Semantic Web and cyberspace

Danny Ayers blogged something about avatars that should read your blog.

Ok, my unshaved picture on the top may be a start, please imagine now myself reading loud….

But on the other hand, it is true that “being online” can also mean that your “avatar” is moving around and talking on the “cyberspace”.
I have to define the three things again:

  • Being online – to have your brain think about some resources on the web (or your own computer). Your attention is on the resource in the information world – aka cyberspace
  • Avatar – a representation of yourself in the information world – cyberspace
  • Cyberspace – the semantic web of tomorrow, where we can hang around and consume and produce information. Also the place where we see other people, when they hang around a certain resource.

These three things are part of building “cyberspace now”. I would go the easy way of looking at the datastructures that are used in online games like Ultima Online or Everquest. Then take these structures, RDF them and build a server that is capable of hosting some people (f.e. our DFKI workgroup).
Then go around and fill the empty space with data. And “going around” means that all websites you visit show other visitors that you are “there”.

oh cool. If anyone wants to code this, I am in.

Semantic Desktop YES

A big YES for the Semantic Desktop comes from the Desktop Developers Conference.

I wasn’t there but Edd Dumbll blogged very good.

My bit is: Edd talks the same language as we do. RDF.

The gnowsis Semantic Desktop project we do right now at the DFKI.de is nearly what he means. We represent all “user-interesting objects” in a BIG rdf graph. And that is built dynamically, by extracting the data from the different applications.

Ontologies like FOAF, DC and VCARD are spread all over our system and make it easy to annotate photos and so. We are working night and day now to make a release soon, as I see that our thing is definitely interesting for the rest of the world.

Expect a gnowsis release in September.

in the meantime, read my thesis

I like MS-Words logic

hm, a hurray for the heuristics of MS-Word and the similarity of names.

sauermann

(btw, <foaf:Person foaf:mbox=”mailto:leo@gnowsis.com” foaf:surname=”Sauermann” />)

Will Word ever be the same in the Semantic Web?

WLAN in Kaiserslautern

Since Ingrid and me moved to Kaiserslautern, we have problems getting online. Gladly, we found (by warwalking) some open WLAN nodes but that was awful. We felt like thieves (actually, we where) and my batteries where running out.

So we looked at the great url
wlan-in-kaiserslautern.de and found the lovely company Transkom that makes it possible: Internet at home by several WLAN antennas in town.

Sven Schwarz gave me the hint to look at free42.de to check out their stuff. GREAT, they also do it.

In germany – for all you internationals out there – is telecommunication in the hands of the megalonic monopolist. That means, that the last mile is in the guarded temple of high costs. Words like “flatrate” or “always on” are not known in the local language or long forgotten.

Example: I went to the local shop of T-COM (the telekom provider) and asked for a telephone. They have ISDN or Analogue phone lines. Ok, I wanted Internet on a ISDN flatrate. Or “Standleitung”. They said they don’t have a clue how to do it, I have to go to the business departement (in some other town not accessible to the carless).
Then, they sell ADSL there, which is a fast internet thing commonly used on analogue lines, with kinda flatrate fees. And I wanted a “fixed IP” – one guy searched 30 min in their internal knowledge system and didn’t find anything about this mysterious “fixed ip”.
BTW: why do I have the problem at all? Because they made all lines downtown of fiber glass – hurray – and are now to inflexible to get something fast into my flat. uhuh.

So much about telekom – in a country like this the rules of free market DRIVE us to buy these WLAN services.

I am curious what will happen next,
Will we make it and get Internet at home?
Will it be fixed ip?

we’ll see….

Moblog

We are moving to Kaiserslautern. All my stuff is packed in a Mercedes Sprinter from www.flott.at.
Ingrid, my Fahter and me are sitting in Front and I couldn’t resist going online.

You have an example of “bluetooth for the poor” here: I had to duck-tape (hurray to duck tape) my cell phone to the armrest to have the IrDa working.

Music is good, spirits are high, god is with us.
More to come….