[topicmapmail] A somewhat new topic maps format

[Murray Altheim]

Peter P. Jones wrote:
> But how do I distinguish my pet Bunzilla from your pet Bunzilla?

It's only the Comprehensive Bunny *Name* List, not the Comprehensive
Bunny List. You could use geospatial data to locate your bunny in space
and time as distinct from mine (because if they're in the same location
they're likely breeding, and wehaveenoughrabbitsaroundherealreadythankyou).

Since Topic Maps provide a scoping feature, you could scope your
Bunzilla's name by some namespace you control, create some form of
unique identifier, etc. The question of identity within ontologies
is a very complicated and difficult subject. If you're interested,
check out:

    "Identity & Subsumption", Nicola Guarino, Christopher Welty.
    http://www.ladseb.pd.cnr.it/infor/ontology/Papers/Identity&Subsumption.pdf

    "A Formal Ontology of Properties", Nicola Guarino, Christopher Welty.
    http://www.cs.vassar.edu/faculty/welty/papers/ekaw2000/ekaw2000.pdf

>  On 6 Aug 2003 at 16:39, Murray Altheim wrote:
> 
> 
>>I've also done something similar. I've developed a version of XTM
>>tailored for the Comprehensive Bunny Name List called CBNLXTM, which
>>takes that "heck no, I won't interchange" approach in creating a
>>syntax that nobody else but me will use. It's easier to validate since
>>it has fewer elements (you can use topics instead of associations,
>>though they have different semantics), the documents are shorter since
>>all element names are only one or two characters long, and it also
>>looks a bit like RDF (as it's quite unreadable), since that's very
>>popular right now. And it doesn't rely on software at all for its
>>success (given that its target audience is rabbits, who rarely turn on
>>a computer).
>>
>>See:
>>
>>    http://www.altheim.com/bunny/
>>    http://www.altheim.com/bunny/cbnlxtm1.dtd

Murray

...........................................................................
Murray Altheim                         http://kmi.open.ac.uk/people/murray/
Knowledge Media Institute
The Open University, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK7 6AA, UK                    .

    "Shhh. Be vewy, vewy quiet. We're hunting wabbits." -- Elmer Fudd

    "I don't know how close we are, closer than we were yesterday,
     I guess. All I know is we're on the hunt." -- George W. Bush
     BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3110615.stm