Permaculture Database

[Chris Watkins <chriswaterguy@appropedia.org>]

FYI, it looks like Appropedia has just got funding to set up Semantic MediaWiki, which will add quite a bit of functionality.

On Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 00:00, Lawrence F. London, Jr. <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net> wrote:

My Facebook comments in a thread with a programmer friend at Facebook:
(just winging it here but maybe some of you will find this interesting)

I surely would like to discuss "the link" more. Your statement about
Diaspora: "user experience rather than what matters first: the link." is
interesting. With privacy and security issues adequately addressed then
a social network can "link" user's content to external resoirces. Google
search engine indexing of this content is one example and another is
using something like the Semantic Web to make this content portable so
that it can be merged with that of users to help build topical
"databases", wikis (like Mediawiki utilizing Semantic Mediawiki (I have
both of these installed for my eventual use in webspace I own). Global
"databases" serving people by disseminating knowledge about
permaculture, natural biointensive agriculture and food production
systems, energy, housing, healthcare seed and plant preservation. I
participated in a permaculture database, or knowledgebase, project that
attempted to build such an online interactive system. We still have a
small group interested in working on this project.

"About semantic web, yes it's something I want to see more and more. The
project Refuge is actually towards that approach as well. Even if it's
more oriented towards datasets and their use."

When you mentioned linking I thought of external linking, i.e. html
rather than internal or "hyper" links (#, etc.) but of course that is
just as important. Our PC DB project hoped to use advanced web protocols
to enable portability of ours and others' respective knoledgebases so
that all sites would benefit from data stored at any individual
knowledgebase. We started with PHP/MySQL and then went to a wiki,
Mediawiki. The staff at ibiblio installed Mediawiki and Semantic
Mediawiki for me in my webspace there (www.ibiblio.org/permaculture).
There are several people in my permaculture mailing list who are still
interested in this project.

Using the Semantic Web as a development platform for a global
permaculture and home and market food production knowledgebase you would
have both backward and forward compatibility when bringing existing
systems or sites on board to be included in cross-site data sharing. I
am not a programmer so am just winging it. I just found this interesting
article at: http://www.bio-itworld.com/BioIT_Article.aspx?id=47646....
"At its best, the Semantic Web aspires to enable enhanced intelligent
connectivity between all forms of data and information available in a
user’s work environment (see “Masters of the Semantic Web,” October 2005
Bio-IT World, page 28). Its vision of simple and direct access to
knowledge, both within and outside the organization, has the potential
to accelerate and add knowledge to decision making with little or no
need to know or understand where data or information is physically
located and what form it is in." Also: Social networks and the Semantic Web
By Peter Mika at Google Books (url too long to post here). And also:
"The idea of a 'semantic web' — this notion of adding machine-readable
tags to web pages so that a computer can read and 'understand' the text
and data — has been around for years."
http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060522/full/news060522-21.html and ""the
device formerly known as the mobile phone". The imminence of wireless
broadband for mobiles means we are about to enter the phase of mobile
and ubiquitous computing. It is also going to bring the Internet to the
hundreds of millions of people who have no Internet access. We are
talking now about creating mobile phones — devices — for $15 dollars
apiece.".
Semantic Web at the Cusp of Reality - Bio-IT World
www.bio-itworld.com

LL
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-- 
Chris Watkins

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