Monday, May 25, 2009
Thursday, August 14, 2008
the Semantic Web
The 'semantic web' is a term used to describe data that can be made sense of and actually analysed by machines, on a global scale. If standardised data is created that computers can interpret, the theory is, that complex questions would be able
to be answered by computers, rather than just retrieving data based on keywords, as happens now. The semantic web is seen as the next evolution of the Web and referred to by some as Web 3.0.
In some applications I'm sure this would be useful, but rue the day that we rely on computers to 'answer' all our questions ( maybe many already do with Google!) Making meaning is such a subjective thing, with so many variants coming into play, so the data would have to be complex indeed. Standardising the data to enable this to happen would inevitably cut out subtleties of meaning wouldn't it? I will watch these new developments with interest to see where this journey leads.
There's an interesting article by Richard Adhikari Revisiting Semantic Web's Pros and Cons that you may like to have a look at. It's also where I got the nifty little graphic from that heads this post.
Voyage RSS
I've explored Voyage RSS & again I do not really like the presentation. I'm beginning to feel that there are generational factors coming into play here! Zooming around on Voyage makes me feel a bit disorientated. Give me good old hierarchical Google Reader any time.
I have added a couple of blogs of interest to me to the RSS feed, along with an Australian news site.
I have added a couple of blogs of interest to me to the RSS feed, along with an Australian news site.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Kartoo +
I've had a look at Kartoo & done a few searches. It does not greatly appeal to me. I find it visually unappealing, with its quirky cartoon characters & although I can see the value of clustering results, I don't find the graphics used here easy to look at. The print is quite small too. I guess younger kids might find it attractive.
I'm quite used to the linear format of Google & for the time being I'm quite happy to continue using it. I also quite enjoy making tangential connections myself from what I find, rather than having a search engine always serving me up its recommended connections.
I've explored a few other Web 2.0 search engines. flickrstorm is great for getting photos on a particular subject directly from flickr & you can save them in a 'tray if you wish. Vdoogle searches multiple video sites & it's good to find things from sites other than the ubiquitous youtube.
Whonu which is described as having the nearest to a semantic web searching capacity is pretty remarkable in that it returns results for an asked question based on that query, rather than just the keywords, where most search engines still operate only on keywords. I'd been talking with a colleague about chocolate & slavery, so asked the question "why use slaves for producing chocolate?" & some very pertinent & useful sites were returned. I was impressed! Roll on semantic web!
I'm quite used to the linear format of Google & for the time being I'm quite happy to continue using it. I also quite enjoy making tangential connections myself from what I find, rather than having a search engine always serving me up its recommended connections.
I've explored a few other Web 2.0 search engines. flickrstorm is great for getting photos on a particular subject directly from flickr & you can save them in a 'tray if you wish. Vdoogle searches multiple video sites & it's good to find things from sites other than the ubiquitous youtube.
Whonu which is described as having the nearest to a semantic web searching capacity is pretty remarkable in that it returns results for an asked question based on that query, rather than just the keywords, where most search engines still operate only on keywords. I'd been talking with a colleague about chocolate & slavery, so asked the question "why use slaves for producing chocolate?" & some very pertinent & useful sites were returned. I was impressed! Roll on semantic web!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
+ 5 Things - VuFind
I had a look at the VuFind live demo today & there were some features I liked.
* emailing & texting titles
* saving favourites
* the Narrow Search column suggesting other options
* limiting your search to books only with illustrations
* the different formats all shown in one search
I did enjoy searching the National Library catalogue, as they've used VuFind really effectively & obviously done quite a bit of customizing too. When you arrive at the initial screen it's just clear, clean looking & easy to use.
Having recently been to the Central desert & Lake Eyre I decided to look for material on Lake Eyre. The search found so many interesting things including historical pictures, journal articles, books, links to activist websites, when the Arabunna people were in conflict with Western Mining over land & water rights & much more..... a real cross section & treasure trove of information in many forms.
Given that VuFind is open source & customizable it could be really useful to use in conjunction with a new OPAC.
photo:The Australian String Quartet on Lake Hart, a small lake in the Lake Eyre Basin
* emailing & texting titles
* saving favourites
* the Narrow Search column suggesting other options
* limiting your search to books only with illustrations
* the different formats all shown in one search
I did enjoy searching the National Library catalogue, as they've used VuFind really effectively & obviously done quite a bit of customizing too. When you arrive at the initial screen it's just clear, clean looking & easy to use.
Having recently been to the Central desert & Lake Eyre I decided to look for material on Lake Eyre. The search found so many interesting things including historical pictures, journal articles, books, links to activist websites, when the Arabunna people were in conflict with Western Mining over land & water rights & much more..... a real cross section & treasure trove of information in many forms.
Given that VuFind is open source & customizable it could be really useful to use in conjunction with a new OPAC.
photo:The Australian String Quartet on Lake Hart, a small lake in the Lake Eyre Basin
Monday, July 14, 2008
World's 'oldest blogger' makes final post
Olive Riley
The Australian woman renowned as the world's oldest blogger has made her final post, aged 108. Olive Riley, of Woy Woy on NSW's central coast, died in a nursing home on Saturday morning. Read more
I discovered Olive's blog last year when we were doing 23 Things & she was quite
delightful. Straight talking, with a great memory of things past and a wonderful zest for life, quite remarkable at 107! She even has a few clips on YouTube
You may like to check out her blog The Life of Riley or listen to a podcast, from life Matters on ABC RN of Olive talking about her life growing up in Broken Hill
Friday, July 04, 2008
+ 5 Things - LinkedIn
I've just explored LinkedIn and joined up. www.linkedin.com/in/mthorney
Have completed my profile & invited a few colleagues to be listed in my 'Connections'. Have written a summary statement too, which felt a bit like writing a job application!
Have completed my profile & invited a few colleagues to be listed in my 'Connections'. Have written a summary statement too, which felt a bit like writing a job application!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Christa @ Prahran wins the laptop!
Great to hear that Christa has won the laptop in the 23 Things draw. Cleve rang to let us know and Christa was delighted, but still in a state of disbelief! Really good to have someone who workshard on 'the frontline' win the prize!
Used my two movie passes!
Saw 
The diving bell & the butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le papillon ) directed by Julian Schnabel and based on the book by Jean-Dominique Bauby. I found it both moving and confronting. Having read the book I was fascinated to see how it could possibly be made into a film, but I think Schnabel has done a remarkable job.
The story is about Bauby, age forty-three, editor-in-chief of the world-famous fashion magazine, Elle, who was living the "good life" to the extreme when he became the victim of a devastating cerebro-vascular accident that left him in a state of total paralysis, incapable of any verbal communication, in what is known in the medical community as "locked-in syndrome." His mental faculties totally intact as he laid motionless in his bed at the Marine Hospital of Berck-sur-Mer in northern France, Bauby learned to communicate with the outside world using his left eyelid, the only part of his body over which he still had any control. During the next fourteen months, using a communication code developed by his therapist and his publisher's assistant, who transcribed this code, Bauby was able to compose, letter by letter, a lyrical and heartbreaking memoir of his life struggle.
"....a movie about deprivation becomes a celebration of the richness of experience, and a remarkably rich experience in its own right. In his memoir Bauby performed a heroic feat of alchemy, turning horror into wisdom and Schnabel, following his example and paying tribute to his accomplishment, has turned pity into joy."
The New York Times (A.O. Scott) For more reviews
Also saw Juno recently. A comedy-drama with Ellen Page starring as a sharp-tongued teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy. It's an uplifting film with lots of quick, sharp teenage dialogue, that's very amusing. Diablo Cody recently won an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for this movie. Ellen Page is a remarkable young actor at just 21. Has anyone seen Hard Candy the independent psychological thriller she starred in, in 2005?
The diving bell & the butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le papillon ) directed by Julian Schnabel and based on the book by Jean-Dominique Bauby. I found it both moving and confronting. Having read the book I was fascinated to see how it could possibly be made into a film, but I think Schnabel has done a remarkable job.The story is about Bauby, age forty-three, editor-in-chief of the world-famous fashion magazine, Elle, who was living the "good life" to the extreme when he became the victim of a devastating cerebro-vascular accident that left him in a state of total paralysis, incapable of any verbal communication, in what is known in the medical community as "locked-in syndrome." His mental faculties totally intact as he laid motionless in his bed at the Marine Hospital of Berck-sur-Mer in northern France, Bauby learned to communicate with the outside world using his left eyelid, the only part of his body over which he still had any control. During the next fourteen months, using a communication code developed by his therapist and his publisher's assistant, who transcribed this code, Bauby was able to compose, letter by letter, a lyrical and heartbreaking memoir of his life struggle.
"....a movie about deprivation becomes a celebration of the richness of experience, and a remarkably rich experience in its own right. In his memoir Bauby performed a heroic feat of alchemy, turning horror into wisdom and Schnabel, following his example and paying tribute to his accomplishment, has turned pity into joy."
The New York Times (A.O. Scott) For more reviews
Also saw Juno recently. A comedy-drama with Ellen Page starring as a sharp-tongued teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy. It's an uplifting film with lots of quick, sharp teenage dialogue, that's very amusing. Diablo Cody recently won an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for this movie. Ellen Page is a remarkable young actor at just 21. Has anyone seen Hard Candy the independent psychological thriller she starred in, in 2005?
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