RE: What is at the end of the namespace?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ext Sean B. Palmer [mailto:sean@mysterylights.com]
> Sent: 16 November, 2001 17:22
> To: Stickler Patrick (NRC/Tampere); danbri@w3.org
> Cc: www-talk@w3.org
> Subject: Re: What is at the end of the namespace?
> 
> 
> > You don't mean that some photo image of you that has
> > an HTTP URL denotes *you*, do you? Then how do
> > you make statements about you versus statements about
> > the photo?
> 
> This is the very very simple "Mona Lisa/weather map" problem, i.e.
> "what is denoted?". If you have a resource that is a photo of Dan, to
> say things about Dan himself, you just use a simple RDF statement
> (that's what RDF is there for!):-
> 
>    [ :depictedIn <http://example.org/dan-photo>;
>       :name "Dan" ] .
> 
> Simple stuff; RDF gives you that power.

You are avoiding the question.

What URI (not RDF "query") denotes "Dan"?

The example given suggested that the URL of Dan's photo denoted "Dan"
and I argued that it didn't, and you are now avoiding my response
by offering yet another way to denote "Dan".

I'm quite aware of the power of RDF to define complex queries
(templates of statements) which may (or may not) denote "something".

The value of a URI is that it *always* denotes *one* thing. There
may be other means, or even other URIs to denote that same thing,
but for any given URI, it denotes only one thing. That's why it's
useful to e.g RDF and similar tools as a universal unique identifier.

Patrick

Received on Monday, 19 November 2001 06:26:28 UTC