The World's First Semantic RSS Directory
2009 was witness to the launch of a brand new form of feed directory - RSS 001, a feed directory that organises data semantically.
The semantic web has been called many things including Web 3.0, the Giant Global Graph, Linked Data and the Smart Web.
Simply explained, today's World Wide Web is built for humans to read and semantic web developers are working towards a global system which is also more machine readable, and which, in turn, will allow humans to reorganise and use online information far more effectively
This will come about through using extra mark-up within HTML in the form of microformats and also using extra languages such as Resource Description Framework (RDF), Web Ontology Language (OWL), and Extensible Markup Language (XML).
Perhaps the best way of describing the semantic web is to use the term ultra-connectivity - an ultra-connectivity that involves fundamentally taking apart our human-generated information and reorganising it to make it machine readable.
It is hoped that when the semantic web is realised the World Wide Web (WWW) which we have today will make way for the Giant Global Graph (GGG), and from which will come full use of our powerful electronic systems as they are able to interpret and use the meaning of content available
Visionaries and developers such as Tim Berners-Lee have been working on a semantic web as far back as the 90s, but in truth it is still very much in its infancy.
Just like artificial intelligence, its progress is slow, complicated and full of theoretical and technological difficulties.
A new type of feed directory
There are a number of RSS / Atom feed directories on the web, but nearly all of them bar a hand full are primitive affairs - both in terms of design and development
I wanted to create an RSS directory that used available semantic technology and applied ultra-connectivity wherever possible.
But rather than creating a specific repository for RDF documents like Ping the Semantic Web, I wanted to use a RSS parser and from there reorganise the data into RDF-based formats.
For the first stage I've implemented the Calais system, not least because it connects very easily with over 9,000 other services and websites that use the same application.
All individual items added are auto-tagged (relevant automated tagging) using Calais. You can also see how individual documents are parsed by looking in the head of each page where you will see lines of code that look like this:
<link rel="meta" type="application/rdf+xml" title="Calais RDF" href="/node/1352/calais/rdf" />
This is part of the ultra-connectivity that allows RSS 001 to connect with other Calais-based websites around the globe
So users can submit their website feed to RSS 001, this is then parsed into HTML and then also into RDF and XML documents.
The second stage will be to implement more regular RDF formating for examples of which see Ping the Semantic Web.
RSS 001 aims both to build on existing semantic technology and to experiment with new trends and ideas as and when they become available
For a more in depth explanation of the semantic web watch this video clip of Tim Berners-Lee