ISWC Tutorial: Working with Explanations of OWL Entailments

Do you ever lie there in the middle of the night wondering, "Why are we
here? Why do we die? Why is that class in my ontology unsatisfiable?"

We've all been there, ...restless...sweaty...tormented...asking
ourselves, "Why? WHY!?!? Does God hate me? Was I a mass murderer in a  
past life?
Did Jerome make all those classes disjoint AGAIN!?! I bet it was Jerome!
Why did I hire someone named Jerome!??!?!!"

You want answers. More, you want *explanations*.

Thankfully there's a place you can go for explanations of the deep
mysteries of life (if the deep mysteries of life that you are interested
in happen to be entailments in OWL ontologies). A place where it will
all make sense, and there are people who care enough to help you find
your way. And you don't need to wear saffron robes, or bathe nude in the
thundering snowmelt-fed waterfalls on sacred mountains, or sign over all
your worldly possessions (although, if you'd like to dump your more
liquid assets, we *can* help!). No, all you need to do is sign up for a
little half day ISWC tutorial, "Working with Explanations of OWL
Entailments", pay the quite reasonable fee, and buy a copy of my book,
"10 easy ways to write seemingly inappropriate email" for the low low
price of $39.95.

We at the University of Manchester want to help you understand the world
*so much* that we put up a website:

    <http://owl.cs.manchester.ac.uk/2009/iswc-exptut/>

Under the gentle guidance of our crack team of explanation gurus, you'll
move from being a mere explanandum**, to a full fledged explanans**!
This tutorial is so hands on that you have to use your feet as well!

After this day, you'll be able to say that if it follows from your
ontology, you know why!

Cheers,
Bijan "Just because! *That's* why!" Parsia.

*Nothing personal, Jerome. It was just your turn.
**Look 'em up on Wikipedia. What, I have to explain *everything*?!?!

------------------
Testimonials:

"It's like being hit with the cluestick of happiness." -- A Bijan
Student Hoping For Some Brownie Points

"It changed my life...in a way. I'm not saying if it was a *good* way."
-- An Unduly Honest Bijan Student Nevertheless Hoping to Avoid Penalty
Points

"Just go to the after party" -- Bijan's Favorite After Party Organizer

"My god, it's full of justifications!" -- Dr. David Bowman

"Go to hell, Parsia" -- Jerome

Received on Tuesday, 29 September 2009 01:11:17 UTC