JemBlog to offer "semantic blogging" using RDF Danny Ayers posted to the cmsblogapidev mailing list today in response to a question posted to the list: "Does anyone have strong opinions about databases here? if so, do they extend beyond uses for mysql?" His reply:
I don't know about it being a strong opinion, but I believe in the context of cms and blog APIs, the relational model that is behind mysql and most other databases used for these purposes is a poor match for the requirements.I think the same problem exists with XML and object databases.There's a sourceforge mailing list and download archive.
The data dealt with by cms and blog tools can be better described in terms of web resources, so the obvious choice for the modelling would be the Resource Description Framework. Ok, so RDF stores are currently few and far between, and many are actually backed by RDBMSs. But in any cms or blog system there will be the need to model the data, and IMHO it is better to reuse existing standards wherever possible (i.e. let the RDF store deal with the persistence).
The use of RDF will also simplify extension of such a system, thanks mainly to use of RDF vocabularies (RDFS). As a simple example, adding FOAF (friend of a friend) capability to a system designed to handle RSS data based on a relational DB would involve building a whole new set of model constructs before anything else could be done. Adding it to an RDF-backed system would simply be a matter of setting up the appropriate user interface.
I can't think of a better point at which to announce a new project, JemBlog, which aims to create server-side web blog system along the lines of the core of Movable Type etc. The difference being that the model used behind the scenes is RDF, so true semantic blogging is possible. The system will be written in Java/JSP, using the Jena RDF toolkit.
This is a new project, so there's nothing usable available yet. I'm hoping to have the first working draft together in the next couple of weeks. This is an open source project (probably LGPL) so input is welcome from everyone.
categories: knowhow metablog
11:56:01 PM
say what []Joined Salon Bloggers webring Another gesture of solidarity. Posting mainly to reload the page.
categories: salonika metablog
5:29:36 PM
say what []Mama, what's a stigmergy? Over a month ago Scot Hacker sent me an interesting link via Weblogsky to Joe Gregorio's post about the web, Google, webogs, and stigmergy. I noted it down as something to investigate and write about and the electronic pile promptly accumulated on top of it. I wondered about the root of the word. Is it from "stigma" (a mark) and -ergy as in emerge or energy or synergy?
I finally found my way to the article in question and so now I kind of understand. Stigmergy is a term from biology describing unintentional cooperation in which two or more organisms leave effects on the environment and interact with (are affected by) each other's leavings. This is my off-the-cuff definition after a quick read, so don't go citing me in your dissertation.
Looks like this concept may now have relevance to the Boggloogler acquisition (my goal is to use a different hybrid trademark each time I mention it).
I read an interesting comment in the Well's blog conference today from kafclown. He noticed that his Blogspot-hosted Rhode Island Blog for the first time has started showing ads for local (Rhode Island) advertisers.
Up to now he's just had the generic blogspot ads rotating in that space. He figures that this is a sign that Google's already selling ad placement based on keyword matching. If that's true, then that sure was fast!
This would be the first sighting (for me) of any new s-word effect from the Blogger + Google merger (there I used the normal form for search-findability purposes).
categories: metablog
3:04:45 PM say what []
Playing with the MT-RSSfeed plugin
So far I've tried several different methods for aggregating posts from multiple blogs onto one page. One method is the multiauthor tool I use in Radio to pick up the RSS feeds from my other blogs and post them to the x-syndicate category here at RFB. Then if I want those posts to show up on the home page (as I often do, since I figure this is the one blog of mine that most people read), I have to edit the post manually (at which point I restore the title, which Radio's aggregator folds into the entry text).
Another approach is to set up a TrackBack ping metablog (see Blogroots or The American Times for examples of what I mean), but there's something I still don't understand about this and I haven't managed to get it to work yet.
These are really different methods, as the first one turns the picked up entry into a new post on the recipient blog, whereas the pinging method just adds a link and a description to a list, but the items in the list aren't blog entries, don't have permalinks, don't get archived, etc.
Other tools I've played with but not gotten working yet include RSS Monkey, which as I understand it would enable me to list recent posts from a number of blogs (or any RSS source, in fact) but wouldn't necessarily fold them together into a single string.
To get that same effect, I just installed the MTlist and MTRSSfeed plugins available at the new MT-plugins website, and set up a list of RSS feeds at my experimental metaxian blog. This does a good job of listing the headings and would enable me to include that kind of list in, say, a sidebar on any of my MT blogs.
A better approach might be something like what Phil Gyford has done at haddock.org where blog posts from multiple participants are listed sequentially (but can also be sorted by blog). For all I know RSS Monkey can do this too, but this is really where I'd like to go with my metabloggery experiments.
Fortunately, Phil is on the Well and has volunteered to help me set up a similar group blog front-end for Well bloggers. Once I understand that I'll try it for a few other groups I can think of, such as Salon bloggers.
categories: salonika metablog radioactive movablefeats
12:50:58 PM say what []
