XML Reference Guide

Mar 14, 2003

␡

⎙ Print

< Back Page 196 of 278 Next >

Why is it that I can't simply tell my computer to take care of all of those little side items on my to-do list, like making appointments and buying Star Wars tickets?

I mean, why can't I just tell my computer to go out and find the nearest digital projection theater showing Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and buy tickets for the midnight premiere?

Because the web was built for humans, that's why.

Seriously. If I do a Google search for "Star Wars digital theater", the first two results are an article about a theater in Thailand and a newspaper piece from 2002 about the technology used in Attack of the Clones. The third is a list of digital theaters that are theoretically going to show the movie I want to see, though, and my human brain can easily spot that.

But a computer can't, and that's the problem that the Semantic Web aims to solve. Oh, sure, finding Star Wars tickets may seem trivial to you, but the tehcnology that could make it possible for a computerized agent to take on this task can also make it possible for it to, say, find a doctor on your insurance plan and make an appointment that doesn't conflict with meetings already on your schedule, taking into account driving time and traffic. Or analyze purchase information from multiple wholesalers and retailers to identify new trends. Or figure out what meal your boss is likely to enjoy when he comes to your party next week, and what kind of wine to serve with it.

Sounds like a major artificial intelligence project, doesn't it? Well, it doesn't have to be. When you come right down to it, computers could figure all that out, if they had the right information to start with, and that's the goal of the Semantic Web project.

For example, let's say the agent could figure out, from your boss's blog, that he likes fish. If it also had a knowledge base that told it that white wine goes well with fish, and a list of white wines, it could, under the right circumstances, recommend several different wines that were listed in the inventory of the beverage store you pass on your way home from work.

The set of rules defining these relationshipts is called an "ontology".

An ontology, when we're talking about the Semantic Web, is a collection of facts and relationships that can be analyzed by a "reasoner". For instance, if we look at the theater example, we have several classes to look at, such as:

Movie
Theater
MovieHouse
Seat
Showing
Projector
Tickets

(Some of you may have noticed my use of the word "classes". As we'll see next week, developing an ontology is similar to developing an object-oriented system, with classes and individuals rather than classes and objects.)

We can create relationships between these classes, such as specifying that a MovieHouse houses one or more Theaters, and that a Theater has exactly one Projector. We can also create sub-classes, such as a DigitalProjector sub-class of Projector.

An ontology codifies these relationships in a way that the reasoner can understand. Next week we'll talk more about developing an ontology, but for now let's concentrate on how these relationships can be used.

Say we know the following:

AMC Pleasure Island houses Theater7
Theater7 uses Projector1138
Projector1138 is an individual of class DigitalProjector
The DigitalProjector class has a projectionType of DIGITAL
Showing2187 is an individual of class Showing with showingDate=May 18 at midnight
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is an individual of class Movie
Showing2187 will present Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Showing2187 will talke place in Theater7

From these facts, we can draw the conclusion that since Showing2187 takes place in Theater7, and Theater7 uses a digital projector, that Showing2187 is a digital showing. Following the chain in both directions, we can make the inference that:

Star Wars Episode III:Revenge of the Sith

Of course, very little of this information is actually available on today's web, and what is available isn't in a form that a computer can understand. In the Semantic Web, on the other hand, this information would be available and machine readable. One example of how this can work is the biography page of Semantic Web researcher Professor James A. Hendler, where the page contains both a machine-readable version of his biographical information and a human-readable version. View the source code of the page to see how this works, but the short explanation is that the machine-readable version is XML data that doesn't show up in the browser, while the human-readable version is simply HTML. Another option is to create the actual ontology to define the relevant classes, and then use markup to identify individuals within the normal HTML page.

Different schemes for making this information available exist. The Hendler page uses a proposal called SHOE, and the W3C's approach is an RDF language called OWL. Next week we'll start looking at creating our own ontology.

< Back Page 196 of 278 Next >

🔖 Save To Your Account

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Privacy Notice

Overview

Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information

To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information

Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security

Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children

This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing

Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information

If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out

Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information

Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents

California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure

Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

As required by law.
With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links

This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact

Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020

Email Address