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Berners-Lee Deconstructs a Bag of Chips
itwbennett writes "At the O'Reilly Gov 2.0 Expo, being held this week in Washington, DC, Tim Berners-Lee compared the concept of linked open data to a bag of Utz Kettle Classics Crunchy Potato chips: 'The outside of the bag contains different sets of information, each using a different vocabulary and coming from a different source, Berners-Lee explained. The front of the package displays the name of the brand and the company's own marketing claim that the chips are crunchy. The back of the package has nutritional information, such as calories and vitamins, defined by terms generated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Finally, there is a Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code on the bottom of the package, which is not understood by humans at all but rather is recognized by scanning machines globally as the moniker for the item. In other words, this single package of information actually is a collection of data and attributes that have been developed by multiple parties, not just Utz.'"
that is news for nerds, since when? They talk about information and transmission of information, but I see nothing about entropy, shannon's law or even mentioning that the rule of markov chain applies here, and the amount of information transferred to the end user can be only worse or equal to the amount of information that has been put on the label.
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#\ @ ? Colonize Mars
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Much tastier than the average car analogy.
I'm English you insensitive clod! My bag of chips is hot, greasy and with no writing on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga1aSJXCFe0
Nomnomnomnomnom.
And besides, it's crisps. Both he and I are British!
Yes, but my bag of Potato chips does not relay the number of chips and their associated calories and fat content back to the vendor, who then sells the information to my health care provider who then raises my rates because I am a risky eater. (At least, not yet....)
Later that day Tim used some toilet paper and noted that although the manufacturer said that it was a soft as a cloud, cloud computing is not ready for the toilet yet.
Transmission of information through labels.....that is news for nerds, since when?
Since it concerns Sir Tim, the guy who literally invented the web. If Linus Torvald was hired to design the new Chevy Camero, it would also be news worthy on /. When important people in the technology industry do interesting things that may or may not be directly related to actually compiling code, some of us nerds like to know.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Makes sense. He's using an example that the audience can relate to.
Brain surgery - it's not rocket science!
Well as it's already spoiled for you, I might as well look at his analogy further. I'm not sure exactly what point he thinks he's making here, but what it says to me is that people don't look at the ingredients list or where things come from. They just look at the branding on the front. That's important for the minority of groups that actually produce content on the Internet. Nobody will think of you. They'll just see Yahoo or Google or Gizmodo or whatever slapped on the front of what you make and that's as far as it goes. You don't have to do anything other than package up other people's ingredients and sell it as your own to make a profit. Just ask Slashdot. ;)
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
He's wrong. Utz developed all the information put on the package (with the possible exception of the base part of their UPC number). Some of the information is required to be there by others, but they don't create the information. Some of the formats (the bar code, for example) are created by others, but they don't create the information. Further, none of that information is guaranteed to be correct, and the only party responsible if it's not is Utz.
Hm. Did somebody forget to check "Post Anonymously"?
I was born and raised in the land of Utz (Hanover, PA) and let me tell you, Utz is a far better chip than anything Lays or Pringles (blech) offers. Especially the Kettle Classics that Mr. Berners-Lee used in his demo. They are indeed very crunchy and extremely flavorful because they're cooked in 100% peanut oil from potatoes grown locally and genetically bred to produce the perfect chip. The "Smokin' Sweet" flavor is by far the best of the Kettle Classics. If you aren't able to get Utz where you live, I believe you can order them from utz.com. Get a bag and I bet you won't disagree with a word I've said, unless of course, you're horribly allergic to peanuts. Even then you wouldn't (couldn't) disagree because you'd probably be dead :)
"Oh shit, my speech, I forgot all about it! I shouldn't have stayed out drinking until 2am last night..."
"Must find inspiration, quickly..."
*sees chip bag in garbage*
"Ah, a chip bag! Maybe I can use this somehow..."
*scrawls some notes*
"Hey this might just work..."
*15 minutes of feverish writing*
"YES! An entire speech on linked open data based on a bag of chips. My career is safe!"
"Hey, maybe I'll even get a few cases from Utz as a thank you for mentioning them..."
http://www.utzsnacks.com/store/ There. Fixed that for you.