Welkin: A General-Purpose RDF Browser

Stefano Mazzocchi writes "Many consider the Semantic Web to be vaporware and others believe it's the next big thing. No matter where you stand, a question always pops up: Where is the RDF browser? The SIMILE Project, a joint project between W3C, MIT and HP to implement semantic interoperability of metadata in digital libraries, released today the first beta release of a general purpose graphic and interactive RDF browser named Welkin (see a screenshot), targetted to those who need to get a mental model of any RDF dataset, from a single RSS 1.0 news feed to a collection of digital data."

Semantic Web Firefox plugin?

[otisg]

Considering the big 1.0 for Firefox is out, I would think people who wanted their Semantic Web browsing software to be wide-spread would implement it as a Firefox plugin, no?

Re:The question is not about a browser

[mat catastrophe]

but about how quickly can Microsoft turn it into a security hole for your friends and family?

RDF browser?

[aixou]

Niice. I've always wanted to know what's going on in Steve Job's head.

Re:The question is not about a browser

[Anonymous Coward]

I [reference.com] do [reference.com] not [reference.com] know [reference.com] what [reference.com] you [reference.com] are [reference.com] talking [reference.com] about [reference.com].

Re:The question is not about a browser

[Anonymous Coward]

so.. invisible[FNORD] strings that you[FNORD] can see if you wish[FNORD].

Do you really want web pages that look like this?

[xmas2003]

The Incredible Hulk [komar.org] had fun [reference.com] with his halloween decorations [komar.org] but that's a warmup [demon.co.uk] for his christmas lights [komar.org] where he plays [plays.com] RoShamBo [komar.org] when not helping [helpout.com] out Google Compute. [powder2glass.com]

The International Obfuscated C Code Contest

[3770]

Make it the goal of next years International Obfuscated C Code Contest.

I'm sure we'll get a really cryptic one liner that actually is a fully functional RDF browser.

Seriously now

[dynamic_cast]

Why would the Robotech Defence Force need there own browser?

innovative?

[Anonymous Coward]

This http://simile.mit.edu/welkin/images/screenshot.gif
screen shot reminds me of my big college sophomore year project. Connecting lots of pretty lines together in hopes of impressing people by calling it a neural network. I have to give props though for getting the lines to be anti-aliased.

The semantic web, in a nutshell

[Anonymous Coward]

1) people like to masturbate.

2) some people like to look at pictures of naked girls while masturbating.

3) some people like to think about graph theory while masturbating.

The semantic web is the unfortunate result of #3.

Now, while I have no problem with any of these behaviors, I do ask that people in group #2 to keep their sticky dirty magazines under their bed, not on their coffee tables; and people in group #3 to likewise keep their inventions locked in the closet, and not release them to standards bodies or working groups.

So when you see someone in a clear frenzy of sexual excitement talking to you about "ontologies" and "reification", simply smile politely, and call the police.

Remember, these people are the exception, not the norm, in an otherwise healthy society.

Re:This is the future of the web

[Anonymous Coward]

If it's the future of the web, how well does it support pr0n? (Sure, laugh, but you know it's true.)

Re:The question is not about a browser

[greg_barton]

Nobody wants to hire a team of ontological engineers to map information they already have in human accessible form into some highly structured, machine parseable format, and pay them to keep that information up-to-date.

Please don't tell that to the company I'm interviewing with on Friday. :)

Re:Semantic Web Firefox plugin?

[WankersRevenge]

I personally won't be satisfied until someone writes a standards compliant browser in HTML.