Re: Semantic Document Framework(s)

Double reply: [1] To Kurt Cagle, [2] To Aaron Swartz
> A weather report is easy to
> encode, because there is a fairly limited vocabulary, but  such a semantic
> editor could also work in the opposite direction -- a user can add an item
> to the set of rules simply by selecting the text in question, assigning it
> to a specific encoding tag (or defining a new tag if the editor is in
schema
> generation mode), and storing it (or editing it as a regex). In this
manner,
> you could add semantic content very easily.

[1] A rule, in it's own namespace, is a good way of getting the mechanism
moving: i.e. to accomplish rule based processing. The whole point of a
Semantic Web is that everything is findable in a very simple process: or so
the theory goes. Therefore, in information terms, nothing should be beyond
it. I hope everyone follows: the old Web constraints do not apply to the SW,
we are working on a different system, no matter how much it resembles, and
indeed evolves from. Of course I am only talking about the *aim* there, real
life will probably be very different. Theory vs. Practise etc.

> I bet -- looks like an AI-complete problem to me, at least for the general
> case. Specific cases could be done with really complex heuristics, but
> that'd be rather hairy. I'd love for this to work, but all I see you doing
> is offloading the English parsing to the writer, rather than the reader.
> You still need the software to parse the English. That's going to be
really
> hard to do, except in perhaps really specific cases. Certainly, it'll be a
lot
> harder to write than your average HTML editor!

[2] English is just a complicated programming language. At the end of the
day it is still processable, if not quite as easy as SGML/XML systems. With
rules etc., it will be made easier. It's not really AI: just a very very
complex system, that looks like AI. (There's a quote in there from someone I
think).
We are dealing with Engliah as a language, and as an information resource.
The SW will help to break down that invisible barrier.

Kindest Regards,
Sean B. Palmer
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The Semantic Web: A Resource - http://xhtml.waptechinfo.com/swr/
WAP Tech Info - http://www.waptechinfo.com/
Mysterylights.com - http://www.mysterylights.com/
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Received on Thursday, 9 November 2000 18:46:25 UTC