Re: ANN: Semantic University - for learning the Semantic Web (now easier to use)

Just chiming in quickly here -- our web dev shop wouldn't automatically include  any of the semantic web technologies in a standard site template.  Like Lee, we haven't seen a compelling use case to do anything beyond well-formed code. For example, Meta tags haven't been part of our code standards for years since the search engines tend to ignore them and they were prone to abuse or meaninglessness.

I acknowledge that the newer semantically aware technologies might benefit from a push towards critical mass through community adoption but it is a hard sell to justify spending client dollars to implement something just on principle.  

A chicken and egg problem I guess.  Though I'd welcome any other perspectives on this.

Eric

Squishymedia Web Development
503.780.1847

On Oct 11, 2012, at 2:24 AM, phillip.lord@newcastle.ac.uk (Phillip Lord) wrote:

> 
> 
> I am a little surprised that you can't see use cases for adding
> computationally extractable metadata to your articles. Searching,
> sorting, mashing up, referencing and so on. 
> 
> RSS is a different point; ignoring it's "what's new" role, it happens to
> be a reasonable source for computational metadata where there is nothing
> else. 
> 
> Phil
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lee Feigenbaum <lee@thefigtrees.net> writes:
>> Thanks for the feedback. We didn't pursue an RSS feed for the site because
>> it's intended to be relatively timeless educational content, rather than dated
>> material. That said, I can look into adding one.
>> 
>> Can you help me understand the use cases for using some of the other
>> approaches you mention and what would be involved? I didn't really have any
>> compelling use cases in mind off the top of my head to mark up these lessons.
>> 
>> thanks,
>> Lee
>> 
>> On 10/10/2012 7:20 AM, Phillip Lord wrote:
>>> This is an interesting set of pages.
>>> 
>>> One thing that confuses me about this web site is that, as far as I can
>>> see, it apperas to use no semantic web technology; certainly trying to
>>> mine the web pages shows no metadata describing what the document is
>>> about. We tried searching for OGP, various forms of metatags, prism,
>>> COINs and so on, using our Greycite (http://greycite.knowledgeblog.org)
>>> tool, and found nothing. We've tried visual inspection as well -- not
>>> easy as all the HTML is on one line -- and again can see nothing. Tried
>>> content negotiation for RDF, but this returns HTML. Even the normally
>>> reliable RSS feed fails because there isn't one.
>>> 
>>> Phil
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Lee Feigenbaum <lee@thefigtrees.net> writes:
>>> 
>>>> Hi everyone,
>>>> 
>>>> Many of you may already have come across Semantic University
>>>> <http://www.cambridgesemantics.com/semantic-university>, but I'd like to
>>>> announce it to this community.
>>>> 
>>>> Semantic University is a free, online resource for learning Semantic Web
>>>> technologies. We've gotten some great feedback over the past few months, and
>>>> we feel that it's one of the most accessible ways for both technical and
>>>> non-technical people to start learning about semantics and the Semantic Web.
>>>> 
>>>> For those of you who have seen Semantic University before, we've re-organized
>>>> the content into general Semantic Web Landscape content and into specific
>>>> technical tracks oriented around RDF, OWL/RDFS, SPARQL, and Semantic Web
>>>> Design Patterns. I hope you'll check it out as we think it's now much easier
>>>> to use to learn about the Semantic Web.
>>>> 
>>>> Semantic University currently includes over 30 lessons, and we're continually
>>>> preparing new content. We're also looking for additional writers to contribute
>>>> new lessons, so please contact me if you'd be interested. I'd especially like
>>>> to start including content specific to particular verticals, and HCLS would be
>>>> a great starting place. Please let me know if you'd be interested in
>>>> contributing!
>>>> 
>>>> Current lessons include:
>>>> 
>>>>  * An Introduction to the Semantic Web
>>>>    <https://www.cambridgesemantics.com/semantic-university/introduction-to-the-semantic-web>
>>>>  * Semantic Web Misconceptions
>>>>    <https://www.cambridgesemantics.com/semantic-university/semantic-web-misconceptions>
>>>>  * Semantic Web vs. Semantic Technologies
>>>>    <https://www.cambridgesemantics.com/semantic-university/semantic-web-vs-semantic-technologies>
>>>>  * RDF 101 <https://www.cambridgesemantics.com/semantic-university/rdf-101>
>>>>  * SPARQL Nuts and Bolts
>>>>    <https://www.cambridgesemantics.com/semantic-university/sparql-nuts-and-bolts>
>>>> 
>>>> ...and many more.
>>>> 
>>>> Please enjoy & we welcome all feedback & suggestions.
>>>> 
>>>> best,
>>>> Lee
> 
> -- 
> Phillip Lord,                           Phone: +44 (0) 191 222 7827
> Lecturer in Bioinformatics,             Email: phillip.lord@newcastle.ac.uk
> School of Computing Science,            http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/phillip.lord
> Room 914 Claremont Tower,               skype: russet_apples
> Newcastle University,                   msn: msn@russet.org.uk
> NE1 7RU                                 twitter: phillord
> 

Received on Thursday, 11 October 2012 13:32:26 UTC