Re: ISSUE-81 (resource vs representation)

On Mon, 28 Sep 2009, Nikunj R. Mehta wrote:
> 
> Let's see how you answer this question: Where does Ian Hickson live on 
> the Web?

I don't live on the Web. I live in California.


> 1. http://hixie.ch/

If you get the resource that the 'hixie.ch' server on port 80 returns when 
you use the method 'GET' and give it the path '/' using HTTP, you'll find 
it's an HTML page I wrote.


> 2. http://www.google.com/search?q=ian+hickson&btnI=I'm+Feeling+Lucky

If you get the resource that the 'www.google.com' server on port 80 
returns when you use the method 'GET' and give it the path 
'/search?q=ian+hickson&btnI=I'm+Feeling+Lucky', you'll find it's an HTML 
page with some metadata tha redirects you to another URL, and if you 
follow the semantics of _that_ URL, you end up with yet another resource, 
this time an HTML page of some kind (which resource you end up with 
depends on your Google login credentials).


> > It may be that you disagree with the meaning used for the word 
> > "identify" here as well; it's being used in the sense of "give enough 
> > information to obtain", not the sense "provide a name for" (the latter 
> > being the meaning often used in Semantic Web circles for the word 
> > "identify").
> 
> Giving enough information about something is not the same as 
> identifying. No textbook or dictionary uses the former meaning. Nor can 
> I can understand why you are creating a new abstraction for the meaning 
> of "identify" and creating yet more confusion for those of us who 
> understood what "identify" meant.

Is there a better word than "identify"?

When a shopping list says "Dishwasher liquid from Safeway", it identifies 
a product, but until you go to Safeway and actually pick up a bottle, you 
don't know what brand it identifies, and it could identify a different 
brand each time (and certainly will identify a different bottle each 
time). What's a better word for "identify" in this context?

Locate, maybe? I could change "identify" to "locate" if that would address 
the issue. I think that might be a little less clear than "identify" 
though, even if more precise.

-- 
Ian Hickson               U+1047E                )\._.,--....,'``.    fL
http://ln.hixie.ch/       U+263A                /,   _.. \   _\  ;`._ ,.
Things that are impossible just take longer.   `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'

Received on Monday, 28 September 2009 19:06:51 UTC