As blogged in January, Gunnar, Remzi and I are working for DFKI on the Organik-Project. As true hard bloggin' scientists, we keep on reporting.

In the next two weeks, I will gather an exhaustive test-data collection of texts that we use for ontology learning. I hope to gather around 10.000 documents from various sources that have a topic overlap. We need e-mails, office documents (contracts, etc) and news documents. There are a lot of test data sets out there, the question is now to pick the right one. Also, in OrganiK we have SME partners who could provide some data.

After this, the next step will be to create a taxonomy learning module that analyses the documents and semi-automatically (or fully automatically) creates a taxonomy out of it for future classification. If its fully automatic, I expect that the taxonomy will have probabilistic elements in it ("it thinks that this is a customer, but only 60%"). If we work with a probabilistic model throughout the whole project, we can rank everything all the time, maybe this will reduce human work. We will see.
Anyone has experience with taxonomies that have a weight added? Its similar to a TF/IDF rank.

Wie jedes Jahr, werden wir auch dieses Jahr in Kaiserslautern am 1.Mai am Stiftsplatz frühstücken! Teil der globalen Permanent Breakfast Kunstaktion.

Freitag, 1.Mai 2009
10:00 Stiftsplatz
bis etwa 12:00

Die regeln:

• es muss wie ein formales frühstück aussehen (keine picknicks)
• es geht ums partizipieren - jeder hilft mit
• ein klein wenig mehr mitnehmen als für dich selbst, dann ist auch genug da für passanten und freunde die was vergessen haben

was man mitnehmen kann:

• Tische
• Stühle
• Frühstück
• Hüte
• Sonnenschirme
• Lampen, kleine Radios, es soll Wohnzimmerstimmung aufkommen

vergangene freude:

• https://www.flickr.com/photos/leobard/109330580/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8UATLQfEAs
• https://leobard.twoday.net/stories/1900994/

Merkt euch den Termin an, es zahlt sich aus! Haltet es nicht geheim, macht comments hier (unten) wenn ihr dabei seid.

"Adults having fun so children will want to grow older",
Hobart Brown, glorious founder of the race.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_Sculpture_Race
A Kinetic sculpture race is an organized contest of human-powered amphibious all-terrain works of art. The original event, the Kinetic Grand Championship in Humboldt County, California, is also called the "Triathlon of the Art World" because art and engineering are combined with physical endurance during a three day cross country race that includes sand, mud, pavement, a bay crossing, a river crossing and major hills.

This year is 41th Anniversary! The first race started in 1969 in Hippie-California. How about making a race this year in Klosterneuburg, next to Vienna? We have wild cross-country, road, and water. I would like to find a few mates for a team to create "Free Ellie" and you should also make a team! its fun, it teaches you artwork and handicrafts.

and look at all the fun it can be after you do it for many years:



I search for alternative-minded people who would like to help out, co-organize, form teams, and carry on the spirit of this family-friendly event in Europe. Are you in? Write to me or comment below.

Our design is intentionally simple so that its possible to build it within a week - would you like to ride in this? then help building it!


update: I made a facebook group to kickstart this: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=67272838900

Webinale 09 is the premier german conference about web 2.0. 70 speakers on two days, on all relevant topics: Web technology, scaling, running services, marketing, business, future trends, ria, mobile web, social networks and communities. Various hands-on sessions to learn about building iPhone apps, Air/Flex, etc. A startup day to see and meet the next xing or facebook. And facebook and xing groups to do some boo-haa already today.



two years ago I spoke about the state of the semantic web, this year again I will speak 40 minutes on the current state of the semantic web, or, as we call it, "the web of linked data".

see me speak on 26.5.2009 from 10:30 to 11:30 at the ufo-lookalike congress center in berlin about the fact that even Barack Obama's new administration does the semantic web now, and other bits. Free your data!

The ufo-lookalike congress center:

Oh my, I am happy that I live in these times:

A colleague from a related research institute just expressed the pressure we all experience when facing EU proposal deadlines:
"Sorry, can we reschedule to later? I am currently deadline surfing for the call deadline tomorrow".

Deadline surfing, of course, means: To have around 20 man-days of work build up behind you, and 5 workdays in front of you. While you wade through the doable tasks in front of you, more work piles up behind you faster and faster, pushing you towards the deadline. Then, the wave breaks, either you surf straight out of it (unbelievable) or you crash and fall into the whitewater (which experienced deadline surfers call the "stuck inside a washing machine mayhem"). The deadline arrives, washes every crashed surfer on shore, while the experienced riders swim out to catch the next set. Once the debris is washed from the beach, the wildlife of scientific work continues.

Let me illustrate the process:

sources, cc-by

In the graph, we compare two typical people being approached by a deadline which they are going to surf. Orang is the prepared and experienced surfer: when he sees the work coming, he gets on top of it early and then rides it at the bottom of the curve, gaining momentum and keeping the work well behind him. Finally, he elegantly finishes before the deadline and turns his board around, before the whitewater of accusations and last-minute panic crushes him. Not so the blue surfer. He waits a bit too long at the beginning, is taken by work to fast which tips him over. Unable to stay in front of the work, he ends up in the whitewater of accusations and last-minute panic.

Further illustrations:

A knowledge worker riding the perfect deadline, excellent sports:
(c) dude crush, flickr

Waited to long to start working, now trying to get away from the deadline, clearly visible for everyone still working (not a good exit, you should dive underwater so that they don't notice your wipeout):
(c) vaguely artistic

Even a small deadline can trip you (the wave is about the size of a local gov funding contract, or a NOE):
(c) coast guard bm

A team of two knowledge workers stuck right on the deadline. Bob, the lower one is tripped by the tasks slipping away under him, David, the upper, is crashing over him because he depended on Bob's input for the cost calculation:
(c) localsurfer

A sole knowledge project manager writing the final deliverable for a 15mio EUR IP project that is under close surveillance by the PO already, the double tripping wave means that half the project members invested their money into stocks and expensive mediterrian "research visits" which makes it impossible to meet cost statements (and all accounts receivable):
(c) soulsurfer3 on flickr

I conclude:
"I love deadlines, I love the sound they make when they swoosh by".
Douglas Adams

p.s.: this is of course related to the deadline of IST calls tomorrow.