SQL versus Xquery versus SPARQL!

There is no argument that sql is the most widely used query language and has been in use for decades. It is a long established standard and has been primarily used for tabular data. Millions of developers already know it and tt always tends to get complex when more tables are used. I will avoid talking more about it as I am assuming that people who are reading this blog will know about the limitations and pain points of sql.

Lets focus more on the new query languages like xquery and sparql:

Xquery is great for finding data in tree representations.  You will find almost all relational database vendors mixing xquery with sql though it tends to get very complex. Xquery is even becoming part of sql standard now. Xquery works great with native xml databases like marklogic and xhive (now Documentum). Xquery is most popular with content publishers. It is a standalone programming language for information intensive applications. To get deeper into this, please use this brilliant prez.. Xquery is still a relatively new standard so the developer community is nowhere in the league of sql.

Sparql is more useful in a pattern matching paradigm when you have to traverse many relationships. It makes federated queries possible, and federated queries can be thought of as queries made simultaneously to multiple, disparate databases that could be located anywhere on a network. This is a key concept in making disparate and separate data stores seem like a single respository. Those who want to dive deeper into sparql should use this tutorial.

Why Cambridge Semantics can make a difference during these times?

There is no doubt that these are hard times for smaller software companies to get into the radar of a CIO/CFO of any enterprise - small, medium or big. All of us know that in any case only 20% of budget is allocated for new projects or products. It will be much harder for a company who is smaller and is offering a relatively new technology which only very small percentage of technology folks have even heard of it. I really like the practical approach and focus of Cambridge Semantics, a Boston based semantic technology startup.

They are not asking the end users to write big Ontologies or think about any other paradigm shift. They use semantic technology to solve some very common problems like consolidating various spreadsheets. The Anzo suite of products enables you to liberate your data, allowing it to be exchanged freely between proprietary applications, relational databases or even Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. They simply leave the data where it is, read and write data  between multiple data sources including spreadsheets and let the user create the view they want. The application can be up and running in few days.

Recently, UCB, a leading biopharma company, selected Cambridge Semantics to combine and analyze assay data from dozens of partners around the world. You can get the full news here.

Interesting research from European Semantics reseachers!

The research, called "Triple space",  is related with making machine talk more in an asynchronous way using web services. The analogy is very similar to cloud computing  in which computational resources are distributed and provided as a service over the internet, the Triple Space deals with data – offering a simple, scalable way for machines to share information asynchronously.
To create the Triple Space, the TripCom researchers worked on making web services and the data they use understandable by computers, using semantic web technologies to communicate machine-readable knowledge rather than raw data.

Just as humans can access the same webpage with different web browsers and different operating systems, computers are able to publish and read information in the Triple Space without format, process or technical constraints. One of hte use cases cited is e-Health record systems. For full story, please go to :

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090923105631.htm

Is Bing taking the market share from google?

The story posted in cnnmoney.com reads like this :  "Microsoft stages a big comeback." The story talks about new offerings from Microsoft like windows 7, cloud computing and Bing - their new semantic search engine.  Microsoft, who is viewed as a laggard behing google in the search/advertising business seems to be getting more market share from its rival. Its share of online business has grown to 9% (some sources even say it is 10%)after it released Bing.com . The 9% takes msn also into account. If they manage to make it to 15%-20% range then it will transalte into billions of dollars.

For full story, you can go to:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/28/technology/Microsoft_stock.moneymag/index.htm?postversion=2009092804

Google adds semantic web support for video search!

Google, who has been behind Yahoo in semantic web efforts, is trying to catch up fast. Google announced support for enhanced markup for video search. This will allow webmasters to include important information, such as titles and descriptions, in machine-readable HTML along with the JavaScript or Flash videos themselves. It will use structured data open standards such as microformats and RDFa to give users more detailed previews of the information contained on the web page. Yahoo! searchMonkey has done something very similar for the content.