Re: AGENDA/L<ogistics - Dec 6 Telecon

As it has come up in the Semantic Web Coordination Group, it might be worth
spending a short while discussing point nine of XML in 10 points.  As you
might expect I have strong reservations about the claims therein concerning
RDF.

peter





Please review item #9 in the XML in 10 points:
[[
XML is the basis for RDF and the Semantic Web

XML provides an unambiguous syntax for W3C's RDF, the language for 
expressing metadata (in fact, for knowledge in general). RDF is like 
hypertext elevated to the next level. Whereas hypertext links pieces 
of text and leaves their relation vague, RDF can link anything and 
everything and assigns names to the relations: 'A is the price of B'
can be a relation between an object and a sum of money; 'A is 
heavier than B' can be the relation between two sumo wrestlers; 'A 
is the cause of B' can be the relation between a shower and your 
being wet. To communicate knowledge, whether in XML/RDF or in plain 
English, both people and machines need to agree on what words to 
use. A precisely defined set of words to describe a certain area of 
life (from 'shopping' to 'mathematical logic') is called an 
'ontology.'  RDF, ontologies, and the representation of meaning so 
that computers can help people do work are all topics of the 
Semantic Web Activity.
]] -- <A HREF="http://www.w3.org/XML/1999/XML-in-10-points">http://www.w3.org/XML/1999/XML-in-10-points</A>

Received on Thursday, 6 December 2001 11:14:37 UTC