Harry Chen Thinks Aloud

Brandon Werner is starting a new semantic web project called cl-semantic. He is also looking for help. Looks like an interesting project just because everyone else is writing code in Java.

Project Description:

This is research using Lisp to develop macros for generating and processing semantic data and programmatically manipulating and generating OWL, similar (or dead on) Racer System’s RacerMaster, which is RacerPro as an object code library. It is also hoped that this project will apply speed paths based off of research from Eugene Agichtein & Silviu Cucerzan regarding predicting performance of relational extraction tasks (RE). This project seeks to re-create some of the work done with RacerPro, however the focus of this project will be on developing a language model for Reasoning Systems to allow for an open-source and vibrant community of developers to continue the work of improving reasoning systems to drive the Semantic Web.

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MarketWatch kindly informs us that GOOG share fall as much 19% in after-hours trading.

Shares of Google (GOOG) tumbled as much as 19% in Tuesday’s after-hours session following the Internet company’s lower-than-expected earnings report. The stock briefly changed hands at $352 vs. a regular-session closing price of $432.66. At last check, Google rebounded to $370.93.

My feeling is that this marks the beginning of GOOG price reality check. Most of Google’s income comes from online advertising. There is little doubt that it’s adSense business is growing. But one must ask the question “can Google sustain this kind of profit growth in the years to come?” I’m skeptical about this, unless it comes out with some new killer-apps (e.g., Goobuntu).

In business:

• New Mouseketeer: Steve Job’s Magic Kingdom (Businessweek): interesting stories about Steve Job’s success and failure as Apple’s ex-CEO and CEO. Predications about Steve Job, Apple and Disney in three years from now…

In science:

• Born to Believe (New Scientist): why did human evolution find God? Is religious faith something that is built into our DNA?

Skype will be the first ever Voice-over-IP provider to sell ringtones. According to UK PC Pro News:

VoIP pioneer Skype has signed a deal with Warner Brothers to offer ringtones featuring the company’s roster of best selling artists.

The artists include some of the world’s biggest names including Madonna who will be leading the charge onto a phone near you with tracks from her latest album ‘Confessions on the Dancefloor’

Each 30 second sound clip will cost $1.50 and follows similar deals that the music arm of Warner Brothers has made with the mobile phone industry. However, this is thought to be one of the first deals made with a VoIP company.

Source: Skype signs up for Warner Brothers music, PC Pro News, January 31st, 2006.

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Apple is pushing iTunes and Podcasts to a new level. ABC News reports that Apple Computer Inc. has introduced “iTunes U,” a nationwide expansion of a service that makes course lectures and other educational materials accessible via Apple’s iTunes software.

Apple’s service offers universities a customized version of the iTunes software, allowing schools to post podcasts, audio books or video content on their iTunes-affiliated Web sites. The iTunes-based material will be accessible on Windows-based or Macintosh computers and transferable to portable devices, including Apple’s iPods.

Stanford University, which joined the pilot program last fall, gives the public free access not only to some lectures but also audio broadcasts of sporting events through its iTunes-affiliated site.

Schools and universities have historically been major contributors to Apple’s computer sales. With iTunes U, Apple “is leveraging the ubiquity that we’ve established on campuses with iPods and iTunes,” said Chris Bell, Apple’s director of product marketing for iTunes.

If we consider that online universities didn’t really work out for many higher education institutions, it’s possible that iTunes U may just be another hype. However, if you consider the following, Apple may just have a shot pushing iTunes and Podcasts to a next new level:

Our students are digital natives.

Source: Apple Offers College Lectures Via Podcasts, ABC2 News, January 30th, 2006.

Smart investors understand the truth of investment: investment is a risky business, and investment is a long-term proposition. Being a non-professional investor how I protect myself from market extremes?

Here is some advise from Sue Stevens at MorningStart.com:

1. Invest for the long term, and don’t try to time the market.
2. Reaccess your risk tolerance. Stock market is a very risky place. For example, “One day we’re above 11,000 for the first time in four and a half years and within two weeks we have a “correction” that marks the biggest one-day decline since 2003.”
3. Don’t put your nest egg in one place. Diversify your investments. This is of great importance as we have more to worry about these days, e.g., terrorism threats, government’s intelligence tactics, and sky-high oil prices.
4. Save more and spend less.
5. Stick with your investment goal and don’t let the financial media scare you.

Source: How to Cope with Market Extremes, January 26, 2006.

Tagging systems are common on the Web these days, e.g., Flickr and Technorati. These systems enable publishers to add meaningful content descriptions without requiring much overhead in metadata editing. They also allow readers to discover information using the exact keywords that the publishers use.

Moreover, content search built on a tagging system is relatively easy to implement. If you use WordPress, you can download and install Jerome’s Keywords Plugin, which enables your blog to have a tag cosmos similar to what you see on Technorati and Flickr.

It’s clear that tagging in Flickr and Technorati is what distinguishes these sites from their competitors. Nevertheless, I think the current tagging systems still have some space for improvement.

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I think aloud. My blog discussion can span across different topics. Sometimes this can be confusing to readers who are only interested in a particular topic of my discussion.

Today I added a RSS page that lists RSS feeds that filter on a specific topic of discussion. Let me know what you think.