It’s high time for the Semantic Web to go mainstream, said Timothy J. Berners-Lee, the Web’s creator, at this year’s World Wide Web Conference in Scotland.
The Semantic Web’s goal is to facilitate automated Web searches and other transactions by making Web pages readable by computers. Developing the technology to make the Semantic Web work has taken considerable time, Mr. Berners-Lee said, but the final piece of the puzzle—a language that will translate data from the old Web to the new one—is now ready to be put in place. (CNET News)
12 Responses to The Semantic Web: Ready for Action?
bizdean - February 1, 2012 at 7:38 am
It’s a different usage. I cannot believe the mood of a verb has any relation to the mood of a human. I mean, I used to could, but now I can’t.
(The latter is a real and common Texas usage.)
dank48 - February 1, 2012 at 11:15 am
And Oklahoman as well. My friend from Lawton, Charles Brooks, once remarked, “I’ve got to the point where I can’t do some things I used to could.”
philosophy - February 1, 2012 at 11:29 am
I’m surprized that the modal list doesn’t include (well, it does by implication) “possible” and “necessary,” the fundamental concepts of modal logical systems. “Could,” “might,” and “would” are ways of describing what is possible; “should” and “must,” what is necessary.
Nathaniel M. Campbell - February 1, 2012 at 12:44 pm
It seems to me that in some of these examples, at least, the second modal is being used in place of an adverb. Thus, “You may shouldn’t eat that many peanuts,” might be expressed by another speaker as, “You perhaps shouldn’t eat that many peanuts.” Likewise, “Could we might plan a study session?” might otherwise be said, “Could we maybe plan a study session?”
Indeed, isn’t “maybe” as an adverb precisely an evolution from such a multiple modal usage?
nordicexpat - February 1, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Pullum made this suggestion years ago, but I imagine you know this.
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005136.html
Nathaniel M. Campbell - February 1, 2012 at 1:19 pm
I actually wasn’t aware of that entry; thank you for the link! It’s always gratifying to find my own thinking validated by people much smarter than I am.
sisgett - February 1, 2012 at 3:29 pm
I might could have enjoyed this piece more, but I can’t imagine how!
dressman - February 1, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Years ago in Chapel Hill, my wife worked at the UNC TV station and heard a technician say that he might could maybe be able to help. She declared that it was the ultimate in conceptualized presentation. . . or just hedging his bets.
Guest - February 1, 2012 at 7:53 pm
I like it. I could say that without the least frisson of grammatical dissonance.
johnwiley - February 1, 2012 at 8:03 pm
That should work–maybe.
leo_mar1477 - February 8, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Individuals making the transition from a first language to a second language can oftentimes run into problems with use of verbs.Just a thought.
leo_mar1477 - February 9, 2012 at 1:59 pm
Interesting graphic of the use of euphemisms