data), the data interchange and transformation power of XML and XSLT respectively, the inherent power of XML based Web Services (REST or SOAP), and of course, having a Hybrid Server product like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtuoso_Universal_Server">Virtuoso</a> at my disposal that delivers a cross platform solution for exploiting all of these standards coherently.</p> <p>I can share the self-describing describing data source that serves my Meshup. Try reusing the data presented by a Mashup via the same URL that you used to locate Mashup to get my drift.</p> <p>Demo Links:</p> <ol> <li> <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/DAV/JS/rdfbrowser/index.html#http%3A%2F%2Fdemo.openlinksw.com%2FDAV%2Fhome%2Fdemo%2FPublic%2FQueries%2FDataWeb%2Fgoogle_base_jobs_dataspace.isparql">Googlebase Query URL as an RDF Data Source</a> </li> <li>Perform a simple Data Mesh by adding (via link copy and paste) this <a href="http://upcoming.org/search/?q=ajax&scope=allmetros&type=Events">Upcoming.org Query Services URL for Ajax Events</a> to the RDF Browsers list of Data Sources (paste into the Data Source URI input field).</li> </ol> <p>What does this all mean?</p> <p>"Context" is the catalyst of the burgeoning Data Web (Semantic Web Layer - 1). It's the <a href="http://sramanamitra.com/blog/729">emerging appreciation of "Context"</a> that is driving the growing desire to increment Web versions from 2.0 to 3.0. It also the the very same "Context" that has been a preoccupation of <a href="http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Activity">Semantic Web vision</a> since its inception.</p> <p>The journey towards a more Semantic Web is all inclusive (all "ANDs" and no "ORs" re. participation).</p> <p>The Semantic Web is <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen/?id=887">self-annotating</a>. Web 2.0 has provided a huge contribution to the self annotation effort: on the Web we now have Data Spaces for Bookmarks (e.g del.icio.us), Image Galleries ( e.g Flickr), Discussion Forums (remember those comments associated with blog posts? ditto the pingbacks and trackbacks?), People Profiles (FOAF, XFN, del.icio.us, and those crumbling walled-gardens around many Social Networks), and more..</p> <p>A Web without granular access to Data is simply not a Web worth having (think about the menace of click-fraud and spam).</p>
Semantic Web & Data Integration
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2007-01-18#1122
2007-01-18T00:36:25Z
2007-01-18T09:25:51.000006-05:00
<p> <a href="http://www.betaversion.org/~stefano/">Stefano Mazzocchi</a>, via his blog: <a href="http://www.betaversion.org/~stefano/linotype/">Stefano's Linotype</a>, delivers <a href="http://www.betaversion.org/~stefano/linotype/news/99/">insightful contribution</a> to the ongoing effort to recapture the essence of the original <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_Web">Semantic Web </a>vision.</p> <p>The Semantic Web is about granular exposure of the underlying web-of-data that fuels the World Wide Web. It models "<a href="http://www.w3.org/1999/04/WebData">Web Data</a>" using a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_(mathematics)">Directed Graph</a> Data Model (back-to-the-future: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_model">Network Model Database</a>) called <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-primer/">RDF</a>.</p> <p>In line with contemporary database technology thinking, the Semantic Web also seeks to expose Web Data to architects, developers, and users via a concrete <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_schema">Conceptual Layer</a> that is defined using <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-schema/">RDF Schema</a>.</p> <p>The abstract nature of Conceptual Models implies that actual instance data (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity-relationship_diagrams">Entities, Attributes, and Relationships/Associations</a>) occurs by way of "Logical to Conceptual" schema mapping and data generation that can involve a myriad of logical data sources (SQL, XML, Object databases, traditional web content, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rss_%28file_format%29">RSS</a>/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom_%28standard%29">Atom</a> feeds etc.). Thus, by implication, it is safe assume that the Semantic Web's construction is basically a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_integration">Data Integration</a> and exposure effort. The point that Stefano alludes to in the blog post excerpts that follow: </p> <blockquote> <p>The semantic web is really just data integration at a global scale. Some of this data might end up being consistent, detailed and small enough to perform symbolic reasoning on, but even if this is the case, that would be such a small, expensive and fragile island of knowledge that it would have the same impact on the world as calculus had on deciding to invade Iraq.</p> <p>The biggest problem we face right now is a way to 'link' information that comes from different sources that can scale to hundreds of millions of statements (and hundreds of thousands of equivalences). Equivalences and subclasses are the only things that we have ever needed of <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-features/">OWL</a> and RDFS, we want to 'connect' dots that otherwise would be unconnected. We want to suggest people to use whatever ontology pleases them and then think of just mapping it against existing ones later. This is easier to bootstrap than to force them to agree on a conceptualization before they even know how to start!</p> </blockquote> <p>Additional insightful material from Stefano:</p> <ol> <li> <a href="http://www.betaversion.org/~stefano/linotype/news/57/">A No-Nonsense Guide to Semantic Web Specs for XML People [Part I]</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.betaversion.org/~stefano/linotype/news/78/">A No-nonsense Guide to Semantic Web Specs for XML People [Part II]</a> </li> </ol> <p> <a href="http://bnode.org/blog/sw_en">Benjamin Nowack</a> also chimes into this conversation via his <a href="http://rdfer.com/swk/data-information-knowledge">simple guide to understanding Data, Information, and Knowledge</a> in relation so the Semantic Web.</p>
Web Me2.0 -- Exploding the Myth of Web 2.0
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2006-11-15#1081
2006-11-15T23:17:36Z
2006-11-16T16:11:46-05:00
<p> <a href="http://novaspivack.typepad.com/nova_spivacks_weblog/">Nova Spivack</a> provides poignant insights into the recent Web 2.0 vs Web 3.0 brouhaha which I've excerpted below: </p> <blockquote> <a href="http://novaspivack.typepad.com/nova_spivacks_weblog/2006/11/web_me20_explod.html">Web Me2.0 -- Exploding the Myth of Web 2.0</a>: <p>"Many people have told me this week that they think 'Web 2.0' has not been very impressive so far and that they really hope for a next-generation of the Web with some more significant innovation under the hood -- regardless of what it's called. A lot of people found the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco to be underwhelming -- there was a lot of self-congratulation by the top few brands and the companies they have recently bought, but not much else happening. Where was all the innovation? Where was the focus on what's next? It seemed to be a conference mainly about what happened in the last year, not about what will happen in the coming year. But what happened last year is already so 'last year.' And frankly Web 2.0 still leaves a lot to be desired. The reason Tim Berners-Lee proposed the Semantic Web in the first place is that it will finally deliver on the real potential and vision of the Web. Not that today's Web 2.0 sucks completely -- it only sort of sucks. It's definitely useful and there are some nice bells and whistles we didn't have before. But it could still suck so much less!"</p> </blockquote> <p>Web 2.0 is a (not was) a piece of the overall Web puzzle. The Data Web (so called Web 3.0) is another critical piece of this puzzle, especially as it provides the foundation layer (Layer 1) of the Semantic Web.</p> <p>Web 2.0 was never about "Open Data Access", "Flexible Data Models", or "Open World" meshing of disparate data sources built atop disparate data schemas (see: <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen/?id=1032">Web 2.0's Open Data Access Conundrum</a>). It was simply about "Execution and APIs". I already written about "Web Interaction Dimensions", but you call also look at the relationship of the currently perceived dimensions through the M-V-C programming pattern: </p> <ol> <li>Viewer (V) - Web 1.0 (Interaction, Dimension 1 - Interactive-Web)</li> <li>Controller (C) - Web 2.0 (Services, Dimension 2 - Services-Web which is about Execution & Application Logic; SOA outside/in-front-of the Firewall for Enterprise 2.0 crowd)</li> <li>Model (M) - Web 3.0 (Data, Dimension 3 - Data-Web which is about data model dexterity and open data access)</li> </ol> <p>Another point to note, Social Networking is hot, but nearly every social network that I know (and I know and use most of them) suffers from an impedance mismatch between the service(s) they provide (social networks) and their underlying data models (in many cases Relational as opposed to Graph). Networks are about Relationships (N-ary) and your cannot effectively exploit the deep potential of: "Network Effects" (Wisdom of Crowds, Viral Marketing etc..) without a complimentary data model, you simply can't.</p> <p>Finally, the Data Web is already here, I promised a long time ago (Internet Time) that the manifestation of the Semantic Web would occur unobtrusively, meaning, we will wake up one day and realize we are using critical portions of the Semantic Web (i.e. Data-Web) without even knowing it. Guess what? It's already happening. Simple case in point, you may have started to notice the emergence of <a href="http://rdfs.org/sioc/spec/">SIOC</a> gems in the same way you may have observed those RSS 2.0 gems at the dawn of Web 2.0. What I am implying here is that the real question we should be asking is: Where is the Semantic Web Data? And how easy or difficult will it be to generate? And where are the tools? My answers are presented below:</p> <p> </p> <ol> <li> <a href="http://pingthesemanticweb.com/">Pingthesemanticweb.com</a> - Semantic Web Data Source Lookup & Tracking Service</li> <li> <a href="http://swoogle.umbc.edu/">Swoogle </a>- Semantic Web Ontology Location Service</li> <li> <a href="http://esw.w3.org/topic/RdfAndSql">Semantic Web Solutions for Generating RDF Data from SQL Data</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://esw.w3.org/topic/SemanticWebTools">Semantic Web Solutions Directory</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://sioc-project.org/">SIOC Project</a> - Semantically-Interlinked Online Communities Ontology, a grassroots effort that provides a critical bridge between Web 2.0 and the Data-Web. For instance, existing Web 2.0 application profiles such as; Blogs, Wikis, Feed Aggregators, Content Managers, Discussion Forums etc.. are much closer to the Data-Web than you may think :-) </li> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/">Virtuoso</a> - our <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtuoso_Universal_Server">Universal Server</a> for the Data-Web</li> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/OdsIndex">OpenLink Data Spaces</a> (ODS) - our SIOC based platform for transparent incorporation of the Data-Web into Web 1.0 and Web 2.0</li> </ol> <p>Next stop, less writing, more demos, these are long overdue! At least from my side of the fence :-) I need to produce a little step-by-guide oriented screencasts that demonstrates how Web 2.0 meshes nicely with the Data-Web.</p> <p>Here are some (not so end-user friendly) examples of how you can use <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-sparql-query/">SPARQL</a> (Data-Web's Query Language) to query Web 2.0 Instance Data projected through the SIOC Ontology:</p> <p> </p> <ol> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/ODSSIOCRef#Weblog%20Data%20Space">Weblog Data Query</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/ODSSIOCRef#Wiki%20Data%20Space">Wiki Data Query</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/ODSSIOCRef#Feeds%20/%20Subscriptions%20Data%20Space%20(Feed%20Aggregation)">Aggregated Feeds Data Query</a> - (RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0, Atom etc)</li> <li a="a" href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/ODSSIOCRef#Bookmarks%20Data%20Space">Shared Bookmarks Data Space</li> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/ODSSIOCRef#Briefcase%20Applications%20Data%20Space">Web Filesystem Data Query</a> - (Briefcase - Virtual Spotlight of sorts)</li> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/ODSSIOCRef#Photo%20Gallery%20Data%20Space">Photo Gallery Data Query</a> (this could be data from Flickr etc..)</li> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/ODSSIOCRef#Discussion%20/%20Conversation%20Data%20Space">Discussion Data Query</a> (e.g. Blog posts comments)</li> <li> <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/ODSSIOCRef#Generic%20Data%20Space%20Queries">Data Queries across different Data Spaces</a> - combining data from Wikis, Blogs, Feeds, Photos, Bookmarks, Discussions etc..</li> </ol> <p>Note: You can use the online SPARQL Query Interface at: http://demo.openlinksw.com/isparql.</p> <p> </p> <p> Other Data-Web Technology usage demos include:</p> <p> </p> <ol> <li> <a href="http://www.w3.org/2005/ajar/tab">TimBL's Tabulator</a> - A Data-Web Browser</li> <li> <a href="http://sites.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/suhl/bizer/ng4j/semwebclient/#examples">Semantic Web Client Library</a> - <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-concepts/">RDF</a> Data Drill Down Demos using SPARQL</li> <li> <a href="http://sioc-project.org/firefox">Semantic Radar</a> - A Firefox plug-in for auto-discovering SIOC Instance Data</li> <li> <a href="http://www.talkdigger.com/">Talk Digger</a> - SIOC based Web Conversation Tracker</li> </ol>
Virtuoso's SQL Schema to RDF Ontology Mapping Language (1.0)
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2006-10-18#1064
2006-10-18T22:18:00Z
2006-11-17T18:24:25-05:00
<p>A new technical white paper about our declarative language for SQL Schema to RDF Ontology Mapping has just been published.</p> <h2>What is this?</h2> <p>A declarative language adapted from SPARQL's graph pattern language (N3/Turtle) for mapping SQL Data to RDF Ontologies. We currently refer to this as a Graph Pattern based RDF VIEW Definition Language.</p> <h2>Why is it important?</h2> <p>It provides an effective mechanism for exposing existing SQL Data as virtual RDF Data Sets (Graphs) negating the data duplication associated with generating physical RDF Graphs from SQL Data en route to persistence in a dedicated Triple Store. </p> <p>Enterprise applications (traditional and web based) and most Web Applications (Web 1.0 and Web 2.0) sit atop relational databases, implying that SQL/RDF model and data integration is an essential element of the burgeoning "Data Web" (Semantic Web - Layer 1) comprehension and adoption process.</p> <p>In a nutshell, this is a quick route for non disruptive exposure of existing SQL Data to SPARQL supporting RDF Tools and Development Environments.</p> <h2>How does it work?</h2> <h3>RDF Side</h3> <ol> <li>locate one or more Ontologies (e.g FOAF, SIOC, AtomOWL, SKOS etc.) that effectively defines the Concepts (Classes) and Terms (Predicates) to be exposed via your RDF Graph</li> <li>Using the Virtuoso's RDF View Definition Language declare a International Resource Identifier (or URI) for your Graph. Example:<pre>CREATE GRAPH IRI("http://myopenlink.net/dataspace")</pre> </li> <li>Then create Classes (Concepts), Class Properties/Predicates (Memb), and Class Instances (Inst) for the new Graph. Example: <pre>CREATE IRI CLASS odsWeblog:feed_iri "http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/kidehen/weblog/MyFeeds" ( in memb varchar not null, in inst varchar not null)</pre> </li> </ol> <h3>SQL Side</h3> <ol> <li>If Virtuoso isn't your SQL Data Store, Identify the ODBC or JDBC SQL data source(s) containing the SQL data to be mapped to RDF and then link the relevant tables into Virtuoso's Virtual DBMS Layer</li> <li>Then use the RDF View Definition Language's graph pattern feature to generate SQL to RDF Mapping Template for your Graph. As shown in this <a href="http://www.usnet.private:8889/wiki/main/Main/VOSSQLRDF#MappingOdsBlogToAtomOwlExample">ODS Weblog -> AtomOWL Mapping example</a>.</li> </ol>
Web 2.0's Open Data Access Conundrum (Update)
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2006-09-05#1034
2006-09-05T21:02:00Z
2006-11-16T16:11:45-05:00
<p> Open Data Access and Web 2.0 have a very strange relationship that continues to blur the lines of demarcation between where Web 2.0 ends and where Web.Next (i.e Web 3.0, Semantic/Data Web, Web of Databases etc.) starts. But before I proceed, let me attempt to define Web 2.0 one more time: </p> <p style="text-align: center;"> <em>A phase in the evolution web usage patterns that emphasizes Web Services based interaction between âWeb Usersâ and âPoints of Web Presenceâ over traditional âWeb Usersâ and âWeb Sitesâ based interaction. Basically, a transition from visual site interaction to presence based interaction.</em> </p> <p> BTW - Dare Obasanjo also commented about Web usage patterns in his post titled: <a href="http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=929a7fd6-1dfc-43f4-a549-d2c9fa873655">The Two Webs</a>. Where he concluded that we had a dichotomy along the lines of: HTTP-for-APIs (2.0) and HTTP-for-Browsers (1.0). Which <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell">Jon Udell</a> evolved into: HTTP-Services-Web and HTTP-Intereactive-Web during our recent <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/ju_idehen.mp3">podcast conversation</a>. </p> <p> With definitions in place, I will resume my quest to unveil the aforementioned Web 2.0 Data Access Conundrum: </p> <ul> <li>Emphasis on XML's prowess in the realms of Data and Protocol Modeling alongside Data Representation. Especially as SOAP or REST styles of Web Services and various XML formats (RSS 0.92/1.0/1.1/2.0, Atom, OPML, OCS etc.) collectively define the Web 2.0 infrastructure landscape</li> <li>Where a modicum of Data Access appreciation and comprehension does exist it is inherently compromised by business models that mandate some form of âWalled Gardensâ and âData Silosâ</li> <li>Mash-ups are a response to said âWalled Gardensâ and âData Silosâ . Mash-ups by definition imply combining things that were not built for recombination.</li> </ul> <p> As you can see from the above, Open Data access isn't genuinely compatible with Web 2.0. </p> <p> We can also look at the same issue by way of the popular M-V-C (Model View Controller) pattern. Web 2.0 is all about the âVâ and âCâ with a modicum of âMâ at best (data access, open data access, and flexible open data access are completely separate things). The âCâ items represent application logic exposed by SOAP or REST style web services etc. I'll return to this later in this post. </p> <p> What about Social Networking you must be thinking? Isn't this a Web 2.0 manifestation? Not at all (IMHO). The Web was developed / invented by Tim Berners-Lee to leverage the âNetwork Effectsâ potential of the Internet for connecting <a href="http://www.w3.org/History/1989/Image1.gif">People and Data</a>. Social Networking on the other hand, is simply one of several ways by which construct network connections. I am sure we all accept the fact that connections are built for many other reasons beyond social interaction. That said, we also know that through social interactions we actually develop some of our most valuable relationships (we are social creatures after-all). </p> <p> The Web 2.0 Open Data Access impedance reality is ultimately going to be the greatest piece of tutorial and usecase material for the Semantic Web. I take this position because it is human nature to seek Freedom (in unadulterated form) which implies the following: </p> <ul> <li>Access Data from a myriad of data sources (irrespective of structural differences at the database level)</li> <li>Mesh (not Mash) data in new and interesting ways</li> <li>Share the meshed data with as many relevant people as possible for social, professional, political, religious, and other reasons</li> <li>Construct valuable networks based on data oriented connections</li> </ul> <p> Web 2.0 by definition and use case scenarios is inherently incompatible with the above due to the lack of Flexible and Open Data Access. </p> <p> If we take the definition of Web 2.0 (above) and rework it with an appreciation Flexible and Open Data Access you would arrive at something like this: </p> <p style="text-align: center;"> <em>A phase in the evolution of the web that emphasizes interaction between âWeb Usersâ and âWeb Dataâ facilitated by Web Services based APIs and an Open & Flexible Data Access Model â. </em> </p> <p> <em> <br /> </em>In more succinct form: </p> <p style="text-align: center;"> <em>A pervasive network of people connected by data or data connected by people.</em> </p> <p> <em> <br /> </em>Returning to M-V-C and looking at the definition above, you now have a complete of âMâ which is enigmatic in Web 2.0 and the essence of the Semantic Web (Data and Context). </p> <p> To make all of this possible a palatable Data Model is required. The model of choice is the Graph based RDF Data Model - not to be mistaken for the RDF/XML serialization which is just that, a data serialization that conforms to the aforementioned RDF data model. </p> <p> <strong>The Enterprise Challenge</strong> </p> <p> Web 2.0 cannot and will not make valuable inroads into the the enterprise because enterprises live and die by their ability to exploit data. Weblogs, Wikis, Shared Bookmarking Systems, and other Web 2.0 distributed collaborative applications profiles are only valuable if the data is available to the enterprise for meshing (not mashing). </p> <p> A good example of how enterprises will exploit data by leveraging networks of people and data (social networks in this case) is shown in this nice presentation by Accenture's Institute for High Performance Business titled: <a href="http://www.accenture.com/xdoc/en/AccentureSNA.swf">Visualizing Organizational Change</a>. </p> <p> Web 2.0 commentators (for the most part) continue to ponder the use of Web 2.0 within the enterprise while forgetting the congruency between enterprise agility and exploitation of people & data networks (The very issue emphasized in this original <a href="http://www.w3.org/History/1989/proposal.html">Web vision document by Tim Berners-Lee</a>). Even worse, they remain challenged or spooked by the Semantic Web vision because they do not understand that Web 2.0 is fundamentally a Semantic Web precursor due to Open Data Access challenges. Web 2.0 is one of the greatest demonstrations of why we need the Semantic Web at the current time. </p> <p> Finally, juxtapose the items below and you may even get a clearer view of what I am an attempting to convey about the virtues of Open Data Access and the inflective role it plays as we move beyond Web 2.0: </p> <p> <a href="http://www.w3.org/History/1989/proposal.html">Information Management Proposal </a>- <a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/">Tim Berners-Lee</a> <br /> <a href="http://www.accenture.com/xdoc/en/AccentureSNA.swf">Visualizing Organizational Change</a> - <a href="http://www.accenture.com/Global/High_Performance_Business/default.htm">Accenture Institute of High Performance Business</a> </p>
Web 2.0's Open Data Access Conundrum
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2006-09-02#1032
2006-09-02T16:47:52Z
2006-11-16T15:51:43-05:00
<p> Open Data Access and Web 2.0 have a very strange relationship that continues to blur the lines of demarcation between where Web 2.0 ends and where Web.Next (i.e Web 3.0, Semantic/Data Web, Web of Databases etc.) starts. But before I proceed, let me attempt to define Web 2.0 one more time: </p> <p style="text-align: center;"> <em>A phase in the evolution web usage patterns that emphasizes Web Services based interaction between âWeb Usersâ and âPoints of Web Presenceâ over traditional âWeb Usersâ and âWeb Sitesâ based interaction. Basically, a transition from visual site interaction to presence based interaction.</em> </p> <p> BTW - Dare Obasanjo also commented about Web usage patterns in his post titled: <a href="http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=929a7fd6-1dfc-43f4-a549-d2c9fa873655">The Two Webs</a>. Where he concluded that we had a dichotomy along the lines of: HTTP-for-APIs (2.0) and HTTP-for-Browsers (1.0). Which <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell">Jon Udell</a> evolved into: HTTP-Services-Web and HTTP-Intereactive-Web during our recent <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/ju_idehen.mp3">podcast conversation</a>. </p> <p> With definitions in place, I will resume my quest to unveil the aforementioned Web 2.0 Data Access Conundrum: </p> <ul> <li>Emphasis on XML's prowess in the realms of Data and Protocol Modeling alongside Data Representation. Especially as SOAP or REST styles of Web Services and various XML formats (RSS 0.92/1.0/1.1/2.0, Atom, OPML, OCS etc.) collectively define the Web 2.0 infrastructure landscape</li> <li>Where a modicum of Data Access appreciation and comprehension does exist it is inherently compromised by business models that mandate some form of âWalled Gardensâ and âData Silosâ</li> <li>Mash-ups are a response to said âWalled Gardensâ and âData Silosâ . Mash-ups by definition imply combining things that were not built for recombination.</li> </ul> <p> As you can see from the above, Open Data access isn't genuinely compatible with Web 2.0. </p> <p> We can also look at the same issue by way of the popular M-V-C (Model View Controller) pattern. Web 2.0 is all about the âVâ and âCâ with a modicum of âMâ at best (data access, open data access, and flexible open data access are completely separate things). The âCâ items represent application logic exposed by SOAP or REST style web services etc. I'll return to this later in this post. </p> <p> What about Social Networking you must be thinking? Isn't this a Web 2.0 manifestation? Not at all (IMHO). The Web was developed / invented by Tim Berners-Lee to leverage the âNetwork Effectsâ potential of the Internet for connecting <a href="http://www.w3.org/History/1989/Image1.gif">People and Data</a>. Social Networking on the other hand, is simply one of several ways by which construct network connections. I am sure we all accept the fact that connections are built for many other reasons beyond social interaction. That said, we also know that through social interactions we actually develop some of our most valuable relationships (we are social creatures after-all). </p> <p> The Web 2.0 Open Data Access impedance reality is ultimately going to be the greatest piece of tutorial and usecase material for the Semantic Web. I take this position because it is human nature to seek Freedom (in unadulterated form) which implies the following: </p> <ul> <li>Access Data from a myriad of data sources (irrespective of structural differences at the database level)</li> <li>Mesh (not Mash) data in new and interesting ways</li> <li>Share the meshed data with as many relevant people as possible for social, professional, political, religious, and other reasons</li> <li>Construct valuable networks based on data oriented connections</li> </ul> <p> Web 2.0 by definition and use case scenarios is inherently incompatible with the above due to the lack of Flexible and Open Data Access. </p> <p> If we take the definition of Web 2.0 (above) and rework it with an appreciation Flexible and Open Data Access you would arrive at something like this: </p> <p style="text-align: center;"> <em>A phase in the evolution of the web that emphasizes interaction between âWeb Usersâ and âWeb Dataâ facilitated by Web Services based APIs and an Open & Flexible Data Access Model â. </em> </p> <p> <em> <br /> </em>In more succinct form: </p> <p style="text-align: center;"> <em>A pervasive network of people connected by data or data connected by people.</em> </p> <p> <em> <br /> </em>Returning to M-V-C and looking at the definition above, you now have a complete of âMâ which is enigmatic in Web 2.0 and the essence of the Semantic Web (Data and Context). </p> <p> To make all of this possible a palatable Data Model is required. The model of choice is the Graph based RDF Data Model - not to be mistaken for the RDF/XML serialization which is just that, a data serialization that conforms to the aforementioned RDF data model. </p> <p> <strong>The Enterprise Challenge</strong> </p> <p> Web 2.0 cannot and will not make valuable inroads into the the enterprise because enterprises live and die by their ability to exploit data. Weblogs, Wikis, Shared Bookmarking Systems, and other Web 2.0 distributed collaborative applications profiles are only valuable if the data is available to the enterprise for meshing (not mashing). </p> <p> A good example of how enterprises will exploit data by leveraging networks of people and data (social networks in this case) is shown in this nice presentation by Accenture's Institute for High Performance Business titled: <a href="http://www.accenture.com/xdoc/en/AccentureSNA.swf">Visualizing Organizational Change</a>. </p> <p> Web 2.0 commentators (for the most part) continue to ponder the use of Web 2.0 within the enterprise while forgetting the congruency between enterprise agility and exploitation of people & data networks (The very issue emphasized in this original <a href="http://www.w3.org/History/1989/proposal.html">Web vision document by Tim Berners-Lee</a>). Even worse, they remain challenged or spooked by the Semantic Web vision because they do not understand that Web 2.0 is fundamentally a Semantic Web precursor due to Open Data Access challenges. Web 2.0 is one of the greatest demonstrations of why we need the Semantic Web at the current time. </p> <p> Finally, juxtapose the items below and you may even get a clearer view of what I am an attempting to convey about the virtues of Open Data Access and the inflective role it plays as we move beyond Web 2.0: </p> <p> <a href="http://www.w3.org/History/1989/proposal.html">Information Management Proposal </a>- <a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/">Tim Berners-Lee</a> <br /> <a href="http://www.accenture.com/xdoc/en/AccentureSNA.swf">Visualizing Organizational Change</a> - <a href="http://www.accenture.com/Global/High_Performance_Business/default.htm">Accenture Institute of High Performance Business</a> </p>
Data Spaces and Web of Databases
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2006-08-28#1030
2006-08-28T19:38:00Z
2006-09-04T18:58:56.000001-04:00
<p>Note: An updated version of a previously unpublished blog post:</p> <p> Continuing from <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2006/04/28.html">our recent Podcast conversation</a>, Jon Udell sheds further insight into the essence of our conversation via a âStrategic Developerâ column article titled: <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/redirect?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/05/03/77873_19OPstrategic_1.html">Accessing the web of databases</a>. </p> <p> Below, I present an initial dump of a DataSpace FAQ below that hopefully sheds light on the DataSpace vision espoused during my podcast conversation with Jon. </p> <p> What is a DataSpace? <br /> </p> <p>A moniker for Web-accessible atomic containers that manage and expose Data, Information, Services, Processes, and Knowledge. </p> <p> What would you typically find in a Data Space? Examples include: </p> <ul> <li>Raw Data - SQL, HTML, XML (raw), XHTML, RDF etc.<br /> <br /> </li> <li>Information (Data In Context) - XHTML (various microformats), Blog Posts (in RSS, Atom, RSS-RDF formats), Subscription Lists (OPML, OCS, etc), Social Networks (FOAF, XFN etc.), and many other forms of applied XML.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Web Services (Application/Service Logic) - REST or SOAP based invocation of application logic for context sensitive and controlled data access and manipulation.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Persisted Knowledge - Information in actionable context that is also available in transient or persistent forms expressed using a Graph Data Model. A modern knowledgebase would more than likely have RDF as its Data Language, RDFS as its Schema Language, and OWL as its Domain Definition (Ontology) Language. Actual Domain, Schema, and Instance Data would be serialized using formats such as RDF-XML, N3, Turtle etc).</li> </ul> <p> How do Data Spaces and Databases differ? <br />Data Spaces are fundamentally problem-domain-specific database applications. They offer functionality that you would instinctively expect of a database (e.g. AICD data management) with the additonal benefit of being data model and query language agnostic. Data Spaces are for the most part DBMS Engine and Data Access Middleware hybrids in the sense that ownership and control of data is inherently loosely-coupled. </p> <p>How do Data Spaces and Content Management Systems differ?<br />Data Spaces are inherently more flexible, they support multiple data models and data representation formats. Content management systems do not possess the same degree of data model and data representation dexterity. </p> <p>How do Data Spaces and Knowledgebases differ?<br />A Data Space cannot dictate the perception of its content. For instance, what I may consider as knowledge relative to my Data Space may not be the case to a remote client that interacts with it from a distance, Thus, defining my Data Space as Knowledgebase, purely, introduces constraints that reduce its broader effectiveness to third party clients (applications, services, users etc..). A Knowledgebase is based on a Graph Data Model resulting in significant impedance for clients that are built around alternative models. To reiterate, Data Spaces support multiple data models. </p> <p> What Architectural Components make up a Data Space? </p> <ul> <li>ORDBMS Engine - for Data Modeling agility (via complex purpose specific data types and data access methods), Data Atomicity, Data Concurrency, Transaction Isolation, and Durability (aka ACID).<br /> <br /> </li> <li>Virtual Database Engine - for creating a single view of, and access point to, heterogeneous SQL, XML, Free Text, and other data. This is all about Virtualization at the Data Access Level.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Web Services Platform - enabling controlled access and manipulation (via application, service, or protocol logic) of Virtualized or Disparate Data. This layer handles the decoupling of functionality from monolithic wholes for function specific invocation via Web Services using either the SOAP or REST approach.</li> </ul> <br />Where do Data Spaces fit into the Web's rapid evolution?<br />They are an essential part of the burgeoning Data Web / Semantic Web. In short, they will take us from data âMash-upsâ (combining web accessible data that exists without integration and repurposing in mind) to âMesh-upsâ (combining web accessible data that exists with integration and repurposing in mind).<p> Where can I see a DataSpace along the lines described, in action? </p> <p> Just look at my blog, and take the journey as follows: </p> <ul> <li> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/%7Ekidehen/">Front Door</a> (Web 1.0)</li> <li>Lounge (Web 2.0) via <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/GData/127">GData</a> or <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&type=text&kwds=%27semantic+web%27&OpenSearch">OpenSearch</a> </li> <li>Floor Plan via <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com/about.rdf">FOAF</a> or <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com/sioc.rdf">SIOC</a> RDF Data Sets (Graphs)</li> <li>Rest of the house (beyond Web 2.0) sending <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/VOSODSSparqlSamples">SPARQL Queries</a> to a <a href="http://myopenlink.net:8890/sparql/">SPARQL Endpoint</a>.<br /> </li> </ul> <p> What about other Data Spaces? </p> <p> There are several and I will attempt to categorize along the lines of query method available: <br />Type 1 (Free Text Search over HTTP): <br />Google, MSN, Yahoo!, Amazon, eBay, and most Web 2.0 plays . </p> <p> Type 2 (Free Text Search and XQuery/XPath over HTTP) <br />A few blogs and Wikis (Jon Udell's and a few others)</p>Type 3 (RDF Data Sets and SPARQL Queryable):<br /> <ul> <li>  <a href="http://esw.w3.org/topic/SIOC/EnabledSites">SIOC enabled sites</a> (aka points of semantic web presence)<br /> </li> <li>  <a href="http://pingthesemanticweb.com/">PingTheSemantic</a> <br /> </li> </ul>Type 4 (Generic Free Text Search, OpenSearch, GData, XQuery/XPath, and SPARQL):<br />Points of Semantic Web presence such as the Data Spaces at: <br /> <ul> <li> <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com">My Blog Data Space</a> (as stated earlier in this post)<br /> </li> <li> <a href="http://myopenlink.net:8890/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com">My General Data Space</a> - (ditto; note that this is currently experimental)<br /> </li> </ul> <p>What About Data Space aware tools?<br /> <br /> </p> <ul> <li>  <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/DAV/JS/oat/index.html/">OpenLink Ajax Toolkit </a>- provides Javascript Control level binding to Query Services such as XMLA for SQL, GData for Free Text, OpenSearch for Free Text, SPARQL for RDF, in addition to service specific Web Services (Web 2.0 hosted solutions that expose service specific APIs)</li> <li>  <a href="http://rdfs.org/sioc/firefox">Semantic Radar </a>- a Firefox Extension</li> <li>  <a href="http://pingthesemanticweb.com/">PingTheSemantic</a> - the Semantic Webs equivalent of Web 2.0's weblogs.com</li> <li>  <a href="http://simile.mit.edu/piggy-bank/">PiggyBank</a> - a Firefox Extension</li> </ul> <p> </p>
"Free" Databases: Express vs. Open-Source RDBMSs
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2006-05-05#968
2006-05-05T16:02:17Z
2006-07-21T07:21:57.000006-04:00
<p>Very detailed and insightful peek into the state of affairs re. database engines (Open & Closed Source).</p> <p>I added the missing piece regarding the "Virtuoso Conductor" (the Web based Admin UI for Virtuoso) to the original post below. I also added a link to our live SPARQL Demo so that anyone interested can start playing around with SPARQL and SPARQL integrated into SQL right away.</p> <p>Another good thing about this post is the vast amount of valuable links that it contains. To really appreciate this point simply visit my Linkblog (excuse the current layout :-) - a Tab if you come in via the front door of this <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/opinions/index.html">Data Space</a> (what I used to call <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/%7Ekidehen/">My Weblog Home Page</a>).</p> <blockquote> <p> <a href="http://oakleafblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/free-databases-express-vs-open-source.html">"Free" Databases: Express vs. Open-Source RDBMSs</a>: "<span style="font-family: verdana;">Open-source relational database management systems (RDBMSs) are gaining IT mindshare at a rapid pace. As an example, <em>BusinessWeek</em>'s February 6, 2006 '</span> <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2006/tc20060206_918648.htm"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Taking On the Database Giants</span> </a><span style="font-family: verdana;">' article asks 'Can open-source upstarts compete with Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft?' and then provides the answer: 'It's an uphill battle, but customers are starting to look at the alternatives.'</span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;">There's no shortage of open-source alternatives to look at. The <em>BusinessWeek</em> article concentrates on <a href="http://www.mysql.com/">MySQL</a>, which <em>BW</em> says 'is trying to be the Ikea of the database world: cheap, needs some assembly, but has a sleek, modern design and does the job.' The article also discusses <a href="http://www.postgresql.org/">Postgre[SQL]</a> and <a href="http://www.ingres.com/products/Prod_Ingres_2006.html">Ingres</a>, as well as <a href="http://www.enterprisedb.com/">EnterpriseDB</a>, an Oracle clone created from PostgreSQL code*. Sun includes <a href="http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/postgres.jsp">PostgreSQL with Solaris 10</a> and, as of April 6, 2006, with <a href="http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/819-2183/6n4g726uc?a=view">Solaris Express</a>.**</span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">*Frank Batten, Jr., the investor who originally funded Red Hat, invested a reported </span> <a href="http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28201"><span style="font-size: 85%;">$16 million into Great Bridge</span> </a><span style="font-size: 85%;"> with the hope of making a business out of providing paid support to PostgreSQL users. </span> <a href="http://news.com.com/2100-1001-272715.html"><span style="font-size: 85%;">Great Bridge stayed in business only 18 months</span> </a><span style="font-size: 85%;">, having </span> <a href="http://news.com.com/2100-1001-268915.html"><span style="font-size: 85%;">missed an opportunity to sell the business to Red Hat</span> </a><span style="font-size: 85%;"> and finding that selling </span> <a href="http://news.com.com/2100-1001-269729.html"><span style="font-size: 85%;">$50,000-per-year support packages</span> </a><span style="font-size: 85%;"> for an open-source database wasn't easy. As Batten concluded, 'We could not get customers to pay us big dollars for support contracts.' Perhaps EnterpriseDB will be more successful with a choice of </span> <a href="http://www.enterprisedb.com/shop.do?cID=10000&pID=10001"><span style="font-size: 85%;">$5,000, $3,000, or $1,000 annual support subscriptions</span> </a><span style="font-size: 85%;">.</span> </span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 85%;">**Interestingly, <a href="http://www.sun.com/smi/Press/sunflash/2005-11/sunflash.20051115.4.xml">Oracle announced in November 2005</a> that Solaris 10 is 'its preferred development and deployment platform for most x64 architectures, including x64 (x86, 64-bit) AMD Opteron and Intel Xeon processor-based systems and Sun's UltraSPARC(R)-based systems.'</span> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;">There is a surfeit of reviews of current MySQL, PostgreSQL andâto a lesser extentâIngres implementations. These three open-source RDBMSs come with their own or third-party management tools. These systems compete against free versions of commercial (proprietary) databases: <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/sql/">SQL Server 2005 Express Edition</a> (and its MSDE 2000 and 1.0 predecessors), <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/xe/index.html" target="_blank">Oracle Database 10g Express Edition</a>, <a href="http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/db2/udb/db2express/download.html" target="_blank">IBM DB2 Express-C</a>, and <a href="http://www.sybase.com/linux_promo" target="_blank">Sybase ASE Express Edition for Linux</a> where database size and processor count limitations aren't important. Click <a href="http://www.ftponline.com/special/sqlserver/rjennings-overview/table4.aspx">here</a> for a summary of recent <em>InfoWorld</em> reviews of the full versions of these four databases plus MySQL, which should be valid for Express editions also. The <a href="http://www.ftponline.com/special/sqlserver/">FTPOnline Special Report</a> article, 'Microsoft SQL Server Turns 17,' that contains the preceding table is <a href="http://www.ftponline.com/special/sqlserver/rjennings-overview/">here</a> (requires registration.)</span> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> <strong><span style="font-family: verdana;">SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SP-1 Advanced Features</span> </strong> </p> <p> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=4C6BA9FD-319A-4887-BC75-3B02B5E48A40&displaylang=en">SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Features</a> enhances SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (SQL Express or SSX) dramatically, so it deserves special treatment here. SQL Express gains full text indexing and now supports SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) on the local SSX instance. The SP-1 with Advanced Features setup package, which Microsoft released on April 18, 2006, installs the release version of SQL Server Management Studio Express (SSMSE) and the full version of Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) for designing and editing SSRS reports. My '<a href="http://www.ftponline.com/special/sqlserver/rjennings-sp1/">Install SP-1 for SQL Server 2005 and Express</a>' article for FTPOnline's <a href="http://www.ftponline.com/special/sqlserver/">SQL Server Special Report</a> provides detailed, illustrated installation instructions for and related information about the release version of SP-1. SP-1 makes SSX the most capable of all currently available Express editions of commercial RDBMSs for Windows.</span> </p> <p> <strong><span style="font-family: verdana;">OpenLink Software's Virtuoso Open-Source Edition</span> </strong> <br /> <span style="font-family: verdana;"></span> <br /> <span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="http://openlinksw.com/">OpenLink Software</a> announced an <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/">open-source version</a> of it's <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/">Virtuoso Universal Server</a> commercial DBMS on April 11, 2006. On the initial date of this post, May 2, 2006, Virtuoso Open-Source Edition (VOS) was virtually under the radar as an open-source product. According to <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/press/VOSPressRelease.htm">this press release</a>, the new edition includes:</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> </p> <blockquote> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> </blockquote> <blockquote></blockquote> <blockquote></blockquote> <ul> <li> <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/sparql_demo/">SPARQL compliant RDF Triple Store</a> </li> <li>SQL-200n Object-Relational Database Engine (SQL, XML, and Free Text) </li> <li>Integrated BPEL Server and Enterprise Service Bus</li> <li>WebDAV and Native File Server </li> <li>Web Application Server that supports PHP, Perl, Python, ASP.NET, JSP, etc. </li> <li>Runtime Hosting for Microsoft .NET, Mono, and Java </li> </ul>VOS only lacks the virtual server and replication features that are offered by the commercial edition. VOS includes a Web-based administration tool called the "Virtuoso Conductor" According to <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/%7Ekidehen/index.vspx?page=&id=951&sid=&realm=">Kingsley Idehen's Weblog</a>, 'The Virtuoso build scripts have been successfully tested on Mac OS X (Universal Binary Target), Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris (AIX, HP-UX, and True64 UNIX will follow soon). A Windows Visual Studio project file is also in the works (ETA some time this week).'<br /> <br /> <em>InfoWorld</em>'s Jon Udell has tracked Virtuoso's progress since <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/02/04/12/020415plvirtuoso_1.html">2002</a>, with an <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/03/21/12virtuoso_1.html">additional article in 2003</a> and a <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2006/04/28.html#a1437">one-hour podcast with Kingsley Idehen</a> on April 26, 2006. A major talking point for Virtuoso is its support for Atom 0.3 syndication and publication, Atom 1.0 syndication and (forthcoming) publication, and future support for Google's <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/gdata/overview.html">GData protocol</a>, as mentioned in <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/%7Ekidehen/index.vspx?page=&id=965">this Idehen post</a>. Yahoo!'s <a href="http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/006687.html">Jeremy Zawodny</a> points out that the 'fingerprints' of <a href="http://oakleafblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/adam-bosworth-learning-from-web-and.html">Adam Bosworth</a>, Google's VP of Engineering and the primary force behind the development of Microsoft Access, 'are all over GData.' Click <a href="http://search.blogger.com/?as_q=bosworth&ie=UTF-8&ui=blg&bl_url=oakleafblog.blogspot.com&x=50&y=10">here</a> to display a list of all OakLeaf posts that mention Adam Bosworth.<br /> <br />One application for the GData protocol is querying and updating the Google Base database independently of the Google Web client, as mentioned by Jeremy: 'It's not about building an easier onramp to Google Base. ... Well, it is. But, again, that's the small stuff.' Click <a href="http://search.blogger.com/?as_q=%22google+base%22&ie=UTF-8&x=50&y=9&q=%22google+base%22+blogurl:oakleafblog.blogspot.com&filter=0&ui=blg&sa=N&start=0">here</a> for a list of posts about my experiences with Google Base. Watch for a future OakLeaf post on the subject as the GData APIs gain ground.<br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>Open-Source and Free Embedded Database Contenders</strong> </span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;">Open-source and free embedded SQL databases are gaining importance as the number and types of mobile devices and OSs proliferate. Embedded databases usually consist of Java classes or Windows DLLs that are designed to minimize file size and memory consumption. Embedded databases avoid the installation hassles, heavy resource usage and maintenance cost associated with client/server RDBMSs that run as an operating system service.</span> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;">Andrew Hudson's December 2005 '<a href="http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28201">Open Source databases rounded up and rodeoed</a>' review for The Enquirer provides brief descriptions of one commercial and eight open source database purveyors/products: Sleepycat, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Ingres, InnoBase, Firebird, IBM Cloudscape (a.k.a, Derby), Genezzo, and Oracle. Oracle <a href="http://www.sleepycat.com/">Sleepycat</a>* isn't an SQL Database, Oracle <a href="http://www.innodb.com/index.php">InnoDB</a>* is an OEM database engine that's used by MySQL, and <a href="http://www.genezzo.com/">Genezzo</a> is a multi-user, multi-server distributed database engine written in Perl. These special-purpose databases are beyond the scope of this post.</span> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">* Oracle <a href="http://www.oracle.com/sleepycat/index.html">purchased Sleepycat Software, Inc. in February 2006</a> and </span> <a href="http://www.oracle.com/innodb/index.html"><span style="font-size: 85%;">purchased Innobase OY in October 2005</span> </a><span style="font-size: 85%;">. The press release states: 'Oracle intends to continue developing the InnoDB technology and expand our commitment to open source software.' </span> </span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 85%;"></span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"> <a href="http://db.apache.org/derby/"><strong>Derby</strong> </a> is an open-source release by the <a href="http://www.apache.org/">Apache Software Foundation</a> of the <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/08/03/HNcloudscape_1.html">Cloudscape Java-based database that IBM acquired</a> when it bought Informix in 2001. IBM offers a commercial release of Derby as <a href="http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/db2/library/techarticle/dm-0408cline/">IBM Cloudscape 10.1</a>. Derby is a Java class library that has a relatively light footprint (2 MB), which make it suitable for <a href="http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/db2/library/techarticle/dm-0503stumpf/">client/server synchronization</a> with the IBM DB2 Everyplace Sync Server in <a href="http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/wi-cloud/">mobile applications</a>. The IBM DB2 Everyplace Express Edition isn't open source or free*, so it doesn't qualify for this post. The same is true for the corresponding Sybase SQL Anywhere components.**</span> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p> <span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 85%;">* IBM DB2 Everyplace Express Edition with synchronization costs $379 per server (up to two processors) and $79 per user. DB2 Everyplace Database Edition (without DB2 synchronization) is $49 per user. (Prices are based on those when </span> <a href="http://news.earthweb.com/wireless/article.php/3107101"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 85%;">IBM announced version 8</span> </a><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 85%;"> in November 2003.)</span> </p> <p> <span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 85%;">** Sybase's iAnywhere subsidiary calls SQL Anywhere 'the industry's leading mobile database.' A Sybase SQL Anywhere Personal DB seat license with synchronization to SQL Anywhere Server is $119; the cost without synchronization wasn't available from the Sybase Web site. Sybase SQL Anywhere and IBM DB2 Everyplace perform similar replication functions.</span> </p> <p> <span style="font-family: Verdana;">Sun's <a href="http://developers.sun.com/prodtech/javadb/"><strong>Java DB</strong></a>, another commercial version of Derby, comes with the <a href="http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/">Solaris Enterprise Edition</a>, which bundles Solaris 10, the Java Enterprise System, developer tools, desktop infrastructure and N1 management software. A recent Between the Lines blog entry by ZDNet's David Berlind waxes enthusiastic over the use of <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=2298">Java DB embedded in a browser</a> to provide offline persistence. RedMonk analyst <a href="http://www.redmonk.com/jgovernor/archives/001151.html">James Governor</a> and <em>eWeek</em>'s <a href="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1902407,00.asp">Lisa Vaas</a> wrote about the use of Java DB as a local data store when <a href="http://www.sauria.com/blog/2005/12/13#1440">Tim Bray announced Sun's Derby derivative</a> and <a href="http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/FrancoisOrsini?entry=derby_apachecon_demo">Francois Orsini</a> demonstrated Java DB embedded in the Firefox browser at the ApacheCon 2005 conference.</span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"> <a href="http://www.firebirdsql.org/"><strong>Firebird</strong> </a> is derived from Borland's InterBase 6.0 code, the first commercial relational database management system (RDBMS) to be released as open source. Firebird has excellent support for SQL-92 and comes in three versions: Classic, SuperServer and Embedded for Windows, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, FreeBSD and MacOS X. The embedded version has a 1.4-MB footprint. Release Candidate 1 for Firebird 2.0 became available on March 30, 2006 and is a major improvement over earlier versions. <a href="http://www.borland.com/us/products/interbase/index.html">Borland continues to promote InterBase</a>, now at version 7.5, as a small-footprint, embedded database with commercial Server and Client licenses.</span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;"> <a href="http://www.sqlite.org/index.html"><strong>SQLite</strong> </a> is a featherweight C library for an embedded database that implements most SQL-92 entry- and transitional-level requirements (some through the JDBC driver) and supports transactions within a tiny 250-KB code footprint. <a href="http://www.sqlite.org/cvstrac/wiki?p=SqliteWrappers">Wrappers</a> support a multitude of languages and operating systems, including Windows CE, SmartPhone, Windows Mobile, and Win32. SQLite's primary <a href="http://www.sqlite.org/omitted.html">SQL-92 limitations</a> are lack of nested transactions, inability to alter a table design once committed (other than with RENAME TABLE and ADD COLUMN operations), and foreign-key constraints. SQLite provides read-only views, triggers, and 256-bit encryption of database files. A downside is the the entire database file is <a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/jgalloway/archive/2006/04/12/442615.aspx">locked when while a transaction is in progress</a>. SQLite uses file access permissions in lieu of GRANT and REVOKE commands. Using SQLite involves no license; its code is entirely in the public domain.</span> </p> <p> <span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 85%;">The Mozilla Foundation's <a href="http://wiki.mozilla.org/Mozilla2:Unified_Storage">Unified Storage wiki</a> says this about SQLite: 'SQLite will be the back end for the unified store [for Firefox]. Because it implements a SQL engine, we get querying 'for free', without having to invent our own query language or query execution system. Its code-size footprint is moderate (250k), but it will hopefully simplify much existing code so that the net code-size change should be smaller. It has exceptional performance, and supports concurrent access to the database. Finally, it is released into the public domain, meaning that we will have no licensing issues.'</span> </p> <p> <span style="font-family: verdana;">Vieka Technology, Inc.'s <a href="http://vieka.com/esql.htm"><strong>eSQL 2.11</strong></a> is a port of SQLite to Windows Mobile (Pocket PC and Smartphone) and Win32, and includes development tools for Windows devices and PCs, as well as a .NET native data provider. A conventional ODBC driver also is available. eSQL for Windows (Win32) is free for personal and commercial use; eSQL for Windows Mobile requires a license for commercial (for-profit or business) use.</span> </p> <p> <span style="font-family: verdana;"> <a href="http://hsqldb.org/"><strong>HSQLDB</strong> </a> isn't on most reviewers' radar, which is surprising because it's the default database for <a href="http://www.openoffice.org/">OpenOffice.org</a> (OOo) 2.0's <a href="http://www.openoffice.org/product/base.html">Base</a> suite member. HSQLDB 1.8.0.1 is an open-source (BSD license) Java dembedded database engine based on Thomas Mueller's original Hypersonic SQL Project. Using OOo's Base feature requires installing the Java 2.0 Runtime Engine (which is not open-source) or the presence of an alternative open-source engine, such as Kaffe. My prior posts about OOo Base and HSQLDB are <a href="http://oakleafblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/openoffice-base-20-vs-microsoft-access.html">here</a>, <a href="http://oakleafblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/openoffice-base-20-vs-microsoft-access_22.html">here</a> and <a href="http://oakleafblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/openoffice-20-base-matches-microsoft.html">here</a>.</span> </p> <p> <span style="font-family: verdana;">The <a href="http://hsqldb.sourceforge.net/web/hsqlDocsFrame.html">HSQLDB 1.8.0 documentation</a> on SourceForge states the following regarding SQL-92 and later conformance:</span> </p> <span style="font-family: verdana;"> <blockquote> <p> <span style="font-family: verdana;">HSQLDB 1.8.0 supports the dialect of SQL defined by SQL standards 92, 99 and 2003. This means where a feature of the standard is supported, e.g. left outer join, the syntax is that specified by the standard text. Many features of SQL92 and 99 up to Advanced Level are supported and here is support for most of SQL 2003 Foundation and several optional features of this standard. However, certain features of the Standards are not supported so no claim is made for full support of any level of the standards. </span> </p> </blockquote> <span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">Other less well-known embedded databases designed for or suited to mobile deployment are </span> <a href="http://www.mimer.com/leftright.asp?secId=172"><span style="font-size: 85%;">Mimer SQL Mobile</span> </a><span style="font-size: 85%;"> and </span> <a href="http://www.vistadb.net/"><span style="font-size: 85%;">VistaDB 2.1</span> </a><span style="font-size: 85%;">. Neither product is open-source and require paid licensing; VistaDB requires a small up-front payment by developers but offers royalty-free distribution.</span> </span> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana;">Java DB, Firebird embedded, SQLite and eSQL 2.11 are contenders for lightweight PC and mobile device database projects that aren't Windows-only.</span> <br /> <br /> <strong> <span style="font-family: verdana;">SQL Server 2005 Everywhere<br /> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> </strong> <br /> <span style="font-family: verdana;">If you're a Windows developer, SQL Server Mobile is the logical embedded database choice for mobile applications for Pocket PCs and Smartphones. Microsoft's April 19, 2006 press release delivered the news that SQL Server 2005 Mobile Editon (SQL Mobile or SSM) would gain a big brotherâSQL Server 2005 Everywhere Edition. </span> <br /> <span style="font-family: verdana;"></span> <br /> <span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently, the SSM client is licensed (at no charge) to run in production on devices with Windows CE 5.0, Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC or Windows Mobile 5.0, or on PCs with Windows XP Tablet Edition only. SSM also is licensed for development purposes on PCs running Visual Studio 2005.</span> <span style="font-family: verdana;"> Smart Device replication with SQL Server 2000 SP3 and later databases has been the most common application so far for SSM.<br /> <br /> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">By the end of 2006, Microsoft will license SSE for use on <em>all</em> PCs running any Win32 version or the preceding device OSs. A version of SQL Server Management Studio Express (SSMSE)âupdated to support SSEâis expected to release by the end of the year. These features will qualify SSE as <em>the universal embedded database</em> for Windows client and smart-device applications. </span> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: verdana;">For more details on SSE, read <a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/jgalloway/archive/2006/04/11/442451.aspx">John Galloway's April 11, 2006 blog post</a> and my '<a href="http://www.ftponline.com/special/sqlserver/rjennings-mobile/">SQL Server 2005 Mobile Goes Everywhere</a>' article for the <a href="http://www.ftponline.com/special/sqlserver/">FTPOnline Special Report on SQL Server</a>.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span>" <p>(Via <a href="http://oakleafblog.blogspot.com">OakLeaf Systems</a>.)</p> </span> </blockquote>
My podcast conversation with Jon Udell
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2006-04-28#965
2006-04-28T14:43:12Z
2006-07-21T07:22:41.000001-04:00
<p>Jon and I had a recent chat yesterday that is now available in <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2006/04/28.html#a1437">Podcast</a> form.</p> <blockquote> <cite><p>"In my <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/ju_idehen.mp3">fourth Friday podcast</a> we hear from Kingsley Idehen, CEO of <a href="http://openlinksw.com/">OpenLink Software</a>. I wrote about OpenLink's universal database and app server, Virtuoso, back in <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/02/04/12/020415plvirtuoso_1.html">2002</a> and <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/03/21/12virtuoso_1.html">2003</a>. Earlier this month Virtuoso became the first mature SQL/XML hybrid to make the <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen/?id=951">transition to open source</a>. The latest incarnation of the product also adds SPARQL (a semantic web query language) to its repertoire. <b>...</b>"</p> <p>(Via <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/">Jon's Radio</a>.)</p> </cite> </blockquote> I would like to make an important clarification re. the GData Protocol and what is popularly dubbed as "<a href="http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/006687.html">Adam Bosworth's fingerprints.</a>" I do not believe in a one solution (a simple one for the sake of simplicity) to a deceptively complex problem. Virtuoso supports Atom 1.0 (syndication only at the current time) and Atom 0.3 (syndication and publication which have been in place for years). <blockquote>BTW - the GData Protocol and Atom 1.0 publishing support will be delivered in both the Open Source and Commercial Edition updates to Virtuoso next week (very little work due to what's already in place).</blockquote> <p>I make the clarification above to eliminate the possibility of assuming mutual exclusivity of my perspective/vison and Adam's (Jon also makes this important point when he speaks about our opinions being on either side of a spectrum/continuum). I simply want to broaden the scope of this discussion. I am a profound believer in the Semantic Web / Data Web vision, and I predict that we will be querying the Googlebase via SPARQL in the not to distant future (this doesn't mean that netizens will be forced to master SPARQL, absolutely not! But there will be conduit technologies that deal with matter).</p> <p>Side note: I actually last spoke with Adam at the NY Hilton in 2000 (the day I unveiled Virtuoso to the public for the first time, in person). We bumped into each other and I told him about Virtuoso (at the time the big emphasis was SQL to XML and the vocabulary we had chosen re. SQL extension...), and he told me about his departure from Microsoft and the commencement of his new venture (CrossGain prior to his stint at BEA), what struck me even more was his interest in Linux and Open Source (bearing in mind this was about 3 or so week after he departed Microsoft.)</p> <p>If you are encountering Virtuoso for the first time via this post or Jon's, please make time to read the <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/VOSHistory/">product history</a> article on the <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/">Virtuoso Wiki</a> (which is one of many Virtuoso based applications that make up our soon to be released OpenLink DataSpace offering).</p> <p>That said, I better go listen to the podcast :-)</p>
My podcast conversation with Jon Udell
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2006-04-28#993
2006-04-28T14:43:12Z
2006-06-29T10:14:44.000001-04:00
<p>Jon and I had a recent chat yesterday that is now available in <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2006/04/28.html#a1437">Podcast</a> form.</p> <blockquote> <cite></cite> <p>"In my <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/ju_idehen.mp3">fourth Friday podcast</a> we hear from Kingsley Idehen, CEO of <a href="http://openlinksw.com/">OpenLink Software</a>. I wrote about OpenLink's universal database and app server, Virtuoso, back in <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/02/04/12/020415plvirtuoso_1.html">2002</a> and <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/03/21/12virtuoso_1.html">2003</a>. Earlier this month Virtuoso became the first mature SQL/XML hybrid to make the <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/%7Ekidehen/?id=951">transition to open source</a>. The latest incarnation of the product also adds SPARQL (a semantic web query language) to its repertoire. <b>...</b>"</p> <p>(Via <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/">Jon's Radio</a>.)</p> </blockquote> I would like to make an important clarification re. the GData Protocol and what is popularly dubbed as "<a href="http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/006687.html">Adam Bosworth's fingerprints.</a>" I do not believe in a one solution (a simple one for the sake of simplicity) to a deceptively complex problem. Virtuoso supports Atom 1.0 (syndication only at the current time) and Atom 0.3 (syndication and publication which have been in place for years). <blockquote>BTW - the GData Protocol and Atom 1.0 publishing support will be delivered in both the Open Source and Commercial Edition updates to Virtuoso next week (very little work due to what's already in place).</blockquote> <p>I make the clarification above to eliminate the possibility of assuming mutual exclusivity of my perspective/vison and Adam's (Jon also makes this important point when he speaks about our opinions being on either side of a spectrum/continuum). I simply want to broaden the scope of this discussion. I am a profound believer in the Semantic Web / Data Web vision, and I predict that we will be querying the Googlebase via SPARQL in the not to distant future (this doesn't mean that netizens will be forced to master SPARQL, absolutely not! But there will be conduit technologies that deal with matter).</p> <p>Side note: I actually last spoke with Adam at the NY Hilton in 2000 (the day I unveiled Virtuoso to the public for the first time, in person). We bumped into each other and I told him about Virtuoso (at the time the big emphasis was SQL to XML and the vocabulary we had chosen re. SQL extension...), and he told me about his departure from Microsoft and the commencement of his new venture (CrossGain prior to his stint at BEA), what struck me even more was his interest in Linux and Open Source (bearing in mind this was about 3 or so week after he departed Microsoft.)</p> <p>If you are encountering Virtuoso for the first time via this post or Jon's, please make time to read the <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/VOSHistory">product history</a> article on the <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/">Virtuoso Wiki</a> (which is one of many Virtuoso based applications that make up our soon to be released OpenLink DataSpace offering).</p> <p>That said, I better go listen to the podcast :-)</p>
Virtuoso is Officially Open Source!
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2006-04-11#951
2006-04-11T18:01:44Z
2006-07-21T07:22:20.000001-04:00
<p>I am pleased to unveil (officially) the fact that <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-11-2006/0004338324&EDATE=">Virtuoso is now available in Open Source form</a>.</p> <p></p> <h4>What Is Virtuoso?</h4> <p>A powerful next generation server product that implements otherwise distinct server functionality within a single server product. Think of Virtuoso as the server software analog of a dual core processor where each core represents a traditional server functionality realm.</p> <p></p> <h4>Where did it come from?</h4> <p>The <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/VOSHistory">Virtuoso History page</a> tells the whole story.</p> <p></p> <h4>What Functionality Does It Provide?</h4> The following: <ul> 1. Object-Relational DBMS Engine (ORDBMS like PostgreSQL and DBMS engine like MySQL) </ul> <ul> 2. XML Data Management (with support for XQuery, XPath, XSLT, and XML Schema) </ul> <ul> 3. RDF Triple Store (or Database) that supports SPARQL (Query Language, Transport Protocol, and XML Results Serialization format) </ul> <ul> 4. Service Oriented Architecture (it combines a BPEL Engine with an ESB) </ul> <ul> 5. Web Application Server (supports HTTP/WebDAV) </ul> <ul> 6. NNTP compliant Discussion Server </ul> And more. (see: <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com">Virtuoso Web Site</a>) <p> 90% of the aforementioned functionality has been available in Virtuoso since 2000 with the RDF Triple Store being the only 2006 item.</p> <p></p> <h4>What Platforms are Supported</h4> <p> The Virtuoso build scripts have been successfully tested on Mac OS X (Universal Binary Target), Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris (AIX, HP-UX, and True64 UNIX will follow soon). A Windows Visual Studio project file is also in the works (ETA some time this week).</p> <p></p> <h4>Why Open Source?</h4> <p>Simple, there is no value in a product of this magnitude remaining the "best kept secret". That status works well for our competitors, but absolutely works against the legions of new generation developers, systems integrators, and knowledge workers that need to be aware of what is actually achievable today with the right server architecture.</p> <p></p> <h4>What Open Source License is it under?</h4> <p>GPL version 2.</p> <p></p> <h4>What's the business model?</h4> <p>Dual licensing.</p> <p>The Open Source version of Virtuoso includes all of the functionality listed above. While the Virtual Database (distributed heterogeneous join engine) and Replication Engine (across heterogeneous data sources) functionality will only be available in the commercial version. </p> <p></p> <h4>Where is the Project Hosted?</h4> <p>On <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtuoso">SourceForge.</a> </p> <p></p> <h4>Is there a product Blog?</h4> <p>Of course! </p> <p>Up until this point, the <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/blog/">Virtuoso Product Blog</a> has been a covert live demonstration of some aspects of Virtuoso (Content Management). My Personal Blog and the Virtuoso Product Blog are actual Virtuoso instances, and have been so since I started blogging in 2003.</p> <p>Is There a product Wiki?</p> <p>Sure! <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/">The Virtuoso Product Wiki</a> is also an instance of Virtuoso demonstrating another aspect of the Content Management prowess of Virtuoso.</p> <p></p> <h4>What About Online Documentation?</h4> <p>Yep! <a href="http://docs.openlinksw.com/virtuoso/">Virtuoso Online Documentation</a> is hosted via yet another Virtuoso instance. This particular instance also attempts to demonstrate Free Text search combined with the ability to repurpose well formed content in a myriad of forms (Atom, RSS, RDF, OPML, and OCS).</p> <p></p> <h4>What about Tutorials and Demos?</h4> <p>The <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/tutorial/">Virtuoso Online Tutorial</a> Site has operated as a live demonstration and tutorial portal for a numbers of years. During the same timeframe (circa. 2001) we also assembled a few Screencast style demos (their look feel certainly show their age; updates are in the works).</p> <p>BTW - We have also updated the <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/FAQ/">Virtuoso FAQ</a> and also released a number of missing <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/Whitepapers/">Virtuoso White Papers</a> (amongst many long overdue action items).</p>
New XTech web site, and why we don't sell presentation space
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2006-03-14#939
2006-03-14T21:24:26Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<p> <a href="http://times.usefulinc.com/2006/03/14-xtech">New XTech web site, and why we don't sell presentation space</a>: "</p> <p>My too-long absence from writing much here can be ascribed to two, differently pleasant, activities. First, a fantastic vacation in Cuba, and second, the redesign and launch of the <a href="http://xtech06.usefulinc.com/">XTech web site</a>.</p> <p>Of the first, come to my place for dinner and I'll bore you at length about how amazing it was. Of the second, I'd like to bore you right now!</p> <p>Thanks to Ruby on Rails and a few late nights, the XTech site now has these new features:</p> <ul> <li> <a href="http://xtech06.usefulinc.com/schedule">Full conference schedule</a> (apart from 6 Mozilla talks I'm still nailing down)</li> <li> <a href="http://xtech06.usefulinc.com/">A blog</a>. With go-faster Atom 1.0 stripes and everything!</li> <li>Details on the newly-added <a href="http://xtech06.usefulinc.com/content/ajax">Ajax Developers' Day</a>.</li> </ul> <p>A few more details on the Ajax Developers' Day. As I mentioned before, when putting together the schedule we felt there was a lot of excellent content still missed out (I'm still feeling guilty at having rejected proposals from many good friends and excellent speakers). So, we put together an extra day at the beginning of the conference where we could go further into detail on Ajax technologies.</p> <p>This day, featuring speakers such as Simon Willison from Yahoo!, XML expert Kurt Cagle and OpenLaszlo's Max Carlson, will allow those working on Ajax projects--either deployment or toolkits--to meet, discuss best practice and move forward on new ideas. Although it's a day-long event, we didn't want to make the price tag as high as a full-day tutorial, so you can <a href="http://xtech06.usefulinc.com/content/registration">register</a> for the cost of a half-day tutorial.</p> <h4>A few implementation details</h4> <p>If that all sounded a little like advertising, here are some technical details worth sharing. The site's CMS is built on Ruby on Rails. Development was done on Linux, with the help of WINE to check out the view from Internet Explorer. The <a href="http://xtech06.usefulinc.com/public/newsletter">newsletter</a> is managed by the absurdly wonderful <a href="http://www.campaignmonitor.com/">CampaignMonitor</a>.</p> <h4>This conference not for sale</h4> <p>Before I went on vacation, there was some debate in various quarters about paid-for plenary and keynote slots in conferences. Though I hope it is obvious, I wanted to state where I, and thus the XTech conference, stand on this issue.</p> <p>It has always been my policy to maintain a strict separation between the commercial and editorial aspects of XTech. Although each year there's always a company who thinks they can buy a speaking slot, I never let this happen. The content of the conference is formed by editorial selection by the programme committee, who take the scores from the peer review panel as their primary guide.</p> <p>Aside from what I hope shows in the excellent quality of the talks and generally interesting keynotes (yes, we get it wrong occasionally!), there are two effects on the conference.</p> <ul> <li>Sponsors are that much more respected. When a sponsor respects the delegates' time and intelligence, but still attends, you know they're serious about engagement with attendees.<br /> </li> <li>A higher portion of the conference cost is in the registration fees than for some other conferences. We're still trying to keep the costs as low as we can, but we're not prepared to compromise the quality of the schedule by letting vendors buy talk time. </li> </ul>I hope this explains a little of my position. As a stance, it often creates more issues for me than it solves, but I believe it preserves XTech's reputation as a conference where you can hear some of the best no-fluff presentations on web technology.<br />" <p>(Via <a href="http://times.usefulinc.com/">Edd Dumbill's Weblog: Behind the Times</a>.)</p>
Apple Patent Application: News Feed Viewer
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2006-03-08#937
2006-03-08T20:40:30Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
Abstract (verbatim from actual <a href="http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&p=1&S1=20050289147.PGNR.&OS=DN/20050289147&RS=DN/20050289147">patent filing</a>): <blockquote> <cite>Techniques for presenting and managing syndication XML (feeds) are disclosed. In one embodiment, a user can modify how a feed is displayed, such as which content (and how much) is displayed, in what order, and how it is formatted. In another embodiment, a modification regarding how a feed is displayed is stored so that it can be used again at a later time. In yet another embodiment, a user can create a custom feed through aggregation and/or filtering of existing feeds. Aggregation includes, for example, merging the articles of multiple feeds to form a new feed. Filtering includes, for example, selecting a subset of articles of a feed based on whether they satisfy a search query. In yet another embodiment, a user can find articles by entering a search query into a search engine that searches feeds, which will identify one or more articles that satisfy the query.</cite> </blockquote> <p>Clearly Apple don't seem to understand the world of XML, so let me give them a quick recap:</p> <ul> 1. XML enables separation of Data and Formating </ul> <ul> 2. It facilitates Data Representation, Transformation (XSLT), Exchange (syndication and subscription), and Modeling (languages, protocols, data models, amongst other things) </ul> <ul> 3. It is inherently open </ul> <ul> 4. You can't patent its essence through the back door! </ul> <p>The Blogosphere is a Galaxy within Cyberspace comprised of Solar systems of Blogs that revolve around X-list bloggers, Topics, or more recently Tags; through the gravitational pull of links to RSS (today), Atom (in due course), and RDF (the future). </p> <p>Unfortunately, Apple (a major late-comer to RSS) doesn't seem to understand that "RSS content search, aggregation and transformation" is practically the same thing as "XML search, aggregation and transformation". Subject matter covered extensively by XML based languages such as XSLT, XPath, XPointer, and XQuery.</p> <p>Without XML there would be no RSS (as we know it today), and without RSS there would be no Blogosphere. </p> <p>Repurposing Blogosphere content isn't a novel invention at all. Therefore, filing a patent along such lines is simply uncool by Apple's standards (like the inextricable binding of iWeb to .mac that was touted as innovative and open).</p> <p>Final note: this blog is driven by a <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com">database engine</a> that has understood XML for a long time. This blog has been my live demo of this fact since its inception. Here are a few things that it has done for a very long time (talking prior art here):</p> <ul> - Repurpose content on the fly from SQL and XML data sources to produce all the syndication and subscription gems you see on the <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen/">Blog Home Page</a> </ul> <ul> - Offer a <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127">search feature</a> that enables visitors to query blog archives using Free Text, XQuery, XPath (all transformation technologies alongside XSLT). </ul> <ul> - <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=apple&type=text&output=html">Produce Query Results that are "Open"</a> for reuse outside the domain of this blog using standard syndication formats. </ul>
Clone the Google APIs: Kill That Noise
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2005-11-03#892
2005-11-03T22:44:04Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<p>I am kinda scratching my head a little re. the "Clone Google APIs" call; especially as Amazon's <a href="http://opensearch.a9.com/">A9</a> already provides <a href="http://opensearch.a9.com/docs/howto.jsp">infrastructure for generic search</a>. A9 is open at both ends; you can consume search services via a RESTian API or plug your search engine into A9 (playing the role of A9 search service provider). </p><p>Quick Example using my blog: </p><ul>1. <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127">My Blog's Search Page</a> (note it support Full Text and XPath/XQuery)</ul><ul>2. <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=#39web%202.0#39&type=text&output=html">Search on pattern 'Web 2.0'</a> via my Blog's Search Engine</ul><ul>3. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacktivism" xmlns:n0="http" n0:="http:" a9.com="a9.com" search="search" morecolumns.jsp="morecolumns.jsp" a="a">Hactivism</a>" regarding this matter. Certainly worth a full-post-scrape for my ongoing content annotation efforts (see <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen/index.vspx?page=linkblog">Linkblog</a> and <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen/index.vspx?page=summary">BlogSummary</a>). <p>Digest the rest of Dare's post:</p><blockquote><p><a href="http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=3faf48bb-cf43-4fad-9145-cd749bd0288e">Clone the Google APIs: Kill That Noise</a>: "</p><p> Yesterday Dave Winer wrote in a post about <a href="http://www.scripting.com/2005/11/02.html#When:2:31:38PM">cloning the Google API</a> Dave Winer wrote </p><blockquote><i>Let's make the <a href="http://www.clonethegoogleapi.com/">Google API an open standard</a>. Back in 2002, Google took a bold first step to enable open architecture search engines, by creating an API that allowed developers to build applications on top of their search engine. However, there were severe limits on the capacity of these applications. So we got a good demo of what might be, now three years later, it's time for the real thing.<br /><br /></i></blockquote>and earlier that <br /><blockquote><i>If you didn't get a chance to hear <a href="http://www.scripting.com/2005/11/01.html#When:12:26:58AM">yesterday's podcast</a>, it recommends that Microsoft clone the <a href="http://davenet.scripting.com/2002/04/13/whatsNextAfterTheGoogleApi">Google API</a> for search, without the keys, and without the limits. When a developer's application generates a lot of traffic, buy him a plane ticket and dinner, and ask how you both can make some money off their excellent booming application of search. This is something Google can't do, because search is their cash cow. That's why Microsoft should do it. And so should Yahoo. Also, there's no doubt Google will be competing with Apple soon, so they should be also thinking about ways to devalue Google's advantage.</i></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><p> This doesn't seem like a great idea to me for a wide variety of reasons but first, let's start with a history lesson before I tackle this specific issue </p><p><b>A Trip Down Memory Lane</b><br /> This history lesson <strike>used to be in</strike> is in a post entitled <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20041011135623/http://www.evhead.com/archives/2003_05_10_archive_default.asp">The Tragedy of the API</a> by <a href="http://www.evhead.com/">Evan Williams</a> <strike>but seems to be gone now</strike>. Anyway, back in the early days of blogging the folks at Pyra [which eventually got bought by Google] created the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/developers/api/1_docs/">Blogger API</a> for their service. Since Blogspot/Blogger was a popular service, a the number of applications that used the API quickly grew. At this point Dave Winer decided that since the Blogger API was so popular he should implement it in his weblogging tools but then he decided that he didn't like some aspects of it such as application keys (sound familiar?) and did without them in his version of the API. Dave Winer's version of the Blogger API became the <a href="http://www.xmlrpc.com/metaWeblogApi">MetaWeblog API</a>. These APIs became de facto standards and a number of other weblogging applications implemented them. </p><p> After a while, the folks at Pyra decided that their API needed to evolve due to various flaws in its design. As Diego Doval put it in his post <a href="http://www.dynamicobjects.com/d2r/archives/001921.html">a review of blogging APIs</a>, <i>The Blogger API is a joke, and a bad one at that</i>. This lead to the creation of the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/developers/api/documentation20.html">Blogger API 2.0</a>. At this point a heated debate erupted online where Dave Winer berated the Blogger folks for deviating from an industry standard. The irony of flaming a company for coming up with a v2 of their own API seemed to be lost on many of the people who participated in the debate. Eventually the Blogger API 2.0 went nowhere. </p><p> Today the blogging API world is a few de facto standards based on a hacky API created by a startup a few years ago, a number of site specific APIs (<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/doc/server/ljp.csp.xml-rpc.protocol.html">LiveJournal API</a>, <a href="http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/docs/mtmanual_programmatic.html">MovableType API</a>, etc) and a number of inconsistently implemented versions of the <a href="http://bitworking.org/projects/atom/">Atom API</a>.<br /></p><p><b>On Cloning the Google Search API</b><br /> To me the most salient point in the hijacking of the Blogger API from Pyra is that it didn't change the popularity of their service or even make Radio Userland (Dave Winer's product) catch up to them in popularity. This is important to note since this is Dave Winer's key argument for Microsoft cloning the Google API. </p><p> Off the top of my head, here are my top three technical reasons for Microsoft to ignore the calls to clone the Google Search APIs<br /></p><ol><li><p><u>Difference in Feature Set:</u> The features exposed by the API do not run the entire gamut of features that other search engines may want to expose. Thus even if you implement something that looks a lot like the Google API, you'd have to extend it to add the functionality that it doesn't provide. For example, compare the <a href="http://www.google.com/apis/reference.html">features provided by the Google API</a> to the <a href="http://developer.yahoo.net/search/">features provided by the Yahoo! search API</a>. I can count about half a dozen features in the Yahoo! API that aren't in the Google API. </p></li><li><p><u>Difference in Technology Choice:</u> The Google API uses SOAP. This to me is a phenomenally bad technical decision because it raises the bar to performing a basic operation (data retrieval) by using a complex technology. I much prefer Yahoo!'s approach of providing a RESTful API and <strike>MSN</strike> Windows Live Search's approach of providing RSS search feeds and a SOAP API for the folks who need such overkill. <br /></p></li><li><u>Unreasonable Demands:</u> A number of Dave Winer's demands seem contradictory. He asks companies to not require application keys but then advises them to contact application developers who've built high traffic applications about revenue sharing. Exactly how are these applications to be identified without some sort of application ID? As for removing the limits on the services? I guess Dave is ignoring the fact that providing services costs money, which I seem to remember is why <a href="http://www.kottke.org/05/10/weblogscom-sold-to-verisign">he sold weblogs.com to Verisign for a few million dollars</a>. I do agree that some of the limits on existing search APIs aren't terribly useful. The Google API limit of 1000 queries a day seems to guarantee that you won't be able to power a popular application with the service. <br /></li><li><p><u>Lack of Innovation:</u> Copying Google sucks. <br /></p></li></ol><p>(Via <a href="http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/">Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life</a>.)</p></blockquote></ul>
SIOC Vocabulary
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2005-10-28#886
2005-10-28T21:37:19Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<p><a href="http://dannyayers.com/archives/2005/10/28/sioc-vocabulary/">SIOC Vocabulary</a>: "</p><blockquote><p> <a href="http://rdfs.org/sioc/">SIOC</a><br /> (Semantically Interlinked Online Communities) is an attempt to link online community sites and to use Semantic Web technologies to describe the information community sites have about their structure and contents and to find related information and new connections between posts. </p></blockquote> <p>From the <a href="http://rdfs.org/sioc/spec/">spec</a>, main terms:</p> <p><img src="http://dannyayers.com/2005/10/sioc_terms.png" alt="SIOC terms" /></p> <p>I think I probably linked to this before, but it’s come on apace. They’ve now got plugins for Drupal and WordPress, and from the look of it, a fair load more…</p> <p>There’s obviously some intersection here with the <a href="http://atomowl.org/">Atom/OWL</a> stuff, and for that matter a <a href="http://microformats.org/wiki/hatom">hAtom</a>. Heh, gonna be fun figuring out the equivalences.</p> <p>(via <a href="http://captsolo.net/info/ ">Uldis</a>)</p>" <p>(Via <a href="http://dannyayers.com">Raw</a>.)</p>
Breaking the Web Wide Open!
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2005-10-26#882
2005-10-26T19:28:47Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<p><a href="http://marc.blogs.it/">Marc Canter</a>'s <a href="http://marc.blogs.it/archives/2005/10/breaking_the_we.html">Breaking the Web Wide Open! </a> article is something I found pretty late (by my normal discovery standards). This was partly due to the pre- and post- Web 2.0 event noise levels that have dumped the description of an important industry inflection into the "Bozo Bin" of many. Personally, I think we shouldn't confuse the Web 2.0 traditional-pitch-fest conference with an attempt to identify an important industry inflection).</p><p> Anyway, Marc's article is a very refreshing read because it provides a really good insight into the general landscape of a rapidly evolving Web alongside genuine appreciation of our broader timeless pursuit of "Openness". </p><p>To really help this document provide additional value have scrapped the content of the original post and dumped it below so that we can appreciate the value of the links embedded within the article (note: thanks to Virtuoso I only had to paste the content into my blog, the extraction to my <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen/index.vspx?page=linkblog">Linkblog</a> and <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen/index.vspx?page=summary">Blog Summary</a> Pages are simply features of my <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/virtuos">Virtuoso </a>based Blog Engine):</p><blockquote><h3 class="hed2" style="padding-bottom: 10px">Breaking the Web Wide Open! (complete story)</h3><p>Even the web giants like AOL, Google, MSN, and Yahoo need to observe these open standards, or they'll risk becoming the "walled gardens" of the new web and be coolio no more.</p><p class="byline"><b><a href="http://community.alwayson-network.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/AlwaysOn.woa/wa/display?id=9254:Person">Marc Canter</a></b> [<a href="http://community.alwayson-network.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/AlwaysOn.woa/wa/display?id=9254:Person"><b>Broadband Mechanics, Inc.</b></a>] | POSTED: 09.26.05 @12:00</p><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td valign="TOP" class="copy1"><img src="http://community.alwayson-network.com/ao/images/thumb/19433429363e7cd6b1ecfb7.jpg" align="LEFT" border="0" width="80" style="margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px" alt="" /><i><b>Editorial Note:</b> Several months ago, AlwaysOn got a personal invitation from Yahoo founder Jerry Yang "to see and give us feedback on our new social media product, y!360." We were happy to oblige and dutifully showed up, joining a conference room full of hard-core bloggers and new, new media types. The geeks gave Yahoo 360 an overwhelming thumbs down, with comments like, "So the only services I can use within this new network are Yahoo services? What if I don't use Yahoo IM?" In essence, the Yahoo team was booed for being "closed web," and we heartily agreed. With Yahoo 360, Yahoo continues building its own "walled garden" to control its 135 million customersÂan accusation also hurled at AOL in the early 1990s, before AOL migrated its private network service onto the web. As the</i> <a href="http://bernardmoon.blogspot.com/2005/08/yahoos-personality-crisis.html" target="_blank">Economist<i> recently noted</i></a>, "Yahoo, in short, has old media plans for the new-media era."<br /><br />The irony to our view here is, of course, that today's AO Network is also a "closed web." In the end, Mr. Yang's thoughtful invitation and our ensuing disappointment in his new service led to the assignment of this article. It also confirmed our existing plan to completely revamp the AO Network around open standards. To tie it all together, we recruited the chief architect of our new site, <a href="http://www.corante.com/amateur/articles/20030211-3564.html" target="_blank">the notorious Marc Canter</a>, to pen this piece. We look forward to our reader feedback.<br /><br /><b>Breaking the Web Wide Open!</b><br />By Marc Canter<br /><br />For decades, "walled gardens" of proprietary standards and content have been the strategy of dominant players in mainframe computer software, wireless telecommunications services, and the World Wide WebÂit was their successful lock-in strategy of keeping their customers theirs. But like it or not, those walls are tumbling down. Open web standards are being adopted so widely, with such value and impact, that the web giantsÂAmazon, AOL, eBay, Google, Microsoft, and YahooÂare facing the difficult decision of opening up to what they don't control.<br /><br />The online world is evolving into a new open web (sometimes called the Web 2.0), which is all about being personalized and customized for each user. Not only open source software, but <i>open standards</i> are becoming an essential component. <br /><br />Many of the web giants have been using open source software for years. Most of them use at least parts of the <a href="http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2001/01/25/lamp.html" target="_blank">LAMP</a> (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/Python/PHP) stack, even if they aren't well-known for giving back to the open source community. For these incumbents that grew big on proprietary web services, the methods, practices, and applications of open source software development are difficult to fully adopt. And the next open source movementsÂwhich will be as much about open standards as about codeÂwill be a lot harder for the incumbents to exploit.<br /><br />While the incumbents use cheap open source software to run their back-ends systems, their business models largely depend on proprietary software and algorithms. But our view a new slew of open software, open protocols, and open standards will confront the incumbents with the classic <i><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/chapter/christensen.htm" target="_blank">Innovator's Dilemma</a></i>. Should they adopt these tools and standards, painfully cannibalizing their existing revenue for a new unproven concept, or should they stick with their currently lucrative model with the risk that eventually a bunch of upstarts eat their lunch? <br /><br />Credit should go to several of the web giants who have been making efforts to "open up." Google, Yahoo, eBay, and Amazon all have Open APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) built into their data and systems. Any software developer can access and use them for whatever creative purposes they wish. This means that the API provider becomes an open platform for everyone to use and build on top of. This notion has expanded like wildfire throughout the blogosphere, so nowadays, Open APIs are pretty much required.<br /><br />Other incumbents also have open strategies. AOL has got the RSS religion, <a href="http://www.siliconbeat.com/entries/2005/07/27/aol_gets_rss_religion_with_my_aoland_feedsters_help.html" target="_blank">providing a feedreader and RSS search</a> in order to escape the "walled garden of content" stigma. <a href="http://www.apple.com/podcasting/" target="_blank">Apple now incorporates podcasts</a>, the "personal radio shows" that are latest rage in audio narrowcasting, into iTunes. Even Microsoft is supporting open standards, for example <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/plan/rtcprot.mspx#EKAA" target="_blank">by endorsing SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) for internet telephony and conferencing</a> over Skype's proprietary format or one of its own devising.<br /><br />But new open standards and protocols are in use, under construction, or being proposed every day, pushing the envelope of where we are right now. Many of these standards are coming from startup companies and small groups of developers, not from the giants. Together with the Open APIs, those new standards will contribute to a new, open infrastructure. Tens of thousands of developers will use and improve this open infrastructure to create new kinds of web-based applications and services, to offer web users a highly personalized online experience.<br /><br /><b>A Brief History of Openness</b><br /><br />At this point, I have to admit that I am not just a passive observer, full-time journalist or "just some blogger"Âbut an active evangelist and developer of these standards. It's the vision of "open infrastructure" that's driving <a href="http://www.broadbandmechanics.com/bbm2005.htm" target="_blank">my company </a> and the reason why I'm writing this article. This article will give you some of the background behind on these standards, and what the evolution of the next generation of open standards will look like.<br /><br />Starting back in the 1980s, establishing a software standard was a key strategy for any software company. My former company, MacroMind (which became Macromedia), achieved this goal early on with Director. As <a href="http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/99/27/index3a_page6.html?tw=multimedia" target="_blank">Director evolved into Flash</a>, the world saw that other companies besides Microsoft, Adobe, and Apple could establish true cross-platform, independent media standards.<br /><br />Then <a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/" target="_blank">Tim Berners-Lee</a> and <a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/andreesen.html" target="_blank">Marc Andreessen</a> came along, and changed the rules of the software business and of entrepreneurialism. No matter how entrenched and "standardized" software was, the rug could still get pulled out from under it. <a href="http://geekphilosopher.com/MainPage/WebBrowserWars.htm?q=Stocks" target="_blank">Netscape did it to Microsoft, and then Microsoft did it <i>back</i> to Netscape</a>. The web evolved, and lots of standards evolved with it. The leading open source standards (such as the LAMP stack) became widely used alternatives to proprietary closed-source offerings. <br /><br />Open standards are more than just technology. Open standards mean sharing, empowering, and community support. Someone floats a new idea (or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme" target="_blank">meme</a>) and the community runs with it â with each person making their own contributions to the standard â evolving it without a moment's hesitation about "giving away their intellectual property."<br /><br />One good example of this was <a href="http://www.sifry.com/alerts/" target="_blank">Dave Sifry</a>, who built the Technorati blog-tracking technology inspired by the <a href="http://www.myelin.co.nz/ecosystem/" target="_blank">Blogging Ecosystem</a>, a weekend project by young hacker <a href="http://marc.blogs.it/archives/2005/07/phil_pearson_jo.html" target="_blank">Phil Pearson</a>. Dave liked what he saw and he ran with itÂturning Technorati into what it is today.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Winer" target="_blank">Dave Winer</a> has contributed enormously to this area of open standards. He defined and personally created several open standards and protocolsÂsuch as RSS, OPML, and XML-RPC. Dave has also <a href="http://newhome.weblogs.com/historyOfWeblogs" target="_blank">helped build</a> the blogosphere through his enthusiasm and passion.<br /><br />By 2003, hundreds of programmers were working on creating and establishing new standards for almost everything. The best of these new standards have evolved into compelling web services platforms â such as <a href="http://del.icio.us/" target="_blank">del.icio.us</a>, <a href="http://webjay.org/about" target="_blank">Webjay</a>, or <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/ao2005/" target="_blank">Flickr</a>. Some have even spun off formal standards â like XSPF (a standard for playlists) or instant messaging standard XMPP (also known as Jabber).<br /><br />Today's Open APIs are complemented by standardized SchemasÂthe structure of the data itself and its associated meta-data. Take for example a <a href="http://www.ipodder.org/whatIsPodcasting" target="_blank">podcasting feed</a>. It consists of: a) the radio show itself, b) information on who is on the show, what the show is about and how long the show is (the meta-data) and also c) API calls to retrieve a show (a single feed item) and play it from a specified server. <br /><br />The combination of Open APIs, standardized schemas for handling meta-data, and an industry which agrees on these standards are breaking the web wide open right now. So what new open standards should the web incumbentsÂand youÂbe watching? Keep an eye on the following developments:<br /><br /><b>Identity<br />Attention<br />Open Media<br />Microcontent Publishing<br />Open Social Networks<br />Tags<br />Pinging <br />Routing<br />Open Communications<br />Device Management and Control</b><br /><br /><br /><b>1. Identity</b><br /><br />Right now, you don't really control your own online identity. At the core of just about every online piece of software is a membership system. Some systems allow you to browse a site anonymouslyÂbut unless you register with the site you can't do things like search for an article, post a comment, buy something, or review it. The problem is that each and every site has its own membership system. So you constantly have to register with new systems, which cannot share dataÂeven you'd want them to. By establishing a <a href="http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,68329-2,00.html?tw=wn_story_page_next1" target="_blank">"single sign-on" standard</a>, disparate sites can allow users to freely move from site to site, and let them control the movement of their personal profile data, as well as any other data they've created. <br /><br />With <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/01/03/stories/2005010301440200.htm" target="_blank">Passport, Microsoft unsuccessfully attempted</a> to force its proprietary standard on the industry. Instead, a world is evolving where most people assume that users want to control their own data, whether that data is their profile, their blog posts and photos, or some collection of their past interactions, purchases, and recommendations. As long as users can control their digital identity, any kind of service or interaction can be layered on top of it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.identity20.com/media/OSCON2005/" target="_blank">Identity 2.0</a> is all about users controlling their own profile data and becoming their own agents. This way the users themselves, rather than other intermediaries, will profit from their ID info. Once developers start offering single sign-on to their users, and users have trusted places to store their dataÂwhich respect the limits and provide access controls over that data, users will be able to access personalized services which will understand and use their personal data.<br /><br />Identity 2.0 may seem like some geeky, visionary future standard that isn't defined yet, but by putting each user's digital identity at the core of all their online experiences, Identity 2.0 is becoming the cornerstone of the new open web. <br /><br /><b>The Initiatives:</b><br />Right now, Identity 2.0 is under construction through various efforts from Microsoft (the <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/webservices/webservices/understanding/advancedwebservices/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/dnwebsrv/html/identitymetasystem.asp" target="_blank">"InfoCard" component built into the Vista operating system</a> and its "<a href="http://garage.docsearls.com/node/605" target="_blank">Identity Metasystem</a>"), <a href="http://sxip.com" target="_blank">Sxip Identity</a>, <a href="http://www.identtycommons.net" target="_blank">Identity Commons</a>, <a href="http://www.projectliberty.org/" target="_blank">Liberty Alliance</a>, <a href="http://lid.netmesh.org/" target="_blank">LID</a> (NetMesh's Lightweight ID), and SixApart's <a href="http://openid.net/" target="_blank">OpenID</a>.<br /><br /><b>More Movers and Shakers:</b><br />Identity Commons and <a href="http://www.identitywoman.net" target="_blank">Kaliya Hamlin</a>, Sxip Identity and <a href="http://blame.ca/dick/" target="_blank">Dick Hardt</a>, the <a href="http://www.identitygang.org/" target="_blank"> Identity Gang</a> and <a href="http://www.searls.com/dochome.html#Bio" target="_blank">Doc Searls</a>, Microsoft's <a href="http://www.identityblog.com/" target="_blank">Kim Cameron</a>, <a href="http://www.craigburton.com/" target="_blank">Craig Burton</a>, <a href="http://phil.windley.org/" target="_blank">Phil Windley</a>, and <a href="http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/05/2020221&from=rss" target="_blank">Brad Fitzpatrick</a>, to name a few.<br /><br /><br /><b>2. Attention</b><br /><br />How many readers know what their online attention is worth? If you don't, Google and Yahoo doÂthey make their living off our attention. They know what we're searching for, happily turn it into a keyword, and sell that keyword to advertisers. They make money off our attention. We don't. <br /><br />Technorati and friends proposed <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/Gillmor/index.php?p=74" target="_blank">an attention standard, Attention.xml</a>, designed to "help you keep track of what you've read, what you're spending time on, and what you should be paying attention to." <a href="http://attentiontrust.org/" target="_blank">AttentionTrust</a> is an effort by <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/Gillmor/?p=132" target="_blank">Steve Gillmor</a> and <a href="http://majestic.typepad.com/seth/2005/07/attentiontrusto.html" target="_blank">Seth Goldstein </a>to standardize on how captured end-user performance, browsing, and interest data are used. <br /><br />Blogger <a href="http://worcester.typepad.com/pc4media/2005/07/attentiontrusto_1.html" target="_blank">Peter Caputa gives a good summary</a> of AttentionTrust: <blockquote>"As we use the web, we reveal lots of information about ourselves by what we pay attention to. Imagine if all of that information could be stored in a nice neat little xml file. And when we travel around the web, we can optionally share it with websites or other people. We can make them pay for it, lease it ... we get to decide who has access to it, how long they have access to it, and what we want in return. And they have to tell us what they are going to do with our Attention data."</blockquote><br />So when you give your attention to sites that adhere to the AttentionTrust, your attention rights (<i>you own your attention, you can move your attention, you can pay attention and be paid for it</i>, and <i>you can see how your attention is used</i>) are guaranteed. Attention data is crucial to the future of the open web, and Steve and Seth are making sure that no one entity or oligopoly controls it. <br /><br /><b>Movers and Shakers:</b><br /><a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/Gillmor/" target="_blank">Steve Gillmor</a>, <a href="http://majestic.typepad.com/about.html" target="_blank">Seth Goldstein</a>, <a href="http://www.sifry.com/alerts/" target="_blank">Dave Sifry</a> and the <a href="http://developers.technorati.com/wiki/attentionxml" target="_blank">other Attention.xml folks</a>. <br /><br /><br /><b>3. Open Media</b><br /><br />Proprietary media standardsÂFlash, Windows Media, and QuickTime, to name a few Âhelped liven up the web. But they are proprietary standards that try to keep us locked in, and they weren't created from scratch to handle today's online content. That's why, for many of us, an Open Media standard has been a holy grail. Yahoo's new Media RSS standard brings us one step closer to achieving open media, as do <a href="http://www.vorbis.com/faq/#what" target="_blank">Ogg Vorbis</a> audio codecs, <a href="http://webjay.org/" target="_blank">XSPF playlists</a>, or <a href="http://musicbrainz.org/" target="_blank">MusicBrainz</a>. And several sites offer digital creators not only a place to store their content, but also to sell it. <br /><br /><a href="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss" target="_blank">Media RSS </a>(being developed by Yahoo with help from the community) extends RSS and combines it with "RSS enclosures" Âadds metadata to any media itemÂto create a comprehensive solution for media "narrowcasters." To gain acceptance for Media RSS, Yahoo knows it has to work with the community. As an active member of this community, I can tell you that we'll create Media RSS equivalents for <a href="http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2001/01/24/rdf.html" target="_blank">rdf</a> (an alternative subscription format) and <a href="http://www.atomenabled.org/" target="_blank">Atom</a> (yet <i>another</i> subscription format), so no one will be able to complain that Yahoo is picking sides in format wars.<br /><br />When Yahoo announced the purchase of Flickr, Yahoo founder Jerry Yang insinuated that Yahoo is acquiring "open DNA" to turn Yahoo into <a href="http://www.flickr.com/services/api/" target="_blank">an open standards player</a>. Yahoo is showing what happens when you take a multi-billion dollar company and make openness one of its core valuesÂso Google, beware, even if Google does have more research fellows and Ph.D.s. <br /><br />The open media landscape is far and wide, reaching from game machine hacks and mobile phone downloads to PC-driven bookmarklets, players, and editors, and it includes many other standardization efforts. <a href="http://www.xspf.org/" target="_blank">XSPF</a> is an open standard for playlists, and MusicBrainz is an alternative to the proprietary (and originally effectively stolen) database that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracenote" target="_blank">Gracenote</a> licenses. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.ourmedia.org/" target="_blank">Ourmedia.org</a> is a community front-end to Brewster Kahle's <a href="http://www.archive.org" target="_blank">Internet Archive</a>. Brewster has promised free bandwidth and free storage forever to any content creators who choose to share their content via the Internet Archive. Ourmedia.org is providing an easy-to-use interface and community to get content in and out of the Internet Archive, giving ourmedia.org users the ability to share their media anywhere they wish, without being locked into a particular service or tool. Ourmedia plans to offer open APIs and an open media registry that interconnects other open media repositories into a DNS-like registry (just like the www domain system), so folks can browse and discover open content across many open media services. Systems like <a href="http://www.brightcove.com/" target="_blank">Brightcove</a> and <a href="http://www.evhead.com/2005/02/how-odeo-happened.asp" target="_blank">Odeo</a> support the concept of an open registry, and hope to work with digital creators to sell their work to fulfill the financial aspect of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Tail" target="_blank">the "Long Tail."</a><br /><br /><b>More Movers and Shakers:</b><br /><a href="http://creativecommons.org/about/people" target="_blank">Creative Commons</a>, the <a href="http://www.omn.org/" target="_blank">Open Media Network</a>, <a href="http://www.momentshowing.net/about.html" target="_blank">Jay Dedman</a>, <a href="http://ryanedit.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ryanne Hodson</a>, <a href="http://michaelverdi.com/index.php" target="_blank">Michael Verdi</a>, <a href="http://www.chapmanlogic.com/blog/aboutEli.html" target="_blank">Eli Chapman</a>, <a href="http://www.unmediated.org/" target="_blank">Kenyatta Cheese</a>, <a href="http://www.itconversations.com/about.html" target="_blank">Doug Kaye</a>, <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.09/yahoo.html" target="_blank">Brad Horowitz</a>, <a href="http://webjay.org/about#colophon" target="_blank">Lucas Gonze</a>, <a href="http://musicbrainz.org/wd/MusicBrainzBio" target="_blank">Robert Kaye</a>, <a href="http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/" target="_blank">Christopher Allen</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_Kahle" target="_blank">Brewster Kahle</a>, <a href="http://www.newmediamusings.com/" target="_blank">JD Lasica</a>, and indeed, <a href="http://www.corante.com/amateur/articles/20030211-3564.html" target="_blank">Marc Canter</a>, among others.<br /><br /><br /><b>4. Microcontent Publishing</b><br /><br />Unstructured content is cheap to create, but hard to search through. Structured content is expensive to create, but easy to search. <a href="http://developers.technorati.com/wiki/MicroFormats" target="_blank">Microformats</a> resolve the dilemma with simple structures that are cheap to use and easy to search.<br /><br />The first kind of widely adopted microcontent is blogging. Every post is an encapsulated idea, addressable via a URL called a permalink. You can syndicate or subscribe to this microcontent using RSS or an RSS equivalent, and news or blog aggregators can then display these feeds in a convenient readable fashion. But a blog post is just a block of unstructured textânot a bad thing, but just a first step for microcontent. When it comes to<i>structured</i> data, such as personal identity profiles, product reviews, or calendar-type event data, RSS was not designed to maintain the integrity of the structures. <br /><br />Right now, blogging doesn't have the underlying structure necessary for full-fledged microcontent publishing. But that will change. Think of local information services (such as movie listings, event guides, or restaurant reviews) that any college kid can access and use in her weekend programming project to create new services and tools.<br /><br />Today's blogging tools will evolve into microcontent publishing systems, and will help spread the notion of structured data across the blogosphere. New ways to store, represent and produce microcontent will create new standards, such as <a href="http://structuredblogging.org/" target="_blank">Structured Blogging</a> and <a href="http://microformats.org/" target="_blank">Microformats</a>. Microformats differ from RSS feeds in that you can't subscribe to them. Instead, Microformats are embedded into webpages and discovered by search engines like Google or Technorati. Microformats are creating common definitions for "What is a review or event? What are the specific fields in the data structure?" They can also specify what we can do with all this information.<a href="http://www.opml.org/spec" target="_blank">OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language)</a> is a hierarchical file format for storing microcontent and structured data. It was developed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Winer" target="_blank">Dave Winer</a> of RSS and podcast fame.<br /><br />Events are one popular type of microcontent. <a href="http://www.openevents.com" target="_blank">OpenEvents</a> is already working to create shared databases of standardized events, which would get used by a new generation of event portalsâsuch as <a href="http://eventful.com/gotevents/" target="_blank">Eventful/EVDB</a>, <a href="http://upcoming.org/" target="_blank">Upcoming.org</a>, and <a href="http://www.whizspark.com/" target="_blank">WhizSpark</a>. The idea of OpenEvents is that event-oriented systems and services can work together to establish shared events databases (and associated APIs) that any developer could then use to create and offer their own new service or application. <a href="http://marc.blogs.it/archives/2005/04/rvw_redux_openr.html" target="_blank">OpenReviews</a> is still in the conceptual stage, but it would make it possible to provide open alternatives to closed systems like Epinions, and establish a shared database of local and global reviews. Its shared open servers would be filled with all sorts of reviews for anyone to access. <br /><br />Why is this important? Because I predict that in the future, 10 times more people will be writing reviews than maintaining their own blog. The list of possible microcontent standards goes on: OpenJobpostings, OpenRecipes, and even OpenLists. Microsoft <a href="http://www.reallysimplesyndication.com/2005/06/22" target="_blank">recently revealed</a> that it has been working on an important new kind of microcontent: Listsâso OpenLists will attempt to establish standards for the <i>kind</i> of lists we all use, such as lists of Links, lists of To Do Items, lists of People, Wish Lists, etc.<br /><br /><b>Movers and Shakers:</b><br /><a href="http://tantek.com/log/2005/09.html" target="_blank">Tantek Ãelik</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Marks" target="_blank">Kevin Marks</a> of <a href="http://developers.technorati.com/wiki/MicroFormats" target="_blank">Technorati</a>, <a href="http://dannyayers.com/" target="_blank">Danny Ayers</a>, <a href="http://www.meyerweb.com/" target="_blank">Eric Meyer</a>, <a href="http://photomatt.net/" target="_blank">Matt Mullenweg</a>, <a href="http://zlab.commerce.net/" target="_blank">Rohit Khare</a>, <a href="http://ifindkarma.typepad.com/relax/" target="_blank">Adam Rifkin</a>, <a href="http://www.sivas.com/aleene/" target="_blank">Arnaud Leene</a>, <a href="http://radio.weblogs.com/0110772/" target="_blank">Seb Paquet</a>, <a href="http://hublog.hubmed.org/" target="_blank">Alf Eaton</a>, <a href="http://www.myelin.co.nz/post/" target="_blank">Phil Pearson</a>, <a href="http://www.joereger.com/" target="_blank">Joe Reger</a>, <a href="http://bobwyman.pubsub.com/" target="_blank">Bob Wyman</a> among others.<br /><br /><br /><b>5. Open Social Networks</b><br /><br />I'll never forget the first time I met <a href="http://www.jabrams.com/" target="_blank">Jonathan Abrams</a>, the founder of Friendster. He was arrogant and brash and he claimed he "<i>owned</i>" all his users, and that he was going to monetize them and make a fortune off them. This attitude robbed Friendster of its momentum, letting MySpace, Facebook, and other social networks take Friendster's place.<br /><br />Jonathan's notion of social networks as a way to control users is typical of the Web 1.0 business model and its attitude towards users in general. Social networks have become one of the battlegrounds between old and new ways of thinking. Open standards for Social Networking will define those sides very clearly. Since meeting Jonathan, I have been working towards finding and establishing open standards for social networks. Instead of closed, centralized social networks with 10 million people in them, the goal is making it possible to have 10 million social networks that each have 10 people in them.<br /><br />FOAF (which stands for Friend Of A Friend, and describes people and relationships in a way that computers can parse) is a schema to represent not only your personal profile's meta-data, but your social network as well. Thousands of researchers use the <a href="http://www.foaf-project.org/" target="_blank">FOAF schema</a> in their "Semantic Web" projects to connect people in all sorts of new ways. <a href="http://gmpg.org/xfn/" target="_blank">XFN</a> is a microformat standard for representing your social network, while <a href="http://www.imc.org/pdi/" target="_blank">vCard</a> (long familiar to users of contact manager programs like Outlook) is a microformat that contains your profile information. Microformats are baked into any xHTML webpage, which means that<i>any</i> blog, social network page, or any webpage in general can "contain" your social network in itÂand be used by<i>any</i> compatible tool, service or application. <br /><br />PeopleAggregator is an earlier project now being integrated into <a href="http://drupal.org/" target="_blank">open content management framework Drupal</a>. The <a href="http://www.broadbandmechanics.com/PeopleAggregator/" target="_blank">PeopleAggregator APIs</a> will make it possible to establish relationships, send messages, create or join groups, and post between different social networks. (Sneak preview: this technology will be available in the upcoming GoingOn Network.) <br /><br />All of these open social networking standards mean that inter-connected social networks will form a mesh that will parallel the blogosphere. This vibrant, distributed, decentralized world will be driven by open standards: personalized online experiences are what the new open web will be all aboutÂand what could be more personalized than people's networks?<br /><br /><b>Movers and Shakers:</b><br /><a href="http://esigler.2nw.net/" target="_blank">Eric Sigler</a>, <a href="http://lucifer.intercosmos.net/index.php?view=about" target="_blank">Joel De Gan</a>, <a href="http://crschmidt.net/" target="_blank">Chris Schmidt</a>, <a href="http://voidstar.com/" target="_blank">Julian Bond</a>, <a href="http://people.tribe.net/paul?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Person%5Bf2232c95-e123-43a3-b48d-24a5f11f09dc%5D&r=10535" target="_blank">Paul Martino</a>, <a href="http://napsterization.org/stories/archives/000513.html" target="_blank">Mary Hodder</a>, <a href="http://public.2idi.com/=Drummond.Reed" target="_blank">Drummond Reed</a>, <a href="http://danbri.org/" target="_blank">Dan Brickley</a>, <a href="http://360.yahoo.com/profile-9lciejI3aafX1stHPoIRNmkmv4EowQ--" target="_blank">Randy Farmer</a>, and <a href="http://www.kaliyasblogs.net/Iwoman/" target="_blank">Kaliya Hamlin</a>, to name a few.<br /><br /><br /><b>6. Tags</b><br /><br />Nowadays, no self-respecting tool or service can ship without <a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2005/02/08/tagging/index_np.html" target="_blank">tags</a>. Tags are keywords or phrases attached to photos, blog posts, URLs, or even video clips. These user- and creator-generated tags are an open alternative to what used to be the domain of librarians and information scientists: categorizing information and content using taxonomies. Tags are instead creating <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.04/view.html?pg=4" target="_blank">"folksonomies."</a><br /><br />The recently proposed OpenTags concept would be an open, community-owned version of the popular <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/" target="_blank">Technorati Tags service</a>. It would aggregate the usage of tags across a wide range of services, sites, and content tools. In addition to Technorati's current tag features, OpenTags would let groups of people share their tags in "<a href="http://www.zeldman.com/daily/0405d.shtml/" target="_blank">TagClouds</a>." Open tagging is likely to include some of the open identity features discussed above, to create a tag system that is resilient to spam, and yet trustable across sites all over the web.<br /><br />OpenTags owes a debt to earlier versions of shared tagging systems, which include <a href="http://www.topicexchange.com/" target="_blank">Topic Exchange</a> and something called the <a href="http://www.evectors.com/itkcollector/" target="_blank">k-collector</a>Âa knowledge management tag aggregatorÂfrom Italian company eVectors. <br /><br /><b>Movers & Shakers:</b><br /><a href="http://www.myelin.co.nz/notes/" target="_blank">Phil Pearson</a>, <a href="http://matt.blogs.it/" target="_blank">Matt Mower </a>, <a href="http://paolo.evectors.it/" target="_blank">Paolo Valdemarin</a>, and <a href="http://marc.blogs.it/archives/2005/03/opentopics.html" target="_blank">Mary Hodder</a> and <a href="http://www.equalsdrummond.name/index.php?p=39" target="_blank"> Drummond Reed</a> again, among others.<br /><br /><br /><b>7. Pinging</b><br /><br />Websites used to be mostly static. Search engines that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_crawler" target="_blank">crawled</a> (or "spidered") them every so often did a good enough job to show reasonably current versions of your cousin's homepage or even <i>Time</i> magazine's weekly headlines. But when blogging took off, it became hard for search engines to keep up. (Google has only <a href="http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3548411" target="_blank">just managed</a> to offer <a href="http://www.google.com/help/about_blogsearch.html" target="_blank">blog-search functionality</a>, despite <a href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=325_0_2_0_C" target="_blank">buying Blogger</a> back in early 2003.)<br /><br />To know what was new in the blogosphere, users couldn't depend on services that spidered webpages once in a while. The solution: a way for blogs themselves to automatically notify blog-tracking sites that they'd been updated. <a href="http://weblogs.com/" target="_blank">Weblogs.com</a> was the first blog "ping service": it displayed the name of a blog whenever that blog was updated. Pinging sites helped the blogosphere grow, and <a href="http://blo.gs/" target="_blank">more tools</a>, services, and portals started using pinging in new and different ways. Dozens of pinging services and sitesÂmost of which can't talk to each otherÂsprang up. <br /><br />Matt Mullenweg (the creator of open source blogging software WordPress) decided that a one-stop service for pinging was needed. He created <a href="http://pingomatic.com/" target="_blank">Ping-o-Matic</a>Âwhich aggregates ping services and simplifies the pinging process for bloggers and tool developers. With Ping-o-Matic, any developer can alert all of the industry's blogging tools and tracking sites at once. This new kind of open standard, with shared infrastructure, is a critical to the scalability of Web 2.0 services.<br /><br />As <a href="http://pingomatic.com/about/" target="_blank">Matt said</a>:<br /><blockquote>There are a number of services designed specifically for tracking and connecting blogs. However it would be expensive for all the services to crawl all the blogs in the world all the time. By sending a small ping to each service you let them know you've updated so they can come check you out. They get the freshest data possible, you don't get a thousand robots spidering your site all the time. Everybody wins.</blockquote><br /><b>Movers and Shakers:</b><br /><a href="http://photomatt.net/about/" target="_blank">Matt Mullenweg</a>, <a href="http://trainedmonkey.com/entry/2251" target="_blank">Jim Winstead</a>, <a href="http://newhome.weblogs.com/faq" target="_blank">Dave Winer</a><br /><br /><br /><b>8. Routing</b><br /><br />Bloggers used to have to manually enter the links and content snippets of blog posts or news items they wanted to blog. Today, some RSS aggregators can send a specified post directly into an associated blogging tool: as bloggers browse through the feeds they subscribe to, they can easily specify and send any post they wish to "<a href="http://www.microsoftmonitor.com/archives/010209.html" target="_blank">reblog</a>" from their news aggregator or feed reader into their blogging tool. (This is usually referred to as "<a href="http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=152&topic=17" target="_blank">BlogThis</a>.") As structured blogging comes into its own (see the section on Microcontent Publishing), it will be increasingly important to maintain the structural integrity of these pieces of microcontent when reblogging them. <br /><br />Promising standard <a href="http://redirectthis.com/" target="_blank">RedirectThis</a> will combine a "BlogThis"-like capability while maintaining the integrity of the microcontent. RedirectThis will let bloggers and content developers attach a simple "PostThis" button to their posts. Clicking on that button will send that post to the reader/blogger's favorite <a href="http://ecto.kung-foo.tv/archives/000990.php" target="_blank">blogging tool</a>. This favorite tool is specified at the RedirectThis web service, where users register their blogging tool of choice. RedirectThis also helps maintain the integrity and structure of microcontentÂthen it's just up to the user to prefer a blogging tool that also attains that lofty goal of microcontent integrity. <br /><br />OutputThis is another nascent web services standard, to let bloggers specify what "destinations" they'd like to have as options in their blogging tool. As new destinations are added to the service, more checkboxes would get added to their blogging toolÂallowing them to route their published microcontent to additional destinations.<br /><br /><b>Movers and Shakers:</b><br /><a href="http://reblog.org/" target="_blank">Michael Migurski</a>, <a href="http://www.gonze.com/about" target="_blank">Lucas Gonze</a><br /><br /><br /><b>9. Open Communications</b><br /><br />Likely, you've experienced the joys of finding friends on AIM or Yahoo Messenger, or the convenience of Skyping with someone overseas. Not that you're about to throw away your mobile phone or BlackBerry, but for many, also having access to Instant Messaging (IM) and Voice over IP (VoIP) is crucial. <br /><br />IM and VoIP are mainstream technologies that already enjoy the benefits of open standards. Entire industries are bornÂright this secondÂbased around these open standards. <a href="http://www.jabber.org/" target="_blank">Jabber</a> has been an open IM technology for yearsÂin fact, <a href="http://www.xmpp.org/history.html" target="_blank">as XMPP</a>, it was officially dubbed a standard by <a href="http://www.ietf.org/overview.html" target="_blank">the IETF</a>. Although becoming an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IETF" target="_blank">official IETF standard</a> is usually the kiss of death, Jabber looks like it'll be around for a while, as entire generations of collaborative, work-group applications and services have been built on top of its messaging protocol. For VoIP, <a href="http://skype.com/helloagain.html" target="_blank">Skype</a> is clearly the leading standard todayÂthough one could <a href="http://socialsoftware.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000923058521/" target="_blank">argue just how "open" it is</a> (and defenders of the IETF's <a href="http://www.cs.columbia.edu/sip/" target="_blank">SIP standard</a> often do). But it is free and user-friendly, so there won't be much argument from <i>users</i> about it being insufficiently open. Yet there may be a cloud on Skype's horizon: web behemoth Google recently released a beta of <a href="http://www.google.com/talk/developer.html" target="_blank">Google Talk, an IM client committed to open standards</a>. It currently <a href="http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2005/08/google_talk_rel.html" target="_blank">supports XMPP, and will support SIP</a> for VoIP calls.<br /><br /><b>Movers and Shakers:</b><br /><a href="http://www.jabber.org/people/jer.shtml" target="_blank">Jeremie Miller</a>, <a href="http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/" target="_blank">Henning Schulzrinne</a>, <a href="http://www.von.com/schedule_eos11114704148.html" target="_blank">Jon Peterson</a>, <a href="http://www.pulver.com/jeff/" target="_blank">Jeff Pulver</a><br /><br /><br /><b>10. Device Management and Control</b><br /><br />To access online content, we're using more and more devices. BlackBerrys, iPods, Treos, you name it. As the web evolves, more and more different devices will have to communicate with each other to give us the content we want when and where we want it. No-one wants to be dependent on one vendor anymoreÂlike, <a href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=P9409_0_6_0_C" target="_blank">say, Sony</a>Âfor their laptop, phone, MP3 player, PDA, and digital camera, so that it all works together. We need fully interoperable devices, and the standards to make that work. And to fully make use of how content is moving online content and innovative web services, those standards need to be open.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midi" target="_blank">MIDI (musical instrument digital interface)</a>, one of the very first open standards in music, connected disparate vendors' instruments, post-production equipment, and recording devices. But MIDI is limited, and <a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/8015" target="_blank">MIDI II has been very slow to arrive</a>. Now a new standard for controlling musical devices has emerged: <a href="http://www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/OpenSoundControl/" target="_blank">OSC (Open SoundControl)</a>. This protocol is optimized for modern networking technology and inter-connects music, video and controller devices with "other multimedia devices." OSC is used by a wide range of developers, and is being taken up in the mainstream MIDI marketplace.<br /><br />Another open-standards-based device management technology is <a href="http://www.zigbee.org" target="_blank">ZigBee</a>, for building wireless intelligence and network monitoring into all kinds of devices. ZigBee is supported by many networking, consumer electronics, and mobile device companies.<br /><br /><br />   · · · · · ·   <br /><br /><b>The Change to Openness</b><br /><br />The rise of open source software and its "<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/articles/architecture_of_participation.html" target="_blank">architecture of participation</a>" are completely shaking up the old proprietary-web-services-and-standards approach. Sun MicrosystemsÂwhose proprietary Java standard helped define the Web 1.0Âis opening its Solaris OS and has even announced the apparent paradox of an <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=418" target="_blank">open-source Digital Rights Management</a> system.<br /><br />Today's incumbents will have to adapt to the new openness of the Web 2.0. If they stick to their <a href="http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=131038" target="_blank">proprietary standards</a>, code, and content, they'll become the new walled gardensÂplaces users visit briefly to retrieve data and content from enclosed data silos, but not where users "live." The incumbents' revenue models will have to change. Instead of "owning" their users, users will know they own themselves, and will expect a return on their valuable identity and attention. Instead of being locked into incompatible media formats, users will expect easy access to digital content across many platforms. <br /><br />Yesterday's web giants and tomorrow's users will need to find a mutually beneficial new balanceÂbetween open and proprietary, developer and user, hierarchical and horizontal, owned and shared, and compatible and closed. <br /><br /><br /><i>Marc Canter is an active evangelist and developer of open standards. Early in his career, Marc founded MacroMind, which became Macromedia. These days, he is CEO of Broadband Mechanics, a founding member of the Identity Gang and of ourmedia.org. Broadband Mechanics is currently developing the <a href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=11262_0_1_0_C" target="_blank">GoingOn Network</a> (with the AlwaysOn Network), as well as an open platform for social networking called the PeopleAggregator.</i><br /><br />A version of the above post appears in the Fall 2005 issue of AlwaysOn's quarterly print blogozine, and ran as <a href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=12063_0_1_0_C" target="_blank">a four-part series</a> on the AlwaysOn Network website.</td></tr></table><br /><p>(Via <a href="http://marc.blogs.it/">Marc's Voice</a>.)</p></blockquote>
The Web 2.0 Litmus Test
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2005-10-04#870
2005-10-04T19:52:58Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
I have just read <a href="http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=e481327e-5e8b-4b93-982e-db206222a2cf">Dare Obasanjo's recent contribution to the Web 2.0 clarification effort</a>. His post-processing of the <a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html?page=1">Web 2.0 treatise by Tim O'Reilly</a> certainly got me thinking about the thorny issue of attempting to define Web 2.0. As most already know, the subject of Web 2.0 definition has been contentious from the onset (unfortunately for the wrong reasons: hype over substance): <cite><blockquote>just take a look at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Web_2.0">oxymoronic Wikipedia 2.0 imbroglio</a> to get my drift. In retrospect, I should have called on <a href="http://news.com.com/Esquire+wikis+article+on+Wikipedia/2100-1038_3-5885171.html">Esquire magazine</a> to get the Web 2.0 article going :-) ).</blockquote></cite> Anyway, back to Dare's analysis of Tim's 7 Web 2.0 litmus test items listed below: <blockquote><cite><ul><li> Services, not packaged software, with cost-effective scalability </li><li> Control over unique, hard-to-recreate data sources that get richer as more people use them </li><li> Trusting users as co-developers </li><li> Harnessing collective intelligence </li><li> Leveraging the long tail through customer self-service </li><li> Software above the level of a single device </li><li> Lightweight user interfaces, development models, AND business models </li></ul></cite></blockquote> And trimmed down to 3 by Dare: <blockquote><cite><ul dir="ltr"><li><div>Exposes Web services that can be accessed on any device or platform by any developer or user. RSS feeds, RESTful APIs and SOAP APIs are all examples of Web services. </div></li><li><div>Harnesses the collective knowledge of its user base to benefit users </div></li><li><div>Leverages the long tail through customer self-service </div></li></ul></cite></blockquote> Well, I would like to summarize this a little further using a few excerpts from my numerous contributions to the Web 2.0 talk page on Wikipedia (albeit mildly revised; see strikeouts etc.): <blockquote><cite>Web 2.0 is a web of <strike>executable</strike> service invocation endpoints (those Web Services URIs) and well-formed content (all of that RSS, Atom, RDF, XHTML, etc. based Web Content out on the NET). The <strike>executable</strike> service invocation endpoints and well-formed content are accessible via URIs. <p>Put in even simpler terms, Web 2.0 is an incarnation of the web defined by URIs for invoking Web Services and/or consuming or syndicating well-formed content.</p></cite><p>Looks like I've self edited my own definition in the process. :-)</p></blockquote><p>If you don't grok this definition then consider using it as a trigger for taking a closer look at the dynamics that genuinely differentiate Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.</p> In another Wikipedia "talk page" contribution (regarding "Web 2.0 Business Impact") I attempt to answer the question posed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Web_2.0#Business_Impact">here</a>, which should also shed light on the premise of my definition above: <blockquote><cite><p>Web 1.0 was about web sites geared towards an interaction with human beings as opposed to computers. In a sense this mirrors the difference between HTML and XML.</p><p>A simple example (purchasing a book):</p><p>amazon.com provides value to you by enabling you to search and purchase the desired book online via the site http://www.amazon.com.</p><p>In the Web 1.0 era the process of searching for your desired book, and then eventually purchasing the book in question, required visible interaction with the site http://www.amazon.com. In today's Web 2.0 based Web the process of discovering a catalog of books, searching for your particular book of interest, and eventually purchasing the book, occurs via Web Services which amazon has chosen to expose via an executable endpoint (<i>the Web point of presence for exposing its Web Services</i>).</p><p>Direct interaction via http://www.amazon.com is no longer required. A weblog can quite easily associate keywords, tags, and post categories with items in amazon.com's catalogs. In addition, weblogs can also act as entry points for consuming the amazon.com value proposition (making books available for purchase online), by enabling you to purchase a book directly from the weblog (assuming the blog owner is an amazon associate etc..). Now compare the impact of this kind of value discovery and consumption cycle driven by software to the same process driven by humans interaction with a static or dynamic HTML page (Web 1.0 site). </p></cite></blockquote><p>To surmise, Web 2.0 is a reflection of the potential of XML expressed through the collective impact of Web Services (XML based distributed computing) and Well-formed Content (Blogosphere, Wikisphere, XHTML micro content etc.). The potential simply comes down to the ability to ultimately connect events, triggers, impulses (chatter, conversation, etc.), and data in general via URIs.</p><p>Let's never forget that XML is the reason why we have a blogosphere (RSS/Atom/RDF are applications of XML). Likewise, XML is also the reason why we have Web Services (doesn't matter what format).</p><p>As I have stated in the past, we must go by Web 2.0 en route what is popularly referred to as the Semantic Web (it will be known by another name by the time we get there; 3.0 or 4.0, who knows or cares?). At the current time, the prerequisite activity of self annotation is in full swing on the current Web, thanks to the inflective effects of Web 2.0.</p><p>BTW - Would this <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=semantic%20web&type=text&output=html">URI</a> to <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=semantic%20web&type=text&output=html">all Semantic Web related posts on my blog</a> pass the Web 2.0 litmus test? Likewise, this <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=web%202.0&type=text&output=html">URI</a> to all <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblog/public/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=web%202.0&type=text&output=html">Web 2.0 related posts</a>? I wonder :-)</p>
WebDAV, SQLX, and my Weblog
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2005-04-26#810
2005-04-26T03:54:43Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<p>Uche Ogbuji <a href="http://copia.ogbuji.net/blog/2005/04/24#Posting_to">comments</a> in his <a href="http://copia.ogbuji.net/blog">blog</a> about the use of WebDAV and <a href="http://www.tbradford.org/2005/02/xml-with-virtuoso-and-sqlx_02.html">SQLX </a>in my blog as part of his commentary about <a href="http://egaumer.pagecache.org/PyBlosxom/pyblosxom-webdav.html">Pyblosxom & WebDAV</a>. To provide some clarity about Virtuoso and Blogging I have decided to put out this quick step by guide to the workings of my blog (there is a long overdue technical white paper nearing completion that address this subject in more detail).</p> <p>Here goes:</p> <p><u><strong>Blog Editing</strong></u></p> <p>I can use any editor that supports the following Blog Post APIs:</p> <p>- Moveable Type</p> <p>- Meta Weblog</p> <p>- Blogger</p> <p>Typically I use Virtuoso (which has an unreleased WYSIWYG blog post editor), <a href="http://www.newzcrawler.com/">Newzcrawler</a>, <a href="http://ecto.kung-foo.tv/">ecto</a>, <a href="http://zempt.com/">Zempt</a>, or <a href="http://www.wbloggar.com/">w.bloggar</a> for my posts. If a post is of interest to me, or relevant to our company or customers I tend to perform one of the following tasks:</p> <p>- Generate a post using the "Blog This" feature of my blog editor</p> <p>- Write a new post that was triggered by a previously read post etc.</p> <p>Either way, the posts end up in our company wide blog server that is Virtuoso based (more about this below). The internal blog server automatically categorizes my blog posts, and automagically determines which posts to upstream to other public blogs that I author (e.g <a href="http://kidehen.typepad.com/">http://kidehen.typepad.com</a> ) or co-author (e.g <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblogs/uda">http://www.openlinksw.com/weblogs/uda</a> and <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblogs/virtuoso">http://www.openlinksw.com/weblogs/virtuoso</a> ). I write once and my posts are dispatched conditionally to multiple outlets.</p> <p><strong><u>RSS/Atom/RDF Aggregation & Reading</u></strong></p> <p>I discover, subscribe to, and view blog feeds using <a href="http://www.newzcrawler.com/">Newzcrawler</a> (primarily), and from time to time for experimentation and evaluation purposes I use <a href="http://www.rssbandit.org/">RSS Bandit</a>, <a href="http://www.bradsoft.com/feeddemon/">FeedDemon</a>, and <a href="http://www.bloglines.com/">Bloglines</a>. I am in the process of moving this activity over to Virtuoso completely due to the large number of feeds that I consume on a daily basis (scalability is a bit of a problem with current aggregators).</p> <p><u><strong>Blog Publishing</strong></u></p> <p>When you visit my blog you are experiencing the soon to be released Virtuoso Blog Publishing engine first hand, which is how WebDAV, SQLX, XQuery/XPath, and Free Text etc. come into the mix.</p> <p>Each time I create a post internally, or subscribe to an external feed, the data ends up in Virtuoso's SQL Engine (this is how we handle some of the obvious scalability challenges associated with large subscription counts). This engine is SQL2000N based, which implies that it can transform SQL to XML on the fly using recent extensions to SQL in the form of SQLX (prior to the emergence of this standard we used the FOR XML SQL syntax extensions for the same result). It also has its own in-built XSLT processor (DB Engine resident), and validating XML parser (with support for XML Schema). Thus, my <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen/gems/">RSS/RDF/Atom archives, FOAF, BlogRoll, OPML, and OCS</a> blog syndication gems are all live examples of SQLX documents that leverage Virtuoso's WebDAV engine for exposure to Blog Clients.</p> <p><strong><u>Blog Search</u></strong></p> <p>When you search for blog posts using the basic or <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127">advanced search</a> features of my blog, you end up interacting with one of the following methods of querying data hosted in Virtuoso: Free Text Search, XPath, or XQuery. The <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=virtuoso&type=text&output=html">result sets</a> produced by the search feature uses SQLX to produce subscription gems (<a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=virtuoso&type=text&output=xml">RSS</a>/<a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=virtuoso&type=text&output=atom">Atom</a>/<a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=virtuoso&type=text&output=rdf">RDF</a>/<a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&type=text&kwds=virtuoso&OpenSearch">OpenSearch</a>) and <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=virtuoso&type=text&output=html">URIs</a> that enable dynamic tracking of my posts using your search keywords.</p> <p>BTW - the <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen">http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen</a> blog home page exists as a result of Virtuoso's Virtual Domain / Multi-Homing Web Server functionality. The entire site resides in an Object Relational DBMS, and I can take my DB file across Windows, Solaris, Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, AIX, HP-UX, IRIX, and SCO UnixWare without missing a single beat! All I have to do is instantiate my Virtuoso server and my weblog is live.</p>
Back To The Future: Hypermedia
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2005-03-26#766
2005-03-26T20:24:30Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<p>If a picture speaks a thousand words, I sometimes wonder how many words we attribute to a multimedia clip? Especially one that is now openly accessible to many who don't quite understand the high degree of: "Back To The Future" quotient of most of what we see today.</p> <p>The Internet Archive initiative is building up an amazing collection of content that includes this <a href="http://www.archive.org/movies/details-db.php?collection=computerchronicles&collectionid=CC501_hypercard">"must watch" movie</a> about the somewhat forgotten <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercard">hypercard</a> development environment.</p> <p>As I watched the hypercard movie I obtained clear reassurance that my vision of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0">Web 2.0</a> as critical infrastructure for a future Semantic Web isn't unfounded. The solution building methodology espoused by hypercard is exactly how Semantic Web applications will be built, and this will be done by orchestrating the componentary of Web 2.0.</p> <p>When watching this clip make the following mental adjustments:</p> <ol> <li>Swap hypercard stacks for discrete and/or composite services that have published endpoints exposed by Web 2.0 points of presence<br><br></li> <li>Think of information taking the form of XML based content e.g. RSS, Atom, RDF, FOAF, XFN, and other future XML based data contextualization formats; all accessible via URIs<br><br></li> <li>When the Apple Mac operating system is mentioned (or infered) think of the Internet (you don't need Windows, Mac OS, Linux, UNIX etc. to realize the vision, the network provided by the Internet is the Operating System)<br><br></li> <li>When the Apple computer is mentioned simply think about a plethora of function specific devices (computers, mobile phones, PDAs etc.) that overtly or covertly provide conduits to the new operating environment (the Internet)<br><br></li> <li>As you hear term "whole new body of people that are non programmers contributing there ideas" think about yourself and the increasing ease of participation that's beginning to take shape in this emerging frontier!<br><br></li> <li>As for "<a href="http://www.wholeearthmag.com/about.html">Whole Earth Catalog", </a>think <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org">Wikipedia</a> or more recent efforts such as <a href="http://www.answers.com">Answers.com</a>.</li></ol> <p>Web 2.0 is a reflection of the web taking its first major step out of the technology stone age (certainly the case relative to the hypercard movie and "pre web" application development in general). </p> <p> </p>
OpenSearch & Potential Patent Abuse?
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2005-03-17#754
2005-03-17T22:47:49Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <p>It finally dawned on me what <a href="http://www.reallysimplesyndication.com/2005/03/15#a379">OpenSearch</a> does. Basically you tell it about different search engines by showing it how to query something in each, and get back an RSS return. Then when you search for some term, say foo+bar, it performs the search in all the engines you have configured it for. So it's a way to group a bunch of search engines together and command them all to look for the same thing. It is clever. It is something that hasn't been done before, to my knowledge. That's the good news. The bad news is that Amazon is a leading patent abuser. So as good as this idea is, it's bad for all the rest of us, unless they tell us that they're granting us some kind of license to use the idea. [via <a href="http://www.scripting.com/">Scripting News</a>]</p></blockquote> <div align="right"> </div> <div align="left">I am no fan of Amazon's moves in the patent arena. At the same time I am very confident that OpenSearch isn't headed down this part. Virtualization isn't new or unique (irrespective of context), and the prior art defense should be pretty trivial. </div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left">For now, I like what OpenSearch offers, and would continue do so as long as there is no patent abuse associated with this (I certainly understand Dave Winer's concern; their track record isn't great re. this matter). </div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left">I should have an OpenSearch variant of this dynamic <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=amazon+patent%0D%0A&type=text&output=html">collection</a> of Amazon and patents related blog posts in the coming days (you will see a new OpenSearch gem alongside RSS/Atom/RDF).</div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left">BTW - <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=amazon%0D%0A&type=text&output=html">Here</a> is the dynamic collection of all my Amazon.com posts to date.</div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"> </div>
Yahoo! Web Services
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2005-03-02#718
2005-03-02T03:35:05Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<font size="2"> <p dir="ltr">Today is one of those days where one topic appears to be on the mind of many across cyberspace. You guessed right! Its that Web 2.0 thing again. </p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/1200">Paul Bausch</a> brings Yahoo!'s most recent Web 2.0 contribution to our broader attention in this excerpt from his <font size="2"><a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2005/02/28/yahoo.html">O'Reilly Network article</a></font>:</p> <blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <p>I browse news, check stock prices, and get movie times with Yahoo! Even though I interact with Yahoo! technology on a regular basis, I've never thought of Yahoo! as a technology company. Now that Yahoo! has released a <a href="http://developer.yahoo.net/faq/">Web Services interface</a>, my perception of them is changing. Suddenly having programmatic access to a good portion of their data has me seeing Yahoo! through the eyes of a developer rather than a user.</p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The great thing about this move by Yahoo! is two fold (<a href="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=imho&method=2&gwp=13">IMHO</a>):</p> <ol dir="ltr"> <li> <div>It certainly makes Yahoo! a little more interesting of late. And it will certainly helps to distinguish Yahoo! from Google. Of course these companies overlap somewhat, but they are also pretty different in focus. I see Yahoo! increasingly as a portal platform play providing content access via syndication, publishing, and web services.<br><br></div></li> <li> <div>It will impact their bottom line pretty rapidly, and I hope they realize the impact of Web 2.0 when trying to explain the growth increments whenever they next report to their investors :-) In a <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/index.vspx?id=637">previous post</a> I expressed my sense of some confusion on the part of Jeff Bezos regarding the total contribution of AWS to Amazon's growth (<a href="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=btw&method=2&gwp=13">BTW</a> - my articles to date re. Amazon and Web 2.0 are available from <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=amazon+web+2.0&type=text&output=html">here</a> in a variety of XML syndication formats: <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=amazon+web+2.0&type=text&output=atom">Atom</a>, <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=amazon+web+2.0&type=text&output=atom">RSS 2.0</a>, <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=amazon+web+2.0&type=text&output=rdf">RDF</a>).<br></div></li></ol> <p>The great thing about the Platform oriented Web 2.0 is the ability to syndicate your value proposition (aka products and services) instead of pursuing fallable email campaigns. It enables the auto-discovery of products and services by user agents (the content aspect). Web 2.0 also provides an infrastructure for user agents to enter into a consumptive interactions with discrete or composite Web Services via published endpoints exposed by a platform (the execution aspect). </p> <p>A scenario example: </p> <p>You can obtain RSS feeds (electronic product catalogs) from Amazon today, although you have to explicitly locate these catalog-feeds since Amazon doesn't exploit <a href="http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/000967.html">feed auto-discovery</a> within their domain. </p> <blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <p><em>If you use Firefox or another auto-discovery supporting RSS/Atom/RDF user agent; visit </em><a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/"><em>this URL</em></a><em>; Firefox users should simply click on the little orange icon bottom right of the browser's window to its RSS feed auto-discovery in action. </em></p> <p><em>Anyway, once you have the feeds the next step is execution endpoints discovery within the Amazon domain (the conduits to Amazon's order processing system in this example). At the current time there isn't broad standardization of Web Services auto-discovery but it's certainly coming; </em><a href="http://xml.coverpages.org/wsil.html"><em>WSIL</em></a><em> is a potential front runner for small scale discovery while UDDI provides a heavier duty equivalent for larger scale tasks that includes discovery and other related functionality realms.</em> </p></blockquote> <p>Back to the example trail, by having the RSS/Atom/RDF feed data within the confines of a user agent (an <a href="http://internet-apps.blogspot.com/2004/08/internet-application-manifesto.html">Internet Application</a> to be precise) nothing stops the extraction of key purchasing data from these feeds, plus your consumer data en route to assembling an execution message (as prescribed by the schema of the service in question)for Amazon's order processing/ shopping cart service. All of this happens without ever seeing/eye-balling the Amazon site (a prerequisite of Web 1.0 hence the dated term: Web Site).</p> <p>To summarize: Web 2.0 enables you to syndicate your value proposition and then have it consumed via Web Services, leveraging computer, as opposed to human interaction cycles. This is how I believe Web 2.0 will ultimately impact the growth rates (in most cases exponentially) of those companies that comprehend its potential. </font></p>
The Future of Search: Perspectives
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2005-03-01#710
2005-03-01T21:08:00Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<p dir="ltr">I have yanked out a key segment from the <a href="http://www.emergic.org/archives/2005/03/01/index.html#tech_talk_the_future_of_search_perspectives">TECH TALK: The Future of Search: Perspectives</a> post that I find really poignant regarding the changing shape and form of the Web:</p> <blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <p></p> <p dir="ltr">It is clear that in comparison to the Web of the last century, the nature of data on the Web later in this decade will be very different in the following aspects:</p> <ul> <li dir="ltr">Volume of data is growing by orders of magnitudes every year<br>Multimedia and sensor data are becoming more and more common.<br><br></li> <li dir="ltr">Spatio-temporal attributes of data are important.<br><br></li> <li dir="ltr">Different data sources provide information to form the holistic picture.<br><br></li> <li dir="ltr">Users are not concerned with the location of data source, as long as its quality and credibility is assured. They want to know the result of the data assimilation (the big picture of the event).<br><br></li> <li dir="ltr">Real-time data processing is the only way to extract meaningful information<br>Exploration, not querying, is the predominant mode of interaction, which makes context and state critical.<br><br></li> <li dir="ltr">The user is interested in experience and information, independent of the medium and the source.<br></li></ul> <p>Effectively, the nature of the knowledge on the Web is changing very fast. It used to be mostly static text documents; now it will be a combination of live and static multimedia, including text, data and documents with spatio-temporal attributes. Considering these changes, can the search engines developed for static text documents be able to deal with the needs of the Web? [via <a href="http://www.emergic.org/">E M E R G I C . o r g</a>]</p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">No, but this doesn't render them useless since we wouldn't be at this point without the likes of Google, Yahoo! et al. But building upon the data substrate that web data oriented search engines provide is where the next batch of Information access and Knowledge discovery solutions will carve out their space. The symbiotic relationship between <a href="http://google.com/">Google </a>(data) and Gurunet's <a href="http://answers.com/">Answers.com</a> (Information and Knowledge) is one interesting example.</p> <p dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">The Web is a distributed collection of databases that implement variety of data storage models but are commonly accessible via protocols that rely on HTTP for transport (in-bound and out-bound messages) services. These databases increasingly using well-formed XML for query result (data contextualization) persistence and URIs for permenant reference. 'What Database?" you might ask, "What you once called your Web Site, Blog, Wiki, etc.." my time-less reply.</p> <p dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">When you have the database that I describe above, and a collection of entry points from which discrete or composite Web Services can be invoked available from one or more internet domains, you end up with what I prefer to call "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0">Web 2.0</a>" presence, or what <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/002645.php">Richard McManus</a> describes as: "The Web as a Platform".</p> <p dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">Here is a collection of posts I have made in the past relating to Web 2.0, note that this list is dynamic since this blog is Virtuoso based (predictably):</p> <p dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">Free Text Search with XHTML results page (with Virtuoso generated URIs for RSS, Atom, and RDF): <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=web+2.0&type=text&output=html">http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=web+2.0&type=text&output=html</a> </p> <p dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">It's also no secret that I believe that <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/">Virtuoso</a> is a bleeding edge Web 2.0 technology platform (and more..). The URIs that I am exposing provide the foundation layer for other complimentary Web initiatives such as the <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/search.vspx?blogid=127&q=semantic+web&type=text&output=html">Semantic Web </a>(Web 2.0 provides infrastructure for the Semantic Web as time will show). They are also completely usable outside the realm of this blog.</p> <p dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">BTW - <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/">Jon Udell</a> is writing, experimenting with, and demonstrating <a href="http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2005/03/01.html#a1187">similar concepts</a> across feeds within his Web 2.0 domain.</p> <p dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">These are indeed fun times!</p>
Have RSS feeds killed the email star?
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2005-02-28#704
2005-02-28T20:36:19Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <p><a href="http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39128215,00.htm">Have RSS feeds killed the email star? </a>silicon.com Feb 28 2005 12:58PM GMT </p></blockquote> <div align="right">[via <a href="http://www.moreover.com/rss">Moreover - XML and metadata news</a>]</div> <div align="left"> </div> <div align="left"><a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/rss-protocol">RSS</a> and other <a href="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=xml&method=2&gwp=13">XML</a> based syndication formats (<a href="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Resource+Description+Framework&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">RDF</a>, <a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/atom-standard?hl=atom&hl=syndication">Atom</a>, etc.) allow organizations to syndicate their value propositions via feeds. Thus, instead of, depending solely on sending out HTML based advertorial emails (which end up in Spam Folders 75% of the time anyhow) to targets such as; suspects, leads, and customers. You can rely on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0">Web 2.0 </a>fabric for <a href="http://diveintomark.org/archives/2002/06/02/important_change_to_the_link_tag">auto-discovery</a> of syndicated feeds covering marketing collateral such as; <a href="http://rss.openlinksw.com/uda.xml">features & benefits data</a>, product documentation (ODBC/JDBC <a href="http://docs.openlinksw.com/mt/mtdocs.opml">Multi-Tier</a>, ODBC/JDBC <a href="http://docs.openlinksw.com/st/litedocs.opml">Single-Tier</a>, and <a href="http://docs.openlinksw.com/virtuoso/virtdocs.opml">Virtuoso</a> ), <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com/tutorial/rss.vsp">product functionality tutorials</a>, and screencasts (<a href="http://support.openlinksw.com/viewlets/uda_viewlets_rss.vsp">UDA </a>, <a href="http://support.openlinksw.com/viewlets/virtuoso_viewlets_rss.vsp">Virtuoso</a>, and <a href="http://support.openlinksw.com/viewlets/utilities_viewlets_rss.vsp">ODBC Benchmark & Troubleshooting Utilities</a>) etc. </div>
Transporting Atom Notifications over the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2004-08-26#612
2004-08-26T22:30:18Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<font size="2"> <p>By Peter Saint-Andre, IETF Internet Draft</p> <p>On the Internet today, publication of periodically-updated resources is handled by means of standard technologies such as HTTP, and it is not envisioned that this will change since "The Atom Publishing Protocol"</p> <p>specifies the use of HTTP for publication. However, existing methods for learning that a resource has been updated are currently limited to "polling" for changes via HTTP, which is inherently inefficient. What is needed is a technology that can be relied on to "push" information only when a resource undergoes a state change, and only to those who are interested in learning about such state changes. This memo describes a method for notifying interested parties about changes in syndicated information encapsulated in the Atom feed format, where such notifications are delivered via an extension to the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) for publish-subscribe functionality.</p> <p><a href="http://xml.coverpages.org/draft-saintandre-atompub-notify-00.txt"><u><font color="#0000ff" size="2">http://xml.coverpages.org/draft-saintandre-atompub-notify-00.txt</font></u></a></p><font size="2"> <p>See also Atom Publishing Format and Protocol: <a href="http://xml.coverpages.org/atom.html"><u><font color="#0000ff" size="2">http://xml.coverpages.org/atom.html</font></u></a></p></font></font>
Is Google Web 2.0's Netscape?
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2004-08-26#611
2004-08-26T21:52:30Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<p>I put this piece together in response to another <a href="http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/CommentView.aspx?guid=5ab1ca87-b0df-4dd0-99b6-7730955620ab">stimulating post</a> by Dare Obasanjo titled "Is Google the Next Microsoft or the Next Netscape?". I changed the title of this post to project the fact that Web 2.0 provides the appropriate context (IMHO) for Dare's point re. "Web Site Stickiness". </p> <p>Stickiness is a defining characteristic of Web 1.0 . It's all about eyeballs (site visitors) which implied ultimately that all early Web business models ended up down the advertising route. </p> <p>I always felt that Web 1.0 was akin to having a crowd of people at your reception area seeking a look at your corporate brochures, and then someone realizes that you could start selling AD space in these brochures in response to the growing crowd size and frequency of congregation. The long-term folly of this approach is now obvious, as many organizations forgot their core value propositions (expressed via product offerings) in the process and wandered blindly down the AD model cul-de-sac, and we all know what happened down there.. </p> <p>Web 2.0 is taking shape (the inflection is in its latter stages), and the defining characteristics of Web 2.0 are: </p> <ol> <li>Fabric of Executable Endpoints <br></li> <li>Semantic Content (the RSS/RDF/Atom/FOAF semantic crumbs emerging from the Blogosphere are great examples of things to come re. XQuery queries over HTTP for instance) Migration from the Web Site (defined by static or dynamic HTML page generation) concept, to that of a "Web Point of Presence" (I don't know if this term will catch on, but the conceptual essence here is factual) that enables an organization to achieve the following: <br></li> <ul> <li>Package/catalog value proposition (product and services) using RSS/RDF/Atom <br></li> <li>Provide SOAP compliant Executable Endpoints (Web Services) for consuming value proposition (as opposed to being distracted by the AD model) <br></li> <li>Provide Web Services for consummating contracts associated with core value proposition Identification of internal efficiencies, new products/services that leverage Semantic Content and Web Services, and tangibly exploit: <br></li> <ul> <li>Composite Web Services construction from legacy monolithic application pools <br></li> <li>Standards based (e.g. BPEL) orchestration and integration of disparate composite services (across the Fabric referred to above) </li></ul></ul></ol> <p>When you factor in all of the above, the real question is whether Google and others are equipped to exploit Web 2.0? To some degree, is the best answer at the current time as they have commenced the transition from "content only" web site to web platform (via the many Web Services initiatives that expose SOAP and REST interfaces to various services), but there is much more to this journey, and that's the devil in the "competitive landscape details". </p> <p>From my obviously biased perspective, I think <a href="http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/">Virtuoso</a> and <a href="http://www.midrangeserver.com/two/two042804-story02.html">Yukon+WinFS</a> provide the server models for driving Web 2.0 points of presence (single server instances that implement multiple protocols). Thus, if Google, Yahoo! et al. aren't exploiting these or similar products, then they will be vulnerable over the long term to the competitve challenges that a Web 2.0 landscape will present. </p>
Collaboration Software
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2004-05-14#543
2004-05-14T23:39:35Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=d2312299-0c0d-497b-9268-4b124f61f801">Dare Obasanjo</a> points out that Microsoft Sharepoint offers "by reference" as opposed to "by value" mail attachment capability that <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/02/27/09TCxythos_1.html">Jon Udell reviewed </a>in a recent blog post, true! So does Virtuoso in a number of ways (most importantly independent of client or server operating system).</p> <p dir="ltr">This issue really brings WebDAV into scope as this is the protocol that enables this capability (as covered by Jon's piece), and it is one of the many client and server side protocols implemented by <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/virtuoso/whatis.htm">OpenLink Virtuoso</a> (the key to how Virtuoso delivers URI based SQL-XML, XQuery, XPath services). </p> <p dir="ltr">When you install Virtuoso you simply have to start the Virtuoso server instance to the get WebDAV functionality going. All of Virtuoso's services are advertised at ports, and in the case of WebDAV you will find this at port 8890 if you start the demo database. </p> <p dir="ltr">To exploit the Virtuoso/WebDAV server from any WebDAV client (or point urls at WebDAV hosted resources) simply do the following:</p> <ol dir="ltr"> <li> <div>Install Virtuoso and depending on your OS do the following:</div></li> <ul> <li> <div>Windows - create a <a href="http://support.openlinksw.com/support/tutorials.vsp?c=Web+Server">Web Folder </a>that points to a WebDAV server</div></li> <li> <div>Mac OS X - <a href="http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2043.html">mount a WebDAV</a> folder</div></li> <li> <div>Linux - mount a <a href="http://www.sfu.ca/acs/linux/webdav-linux.html">WebDAV directory</a> (also see the <a href="http://dav.sourceforge.net/">Davfs2</a> Open Source project)</div></li> <li> <div>You can also make WebDAV client calls from Virtuoso's Stored Procedure Language (Virtuoso PL) or use WebDAV implementations in any development environment of your choice (<a href="http://www.independentsoft.de/webdav/">.NET</a>, <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/skunkdav/">Java</a>, .<br /></div></li></ul> <li> <div>Place content that you want to reference in your mails in your WebDAV repository via any of the client side mechanisms described in step 1. You can see the results of this in my earlier <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/weblogs/virtuoso/index.vspx?id=505">blog post</a>, even better pass the <a href="http://kingsleydemo.openlinksw.com:8890/rtmhosting/99bottles.php">url </a>on in an email! Or browse the <a href="http://kingsleydemo.openlinksw.com:8890/rtmhosting/">WebDAV folder </a>(there are some nuggets deliberately left in place :-) )<br /></div></li> <ul> <li> <div>You could simply save an Office Doc (<a href="http://kingsleydemo.openlinksw.com:8890/rtmhosting/webDADWWW2004.ppt">powerpoint</a>, excel, word etc) to this location and the circulate urls in your mails (this has been standard practice at OpenLink for many years; we even have a full blown portal server that would soon be available as a public service to sharing anything via DAV and as usual some more... stay tuned)<br /></div></li></ul> <li> <div>That's it for any platform (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX etc.) once you install Virtuoso!</div></li></ol> <p>BTW - This blog is WebDAV based (it's a live instance of Virtuoso doing many things; WebDAV, HTTP, SQL-XML based feed generation for ATOM, RSS, Blog Post APIs support (Moveable Type, Metaweblog, Blogger, ATOM), Free Text, XPath, XQuery, and more). </p>
Commercial Server Supports Four Weblog APIs
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2003-10-09#389
2003-10-09T18:33:00Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
Just came across this interesting post by <a href="http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench">Rogers Cadenhead</a> which shed's light on Virtuoso's xmlStorageSystemAPI() implementation which is available as a live demonstration on our <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com:8890/tutorial">demo server</a> machine (alongside many other demos -- there are <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com:8890/tutorial/opml.vsp">OPML</a>, <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com:8890/tutorial/ocs.vsp">OCS</a>, and <a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com:8890/tutorial/rss.vsp">RSS</a> feeds for these funcitonality demos/tutorials). <a href="http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/categories/javaTips/2003/10/09.html#a949" title="Workbench: Thursday, October 09, 2003">Commercial Server Supports Four Weblog APIs</a> Virtuoso 3.2 will be released in beta form latter this week or early next week, and it extends the Weblog Functionality aspect of Virtuoso to include the following: Tracbacks and Pingbacks CommentAPI Subscription Harmonization Atom The new release will include an Weblog Platform module that offers the Virtuoso equivalent of Moveable Type or pMachine, the fundamental difference being that Virtuoso's storage is database independent and the application layer is developed using the Virtuoso's web application development languages (<a href="http://demo.openlinksw.com:8890/tutorial/web/index.vsp?f=1">VSP and VSPX</a>).
Cool XSL-T Tutorial
http://www.openlinksw.com:443/blog/kidehen@openlinksw.com/blog/?date=2003-08-22#244
2003-08-22T04:07:59Z
2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00
XSLT is one of the most powerful aspects of the entire XML value proposition (this weblog site is an example of what XML and XSLT can deliver), but is also one of the more daunting aspects (both hands-on and getting your brain wrapped around the syntax). Here is a really nice <a href="http://www.zvon.org/xxl/XSLTutorial/Books/Output/example1_ch1.html">XSLT tutorial</a> site. Demystify XSLT, and the world of XML's potential really opens up. It certainly accelerates the comprehension to the concept of <a href="http://jena.hpl.hp.com:3030/blojsom-hp/blog/technologies/blogging/metadata/?">generating RSS from internal data sources</a> - bearing in mind that in the case of <a href="http://www.openlinksw.com/virtuoso">Virtuoso</a> we use our in-built XSLT processor for facilitate XML-RPC to SOAP bridging, SQL-XML, RSS, OPML, RDF, FOAF, Atom|Echo, OCS feed generation amongst other things.