[dba-Tech] The Semantic Web

Google "Semantic Web" and ye shall seek and find what this is about. It's
still problematic but we are working on it. In a nut, it's about introducing
"meaning" into the otherwise stupid web-lookups. It's to be sure, a tough
nut to crack, but I and several thousand others way smarter than I are
attempting to crack it. It's one difficult nut to crack, and one problem is
that it is apparently infinitely recursive: what means "meaning"? That one
is a tough one, and I am lacking in ready answers. You got me on that one! I
have no idea what the meaning of meaning is. I just stumble about in the
forest.

The semantic web attempts to turn URLs into something more intelligent,
deriving their links not by mere links but into intelligent links. This is
problematic to say the least, but an adventure worth exploration. Let's take
a simple case: I search for "genetic algorithms" and a couple of hundred
URLs show up; then I want to refine this list and narrow it down to a dozen
or so. And then I want to refine this result-set to the last dozen or so
papers presented on this topic. This should be three clicks from me to
there.

That's a simple case. Now let's get more complex and deal with the Semantic
Web. I'm searching for let's say things to do with Quantum Theory, and this
search might involve a whole bunch of stuff having little or nothing to do
with physics. This is all about the meaning of Meaning and that's where it
grows difficult, but this is exactly the place where I want to live.
Paradoxes, recursions, etc. That's my chosen place to live.

A.