Showing posts with label semantic web. Show all posts
Showing posts with label semantic web. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

It's been awhile...now Semantic Web is DOOMED!

It's been awhile since I last wrote my blog. I start off by saying that "Semantic Web" is dead. I don't think it will ever pick up and it's buzz has been replaced by "Social Media" and News Aggregators. Purpose of Semantic Web is to write code so that machines can learn and make inferences. For example I want to fly to Tahiti and I get my information on a web page which is written in OWL* (which includes Lite, DL and Full) and the machine via the internet is going to give me the best flight rates. This approach seemed great in 2004 however with the phenomenons of social networking and graph mining have squashed that fantasy. Don't get me wrong, Ontologies and OWL files are still needed in research oriented labs however they are not for the common users. Semantic Web promised us rich logic in the XML document which is parsed by the machine. Social Networks state that humans can relate to other humans and they are smart enough to make the right choices. I, personally, would rather trust someone in my social network to tell me about the hidden restaurant in Tahiti, where they serve grilled island crab and a glass of coconut milk, rather than an Oracle database churning on a RedHat Linux server somewhere on the cloud. With smart devices like iPads and iPhones, folks would rather view a YouTube video than to have a semantic web enabled application which is hogging up the device resources.

After looking at the trends, I have to say bye to "Semantic Web" and hello to "Social Web". Speaking about "Social Web", what do you guys think of Rock Melt?

Image taken by happy.apple and stored on Flickr
Posted by Enoch Moses at 10:44 PM
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Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Resolution for 2008: Lets cut down on XML abuse

When XML started off it, it was envisioned to be a super set of HTML where custom tags could get created and content in custom document strutures can be circulated in the World Wide Web. I, however, believe that XML technology is being misused. It is popping up in Semantic Web, SOA, and in pure data modeling efforts. It is true that XML is human AND machine readable however computing processors are paying a heavy price parsing and ingesting the content in complex XML documents. I recently attended an Ontology conference in Maryland and the biggest theme from the conference is that there isn't enough machine power to process all of the complex business logic to make content inferences. Even though XML is human and machine readable, it is extremely verbose and it is not practically to have machine process all of the tags and get the data from a XML document. The next question to ask is: "When should you use XML?" The answer is that when the XML documents are not overly complicated which might include nested tags, and a large amount of data. If the data is quite big then other binary content should be passed around in COM objects or Enterprise Java Beans (EJB)s. Here are some arguments regarding XML
  1. XML is interoperable - True XML is interoperable for cross platform communication. However please don't send massive XML documents which can bough the system down. XML may be interoperable but it is not performance friendly.
  2. XML is a good format for web service communication - Web Services (SOAP and REST) largely deal with XML based content however Web Services are NOT reusable if the XML format is propriatory between the Service Provider and its clients. Please avoid sending large amounts of data over the wire. SOAP with attachments is a good alternative for sending large chunks of data.
  3. XML is human readable - This is true however if a developer decides to create a XML format which he only understands then the XML is unreadable and it needs to be released. For example, a developer decides a create a XML document which looks like this: Person. This XML document is a complete waste since not every human understands it. However if tag names are defined properly and their definitions captured then the XML is human reable.
  4. XML is the future in Semantic Web- Recently I came across OWL-S editor software and I tested it out. The software generates an OWL and RDF documents however these XML documents are verbose and they cannot be processed. Instead of a XML based technology, the Semantic Web should look at other options rather than just XML.
In conclusion, XML is a great technology however people tend to misuse it and then tag it as a wasted technology. XML is not going to go away so lets use it properly and take care of it.
Posted by Enoch Moses at 1:12 AM 0 comments
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Thursday, October 11, 2007

Semantic Web verses Web 2.0



Semantic Web
vs

Web 2.0

Yesterday's entry was about Peter Patel-Schneider's talk about Knowledge Representation and Semantic Web. The Semantic Web and the Web 2.0 are two distinct approaches on how web technology should be in the future.

Definition of Semantic Web
  • According to W3C, "The Semantic Web provides a common framework that allows data to be shared and reused across application, enterprise, and community boundaries. It is a collaborative effort led by W3C with participation from a large number of researchers and industrial partners. It is based on the Resource Description Framework (RDF). "
  • Wikipedia defines Semantic Web as, "...an evolving extension of the World Wide Web in which web content can be expressed not only in natural language, but also in a format that can be read and used by software agents, thus permitting them to find, share and integrate information more easily.[1] It derives from W3C director Sir Tim Berners-Lee's vision of the Web as a universal medium for data, information, and knowledge exchange."
Definition of Web 2.0
O'Reilly defines Web 2.0 as the next generation of web technologies or methodologies. However, from the latest trends, web 2.0 seems to be web technologies which allow the user to directly interact with the web (mashups) and other members on the web (social networks). This shows the two distinct visions on how the web technologies evolve.
  • Semantic Web promises to provide intelligence data which will enable software to read and understand what the data is about. This inturn will allow software to understand what the user is looking for. Software will be able to use inference engines and other technologies to provide user with a wider variety of pertainent information on the internet. Semantic Web gives the power of decision to the software which works with the users.
  • Web 2.0 promises to provide technologies which will allow the user to make decisions on how he or she wants to access, discover and process the information on the internet. It is assumed that the user has to take initiative to look for information and Web 2.0 technologies will assist the user in finding the information. Unlike Semantic Web's vision, software is only a proxy for what user is looking for.
With these two distinct approachs, let's compare what are the benefits and drawbacks of these two approaches.
  • Semantic Web
    • Thin clients - Clients are not expected to store any information. Built-in Semantic Web language processors will simply read and interpret the data.
    • Not UI friendly
    • Governance is a big issue since Semantic Web lanuages have to be regulated
    • Potential Data discovery by the user since Semantic Web languages can show inferred information
    • Localization is a issue. I am wondering how RDF, RDFs and OWL will be work with languages which had distinct rule differences
  • Web 2.0
    • Thick clients - Clients have to process technologies like AJAX
    • UI Friendly - Look at Yahoo! Pipes, Google Maps
    • Potential bad information is created - If users create aggregated data via mashups, users can interpret the data incorrect.
    • Minimize privacy - With the assumption that social networks, blogs and other personal information on the web, the user's privacy is minimized. We need to make Web 2.0 more secure!
Like the topic of Browsing verses Searching, the optimal answer lies between Semantic Web and Web 2.0 technologies. Semantic Web and Web 2.0 can be used in a complimenting way and I believe this is will be the next wave of web technologies.

I put up a video for each approach. Each video is stylistic different and I chose these two videos since the two approaches are so different.
Posted by Enoch Moses at 9:46 PM 0 comments
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Semantic Web


I came across a great talk on Semantic Web and Knowledge Representation on YouTube. The talk was given by Peter Patel-Schneider. In the presentation, he talks about:
  • the evolution of Semantic Web
  • various Semantic Web languages
  • benefits of Semantic Web
  • problems with the Semantic Web Vision.
After seeing the talk, I see the benefits and issues with Semantic Web theory however there are not applications or tools which process Semantic Web languages. I believe Mashups, Representational State Transfer (REST) web services, and Web 2.0 implementations is a good step towards the next generation of internet technologies. Semantic Web takes the approach of adding intelligence at the data tier while Web 2.0 takes the approach of enabling the user to intimately control the data or the rendering of data. I highly recommend Peter Patel-Schneider's talk.
Posted by Enoch Moses at 1:29 AM 0 comments
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Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Search Engine Problem

Jargonaut, thank you for the link to CMCH Research. I did enjoy their Smart Search interface. It is very interesting but it also shows the underlying problem between various search engine. For example, in the CMCH Research Smart Search interface, I typed in "Why Children hate animals". I got the results:
  1. Google -

    animals politics law children peace hate - Animals - Newly ...

    Top Environmental News stories on global warming, wildlife, sustainable development, animals, nature, health, and more!
    www.care2.com/news/submitted/category/animals/animals+politics+law+children+peace+hate - 51k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

    Mitchell, Last Dinosaur Book, excerpt

    Why Children Hate Dinosaurs. Although our history of the dinosaur is over, ... the dinosaur may be the most publicized animal in children's lives. ...
    www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/532046.html - 22k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

    Fur Is Dead > Features > PETA’s New Comic for Kids - a Real-Life ...

    PETA will be there to greet any fur-clad moms and their children with their newest anti-fur leaflet-PETA Comics presents..."Your Mommy Kills Animals!" ...
    www.furisdead.com/momfur.html - 38k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

    Wondertime: First Pets: Wild Thing - and More Joys of Parenting ...

    Family Pets for Children - Wondertime unveils what children can learn from their first ... "I don't hate animals," I said. It was the idea of having a puppy ...
    wondertime.go.com/life-at-home/article/0806-first-pets-wild-thing.html - 24k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

    I hate Animal Planet! [Archive] - Pets Hub

    [Archive] I hate Animal Planet! Other Pets & Animals Forums. ... YOU SHOULDN'T HOLD CHILDREN THIS WAY, MUCH LESS WHEN TOSSING RAW MEAT TO A CROC 2.5 FEET ...
    www.petshub.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-36165.html - 46k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
  2. Yahoo! -
  • Why Do We Hate?
  • ... beings are animals, but we seem to be the only animals that hate enough to kill ... create nonjudgmental safe environments for children who so easily absorb and ...www.kuufnh.org/whyhate.htm - 21k - Cached
  • REDSKIN, A HATE WORD DEFINED page 1
  • Why Indian mascots are considered hateful, and the shameful history of the Redskin label. ... A REDSKIN IS AN ANIMAL ... slaughtered our children as you would ...www.iwchildren.org/redskinhate.htm - 19k - Cached
  • SFist: Why We Hate Racists
  • ... after running an opinion piece titled "Why I Hate Blacks," by a local 24-year ... Youâ€_ re an Asian male-white female couple with biracial children. ...sfist.com/2007/02/27/why_we_hate_racists.php - 88k - Cached
  • Why I hate vegetarians
  • ... day made me realise why I hate vegetarians. ... They are putting the welfare of animalschildren. ... Back to Animal Rights / Home ...www.maninnature.com/Management/ARights/Rights1w.html - 9k - Cached
  • HATE CRIMES
  • ... already faced the murders of, or assaults on, our children and loved ones. ... If we are willing to extend federal protections to animals, why not people? ...www.pflagupstatesc.org/hate_crimes.htm - 18k - Cached
  1. MSN -

  • Why I Hate Your Children 2

    In a previous badass article ( Why I Hate Your Children ) I completely demolished the bullshit ... 400 pound gorilla bitch and stayed thanks to your love of animals ...

    • bobsmash.com/articles/2007/july/hate-your-children2.htm
    • · Cached page

  • Why I hate vegetarians

    Why I Hate Vegetarians People should not be bullied into giving up meat by humourless ... They are putting the welfare of animals before that of their children. Giving up meat and dairy has been linked ...

    • www.maninnature.com/Management/ARights/Rights1w.html
    • · Cached page

  • REDSKIN, A HATE WORD DEFINED page 1

    ... to you as one human to another, why the Native ... You slaughtered our children as you would slaughter the ... or to be free from your words of hate. We are treated like you treat the animals,

  • Why women hate sex.

    ... are Golden Toilets...Flush; Feminism Is Stupid; Pets Are Not Children ... lot of good work being done on homosexuality in animals. ... is mostly accurate, sure i have my own conclusions as to why women hate ...

    • www.menarebetterthanwomen.com/why-women-hate-sex
    • · Cached page

  • Why Do We Hate?

    WHY DO WE HATE? Sermon given by Rev. Emily Burr on 5/7/06 ... Human beings are animals, but we seem to be the only animals that hate ... can help create nonjudgmental safe environments for children ...

  1. Ask Jeeves - Democrats Hate Children, But So Does Phil Parlock - Wonkette
    Democrats Hate Children, But So Does Phil Parlock ... [DU] Democrats Hate Children [Wonkette] ...
    www.wonkette.com/archives/democrats-hate-children-but-s...www.wonkette.com/archives/democrats-hate-children-but-so-does-phil-parlock-021497.php
    Newsgroups: alt.food.vegan, rec.sport.football.college, alt.animals.ethics.vegetarian ... Why would killing animals for my computer give you ...
    groups.google.com/group/alt.animals.ethics.vegetarian/m...groups.google.com/group/alt.animals.ethics.vegetarian/msg/d802d7375cf90061
    I have mixed feelings about children but hate isn't in the mix at all. ... why would people hate children, they were all once children, that ...
    surveycentral.org/survey/18886.html
    I love animals yet hate children. I dreamt again about stamping on the babies heads again last night, squashing them like watermelons and ...
    www.notproud.com/anger/anger743.php
    Do Palestinians Teach Their Children to Hate? ... staff blush: “We teach our children to respect life, while they teach that if you die ...
    www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/hate.html
  2. Vivisimo -
  1. Alta Vista
I looked at these results and realized that these links are not the right links. I wanted to see why certain children want to hurt animals rather than to play with the animals. Each reputable search engine gave me different answers. There was no consistence at all. The results across the board were not accurate nor precise. This makes me wonder if the user is really saving time. If I typed in the word "children" in various search engines, I get results related to children. This means that the results are more accurate and precise. This shows that queries directly hit search engine indexes and the indexes and page ranking are dependent are independent search algorithms. This is a typical problem of text based search engines (including Google). I believe there is a way to address this issue. Email me and I will let you know.
Posted by Enoch Moses at 10:29 PM 0 comments
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