The Semantic Web

Tim Berners Lee

[SEoptimization]

The main inventor of the web - gave a "future of the Web" overview yesterday

The Semantic Web gives data more meaning through the use of metadata (the data about data, which describes particular sets of data) and how it was formatted. By adding metadata to the Web it will open up a new dimension in search capabilities

Mr. Lee also endorsed the Safari browser

and gave an overview on the merits of RDF, built on top of XML which will allow for the concatenation of data from various sources

[korkus2000]

We are moving that way, with being able to use href on other tags than just anchors. It will make the web more rich with cross refrencing. Can't wait!

[dragonlady7]

My programmer (and boyfriend) is absolutely obsessed with RDF and the Semantic Web. I'll have to point that one out to him. :D

Hey, if it gets me a better webpage, I don't complain.

[msgraph]

Metadata is good and the possibilities are endless for creating a much better organized web.

Still, like in other areas, the major problems to tackle are abuse and duplication, particularly with rdf and xml feeds.

[killroy]

It's not about better webpages. It's about new things we can't even imagine yet. It's never just about improving what we have, it's about doing new things and letting our imagination run wild.

SN

[petersmall]

Having spent some considerable time exporing AI techniques and methods of categorizing and organizing information, I've come to the conclusion that it's all a total waste of time.

Information on the Web is dynamic and undergoing continuous change. People's need for information is also undergoing continuous change, which makes profiling personal needs an impractical dream.

The only successful approaches to information sharing and dissemination have been carried out by natural systems.
For example, ants tell each other where to find sources of food by laying pheromone trails. This process (known as stigmergy) is far more sophisticated than it appears. The ground is effectively the ants' database, which any ant can easily access to find where to go for food.

This database is continuosly being updated by means of evaporation. The trails disappear if they are not re-inforced.

The remarkable thing about these biological strategies is that they do not use algorithms. This means that the systems they use are not understandable using the kind of mindset needed to create computer systems.

Just observing how ants lay pheromone trails tells you very little about how this system works. Understanding only comes about by knowing how the system evolved.

This is the area that I'm currently working on. The mechanics of the programming are relatively simple. The hard part is creating a system that is self-organizing and evolves towards maximum efficiency. This takes you into the arcane world of chaos and dynamic complexity.

Surprisingly, this leads to very simple and elegant solutions.

[dmorison]

Seems like the semantic web will have even fewer viable business models than the non-semantic web!

bots don't care for adverts...

[SEoptimization]

WebFountain, from IBM includes pattern recognition, natural-language processing, and Bayesian probability theory, to perform advanced searches and spidering...

will this complement or compete or blend with
"The Semantic Web"