Problems with Uber-Databases

Interesting posting on potential problems with the "uber-database" approaches embodied by Ning and Google Base from Nova Spivak: Systems such as Google Base and Ning present an N-squared integration challenge to developers. Every app has to be potentially continually re-integrated with up to every other app in the worst case. But even in the best … Continue reading Problems with Uber-Databases →

Trackbacks Off

I've disabled trackbacks in this blog, and kicked the MT cgi script into a corner to make it harder to find. I finally got sick of deleting trackback spam. So if you want to comment, please just shout. Or drop me an email. Or just link to me, as I've got a "links to me" … Continue reading Trackbacks Off →

LazyWeb Request: Choon Button

A request to the all-powerful LazyWeb: I want a button, either on a web page or floating around on my desktop. When I click it, it should discover what I'm currently listening to via the Audioscrobbler web services, then automatically add it to a playlist which I can later download, bookmark, etc. Is there such … Continue reading LazyWeb Request: Choon Button →

IngentaConnect RSS Feed Tweaks

I released a couple of tweaks to the IngentaConnect RSS feeds recently. The most notable addition being the inclusion of foaf:maker properties to associate authors with articles, and inclusion of authors as foaf:Person resources. I've added these alongside the existing dc:creator properties to ensure that Dublin Core aware aggregators can still do something useful with … Continue reading IngentaConnect RSS Feed Tweaks →

Microformats and REST

Just noticed Danny's posting about the new microformat-rest mailing list. I was going to start analysing this but see that Joe Gregorio has already done a good job. I don't think that microformats have much to add to REST as an architectural pattern. It certainly doesn't merit subsetting its use with HTTP; that definitely is … Continue reading Microformats and REST →

RDF and Syntax, Part 2

And now a quote from Bruce D'Arcus: Last week at the Access 2005 conference, I told a room full of mostly library people that their XML standards (I was talking about MODS and MADS in particular) are needlessly complex, inflexible, and awkward; that they were not hacker-friendly. I showed them an alternative schema I've been … Continue reading RDF and Syntax, Part 2 →

RDF and Syntax

Two quotes from Dan Brickley: Sometimes there are emergent properties of a set of sensible, well motivated decisions grounded in a whole load of subtle constraints. From Why Is RDF The Way It Is? ...we should also stop looking over our shoulder at XML. RDF/XML is painful for XML developers because they find themselves lacking … Continue reading RDF and Syntax →