Comments on: Discussion about the semantic web http://eco101.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/discussion-about-the-semantic-web/ ecoanarchist rantings from newcastle, australia Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:51:30 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: naught101 http://eco101.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/discussion-about-the-semantic-web/#comment-2545 naught101 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:50:40 +0000 http://eco101.wordpress.com/?p=47#comment-2545 What you say is true. I'm just trying find holes in the apparent goodness of the semantic web. Any technology has unintended side-effects, and it's important to find out what those side effects might be. For example, the humble shovel initially just allowed us to dig holes more easily, but then we realised that we could also dig bigger and better holes. Then we decided that the shovel wasn't big enough, and repeated the process until we finally came to the point where we are now, with huge disasters like the Aswan Dam. I'm not saying that the semantic web WILL be a problem, or have problematic side-effects, I'm just asking how it COULD be. A question that should be asked of any new technology. What you say is true. I’m just trying find holes in the apparent goodness of the semantic web. Any technology has unintended side-effects, and it’s important to find out what those side effects might be.

For example, the humble shovel initially just allowed us to dig holes more easily, but then we realised that we could also dig bigger and better holes. Then we decided that the shovel wasn’t big enough, and repeated the process until we finally came to the point where we are now, with huge disasters like the Aswan Dam.

I’m not saying that the semantic web WILL be a problem, or have problematic side-effects, I’m just asking how it COULD be. A question that should be asked of any new technology.

]]> By: Kingsley Idehen http://eco101.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/discussion-about-the-semantic-web/#comment-2544 Kingsley Idehen Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:31:42 +0000 http://eco101.wordpress.com/?p=47#comment-2544 Why are we taking such a long journey to unravel a simple matter? The "Semantic Web" was a poor moniker choice for the Web as a Strucuted Database. Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, MySQL are strucutred databases, but It isn't natural across these databases to JOIN records across DBMS instance boundaries (where the DBMS doesn't support federation) or across DBMS vendor and/or DBMS engine type boundaries. And all of this is before we look at LAN, WAN, and transport protocol matters. Add the Linked Data Web (Layer 1 of the Semantic Web technology stack) and you get the Web as a Federated DBMS (Graph Data Model) that is endowed with HTTP based Record IDs (URIs/IRIs) that enable remote Record Referencing and Record JOINS across DBMS instance, DBMS vendor type, LAN, WAN, and transort protocol boundaries. In short, via the Linked Data Web I can point to records in your Database from mine (or vice versa) without any adverse effect. The worst that can happen is that we agree to disagree about the claims (Triples) that exist in my database i.e. we just arrive at perspectives withing the context of open Discourse. The Semantic Web is not about replacing human intelligence, it's about encouraging the application of Human Intelligence to what it does best: Reasoning (typically :-) ). Why are we taking such a long journey to unravel a simple matter?

The “Semantic Web” was a poor moniker choice for the Web as a Strucuted Database. Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, MySQL are strucutred databases, but It isn’t natural across these databases to JOIN records across DBMS instance boundaries (where the DBMS doesn’t support federation) or across DBMS vendor and/or DBMS engine type boundaries. And all of this is before we look at LAN, WAN, and transport protocol matters.

Add the Linked Data Web (Layer 1 of the Semantic Web technology stack) and you get the Web as a Federated DBMS (Graph Data Model) that is endowed with HTTP based Record IDs (URIs/IRIs) that enable remote Record Referencing and Record JOINS across DBMS instance, DBMS vendor type, LAN, WAN, and transort protocol boundaries.

In short, via the Linked Data Web I can point to records in your Database from mine (or vice versa) without any adverse effect. The worst that can happen is that we agree to disagree about the claims (Triples) that exist in my database i.e. we just arrive at perspectives withing the context of open Discourse.

The Semantic Web is not about replacing human intelligence, it’s about encouraging the application of Human Intelligence to what it does best: Reasoning (typically :-) ).

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