Re: [unrev-II] Semantic Community Web Portal

From: Bernard Vatant (universimmedia@wanadoo.fr)
Date: Sat Sep 08 2001 - 13:44:46 PDT

  • Next message: Jack Park: "Re: [unrev-II] "He who controls the bootloader""

    Jack

    You know me, I am at least as lazy as you are, but I work on it :)

    How much of complexity do we want to deal with by ourselves - which needs an
    effort whatever the tool, and how much do we want for the system to take
    care of? Transferring our knowledge into the system is not only offering the
    gem, but putting it where its full beauty can show off and be appreciated. I
    won't trust any system to do that very well so far. For that matter,
    appreciating the gem is appreciating what it is about, for what subjects and
    purposes, in what light it has so much value. So the difficulty you and
    everyone are lazy to tackle is not, as you believe, the hassle of going
    there and there do such and such a thing. You are a programmer, and are not
    lazy for hours of programming, are you? But what needs a real effort is go
    figure where exactly that resource fits. And you really add knowledge by
    fitting it somewhere it belongs - and gads, that's really what you and
    everyone are lazy to take the time to do, I guess.

    Yes, I really think that to a certain point, we'll have to give up those
    messy e-mail forums as knowledge augmentation tools, and keep e-mail for
    what it's really good at: instant P2P consumable information. And adding
    knowledge to the common pool should pass through other tools, where we are
    not really be allowed to afford to be lazy, I'm afraid. Remember Archimedes
    answering to the king of Syracuse (his name escapes me at the moment),
    wanting to get rid of complex things in Astronomy because kings should be
    saved the trouble of tedious computing.
    "Lord, there is no privileged way for kings in that matter"
    And Einstein added a bit later
     "As simple as possible, but not simpler"

    BTW your login is still valid :))

    Have a nice Sunday

    Bernard

    ----- Message d'origine -----
    De : "Jack Park" <jackpark@thinkalong.com>
    À : <unrev-II@yahoogroups.com>
    Envoyé : samedi 8 septembre 2001 17:28
    Objet : Re: [unrev-II] Semantic Community Web Portal

    > I have a confession to make.
    >
    > I have a login password for Bernard's web site. I have yet to use
    > it. Why? Because I am lazy. It is far easier to hit NewMessage in
    Eudora
    > and type "unrev" and then ship off some gem, than it is to fire up my
    > browser, type in enough of a url to get the browser to remember where I
    > want to go, then log in, then navigate to some appropriate page, then
    offer
    > up some gem. Eric Armstrong has been right all along: email is easier.
    >
    > But, email is far less useful in a couple of senses: it's not well
    > organized (in contrast to a well-designed web site as is Bernard's), and
    it
    > tends to allow rambling, which, I think, calls for some structure, as for
    > example IBIS provides. But then, try to put IBIS threads into email and
    > you lose the structure of the discussion; web sites are better for
    > that. So, I conclude, email is easier and for those of us of the lazy
    > persuasion, better. But, I also conclude that, for purposes of logical
    > coherence in discussion and knowledge space, web sites, particularly those
    > designed as knowledge portals like Bernards, are better. Go figure.
    >
    > What would I like to see come out of this? How about something along the
    > lines of a Wiki in the sense that folks can easily jump in and add
    comments
    > to some web page, but, at the same time, those comments are framed into an
    > email to be shipped off to some favored email list. Oh gads! What a
    > kluge. How about a Wiki that accepts emails and knows how to install
    > them? Probably another kluge. Oh my! How 'bout banning email! What a
    > concept...
    >
    > Speaking of gems, Alex's post about Frank van Harmelen is a gem. I was
    not
    > aware of his work. I am now.
    >
    > And, I stand behind all those things I said earlier on the topicmapmail
    list.
    >
    > Were I to conjure a summary of this response, it would be:
    > What we need is a knowledge portal that is as convenient as email, and as
    > powerful as a web site.
    >
    > If anyone wants to start a thread here about the IBIS question: How to
    > build a convenient, powerful knowledge portal?, have at it. I'd suggest
    > using the IBIS ontology (ala Jeff Conklin): questions can be followed by
    > IDEAs or other QUESTIONs that refine the previous question. IDEAs can be
    > followed by IDEAs that specialize the previous IDEA, by QUESTIONs that
    > refine the IDEA, by PRO and by CON arguments, and in the Nexist variant,
    by
    > COMMENTs which offer up neutral observations of one sort or another.
    >
    > Cheers
    > Jack

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