Data Unbound

A friend just asked me how the trackback mechanism actually works. I'll refer him to the trackback technical specification
but want to link to an entry in my JazzUpTheWeb blog to see whether a trackback shows up.

later: yes, the reference worked but I learned that it's a pingback, not a trackback, that is being used in wordpress.com.

I'm reading Dave McComb's Semantics in Business Systems: The Savvy Managers Guide, thanks to my colleague Thom King. Skimming the book left me with the impression that I can grok the essential message of the book but I won't be able to get to the real depths unless I carefully re-read the book. To that end, I begin at the end of the book with Chapter 15 ("Getting Started"). Two lines strike me:

At this point you should be experimenting with OWL and RDF, Web Services, and message brokers, if you haven't already done so. You should also been experimenting with some of the more abstract concepts brought up here, such as semantically inspired elicitation and data profiling as a means to find meaning."

and

build a message model as the basis of your integration efforts