| MEMBERS: |
Semantic Web
Introduction Semantic web as defined by the creator of the web Tim Berners-Lee is "a web of data, in some ways like a global database" (Berners-Lee, 1998). To elaborate further Mr. Berners-Lee explains in an interview held by IDG Now, data is expressed on computers as associated files with applications that deal specifically with information, an example would be, data in calendars, bank systems, spreadsheets, and database application. Looking at a web page, data is not clearly defined and not associated with any of the applications usually on computers. Semantic web will allow data to interact and connect together; it will bring on a common data format for all applications, for databases and web pages alike (Moon, 1999). Semantic web is not to build an artificial intelligence system which allows computers to understand what humans write on web pages; on the contrary, it is an attempt to make web pages more understandable and well-defined to support automatic extraction of data from within web content (Berners-Lee, 1998). Analysis The emergence of the web and the way HTML took off was driven by how society's needed to grew, from Internet chat to file transfer to high-end communities through blogs and wiki's. HTML was not limited to web content, knowledge base and help files adapted the language as a format to document software applications and provide training material. The revolution of technologies on the Internet allowed companies like Google to index pages; a thought that was very far away, says Tim Berners-Lee in his lecture at MIT. Web services have evolved to pave the road for distributed information and modular programming allowing interoperability among sites. Through XML, data in one site can be used by another using the common protocols and standards supported by both (Berners-Lee, 1998). XML defines schemas that deal with fields of data, what is required is a system that can tell the computer what sort of information (data) it can derive from within a page (Moon, 1999). With Web 3.0 a site will provide data that can be navigated through and extracted from multiple sites, this is a result of the fact that semantic web data model is closely related to a relational database where records of data share common fields that connect them together (Berners-Lee, 1998). The solution provided to support semantic web is in the form of metadata that describes the data contained on web pages. Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a base to manage metadata; it is the ground that computers can use to exchange and interact with applications on the Web (W3C RFC, 1999). The applications for RDF include digital libraries, online catalogs, and indexing systems that are usually associated with content and content relationships models deployed in most web pages. With RDF data within business portals will be analyzed and identified as resources, properties, or statements transparent to the domain, further more, the specifications will merge with other documents to comprise a framework of classes. Classes organized as a hierarchy comprises a schema that can be reusable as metadata definitions along side multiple platforms. Resources created in this hierarchy can be identified using a resource identifier (URI), which enables a document given to a machine with this identification to be recognized by the system and triggers it to dig and find similar data (Berners-Lee, 1998). Implications Semantic web can be the solution to overpower the limitations of current information management systems in finding and extracting data from unorganized resources. RDF is meant to describe any data regardless of its character, location, source, or type, the concept of URI is richer to uniquely identify any object on the web (Berners-Lee, 1998). The pillars of Semantic web are standards and common protocols that are the bases for knowledge representation; HTML, RDF, the data language resource description web ontology language (OWL) that describes to the machine what is going on, in addition to RDF1 which is a query language to make inquiries among machines much easer, will all emerge and collaborate to bring in more to the web and more intelligent programs that will bring the Internet more closer (Cleave, 2004). The current research and implementation of Abilene network and the Next Generation Internet (NGI) Internet 2 of high-performance backbone network linking major universities and research labs across the US, is a good foundation for what Semantic web can do, and represent the perfect platform for grid computing, digital libraries, virtual laboratories, and distance learning (Abilene, Internet2). Internet2 or I2 was developed by a group of universities in 1996 providing improved connectivity standards to reach 10gbps (gigabits per second). With more than 227 universities and libraries connected, network based applications and experimental programs can run on this network of high-bandwidth connection feeding on the latest technology of gigabit Ethernet and IP protocol version 6 (Reardon, 2004). Semantic web standards can be the base of material and data distributed on this network, providing the best test platform to explore the full potential and what can be achieved. Conclusion Tim Berners-Lee believes that with Web 3.0 we can succeed and fantastic things can happen, but the infrastructure need to be built, laws of privacy and security need to be revised and honored, further more, the web need to remain open for researchers to allow for continuous upgrade and development. Semantic web will kick off when individuals materialize the need to work on data processing, and think about collaborating their data, with company's information and that of the government (Moon, 1999). References:
Web Developer Suite - Master PHP, ASP or CF Dreamweaver Websites With These WebAssist Extensions
Millions of web designers and developers have chosen Adobe Dreamweaver as their software of choice for website creation. Even with the incredible amount of built-in functionality that comes standard with Dreamweaver, there are many web applications that require a vast amount of hand coding to implement. Web Developer Suite from WebAssist is a Dreamweaver extension bundle that helps eliminate hand coding and opens up a vast dynamic frontier for the average Dreamweaver user. Web Developer Suite consists of the following individual WebAssist Dreamweaver extensions:
Each extension is installed individually within the Dreamweaver extension manager, and is accessed via the WebAssist toolbar added to Dreamweaver. The real value of the Web Developer Suite lies in the ability to code advanced website function in a fraction of the time it would take to hand code. Each extension operates from a wizard-like interface that clearly walks you through the steps needed to configure your task. DataAssist creates complete database administration page sets with a few clicks of the mouse. Automatically generate web pages that add, delete, update, view or search your database. If you use Dreamweaver templates, DataAssist allows you to use your site template when generating pages. The resulting pages flow seamlessly into your website and are fully customizable via CSS. SecurityAssist generates all the pages and code needed to create secure user registration and log in pages for your site. It teams up with Cookies Toolkit to utilize cookies and session variables to prevent unauthorized access to any pages you wish to restrict on your website. If you need a Dreamweaver extension to control digital file upload and download, Digital File Pro is the extension of choice. Through a wizard-like interface, you can easily enable database file upload and download through your website. It's an excellent tool for webmasters who provide digital files such as MP3s, e-books, PDFs, images, photos, videos and any other type of downloadable file format. Web Developer Suite also includes Universal Email, which is an extremely handy extension for emailing form input from your website. Universal Email even operates without a database, so it makes a great tool for emailing website contact form submissions. Emails can be formatted as text or HTML, and Universal Email includes a WYSIWYG HTML editor for creating your HTML email messages. Pro Maps for Google inserts static or dynamic Google maps into your website. Addresses can be entered manually, from a file or even from your database recordset. The Google map API is fully configurable, with custom pointers, map controls and size. It's an excellent extension for inserting maps into dynamic websites. Web Developer Suite also includes Validation Toolkit, which is WebAssist's form validation extension. Validate your form input client-side or server-side with a wide assortment of validation rules. By controlling form data input on your website, you can help reduce spam submissions and protect the integrity of your data. The final Dreamweaver extension included in the Web Developer Suite is WebAssist's WYSIWYG form field text editor, iRite. Based on the popular FCKeditor, iRite allows you to insert a text editor in a Dreamweaver form for inputting valid XHTML code without needing any knowledge of HTML. iRite is a great extension for developing custom content management systems or just a simple way for clients to keep their own websites updated. Web Developer Suite from WebAssist is an excellent addition to anyone's Dreamweaver toolbox. The cost of Web Developer Suite is a steal for the enormous amount of website function that is packaged in the bundle. Web designers can offer much greater website functionality to their clients and recoup the cost of the extensions in one project. There is no restriction on the number of sites you can build with Web Developer Suite, and no restrictive "per site" licensing. For web designers looking to push their websites to a new level, WebAssist Web Developer Suite is a must-have Dreamweaver add-on.
Is Your Website Working For You?
A question I often ask my target market is, "what's your biggest challenge with building your business online?" And one answer I get frequently is this: How do I make my website earn money? If you've got a business online, then it's likely you have some sort of web presence. Perhaps it's a one-page 'sign up for my list' kind of site, or a full-blown brochure site with a menu of choices, or maybe your site is in the form of a blog. Regardless of what kind of site (or sites) you have, if they're not doing what you want them to - and since we're in business, ultimately that means making some sort of a profit - then it's time to make some changes. But how do you REALLY know whether your site is working or not? Here are four strategies to test and track your pages to know what needs fixing: 1. Let the numbers speak I'm sure if the sky was the limit, you'd hire the most expensive web designer with the fanciest tools to create the most spectacular site imaginable for your business - and someday you just may do that. For now, though, even an ugly site can make money. I can think of at least two sites right now that I personally think are not that pleasing to the eye, yet I know they are raking in the bucks each and every month, year after year. So don't get caught up in having the most polished and professionally looking site. Focus more on having the pieces in place that will bring you the cash, too. 2. Give your site only one job Think of each page of your website as a separate entity with one main purpose. It may be to sell something, or to sign up for your list, or to get people to call you for an appointment. Whatever it is, make it clear that that one thing is the action your visitor should take from being on that page. 3. Track your numbers Most web hosts offer statistics that you can use to watch your numbers, or there are other web stat programs that you could use as well (such as Google Analytics). However you are keeping an eye on your numbers, you should be looking for two things: how many people visit your site and how many people take the action you want them to take. From those two numbers, you can figure out your conversion rate, which tells you how many of those visitors took the action you wanted them to - like sign up for your list. If you make small changes to your page AND watch these numbers at the same time, you'll be able to tweak things to increase your conversion rate. 4. Make one change at a time This is a very effective way to increase the conversion rates on sales pages and sign-up pages. Change just one thing - for example, the headline - and watch your numbers. Compare those statistics to your previous ones and decide whether or not to keep the change. (You can also do this via a split-test in your shopping cart, where the software does the number crunching for you.) I see so many sites that try to be all things to all people by offering everything under the sun in too small a space - a website - and all that does is confuse people and encourage them to click away. Remember, 'a confused mind always says no', so always go back to the main questions when considering making changes to your website: What's the purpose of this page? What is the one thing I want my visitor to do here? And then design your copy around the answer. Keep it simple and you'll get better results every time.
|
* About Archives
Categories:
Last Updated: |
