Semantic Web, Can it Happen? Not if but when What is the Semantic Web? It’s the Internet in it’s current information pipeline form but with the addition of machine understandable language describing web based objects (pictures, text, audio/video). The term semantic describes the essential meaning of words and in the case of text on the Internet, is usually represented by tags or keywords. The process of representing information with tags is currently being implemented with products made by Zemanta and Open Calais. There are still many who believe a semantic web is beyond our technical ability to craft. I have a great interest in this area for a couple of reasons.
Why I make videos I’m wrapping up with a quick description of why I make these bobbly head videos while out walking. I walk a lot. Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you “look ahead,” before deciding if you want to follow a link or not. What's Next After Web 2.0 - ReadWriteWeb. As the world financial crisis has gotten gradually worse over the past few weeks, I've been pondering what this means for the web.
ReadWriteWeb as a publication focuses on technology - web products and trends - rather than business and VC happenings. So with the exception of one of our feature writers Bernard Lunn, who has written a number of great posts on how entrepreneurs can survive this period, we've generally kept out of the Credit Crisis discussion thus far. But we're clearly now at a point where the financial problems of the world will have a big impact on where web technology is headed. Indeed, it looks like we've arrived at one of those giant inflexion points - where one web era is usurped by another. Editor's note: Looking back over 2008, there were some posts on ReadWriteWeb that did not get the attention we felt they deserved - whether because of timing, competing news stories, etc. So in this end-of-year series, called Redux, we're resurrecting some of those hidden gems. The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct Them.
Concept maps are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They include concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and relationships between concepts indicated by a connecting line linking two concepts. Words on the line, referred to as linking words or linking phrases, specify the relationship between the two concepts. We define concept as a perceived regularity in events or objects, or records of events or objects, designated by a label. The label for most concepts is a word, although sometimes we use symbols such as + or %, and sometimes more than one word is used. Propositions are statements about some object or event in the universe, either naturally occurring or constructed.
Propositions contain two or more concepts connected using linking words or phrases to form a meaningful statement. Figure 1. (click on an image for a larger view) Another important characteristic of concept maps is the inclusion of cross-links. Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 4. Understanding Semantic Web Technologies. As the amount of information in enterprise databases and online data stores expands exponentially each year, enterprises face the very real problem of sifting through it all and sharing it among disparate systems and end users. Enter semantic web search technology. The problem is that as the amount of information and number of systems increases, the more ineffective traditional index search methods become. A cadre of technologists sees hope in the form of semantic technology, a non-proprietary way of categorizing and connecting data with contextual information to make it easier to organize and search.
However, many executives simply do not know what semantic technology really is, and the idea of implementing it is about as complex and indecipherable as hieroglyphics was before the Rosetta Stone was discovered. “Semantic technologies are early in their maturity and market adoption,” Gartner analysts wrote in a report. The Need for Something Different. New York Times embraces semantic web : CyberJournalist.net.