Blog entries by Yihong Ding

When constructing the Semantic Web, we are actually building two varied aspects simultaneously. One aspect is the Web that includes things such as the communication protocols, the Web data presentation formats, and so on. In particular, we have invented new technologies such as RDF, OWL, SPARQL, and other W3C recommended Semantic Web standards. The other aspect is the semantics that represent the meanings of Web data. Building semantics is, however, different from building the Web.

Continue reading Building Semantics is Different from Building the Web

The Curse of Knowledge: the more you know, the more difficult it is for you to communicate knowledge. When we know something, we can hardly imagine not knowing it. The more we learn about something, the more it becomes even harder for us to think of not knowing it. It is generally difficult for experts (who know much) to explain their expertise to laymen (who know little) because experts have to try hard to imagine the scenario when they were not experts. This is the Curse of Knowledge.

Continue reading The Curse of Knowledge and the Semantic Web

After the last post about "web of agents", I received a few questions about the "web of data." A few readers mistook my argument to be opposite of a web of data. Don't get me wrong, I have never been opposed to the presentation of a "web of data." I only emphasize that the web-of-data presentation is short of describing the human-web relationship in the Semantic Web. To encourage the engagement of more ordinary people to the grand vision of the Semantic Web, we need a more user-oriented presentation, i.e. a web of agents.

Continue reading Metadata or Hyperdata, Link or Thread, What is a Web of Data?

We want everybody to communicate freely by crossing the barriers of language differences and cultural variety. This is the commonly agreed upon ultimate goal of the Semantic Web. How we are to realize the Semantic Web in particular is, however, another story. Typically, there are two thoughts on how to achieve this common goal. One thought is to build a web of data; the other is to build a web of agents. Nevertheless, these two thoughts approach the same goal and represent two different philosophies. This philosophical difference may eventually determine the fate of these two approaches.

Continue reading Abandon Babel, Welcome Society: The Philosophy Behind Semantic Web Approaches

More and more people are starting to discuss the Semantic Web, but few truly understand how it is different from the traditional World Wide Web. Though the Semantic Web will be realized as a layer upon the current Web, some of their basic philosophies are going to be updated significantly. This post tries to list some truth about the Semantic Web that is critical but often overlooked.

Continue reading Some Truth about the Semantic Web

This post is a complement to the grassroots vs. ivory towers discussion. In the previous post, James mentioned two trends of realizing the dream of the Semantic Web. While the grassroots way encourages the wider adoption of the Semantic Web, the ivory-tower way stimulates the construction of Semantic Web standards. Besides all of these, these two sides indeed play different roles in weaving the Web — the destiny of web evolution.

Continue reading Weaving the Thread-Driven Semantic Web

There is a contradiction. The dream of the Semantic Web is beautiful, but few people are willing to realize it initiatively. The reason is primarily due to the pitiful nature of the selfishness of mankind; we prefer to enjoy contributions from others rather than contributing to others in the first hand. Some pessimistic ones of us, such as Stephen Downs and Mor Naaman, had even sentenced the Semantic Web to death due to this reason. Others of us, however, also cannot avoid but only try to solve this contradiction, actively and optimistically.

Continue reading Satisfying the Nature of Selfishness: The Key to Initiate the Semantic Web

The discussion of semantic search has gradually become popular. Just not long time ago, semantic search was thought to be barely a little bit more than a dream. At present, optimistic researchers have started to believe its possibility in the near future. Very recently at Read/WriteWeb, Dr. Riza C. Berkan, the CEO of Hakia (a company declared to perform "semantic search"), posted an article about semantic search that attracted much attention. Despite of agreeing with the post, here are more thoughts about semantic search.

Continue reading Semantic search has two legs