Just to let all my friends, colleagues and clients know that I shall be away from my desk and out of my office:

• From: Thursday 25th August 2011
• Until: Tuesday 30th August 2011

During this time I shan’t be picking up any work-based emails. This is because I’ll be in the middle of Cheltenham Racecourse enjoying Greenbelt Festival 2011 - which is an annual Festival with Music, Christian-Worship, Christian-Talks, Economic Talks, Ecological Talks and various other bits and pieces - it is a very Liberal and very Progressive festival (in comparison to many other Christian Festivals out there)

Many of you know that I find August one of the most stressful times of the year, and Greenbelt is my form of “getting away from it all”… before busy September steps in.

I’ll respond to any emails I get once I am back. I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Many many thanks,

Daniel

For the true technologist there is a clear progression from Relational Databases to Objective Databases (OO or ORM) to Graph Databases (including Linked Data Triple/Quad Stores). It is possible to “automatically devolve” (for want of a better phrase) newer data structures into the old data structures… but that’s not what I am trying to get to today.

I’m coming across many technologists who are forming cliques, and their language is becoming restricted to their cliques. This is worrying, because it forms islands which don’t trade (to use business terminology). Not only this, but it also restricts access to the average person in the street, the technologies and tools that these islands create can become more and more distant from their potential users.

The idea of “Whirling Databases” is not to see “Databases” in terms of a specific data structure or data management system, but to see databases as a generic repository for information, capable of inputting and outputting data in different formats and frameworks. In a Linked Data system, data needs to “whirl” around the web using “links” as their travelling routes. We should work together, collaboratively and collectively to achieve this.

As some of you know, I’ve recently been working quite closely with OpenLink Software to help them help others learn about Linked Data. Linked Data, as a generic term, is an incredibly powerful tool - and a tool that should never get bogged down in frameworks (such as RDF) or formats (such as RDF/XML), it should be applicable to all frameworks and formats capable of providing outbound links, and capable of receiving inbound links. I’ve been working with Virtuoso Universal Server solidly for over a year now (not just with OpenLink Software, but with other businesses too), and I truly believe that allows for this travelling via “links” in Linked Data for a variety of frameworks and formats - this is powerful stuff!

Many people, homes, businesses (small and large) and society-in-general have been damaged (the “damage” is the “effect”), from what are being called “riots” around the UK (the “riots” are the “cause”). (An example article of the riots and the damage is here). I am very sad about the “effect”, and I feel that the “cause” should be condemned and the perpetrators placed justly through our (UK+EU) law system.

I feel that we should separate cause and effect, and my intention in this blog post is to comment on the cause. Therefore please do not confuse what I may say about the cause with what I feel for the effected.

I believe as part of our condemnation we should ridicule what they do, now ridicule is probably the wrong word and maybe I don’t mean it quite as literally as it may sound. These criminals are ‘silly’ for being so violent, for stealing things from shops, from setting things on fire etc etc. At the same time I do feel that we should not “fight fire with fire”, but “fight fire with flower”. Yes, I am saying that the government should use “Flower Power” (I do mean “Flower” and not “Flour”) - it would be fantastic if our government used flower cannons instead of water cannons, it would be a fantastic turn around from the days when hippies used flower power to fight the weapons obsessed government. Imagine that, the government using flower-power to fight weapons-obsessed hooligans. It would be awesome! (also remember this photo)

To sum up, here is how I feel at the moment:

• Let’s actively condemn violence and crime, and put criminals through the law and justice system.
• Let’s work together (collectively, collaboratively and co-operatively) to improve society for all.
• Let’s work together as a community and as individuals for Freedom, Equality and Community.
• Let’s separate cause and effect. When effect is negative we should condemn the cause, and learn from it.
• We should feel for those who suffer.
• We should fight (as peacefully as possible, and with no violence and no criminal activity) those who cause suffering. By this I mean “peaceful retaliation,” in respect to “rioting”.
• The “riots” are being over-politicalised, they have nothing to do with politics. It is simply that some people do not trust the police and/or justice system, and some people take the opportunities to steal.

p.s. be careful what you buy from ebay and other markets, you may be buying stuff that has been stolen during the riots! (particularly electronics and sportswear)

As already said, I hope that you don’t misunderstand what I am trying to say, and I certainly don’t mean to offend those who have suffered from these “riots”.

Many thanks,
Daniel

Disclaimer: I am a pacifist, therefore when I say that we should “fight”, that does not mean that we should do so using violence, war, terrorism, or using any other criminal activity. I am also a great believer in universal Human Rights, so I feel that “fighting” and “justice” should always take into consideration our rights in society. I do not speak for any particular political party, nor do I speak for any group that I may be involved with, but I do speak from my own thoughts and feelings at the present time (and so these may change in the future). I am also not a trained politician, nor am I a trained journalist, nor a trained public servant. I am simply an observer, that reads and watches the news, and has an opinion.