I was pleased that the W3C RDF Data Access WG (DAWG) agreed (minutes yet to appear) to my proposal to finally decide the meaning of the name SPARQL being used for the query language and protocol we’re making. This re-defines my initial naming so now SPARQL stands for: SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language

Lovely! I was inspired by GNU and that era of hacker naming.

I still enjoy the connotations of the pronounciation sparkle – think sparklers (UK? fireworks), shiny things, winter holiday decorations, glitter, toys. Fun stuff. Calling it RQuery would have just been dull dull dull :)

You can play with initial SPARQL demos using my Rasqal RDF query demo or Andy Seaborne’s SPARQLer demo (more complete).

I just became the editor of a new W3C Working Draft: SPARQL Variable Binding Results XML Format published today 2004-12-21 as part of the RDF Data Access Working Group (DAWG) work I participate in.

Like the title says, it defines an XML format to write down the SPARQL (SPARQL Protocol and Query Language, pronounced sparkle) variable binding query results, trying to make it easy to handle in XML technologies especially XSLT (XPath) and XQuery. Only time will tell how well it succeeds.

The RDF graph query results from SPARQL queries already have a recommended format to use - RDF/XML, which I edited. There are also non-standard ones such as Turtle, which I wrote and named. I’m sensing a theme here :) Stop me now or I’ll write another RDF syntax! Oops, I forgot RXR which I’ve subsequently been told is pronounced just like R0XX0R.

Camels and Rubber Duckies (Joel on Software) by Joel Spolsky. On pricing software.

I have just finished reading his book Joel on Software and have now been sucked into reading his articles. The book is quite irritating in many places but he’s such a good writer with lots of Opinions (yeah yeah) and has occasional insights that it’s worth reading. Especially when explaining the world of commercial software development. His thoughts on open source development don’t ring so true, mostly I think because he has no deep background in open source work.

ObJoel Style:

A non-organisation I’ve started makes a terrific product Redland for RDF management and manipulation. It’s web friendly, affordable and runs on your server and it’s now available for any system with a C compiler. Check it out now — there’s a free online download!

The XTech 2005 Call for Participation has just been announced. It’s what was formerly XML Europe but now covers a wider area of tech, in areas that are rather hot at the moment – Browser Technology which could be called the Web Application platform, and includes all the buzz in the web on mobiles. Open Data covers the kind of application that interests me: neat ways to record, share and connect info in a webby fashion – from del.icio.us to blogging to semweb. Finally there are tracks for the core XML technologies and applications using them. Should be great, and it’s in lovely Amsterdam in the Spring, too.