ONTOLOGY. Onto what?

Ontology is the 'science' of categorisation. If that's a vague description, let me further snare you by offering two definitions, writes Deepak Mankar.

Appearances can be deceptive. The last I saw the Nawab of Pataudi on the idiot box, he was peaceably sharing a cupboard full of Lays Chips with his actor son, Saif Ali Khan, and watching a cricket match. The shooting of the endangered Black Buck seemed furthest from his mind. But then I should have known better than to trust the idiot box. Venison goes better than potato chips for a Nawabi palate, after all. But I also thought a Nawab would show a bit more spine and spunk and take his comeuppance like a Nawab - without trying to hide behind a hurriedly obtained, inappropriately dated medical certificate citing a life-threatening ailment. How ironical to use such a certificate as a defensive shield after having not only threatened but also destroyed the black buck's life, wouldn't you think? And, to think he's the son of the Nawab who bowed out of the Bodyline Series (1932-1933) as a matter of principle. 334notout.com. By comparison, the latest addition to the Jinnah fan club has shown more strength of character by refusing to bow down to the bullies in his clan.

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ONTOLOGY. Onto what?

Ontology is the 'science' of categorisation. And, if that vague description sort of intrigues you, let me further snare you by offering two definitions (lifted from Clay Shirky's 'Ontology is Overrated: Categories, Links and Tags'). The first one is 'philosophical': "The main thread of ontology in the philosophical sense is the study of entities and their relations. The question ontology asks is: What kinds of things exist or can exist in the world, and what manner of relations can those things have to each other? Ontology is less concerned with what is than with what is possible." The other one is from the knowledge management and AI communities: "an explicit specification of a conceptualisation". Want to know more? Go here: release1-0.com.

OUTLINERS. New version coming soon.

Dave Winer, who gave us RSS, blogging and (so he claims) podcasting, had earlier way, way back in the 1980s given us (to quote his own words) "what was then a new kind of software called outliners." outliners.com. "They started out as simple hierarchy editors, used by lawyers, educators, students, engineers, executives; people who think -- to plan, organise and present their ideas," he continues.
"Over time the products became more full-featured, especially on the Macintosh. Then the category died out, no one can explain fully why that happened …". And: "Outlining as a user interface, survives to this day.
The expanding and collapsing file system viewer first appeared in Macintosh System 7, and now has become a common feature of all file system browsers. Word processors, presentation programs, script editors, project planners, personal information managers, all have outliners built into them now." Now Winer is apparently working on a new outliner, as he revealed appropriately enough on a Morning Coffee Notes podcast. morningcoffeenotes.com

BRIGHT FUTURE. Podcasting's going places.

In his 16 June post, Frank Barnako barnako.typepad.comwrites about the prediction by Alex Nesbitt of Bella Ventures Inc, a consulting firm, and former partner at the Boston Consulting Group that "the market for podcasting services and tools is now worth about $2 million" and in the near future "podcasts will generate $40 million in business form software purchases, hosting services, search, and aggregation". What the marketplace really wants, in his estimation, is more erotic podcasts. While they account for almost 11% of listening, their share of podcast listening is 0.8 per cent. The hot category with an imbalance is books (7 per cent of listening, 1 per cent of productions). The market appears to have a surfeit of comedy and tech shows. Want to read the report (pdf)? Click on digitalpodcast.com. In an earlier (10 June) post, Barnako cites FeedBurner CEO Dick Costolo's view culled from the Internet Daily marketwatch.comthat "podcasting is a phenomenon growing at an incredible pace".
Between November 2004 and now, "when his content distribution company pointed to 505 podcasts, the number has risen to almost 6,000". "Last September, I couldn't have told you what a podcast was. Now it's 10 per cent of our feeds," he remarked. For a quick cram-up on podcasting, read 'Cheat Sheet: Podcasting' newsletters.silicon.cneteu.net.

HOT OFF THE WEB. News for one-in-five surfers.

Believe it or not, Mr. Ripley. It seems nearly one-fifth of web users (21 per cent) who are also newspaper readers now prefer online to offline editions. This was revealed in a new first-time study by the Internet audience measurement company, Nielsen/NetRatings. 72 per cent continue to read print editions. The remaining 7 per cent split their time between online and offline editions. "A significant percentage of newspaper readers have transferred their preference from print to online editions," said Nielsen/NetRatings senior media analyst Gerry Davidson. US newspaper circulation has been nose-diving as readers turn to the Internet for news - both on newspaper-run sites and on Google and Yahoo! displaying news gathered from various sources. NYTimes.com is the most visited US newspaper site (11.3 million in May, up 25 per cent from a year earlier). USAToday.com had the second-biggest online reach (9.2 million in May, up 15 per cent). WashingtonPost.com's audience in May grew 10 per cent year-on-year to 7.4 million. networks.silicon.com. By the way, Bob Cauthorn, the former head of the San Francisco Chronicle's new-media division, in a recent 1½-hour long speech at the New Media Summer Public Lecture Series (University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism), bitterly blamed newspaper executives for failing to plan for the future. The print product, he said, has ceased to be relevant to people's lives and circulation has fallen even though the population is growing. journalism.berkeley.edu. Steve Outing in his 16 June post at the E-Media Tidbits blog describes him as "a true newspaper industry new-media pioneer" and as "one of the most vocal change agents working within the industry urging newspaper companies to adapt properly to the Internet age". poynter.org.

SPECIALLY FOR BLOGGERS. Free legal guide.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation published on 8 June the most recent version of its free Legal Guide for Bloggers.bloggers with sections on media access mediaaccess, reporter's privilege journalists libel defamation - as well as other relevant thorny legal issues relating to the so-called citizen journalism.

That's all for now though there's plenty more out there. Join me again next week, same place.

Copyright (c) 2001- 2005 by Deepak Mankar. All rights reserved. Deepak Mankar, an advertising practitioner on the creative side since 1965, is also intensely passionate about the web and web content creation. Read his online articles athttp://www.asiaondemand.com/. Website:http://www.addgandhi.com/original/. You may e-mail him at dmankar@bom8.vsnl.net.in