I recently came [ Read more » ]]]> A little over a year ago, I found an article on the Semantic Web and decided to do some research on it. At the time it didn’t seem like there was a practical use for the technology that drives it, but it looks like that may soon change.

I recently came across this article over at TechCrunch, which describes how Yahoo! is planning to open their search results to developers who can use the technology behind the Semantic Web, such as the Resource Description Framework (RDF) and microformats, to personalize them. As author Michael Arrington points out, maybe now that Yahoo! is giving RDF and microformats a practical use, the ideas and technology behind the Semantic Web can actually become practical for us developers to implement. This is the type of integration that I was looking for over a year ago.

The ideology driving the Semantic Web - giving meaning to data on Web sites for use in applications - has exciting implications. As it stands now the information on the Web creates a type of collective white noise, making it nearly impossible to distinguish potentially useful information from meaningless data. I would assume that the same boom that occurred with the Social Web, such as flickr and del.icio.us, will also happen when we organize information with Semantic Web technologies. However, the purpose of these startups will most likely be aggregating data versus connecting people.

This technology has me just as stoked as the Web Standards movement had me a few years back. When I decided to make the transition from table layouts to Web Standards, I sat down and consumed as much CSS, XHTML, and browser-specific tweaks necessary for sites to function in cross-browser environments. I foresee my embrace of the Semantic Web to be a similar venture; possibly more so due to my weighted left brain’s desire for structure.

My only hope is that the Semantic Web doesn’t become widely known as Web 3.0.

So this morning I’m walking to work, like I do every [ Read more » ]]]> *Note: I originally sent this out as an email earlier today after it actually happened. I decided to transcribe it here as well, as it makes a pretty good first post after turning this Web site into a blog.

So this morning I’m walking to work, like I do every day. It’s cold, cloudy and drizzling, but not enough for me to put my umbrella up. As I walk into Penn Square, I see an older lady walking in the opposite direction than I am going. She’s wearing normal older lady garb, including one of those clear plastic hoods over her head. I notice that she’s looking my way, and soon realize that her sights are locked in on me.

Now I can’t look away. Her eyes start to grow big as if she’s really passionate about something, and as we get closer I see her lips starting to move like she’s going to say something. Soon, her head starts to bobble around as she says to me, “it’s the greatest day of the year…”

After I walked past her and continued down the sidewalk, I realized how random and crazy that was and I burst into laughter. Of course at this point, I’m the one who’s looking crazy - walking down the street and laughing out loud at seemingly nothing.

So I guess it’s going to be the greatest day of the year. Go tell your friends, and if they ask why, just tell them that the lady in Penn Square says so.