Linked Data offers everyone a Web-scale, Enterprise-grade mechanism for platform-independent creation, curation, access, and integration of data.

The fundamental steps to creating Linked Data are as follows:

1. Choose a Name Reference Mechanism — i.e., URIs.

2. Choose a Data Model with which to Structure your Data — minimally, you need a model which clearly distinguishes

   1. Subjects (also known as Entities)
   2. Subject Attributes (also known as Entity Attributes), and
   3. Attribute Values (also known as Subject Attribute Values or Entity Attribute Values).

3. Choose one or more Data Representation Syntaxes (also called Markup Languages or Data Formats) to use when creating Resources with Content based on your chosen Data Model. Some Syntaxes in common use today are HTML+RDFa, N3, Turtle, RDF/XML, TriX, XRDS, GData, OData, OpenGraph, and many others.

4. Choose a URI Scheme that facilitates binding Referenced Names to the Resources which will carry your Content -- your Structured Data.

5. Create Structured Data by using your chosen Name Reference Mechanism, your chosen Data Model, and your chosen Data Representation Syntax, as follows:

   1. Identify Subject(s) using Resolvable URI(s).
   2. Identify Subject Attribute(s) using Resolvable URI(s).
   3. Assign Attribute Values to Subject Attributes. These Values may be either Literals (e.g., STRINGs, BLOBs) or Resolvable URIs.

You can create Linked Data (hypermedia-based data representations) Resources from or for many things. Examples include: personal profiles, calendars, address books, blogs, photo albums; there are many, many more.

Related

1. Linked Data an Introduction -- simple introduction to Linked Data and its virtues
2. How Data Makes Corporations Dumb -- Jeff Jonas (IBM) interview
3. Hypermedia Types -- evolving information portal covering different aspects of Hypermedia resource types
4. URIBurner -- service that generates Linked Data from a plethora of heterogeneous data sources
5. Linked Data Meme -- TimbL design issues note about Linked Data
6. Data 3.0 Manifesto -- note about format agnostic Linked Data
7. DBpedia -- large Linked Data Hub
8. Linked Open Data Cloud -- collection of Linked Data Spaces
9. Linked Open Commerce Cloud -- commerce (clicks & mortar and/or clicks & clicks) oriented Linked Data Space
10. LOD Cloud Cache -- massive Linked Data Space hosting most of the LOD Cloud Datasets
11. LOD2 Initiative -- EU Co-Funded Project to develop global knowledge space from LOD
.

Linked Data offers everyone a Web-scale, Enterprise-grade mechanism for platform-independent creation, curation, access, and integration of data.

The fundamental steps to creating Linked Data are as follows:

1. Choose a Name Reference Mechanism — i.e., URIs.

2. Choose a Data Model with which to Structure your Data — minimally, you need a model which clearly distinguishes

   1. Subjects (also known as Entities)
   2. Subject Attributes (also known as Entity Attributes), and
   3. Attribute Values (also known as Subject Attribute Values or Entity Attribute Values).

3. Choose one or more Data Representation Syntaxes (also called Markup Languages or Data Formats) to use when creating Resources with Content based on your chosen Data Model. Some Syntaxes in common use today are HTML+RDFa, N3, Turtle, RDF/XML, TriX, XRDS, GData, and OData; there are many others.

4. Choose a URI Scheme that facilitates binding Referenced Names to the Resources which will carry your Content -- your Structured Data.

5. Create Structured Data by using your chosen Name Reference Mechanism, your chosen Data Model, and your chosen Data Representation Syntax, as follows:

   1. Identify Subject(s) using Resolvable URI(s).
   2. Identify Subject Attribute(s) using Resolvable URI(s).
   3. Assign Attribute Values to Subject Attributes. These Values may be either Literals (e.g., STRINGs, BLOBs) or Resolvable URIs.

You can create Linked Data (hypermedia-based data representations) Resources from or for many things. Examples include: personal profiles, calendars, address books, blogs, photo albums; there are many, many more.

Related

1. Hypermedia Types -- evolving information portal covering different aspects of Hypermedia resource types
2. URIBurner -- service that generates Linked Data from a plethora of heterogeneous data sources
3. Linked Data Meme -- TimbL design issues note about Linked Data
4. Data 3.0 Manifesto -- note about format agnostic Linked Data
5. DBpedia -- large Linked Data Hub
6. Linked Open Data Cloud -- collection of Linked Data Spaces
7. Linked Open Commerce Cloud -- commerce (clicks & mortar and/or clicks & clicks) oriented Linked Data Space
8. LOD Cloud Cache -- massive Linked Data Space hosting most of the LOD Cloud Datasets
9. LOD2 Initiative -- EU Co-Funded Project to develop global knowledge space from LOD
.

1. Identity,
2. Access,
3. Storage,
4. Representation, and
5. Presentation.

I ended up with what I can best describe as the Data 3.0 Manifesto. A manifesto for standards complaint access to structured data object (or entity) descriptors.

Some Related Work

Alex James (Program Manager Entity Frameworks at Microsoft), put together something quite similar to this via his Base4 blog (around the Web 2.0 bootstrap time), sadly -- quoting Alex -- that post has gone where discontinued blogs and their host platforms go (deep deep irony here).

It's also important to note that this manifesto is also a variant of the TimBL's Linked Data Design Issues meme re. Linked Data, but totally decoupled from RDF (data representation formats aspect) and SPARQL which -- in my world view -- remain implementation details.

Data 3.0 manifesto

• An "Entity" is the "Referent" of an "Identifier."
• An "Identifier" SHOULD provide a global, unambiguous, and unchanging (though it MAY be opaque!) "Name" for its "Referent".
• A "Referent" MAY have many "Identifiers" (Names), but each "Identifier" MUST have only one "Referent".
• Structured Entity Descriptions SHOULD be based on the Entity-Attribute-Value (EAV) Data Model, and SHOULD therefore take the form of one or more 3-tuples (triples), each comprised of:
  • an "Identifier" that names an "Entity" (i.e., Entity Name),
  • an "Identifier" that names an "Attribute" (i.e., Attribute Name), and
  • an "Attribute Value", which may be an "Identifier" or a "Literal".
• Structured Descriptions SHOULD be CARRIED by "Descriptor Documents" (i.e., purpose specific documents where Entity Identifiers, Attribute Identifiers, and Attribute Values are clearly discernible by the document's intended consumers, e.g., humans or machines).
• Structured Descriptor Documents can contain (carry) several Structured Entity Descriptions
• Stuctured Descriptor Documents SHOULD be network accessible via network addresses (e.g., HTTP URLs when dealing with HTTP-based Networks).
• An Identifier SHOULD resolve (de-reference) to a Structured Representation of the Referent's Structured Description.

Related

• Referent, Identifier, and Descriptor/Sense (The Data Perception Trinity) illustration
• Referent, Identifier, and Descriptor/Sense Trinity (as exploited in FOAF+SSL based Secure WebIDs) illustration
• Demystifying Linked Data via EAV Model based Structured Descriptions
• What do people have against URIs and URLs?
• The URI, URL, and Linked Data Meme's Generic HTTP URI
• Simple Explanation of RDF and Linked Data Dynamics
• Linked Data and Identity
• FOAF+SSL FAQ
• LOD Community Thread (showing evolution of this manifesto based on feedback from members such as Richard Cyganiak).
• Googlebase Data API Docs
• Google Data Protocol (GData)
• Microsoft's OData Protocol
• Magic of De-referencable Names and actual Data via Binky Video
• Social Objects Presentation (aka. Social Linked Data Objects) - by Jyri Engeström
• What's a Reference?

Your Life, Profession, Web, and Internet do not need to become mutually exclusive due to "information overload".

Solution:

A platform or service that delivers a point of online presence that embodies the fundamental separation of: Identity, Data Access, Data Representation, Data Presentation, by adhering to Web and Internet protocols.

How:

Typical post installation (Local or Cloud) task sequence:

1. Identify myself (happens automatically by way of registration)
2. If in an LDAP environment, import accounts or associate system with LDAP for account lookup and authentication
3. Identify Online Accounts (by fleshing out profile) which also connects system to online accounts and their data
4. Use Profile for granular description (Biography, Interests, WishList, OfferList, etc.)
5. Optionally upstream or downstream data to and from my online accounts
6. Create content Tagging Rules
7. Create rules for associating Tags with formal URIs
8. Create automatic Hyperlinking Rules for reuse when new content is created (e.g. Blog posts)
9. Exploit Data Portability virtues of RSS, Atom, OPML, RDFa, RDF/XML, and other formats for imports and exports
10. Automatically tag imported content
11. 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..
12. 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)
13. Generate HTTP based Entity IDs (URIs) for every piece of data in this burgeoning data space
14. Use REST based APIs to perform CRUD tasks against my data (local and remote) (SPARQL, GData, Ubiquity Commands, Atom Publishing)
15. Use OpenID, OAuth, FOAF+SSL, FOAF+SSL+OpenID for accessing data elsewhere
16. 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")
17. Have a simple UI for Entity-Attribute-Value or Subject-Predicate-Object arbitrary data annotations and creation since you can't pre model an "Open World" where the only constant is data flow
18. Have my Personal URI (Web ID) as the single entry point for controlled access to my HTTP accessible data space

I've just outlined a snippet of the capabilities of the OpenLink Data Spaces platform. A platform built using OpenLink Virtuoso, architected to deliver: open, platform independent, multi-model, data access and data management across heterogeneous data sources.

All you need to remember is your URI when seeking to interact with your data space.

Related

1. Get Yourself a URI (Web ID) in 5 Minutes or Less!
2. Various posts over the years about Data Spaces
3. Future of Desktop Post
4. Simplify My Life Post by Bengee Nowack

"The phrase Open Social implies portability of personal and social data. That would be exciting but there are entirely different protocols underway to deal with those ideas. As some people have told me tonight, it may have been more accurate to call this "OpenWidget" - though the press wouldn't have been as good. We've been waiting for data and identity portability - is this all we get?"
[Source: Read/Write Web's Commentary & Analysis of Google's OpenSocial API]

..Perhaps the world will read the terms of use of the API, and realize this is not an open API; this is a free API, owned and controlled by one company only: Google. Hopefully, the world will remember another time when Google offered a free API and then pulled it. Maybe the world will also take a deeper look and realize that the functionality is dependent on Google hosted technology, which has its own terms of service (including adding ads at the discretion of Google), and that building an OpenSocial application ties Google into your application, and Google into every social networking site that buys into the Dream. Hopefully the world will remember. Unlikely, though, as such memories are typically filtered in the Great Noise....

[Source: Poignant commentary excerpt from Shelly Power's Blog (as always)]

The "Semantic Data Web" vision has always been about "Data & Identity" portability across the Web. Its been that and more from day one.

In a nutshell, we continue to exhibit varying degrees of Cognitive Dissonance re the following realities:

1. The Network is the Computer (Internet/Intranet/Extranet depending on your TCP/IP usage scenarios)
2. The Web is the OS (ditto) and it provides a communications subsystem (Information BUS) comprised of
- HTTP Protocol
- URIs (pointer system for identifying, accessing, and manipulating data)
3. HTTP based Interprocess (i.e Web Apps are processes when you discard the HTML UI and interact with the application logic containers called "Web Services" behind the pages) ultimately hit data
4. Web Data is best Modeled as a Graph (RDF, Containers/Items/Item Types, Property & Value Pairs associated with something, and other labels)
5. Network are Graphs and vice versa
6. Social Networks are graphs where nodes are connected via social connectors ( [x]--knows-->[y] )
7. The Web is a Graph that exposes a People and Data Network (to the degree we allude to humans not being data containers i.e. just nodes in a network, otherwise we are talking about a Data Network)
8. Data access and manipulation depends inherently on canonical Data Access mechanisms such as Data Source Identifiers / Names (time-tested practice in various DBMS realms)
9. Data is forever, it is the basis of Information, and it is increasing exponentially due to proliferation of Web Services induced user activities (User Generated Content)
10. Survival, Vitality, Longevity, Efficiency, Productivity etc.. are all depend on our ability to process data effectively in a shrinking time continuum where Data and/or Information overload is the alternative.

The Data Web is about Presence over Eyeballs due to the following realities:

1. Eyeballs are input devices for a DNA based processing system (Humans). The aforementioned processing system can reason very well, but simply cannot effectively process masses of data or information
2. Widgets offer little value long term re. the imminent data and information overload dilemma, ditto Web pages (however pretty), and any other Eyeballs-only centric Web Apps
3. Computers (machines) are equipped with inorganic (non DNA) based processing power, they are equipped to process huge volumes of data and/or information, but they cannot reason
4. To be effective in the emerging frontier comprised of a Network Computer and a Web OS, we need an effective mechanism that makes best use of the capabilities possessed by humans and machines, by shifting the focus to creation and interaction with points of "Data Web Presence" that openly expose "Structured Linked Data".

This is why we need to inject a mesh of Linked Data into the existing Web. This is what the often misunderstood vision of the "Semantic Data Web" or "Web of Data" or "Web or Structured Data" is all about.

As stated earlier (point 10 above), "Data is forever" and there is only more of it to come! Sociality and associated Social Networking oriented solutions are at best a spec in the Web's ocean of data once you comprehend this reality.

Note: I am writing this post as an early implementor of GData and an implementor of RDF Linked Data technology and a "Web Purist".

OpenSocial implementation and support across our relevant product families: Virtuoso (i.e the Sponger Middleware for RDF component), OpenLink Data Spaces (Data Space Controller / Services), and the OpenLink Ajaxt Toolkit (i.e OAT Widgets and Libraries), is a triviality now that the OpenSocial APIs are public.

The concern I have, and the problem that remains mangled in the vast realms of Web Architecture incomprehension, is the fact that GData and GData based APIs cannot deliver Structured Linked Data in line with the essence of the Web without introducing "lock-in" that ultimately compromises the "Open Purity" of the Web. Facebook and Google's OpenSocial response to the Facebook juggernaut (i.e. open variant of the Facebook Activity Dashboard and Social Network functionality realms, primarily), are at best icebergs in the ocean we know as the "World Wide Web". The nice and predictable thing about icebergs is that they ultimately melt into the larger ocean :-)

- RDF Views of SQL Data - Orri Erling on behalf of OpenLink Software

- Computer Science 2.0 (covering User Generated Content Explosion) - Michael Brodie

- Experiences re. solving SPARQL Access to Distributed Data Sources - Phil Ashworth

- Other presentations

Jon Udell recently penned a post titled: The Fourth Platform. The post arrives at a spookily coincidental time (this happens quite often between Jon and I as demonstrated last year during our podcast; the "Fourth" in his Innovators Podcast series).

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".

As I write, we are releasing a Virtuoso AMI (Amazon Image) labeled: virtuoso-dataspace-server. This edition of Virtuoso includes the OpenLink Data Spaces Layer and all of the OAT applications we've been developing for a while.

What Benefits Does this offer?

1. 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
2. All the data in your Data Space is SPARQL or GData accessible.
3. All of the data in your Personal Data Space is Linked Data from the get go. Each Item of data is URI addressable
4. SIOC support - your Blogs, Wikis, Bookmarks etc.. are based on the SIOC ontology for Semantically Interlinking Online Communities (think: Open social-graph++)
5. FOAF support - your FOAF Profile page provides a URI that is an in-road to all Data in your Data Space.
6. OpenID support - your Personal Data Space ID is usable wherever OpenID is supported. OpenID and FOAF are integrated as per latest FOAF specs
7. Two Integration with Facebook - You can access your Data Space from Facebook or access Facebook from your Data Space
8. 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
9. SyncML - you can sync calendar and contact details with your Data Space in the cloud from your Mobile phone.
10. 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.

EC2-AMI Details:

AMI ID: ami-e2ca2f8b

Manifest file: virtuoso-images/virtuoso-dataspace-server.manifest.xml

Installation Guide:

1. Get an Amazon Web Services (AWS) account
2. Signup for S3 and EC2 services
3. Install the EC2 plugin for Firefox
4. Start the EC2 plugin
5. Locate the row containing ami-7c31d515  Manifest virtuoso-test/virtuoso-cloud-beta-9-i386.manifest.xml (sort using the AMI ID or Manifest Columns or search on pattern: virtuoso, due to name flux)
6. Start the Virtuoso Data Space Server AMI
7. Wait 4-5 minutes (*take a few minutes to create the pre-configured Linux Image*)
8. Connect to http://http://your-ec2-instance-cname:8890/ Log in with user/password dba/dba
9. Go to the Admin UI (Virtuoso Conductor) and change the PWDs for the 'dba' and 'dav' accounts (*Important!*)
10. Give the "SPARQL" user "SPARQL_UPDATE" privileges (required if you want to exploit the in-built Sponger Middleware)
11. Click on the ODS (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)
12. 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
13. 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
14. 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)
    

(OAT) from your Data Space instance

1. http://:8890/oatdemo - Entire OAT Demo Collection
2. http://:8890/rdfbrowser - RDF Browser
3. http://:8890/isparql - SPARQL Query Builder (iSPARQL)
4. http://:8890/qbe - SQL Query Builder (iSQL)
5. http://:8890/formdesigner - Forms Builder (for building Meshups based on RDF, SQL, or Web Servives Data Souces)
6. http://:8890/dbdesigner - SQL DB Schema Designer (note a Visual SQL-RDF Mapper is also on it's way
7. http://:8890/DAV/JS/ - To view the OAT Tree (there are some experimental demos that are missing from the main demo app etc..)

There's more to come!

Now that broader understanding of the Semantic Data Web is emerging, I would like to revisit the issue of "Data Spaces".

A Data Space is a place where Data Resides. It isn't inherently bound to a specific Data Model (Concept Oriented, Relational, Hierarchical 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.

A Web Data Space is a Web accessible Data Space.

Real world example:

Today we increasing perform one of more of the following tasks as part of our professional and personal interactions on the Web:

1. Blog via many service providers or personally managed weblog platforms
2. Create Event Calendars via Upcoming.com and Eventful
3. Maintain and participate in Social Networks (e.g. Facebook, Orkut, MySpace)
4. Create and Participate in Discussions (note: when you comment on blogs or wikis for instance, you are participating in, or creating, a conversation)
5. Track news by subscribing to RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0, or Atom Feeds
6. Share Bookmarks & Tags via Del.icio.us and other Services
7. Share Photos via Flickr
8. Buy, Review, or Search for books via Amazon
9. Participates in auctions via eBay
10. Search for data via Google (of course!)

John Breslin has nice a animation depicting the creation of Web Data Spaces that drives home the point.

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".

Data Spaces on the Web that provide granular access to RDF Data.

Short History

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).

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:

1. Content Publishing - Atom, Moveable Type, MetaWeblog, Blogger protocols
2. Content Syndication Formats - RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0, Atom, OPML etc.
3. Data Management - SQL, RDF, XML, Free Text
4. Data Access - SQL, SPARQL, GData, Web Services (SOAP or REST styles), WebDAV/HTTP
5. Semantic Data Web Middleware - GRDDL, XSLT, SPARQL, XPath/XQuery, HTTP (Content Negotiation) for producing RDF from non RDF Data ((X)HTML, Microformats, XML, Web Services Response Data etc).

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".

Naturally, ODS is built atop Virtuoso 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 (OAT).

We are hitting a little problem re. Web 3.0 and Web 2.0, naturally :-) Web 2.0 is one of several (present and future) Dimensions of Web Interaction that turns Web Sites into Web Services Endpoints; a point I've made repeatedly [1] [2] [3] [4] across the blogosphere, in addition to my early futile attempts to make the Wikipedia's Web 2.0 article meaningful (circa 2005), as per the Wikipedia Web 2.0 Talk Page excerpt below:

Web 2.0 is a web of executable endpoints and well formed content. The executable endpoints and well formed content are accessible via URIs. Put differently, Web 2.0 is a web defined by URIs for invoking Web Services and/or consuming or syndicating well formed content.

Hopefully, someone with more time on their hands will expand on this ( I am kinda busy)

.

BTW - Web 2.0 being a platform doesn't distinguish it in anyway from Web 1.0. They are both platforms, the difference comes down to platform focus and mode of experience.

Web 3.0 is about Data Spaces: Points of Semantic Web Presence that provide granular access to Data, Information, and Knowledge via Conceptual Data Model oriented Query Languages and/or APIs.

The common denominator across all the current and future Web Interaction Dimensions is HTTP. While their differences are as follows:

Web 1.0 - Browser (HTTP + (X)HTML)

Web 2.0 - Presence (Web Service Endpoints for REST or SOAP over HTTP)

Web 3.0 - Presence (Query Languages, Data Models, and HTTP based Query Oriented Web Service Endpoints)

Examples of Web 3.0 Infrastructure:

1. Query Languages: SPARQL, Googlebase Query Language, Facebook Query Language (FQL), and many others to come
2. Query Language aligned Web Services (Query Services): SPARQL Protocol, GData, or REST style Web services such as Facebook's service for FQL.
3. Data Models: Concrete Conceptual Data Model (which RDF happens to deliver for Web Data)

Web 3.0 is not purely about Web Sites becoming Web Services endpoints. It is about the "M" (Data Model) taking it's place in the MVC pattern as applied to the Web Platform.

I will repeat myself yet again:

The Devil is in the Details of the Data Model. Data Models make or break everything. You ignore data at your own peril. No amount of money in the bank will protect you from Data Ignorance! A bad Data Model will bring down any venture or enterprise, the only variable is time (where time is directly related to your increasing need to obtain, analyze, and then act on data, over repetitive operational cycles, that have ever decreasing intervals).

This applies to the Real-time enterprise of Information and/or knowledge workers and Real-time Web Users alike.

BTW - Data Makes Shifts Happen (spotter: Sam Sethi).

Continuing from our recent Podcast conversation, Jon Udell sheds further insight into the essence of our conversation via a “Strategic Developer” column article titled: Accessing the web of databases.

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.

What is a DataSpace?

A moniker for Web-accessible atomic containers that manage and expose Data, Information, Services, Processes, and Knowledge.

What would you typically find in a Data Space? Examples include:

• Raw Data - SQL, HTML, XML (raw), XHTML, RDF etc.
  
  
• 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.

• Web Services (Application/Service Logic) - REST or SOAP based invocation of application logic for context sensitive and controlled data access and manipulation.

• 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).

How do Data Spaces and Databases differ?
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.

How do Data Spaces and Content Management Systems differ?
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.

How do Data Spaces and Knowledgebases differ?
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.

What Architectural Components make up a Data Space?

• 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).
  
  
• 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.

• 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.

Where can I see a DataSpace along the lines described, in action?

Just look at my blog, and take the journey as follows:

• Front Door (Web 1.0)
• Lounge (Web 2.0) via GData or OpenSearch
• Floor Plan via FOAF or SIOC RDF Data Sets (Graphs)
• Rest of the house (beyond Web 2.0) sending  SPARQL Queries to a SPARQL Endpoint.
  

What about other Data Spaces?

There are several and I will attempt to categorize along the lines of query method available:
Type 1 (Free Text Search over HTTP):
Google, MSN, Yahoo!, Amazon, eBay, and most Web 2.0 plays .

Type 2 (Free Text Search and XQuery/XPath over HTTP)
A few blogs and Wikis (Jon Udell's and a few others)

•    SIOC enabled sites (aka points of semantic web presence)
  
•    PingTheSemantic
  

• My Blog Data Space (as stated earlier in this post)
  
• My General Data Space - (ditto; note that this is currently experimental)
  

What About Data Space aware tools?

•    OpenLink Ajax Toolkit - 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)
•    Semantic Radar - a Firefox Extension
•    PingTheSemantic - the Semantic Webs equivalent of Web 2.0's weblogs.com
•    PiggyBank - a Firefox Extension

OAT offers a broad Javascript-based, browser-independent widget set
for building data source independent rich internet applications that are usable across a broad range of Ajax-capable web browsers.

OAT's support binding to the following data sources via its Ajax Database Connectivity Layer:

SQL Data via XML for Analysis (XMLA)
Web Data via SPARQL, GData, and OpenSearch Query Services
Web Services specific Data via service specific binding to SOAP and REST style web services

The toolkit includes a collection of powerful rich internet application prototypes include: SQL Query By Example, Visual Database Modeling, and Data bound Web Form Designer.

Project homepage on sourceforge.net:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/oat

Source Code:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/oat/files

Live demonstration:

http://www.openlinksw.com/oat/

Goggle vs Semantic Web: "Google exec challenges Berners-Lee 'At the end of the keynote, however, things took a different turn. Google Director of Search and AAAI Fellow Peter Norvig was the first to the microphone during the Q&A session, and he took the opportunity to raise a few points.

'What I get a lot is: 'Why are you against the Semantic Web?' I am not against the Semantic Web. But from Google's point of view, there are a few things you need to overcome, incompetence being the first,' Norvig said. Norvig clarified that it was not Berners-Lee or his group that he was referring to as incompetent, but the general user.'

Related: Google Base -- summing up."

(Via More News.)

When will we drop the ill conceived notion that end-users are incompetent?

Has it every occurred to software developers and technology vendors that incompetent, dumb, and other contemptuous end-user adjectives simply reflect the inability of most technology products to surmount end-user "Interest Activation Thresholds"?

Interest Activation Threshold (IAT)? What's That?

I have a fundamental personal belief that all human beings are intelligent. Our ability to demonstrate intelligence, or be perceived as intelligent, is directly proportional to our interest level in a given context. In short, we have "Ambivalence Quotients" (AQs) just as we have "Intelligence Quotients" (IQs).

An interested human being is an inherently intelligent entity. The abstract nature of human intelligence also makes locating the IQ and AQ on/off buttons a mercurial quest at the best of times.

Technology end-users exhibit high AQs, most of the time due to the inability of most technology products to truly engage, and ultimately stimulate genuine interest, by surmounting IAT and reducing AQ.

Ironically, when a technology vendor is lagging behind its competitors in the "features arms race" it is common place to use the familiar excuse: "our end-users aren't asking for this feature".

Note To Google:

Ambivalence isn't incompetence. If end-users were genuinely incompetent, how is that they run rings around your page rank algorithms by producing google-friendly content at the expense of valuable context? What about the deteriorating value of Adsense due to click fraud? Likewise, the continued erosion of the value of your once exemplary "keyword based search" service? As we all know, necessity is the mother of invention, so when users develop high AQs because there is nothing better, we end up with a forced breech of "IAT"; which is why the issues that I mention remain long term challenges for you. Ironically, the so called "incompetents" are already outsmarting you, and you don't seem to comprehend this reality or its inevitable consequences.

Finally, how you are going to improve value without integrating the Semantic Web vision into your R&D roadmap? I can tell you categorically that you have little or no wiggle room re. this matter, especially if you want to remain true to your: "don't be evil" mantra. My guess is that you will incorporate Semantic Web technologies sooner rather than later (Google Co-op is a big clue). I would even go as far as predicting a Google hosted SPARQL Query Endpoint alongside your GData endpints during the next 6-12 months (if even that long). I believe that your GData protocol (like the rest of Web 2.0) will ultimately accelerate your appreciation of the data model dexterity that RDF brings to loosely coupled knowledge networks espoused by the Semantic Web vision.

Google & Semantic Web Paradox

The Semantic Web vision has the RDF graph data model at its core (and for good reason), but even more confusing for me, as I process Google sentiments about the Semantic Web, is the fact that RDF's actual creator (Ramanathan Guha aka. Guha) currently works at Google. There's a strange disconnect here IMHO.

If I recall correctly, Google wants to organize the worlds data and information, leaving the knowledge organization to someone else which is absolutely fine. What is increasingly irksome, is the current tendency to use corporate stature to generate Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt when the subject matter is the "Semantic Web".

BTW - I've just read Frederick Giasson's perspective on the Google Semantic Web paradox which ultimately leads to the same conclusions regarding Google's FUD stance when dealing with matters relating to the Semantic Web.

I wonder if anyone is tracking the google hits for "fud google semantic web"?

A quick FYI:
Virtuoso has offered a DBMS hosted Filesystem via WebDAV for a number of years, but the implications of this functionality have remained unclear for just as long. Thus, we developed (a few years ago) and released (recently) an application layer above Virtuoso's WebDAV storage realm called: “The OpenLink Briefcase” (nee. oDrive). This application allows you to view items uploaded by content type and/or kind (People, Business Cards, Calendars, Business Reports, Office Documents, Photos, Blog Posts, Feed Channels/Subscriptions, Bookmarks etc..). it also includes automatic metadata extraction (where feasible) and indexing. Naturally, as an integral part of our “OpenLink Data Spaces” (ODS) product offering, it supports GData, URIQA, SPARQL (note: WebDAV metadata is sync'ed with Virtuoso's RDF Triplestore), SQL, and WebDAV itself.

You can explore the power of this product via the following routes:

1. Download the Virtuoso Open Source Edition and the ODS add-ons or
2. Visit our live demo server (note: this is strictly a demo server with full functionality available) and simply register and then create a “Briefcase” application instance
3. Digest this Briefcase Home Page Screenshot

"We all know that structured data is boring and useless; while unstructured data is sexy and chock full of value. Well, only up to a point, Lord Copper. Genuinely unstructured data can be a real nuisance - imagine extracting the return address from an unstructured letter, without letterhead and any of the formatting usually applied to letters. A letter may be thought of as unstructured data, but most business letters are, in fact, highly-structured." ....

"The labels "structured data" and "unstructured data" are often used ambiguously by different interest groups; and often used lazily to cover multiple distinct aspects of the issue. In reality, there are at least three orthogonal aspects to structure:

* The structure of the data itself.

* The structure of the container that hosts the data.

* The structure of the access method used to access the data.

These three dimensions are largely independent and one does not need to imply another. For example, it is absolutely feasible and reasonable to store unstructured data in a structured database container and access it by unstructured search mechanisms."

Data understanding and appreciation is dwindling at a time when the reverse should be happening. We are supposed to be in the throws of the "Information Age", but for some reason this appears to have no correlation with data and "data access" in the minds of many -- as reflected in the broad contradictory positions taken re. unstructured data vs structured data, structured is boring and useless while unstructured is useful and sexy....

The difference between "Structured Containers" and "Structured Data" are clearly misunderstood by most (an unfortunate fact).

For instance all DBMS products are "Structured Containers" aligned to one or more data models (typically one). These products have been limited by proprietary data access APIs and underlying data model specificity when used in the "Open-world" model that is at the core of the World Wide Web. This confusion also carries over to the misconception that Web 2.0 and the Semantic/Data Web are mutually exclusive.

But things are changing fast, and the concept of multi-model DBMS products is beginning to crystalize. On our part, we have finally released the long promised "OpenLink Data Spaces" application layer that has been developed using our Virtuoso Universal Server. We have structured unified storage containment exposed to the data web cloud via endpoints for querying or accessing data using a variety of mechanisms that include; GData, OpenSearch, SPARQL, XQuery/XPath, SQL etc..

To be continued....

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.

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 Data Space (what I used to call My Weblog Home Page).

"Free" Databases: Express vs. Open-Source RDBMSs: "Open-source relational database management systems (RDBMSs) are gaining IT mindshare at a rapid pace. As an example, BusinessWeek's February 6, 2006 ' Taking On the Database Giants ' 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.'

There's no shortage of open-source alternatives to look at. The BusinessWeek article concentrates on MySQL, which BW 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 Postgre[SQL] and Ingres, as well as EnterpriseDB, an Oracle clone created from PostgreSQL code*. Sun includes PostgreSQL with Solaris 10 and, as of April 6, 2006, with Solaris Express.**

*Frank Batten, Jr., the investor who originally funded Red Hat, invested a reported $16 million into Great Bridge with the hope of making a business out of providing paid support to PostgreSQL users. Great Bridge stayed in business only 18 months , having missed an opportunity to sell the business to Red Hat and finding that selling $50,000-per-year support packages 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 $5,000, $3,000, or $1,000 annual support subscriptions .

**Interestingly, Oracle announced in November 2005 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.'

There is a surfeit of reviews of current MySQL, PostgreSQL and—to a lesser extent—Ingres 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: SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (and its MSDE 2000 and 1.0 predecessors), Oracle Database 10g Express Edition, IBM DB2 Express-C, and Sybase ASE Express Edition for Linux where database size and processor count limitations aren't important. Click here for a summary of recent InfoWorld reviews of the full versions of these four databases plus MySQL, which should be valid for Express editions also. The FTPOnline Special Report article, 'Microsoft SQL Server Turns 17,' that contains the preceding table is here (requires registration.)

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SP-1 Advanced Features

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Features 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 'Install SP-1 for SQL Server 2005 and Express' article for FTPOnline's SQL Server Special Report 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.

OpenLink Software's Virtuoso Open-Source Edition

OpenLink Software announced an open-source version of it's Virtuoso Universal Server 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 this press release, the new edition includes:

• SPARQL compliant RDF Triple Store
• SQL-200n Object-Relational Database Engine (SQL, XML, and Free Text)
• Integrated BPEL Server and Enterprise Service Bus
• WebDAV and Native File Server
• Web Application Server that supports PHP, Perl, Python, ASP.NET, JSP, etc.
• Runtime Hosting for Microsoft .NET, Mono, and Java

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 Kingsley Idehen's Weblog, '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).'

InfoWorld's Jon Udell has tracked Virtuoso's progress since 2002, with an additional article in 2003 and a one-hour podcast with Kingsley Idehen 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 GData protocol, as mentioned in this Idehen post. Yahoo!'s Jeremy Zawodny points out that the 'fingerprints' of Adam Bosworth, Google's VP of Engineering and the primary force behind the development of Microsoft Access, 'are all over GData.' Click here to display a list of all OakLeaf posts that mention Adam Bosworth.

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 here 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.

Open-Source and Free Embedded Database Contenders

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.

Andrew Hudson's December 2005 'Open Source databases rounded up and rodeoed' 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 Sleepycat* isn't an SQL Database, Oracle InnoDB* is an OEM database engine that's used by MySQL, and Genezzo is a multi-user, multi-server distributed database engine written in Perl. These special-purpose databases are beyond the scope of this post.

* Oracle purchased Sleepycat Software, Inc. in February 2006 and purchased Innobase OY in October 2005 . The press release states: 'Oracle intends to continue developing the InnoDB technology and expand our commitment to open source software.'

Derby is an open-source release by the Apache Software Foundation of the Cloudscape Java-based database that IBM acquired when it bought Informix in 2001. IBM offers a commercial release of Derby as IBM Cloudscape 10.1. Derby is a Java class library that has a relatively light footprint (2 MB), which make it suitable for client/server synchronization with the IBM DB2 Everyplace Sync Server in mobile applications. 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.**

* 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 IBM announced version 8 in November 2003.)

** 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.

Sun's Java DB, another commercial version of Derby, comes with the Solaris Enterprise Edition, 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 Java DB embedded in a browser to provide offline persistence. RedMonk analyst James Governor and eWeek's Lisa Vaas wrote about the use of Java DB as a local data store when Tim Bray announced Sun's Derby derivative and Francois Orsini demonstrated Java DB embedded in the Firefox browser at the ApacheCon 2005 conference.

Firebird 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. Borland continues to promote InterBase, now at version 7.5, as a small-footprint, embedded database with commercial Server and Client licenses.

SQLite 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. Wrappers support a multitude of languages and operating systems, including Windows CE, SmartPhone, Windows Mobile, and Win32. SQLite's primary SQL-92 limitations 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 locked when while a transaction is in progress. 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.

The Mozilla Foundation's Unified Storage wiki 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.'

Vieka Technology, Inc.'s eSQL 2.11 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.

HSQLDB isn't on most reviewers' radar, which is surprising because it's the default database for OpenOffice.org (OOo) 2.0's Base 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 here, here and here.

The HSQLDB 1.8.0 documentation on SourceForge states the following regarding SQL-92 and later conformance:

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.

Other less well-known embedded databases designed for or suited to mobile deployment are Mimer SQL Mobile and VistaDB 2.1 . Neither product is open-source and require paid licensing; VistaDB requires a small up-front payment by developers but offers royalty-free distribution.

Java DB, Firebird embedded, SQLite and eSQL 2.11 are contenders for lightweight PC and mobile device database projects that aren't Windows-only.

SQL Server 2005 Everywhere

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 brother—SQL Server 2005 Everywhere Edition.

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. Smart Device replication with SQL Server 2000 SP3 and later databases has been the most common application so far for SSM.

By the end of 2006, Microsoft will license SSE for use on all PCs running any Win32 version or the preceding device OSs. A version of SQL Server Management Studio Express (SSMSE)—updated to support SSE—is expected to release by the end of the year. These features will qualify SSE as the universal embedded database for Windows client and smart-device applications.

For more details on SSE, read John Galloway's April 11, 2006 blog post and my 'SQL Server 2005 Mobile Goes Everywhere' article for the FTPOnline Special Report on SQL Server."

(Via OakLeaf Systems.)

"In my fourth Friday podcast we hear from Kingsley Idehen, CEO of OpenLink Software. I wrote about OpenLink's universal database and app server, Virtuoso, back in 2002 and 2003. Earlier this month Virtuoso became the first mature SQL/XML hybrid to make the transition to open source. The latest incarnation of the product also adds SPARQL (a semantic web query language) to its repertoire. ..."

(Via Jon's Radio.)

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).

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).

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.)

If you are encountering Virtuoso for the first time via this post or Jon's, please make time to read the product history article on the Virtuoso Wiki (which is one of many Virtuoso based applications that make up our soon to be released OpenLink DataSpace offering).

That said, I better go listen to the podcast :-)

"In my fourth Friday podcast we hear from Kingsley Idehen, CEO of OpenLink Software. I wrote about OpenLink's universal database and app server, Virtuoso, back in 2002 and 2003. Earlier this month Virtuoso became the first mature SQL/XML hybrid to make the transition to open source. The latest incarnation of the product also adds SPARQL (a semantic web query language) to its repertoire. ..."

(Via Jon's Radio.)

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).

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).

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.)

If you are encountering Virtuoso for the first time via this post or Jon's, please make time to read the product history article on the Virtuoso Wiki (which is one of many Virtuoso based applications that make up our soon to be released OpenLink DataSpace offering).

That said, I better go listen to the podcast :-)