The Future of XML

From “The future of XML“:

The wheels of progress turn slowly, but turn they do. The crystal ball might be a little hazy, but the outline of XML’s future is becoming clear. The exact time line is a tad uncertain, but where XML is going isn’t. XML’s future lies with the Web, and more specifically with Web publishing. […] Word processors, spreadsheets, games, diagramming tools, and more are all migrating into the browser. This trend will only accelerate in the coming year as local storage in Web browsers makes it increasingly possible to work offline. But XML is still firmly grounded in Web 1.0 publishing, and that’s still very important.

Passthru from Slashdot. Great read from IBM.

OpenSocial or OpenGadget?

From “OpenSocial or OpenGadget? – ReadWriteWeb“:

Steve O’Hear (who edits our digital lifestyle blog last100) has an interesting post on his ZDNet blog that questions whether Google’s OpenSocial initiative is at all about data portability, or if in fact it really just about widget standardization. O’Hear quotes heavily from a recent article by Marc Canter, who is a strong advocate for open standards and data portability, that ran on CNet.

I see the same issue with Facebook’s JS Client Library.

I love client-side technologies, but I’m increasingly thinking that the propagation of such libraries is calculated by the providers more in terms of securing data and activity custodianship, as an alternative to truly opening one’s data APIs, rather than with scalability and processing decentralization in mind, like some argue.

It’s not a bad thing by any stretch, but I’m not sure associating them with true openness and data portability is entirely appropriate.

An Aboriginal Take on Social Networking

From “Mukurtu Wumpurrarni-kari Archive :: An Indigenous Archive Tool“:

The Mukurtu Wumpurrarni-kari Archive is a browser-based digital archive created by the Warumungu community in Tennant Creek, N.T. Australia in collaboration with researchers Kimberly Christen, Craig Dietrich, Chris Cooney, and Tim Dietrich.

Doesn’t that sound like a perfect site to be accessed from an XO?

But obvious references aside, what is so special about this effort beyond the niche community it revolves around?

As the Beeb duly reports, it’s all about the social approach to accessing the knowledge made available through the archives.

It asks every person who logs in for their name, age, sex and standing within their community.

This information then restricts what they can search for in the archive, offering a new take on DRM.

Or what I would have labeled as SRM: social rights management. Using socially defined standards and volunteered information to filter the data, rather than credentials provided by a central authority to restrict access to it.

Puts a whole new twist on Praized Media‘s “Trust your tribes” motto!

Via Slashdot.

TechnicaLee Speaking: Why SPARQL?

From Lee Feigenbaum’s “TechnicaLee Speaking: Why SPARQL?“:

I’m quite pleased to have played a part in helping SPARQL become a W3C Recommendation. As we were putting together the press release that accompanied the publication of the SPARQL recommendations, Ian Jacobs, Ivan Herman, Tim Berners-Lee, and myself put together some comments (in bullet point form) explaining some of the benefits of SPARQL.

One step closer to semantic heaven.

WP Plugin Challenge: Who Wants to be a Five-Thousander?

From Jeff Chandler’s “Calais Offers WordPress Plugin Bounty“:

Calais which is a metadata generation web service that is powered by Reuters is offering up a $5,000.00 bounty to anyone who can develop a plugin that meets the following criteria: tag auto suggestion, semantic cloud, GUID incorporation.

I can’t go for this one, having other immediate priorities and commitments, but it sounds like a neat and challenging project to tackle.