Common

The Nature of Diamonds: The Nature of Diamonds

2008-10-06T18:08:51.0012Z

Uhm, I have no idea how javascript got into my previous post, please ignore that part. The second paragraph is the meat of the post anyway.

The Nature of Diamonds: The Nature of Diamonds

2008-10-06T18:07:18.0012Z

Hi (function(){ if (freebase.userInfo) { // cookie was escaped! var username = unescape(freebase.userInfo.u); var name = 'ansamcw'; if(name == '' || username == name) { var value = 'Manage your account'; document.write(value.replace(/\$$username$/, unescape(username))); } } })();ansamcw,

You can add or remove type info from a topic at any point. To remove a type (in this case "Exhibition Subject"), from this topic, first make sure any filled in property values of this type have been cleaned up (none here), then click on "more options" under the type title ("Exhibition Subject"), and choose "Remove Type". Voila!

Grey: duplicate topic, please merge

2008-10-06T07:46:06.0017Z

I accidentally created this duplicate topic.

The Nature of Diamonds: The Nature of Diamonds

2008-10-05T17:57:45.0017Z

Was created by mistake...was meant to be an exhibition not an exhibition subject.

Matt Browne: Can we send human embryos to the stars?

2008-10-05T14:46:40.0017Z

Can we send human embryos to habitable exoplanets? It might work. We need to combine a number of key technologies (existing ones and some to be developed in the future): artificial intelligence and androids, natural language processing, cryopreservation of embryos, artificial wombs, virtual reality environments, durable materials and nanotechnology, fusion engines, powerful telescopes capable of detecting Earth-like planets. The science fiction novel called 'The Future Happens Twice' depicts one possible scenario:

For decades scientists have dreamed of sending deep-frozen humans on interstellar missions. But until this dream comes true, they must settle for a much simpler technique available: the freezing of human embryos. However, long distance space travel of this nature poses other challenges, none more so than the management of artificial pregnancies and how to raise the children produced.

One viable solution comes in the form of advanced biotechnology and highly sophisticated androids, and a large scale project has been implemented to explore these options. To prove that it can really work, the project's scientists go a step further. Somewhere in the Nevada desert and well hidden underground, they conduct an eighteen-year-long experiment using a young starship crew unaware of their true environment. Surrounded by complex simulations, the crew believes they are approaching a distant star system, one that appears to host a planet suitable for human colonization. What they also don't know is the fact that their embryos had been split prior to the implantation in the womb devices.

The scientists' bold plan is to send the twin embryos on the real mission, pioneering the frontier of space. From both identical genes and an identical environment inside the starship, they arrive at the assumption that the future is a mere repetition of the present events. And indeed, about 42,000 years later the twins grow up with the very same android parents.

But then things start to drift away from the original plan. The real starship crew now faces a constant battle for survival. Only their fortitude and strong determination to land on the extrasolar planet averts a disaster. The reward is the new exotic world that awaits them, full of overwhelming potential.

Matt Browne's beautifully worked space epic explores the bounds of human hope and invention and plumbs the depths of human duplicity. Tender relationships between the budding astronauts are pitched against the disillusion they feel when an embattled President confronts them with their true origins and purpose, only to reveal the real culprit in the entire project - something closer to all of us today.

The author's fascination with the fields of bioengineering and information technology sustains the reader's interest all the way in this futuristic roller-coaster ride. And he asks a terrifying question. Setting aside man's inhumanity to man, what if Nature herself turns against us?

This gripping novel of epic proportions skillfully mixes elements of drama, medical thriller and science fiction. As the story unfolds, Matt Browne takes his readers on a breathtaking journey through vast stretches of time and space.

For more information go to:

www.amazon.com/Future-Happens-Twice-Perennial-Project/dp/184401830X/

www.meet-matt-browne.com

Any opinions about the concept?

Embryo space colonization: Are identical twins the key to embryo space colonization?

2008-10-05T14:31:26.0012Z

Thanks for the advice!

Belgian Shepherd Malinois: duplicate

2008-10-05T01:57:34.0017Z

The Belgian Shepherd Dog (Malinois) is recognized in the United States under the name Belgian Malinois.

Appenzeller Sennenhunde: duplicate

2008-10-05T01:44:05.0017Z

They are the same dog breed.

Domains and Types: Job Titles

2008-10-04T00:17:16.0012Z

Regarding job titles, having worked briefly in a large company where every floor had half a dozen VPs, I can tell you there's a huge difference between say, "VP, LargeInvestmentBankRUs", "VP, LargeInvestmentBankRUs France", and "VP, Fixed Income, LargeInvestmentBankRUs Hong Kong". I know nothing about Exxon Mobil's internal organization, but I'm pretty sure division and region qualifiers in front of job titles like "president" and "manager" are significant.

UBS Financial Services: Sorry, don't delete

2008-10-03T20:06:26.0017Z

The wiki page forwards to UBS AG now, but from what I can tell there still is a "UBS Financial Services Inc subsidiary" which we could use this record for.

Roy Arden: please split

2008-10-03T19:59:41.0010Z

I mistakenly used the same topic as an Exhibition. oops. please split to create a new topic with type = /user/frankieroberto/exhibitions/exhibition

Frida Kahlo: please split

2008-10-03T19:58:53.0017Z

I mistakenly used the same topic as an Exhibition. oops. please split to create a new topic with type = /user/frankieroberto/exhibitions/exhibition

Domains and Types: Job Titles

2008-09-18T21:35:17.0012Z

I think in a case like this, where we don't really know what sort of thing Exxon Mobile Saudi Arabia is, the best thing to do is leave it as-is, rather than guessing whether it's a division or subsidiary (Goliath calls it a subsidiary, but I could find no record on Exxon's website, as you no doubt saw as well). In terms of whether people should be said to be employed by a division, and thus use the title without the division, or be said to be employed by the company, and thus use the title with the division, I'm not really sure which is best.

Domains and Types: Job Titles

2008-09-18T20:18:06.0017Z

I was adding some of ExxonMobil's major subsidiaries, and I noticed that nanette had created job titles with the subsidiary names in the title. Those are easy to handle - the subsidiary should go into the employer field instead of the parent company.

However, how do we want to handle divisions and non-subsidiary entities? For example, "Executive Vice President, Exxon Mobil Saudi Arabia". I don't see Exxon Mobil Saudi Arabia as a legal subsidiary, so it is probably an organizational "division". Another example: Vice President, Washington Office.

I'm not sure what the goal is for the title - do we want all VP's to be just "Vice President", or do we want the additional information like office or division included to differentiate from other VPs in that company?

Embryo space colonization: Are identical twins the key to embryo space colonization?

2008-09-14T18:45:26.0012Z

Hi Matt, and thanks for joining Freebase. If you'd like to promote your book here, the right way to do it is add a "Topic about me" to your user profile, then add the "Author" type to your topic, then put information about your book there.

Embryo space colonization: Are identical twins the key to embryo space colonization?

2008-09-14T10:34:46.0017Z

I've written and published a science fiction novel based on the concept of embryo space colonization. The title is 'The Future Happens Twice'. Here's the press release:

For decades scientists have dreamed of sending deep-frozen humans on interstellar missions. But until this dream comes true, they must settle for a much simpler technique available: the freezing of human embryos. However, long distance space travel of this nature poses other challenges, none more so than the management of artificial pregnancies and how to raise the children produced.

One viable solution comes in the form of advanced biotechnology and highly sophisticated androids, and a large scale project has been implemented to explore these options. To prove that it can really work, the project's scientists go a step further. Somewhere in the Nevada desert and well hidden underground, they conduct an eighteen-year-long experiment using a young starship crew unaware of their true environment. Surrounded by complex simulations, the crew believes they are approaching a distant star system, one that appears to host a planet suitable for human colonization. What they also don't know is the fact that their embryos had been split prior to the implantation in the womb devices.

The scientists' bold plan is to send the twin embryos on the real mission, pioneering the frontier of space. From both identical genes and an identical environment inside the starship, they arrive at the assumption that the future is a mere repetition of the present events. And indeed, about 42,000 years later the twins grow up with the very same android parents.

But then things start to drift away from the original plan. The real starship crew now faces a constant battle for survival. Only their fortitude and strong determination to land on the extrasolar planet averts a disaster. The reward is the new exotic world that awaits them, full of overwhelming potential.

Matt Browne's beautifully worked space epic explores the bounds of human hope and invention and plumbs the depths of human duplicity. Tender relationships between the budding astronauts are pitched against the disillusion they feel when an embattled President confronts them with their true origins and purpose, only to reveal the real culprit in the entire project - something closer to all of us today.

The author's fascination with the fields of bioengineering and information technology sustains the reader's interest all the way in this futuristic roller-coaster ride. And he asks a terrifying question. Setting aside man's inhumanity to man, what if Nature herself turns against us?

This gripping novel of epic proportions skillfully mixes elements of drama, medical thriller and science fiction. As the story unfolds, Matt Browne takes his readers on a breathtaking journey through vast stretches of time and space.

The novel's website is

www.meet-matt-browne.com

The Amazon link is

www.amazon.com/Future-Happens-Twice-Perennial-Project/dp/184401830X/

Common: All Topics without another Type

2008-06-24T20:07:51.0012Z

That query requires a double negative, and can’t really be done with the table views. However, you can find that information through the query editor, with this query:

[
{
"id" : null,
"name" : null,
"t:type" : "/common/topic",
"type" : [
{
"id" : null,
"key" : {
"namespace" : "/common",
"optional" : "forbidden",
"value" : "topic"
},
"optional" : "forbidden"
}
]
}
]

Topic: Add Topic Description Source Property

2008-06-23T20:27:04.0000Z

This is a feature that’s on our list, but we’re still trying to figure out the right way to do meta-information, generally. Who entered an assertion, where the assertion came from, the date the assertion was from… Keep an eye out for an announcement when we finally do get this nailed down.

Common: All Topics without another Type

2008-06-23T06:08:05.0005Z

I was trying to get a way to see a list/table of all Topics which have not been assigned any other type.

How would I go about using the website to create such a list?

I was going to start to add more types to these orphaned topics.

Topic: Add Topic Description Source Property

2008-06-21T05:40:01.0005Z

Please, add a property for the source of the description of a topic. I would like to enter a URL of the source of the description of a topic in a property and not in the description itself.

Webpage: How do I query these for a given guid?

2008-05-24T01:46:45.0007Z

I finally figured it out, I don't know why this was so hard, but it was:

[ { "guid" : "#9202a8c04000641f8000000000166606", "type" : "/common/topic", "webpage" : { "uri" : null } }

]

Webpage: How do I query these for a given guid?

2008-05-24T01:40:35.0012Z

I can't for the life of me figure out how to get weblinks using MQL. I've been using http://www.freebase.com/view/guid/9202a8c04000641f8000000000166606 as my example...

Topic: Woot

2008-05-13T22:31:51.0005Z

~~tooW~~

Topic: Related Topics

2008-05-13T22:31:29.0007Z

bleh!

Webpage: How does webpage differ from weblink?

2008-05-01T17:46:42.0000Z

Thanks!

Webpage: How does webpage differ from weblink?

2008-05-01T17:37:45.0007Z

Basically, a specific property with an expected type of "webpage" is useful if you want a way to capture/retrieve webpages of a certain type, or with a specific semantic value. For example, the type Written Work has a webpage property for "online versions", which, if used properly, will allow on-line-reading users to quickly filter on all works that are available online.

The default "weblinks" property should hold everything else; in the case of "written work", it might be a link to a page about the work on the author's or publisher's website, or a link to a fan site.

Note that all links appear in the "weblinks" section. The "type" column allows you to select which property, if any, to assign the link to.

Webpage: How does webpage differ from weblink?

2008-05-01T03:00:05.0005Z

I noticed that some people use /webpage/ as a User Created Property in the same way that I've been using the "Weblinks" Included Property (listed in schema view as "Web Link(s)" with the Expected type of /webpage/). When should a model use /webpage/ as a secondary User Created Property instead of just using the primary Included Property?

Image: Image Properties and Metadata

2008-01-15T06:51:53.0007Z

Image attribution is something we will be enhancing in upcoming releases. The IPTC is a good suggestion - you may want you add this as a feature request here: http://www.freebase.com/view/freebase/software_ticket

Image: Image Properties and Metadata

2008-01-13T10:33:47.0005Z

I'd like to see the metadata (IPTC at least) taken into account when importing images. Also, impage properties I would think should include copyright and photographer.

Phone Number: Area codes and phone number sub-classifications

2008-01-09T23:55:09.0007Z

No worries. I'm just curious about the outcome. :)

Phone Number: Area codes and phone number sub-classifications

2008-01-09T01:35:51.0007Z

Sorry, I was out for a few days. No decision yet -- but we are discussing both the general modeling question and the specific issues of the data migration that would result.

Phone Number: Area codes and phone number sub-classifications

2008-01-08T04:07:46.0000Z

Any decision on this?

Phone Number: Area codes and phone number sub-classifications

2008-01-04T16:50:56.0000Z

I had the understanding (or misunderstanding) that most countries have an area code or similar number to differenciate the state/province they reside in. I browsed through the ITU's E.164 recommendations on telephone numbering plan (http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-E.164-200502-I/en). If I understand correctly, they proposed that telephone numbers should be no more than 15-digits in length and could consists of (i) country code, (ii) national (significant) number and (iii) subscriber number.

I suppose adding a third component to the "Phone Number" would:

More representative of what the ITU proposed; and hence
Make searching and adding telephone numbers more intuitive.

Phone Number: Area codes and phone number sub-classifications

2008-01-04T00:45:17.0000Z

Adding an additional area code property is possible, but not trivial, since we have over 100,000 phone numbers in the system, all of which would have to be split into area code + number. And bearing in mind that only some of them will have to have this operation performed, since not all of them will have an area code. It is certainly possible, I imagine, but I'd want to make sure that what we would gain is worth the cost. What do you think the gains would be from making this change?

Phone Number: Area codes and phone number sub-classifications

2008-01-03T16:48:00.0000Z

I actually come from a country (Singapore) where area codes do not apply. But I think it will be useful for larger countries that have area codes. If I am not mistaken, properties are added to types only if they are applicable. Empty fields are allowed. So countries that do not have area codes, we can simply omit such details.

And yes, I would agree that there is a certain amount of redundancy if we were to add different types with same properties. Can I then propose that a property be added to capture the communication device type: "Telephone", "Mobile Phone" and "Fax"?

Phone Number: Area codes and phone number sub-classifications

2008-01-03T00:57:46.0007Z

I'd say it makes more sense to just use the phone number type for phone, fax, etc. -- it would have the same effect as creating new types (i.e., that you'd have to have different properties for phone, fax, etc.), but save redundancy of having differently-named, but otherwise identical, types.

Phone Number: Area codes and phone number sub-classifications

2008-01-02T23:53:53.0000Z

Hrm, but not all countries use area codes, and some countries use them only for certain kinds of numbers. I could go either way on this but just wanted to point out that area codes aren't universal.

Wrt fax number, mobile number, etc, another thing to do might be to create a type for eg. mobile number, and have "phone number" as an included type. You definitely wouldn't create a new type with the same properties.

Phone Number: Area codes and phone number sub-classifications

2008-01-02T23:23:30.0005Z

I have two proposals for type "Phone Number":

1. Currently, a phone number consists of "Country Code" and "Number". I would like to propose that "Area Code" be included.

2. Phone numbers can be sub-categorised as "Fax Number", "Mobile Number" etc. Is it wise to include a property to differentiate the different categories, or create new types with the same properties as type "Phone Number"?

Webpage: Unable to pull Webpage Type into my own Types

2007-10-17T06:32:32.0000Z

A web page isn't intended to be used in the same way that a web site is. Its the difference between an individual article on the New York Times site and www.thenewyorktimes.com itself.

Webpage: Unable to pull Webpage Type into my own Types

2007-10-13T04:57:59.0007Z

I would think there are a few of these "primitive" Types that users would want to reuse. Otherwise wouldn't we potentially end up with a large number of duplicate Types? Isn't that just as bad as duplicate Topics?

Webpage: Unable to pull Webpage Type into my own Types

2007-10-12T20:50:56.0007Z

Compound value types (of which webpage is one) are currently filtered out as options on included types - this is done because these types typically should not be named objects in the system -- but perhaps this requirement should be revisited.

Webpage: Unable to pull Webpage Type into my own Types

2007-10-11T23:48:45.0007Z

Compound value types do not appear in the autocomplete menu. I'm not sure whether this is by design or a bug, but I'll look into it.

Webpage: Unable to pull Webpage Type into my own Types

2007-10-11T05:17:55.0012Z

I've been unable to add the Webpage Type into my own Types. For example, I created, as an experiment, a Type called Wikipedia URL as a way of capturing the Wikipedia URL should a user replace the Wikipedia extract with their own text. So what I need for my Type are the two properties of the Webpage Type. But when I search for it through the Included types : Add new, it doesn't come up as one of the results. Yet if I search for Webpage in the general search engine (top right) it's the first hit as a Type and a Type Profile. I noticed someone else was having the same problem and mentioned it elsewhere.

Webpage: "title" property should just use "name" property instead

2007-08-27T23:25:01.0007Z

/internet/website seems kind of heavyweight. i'm looking for something that's much closer to a uri, but with a bit of indirection so that it can handle multiple uris that point to the same thing and also allow cotyping as a topic. /common/webpage is pretty close to being the right thing except that it's a CVT so it doesn't have the right sharing behavior. i'll play around with my own types a bit and see what i come up with...

Webpage: "title" property should just use "name" property instead

2007-08-27T17:54:56.0007Z

It seems like you want something that works more like Website --- no? The issue, I'd imagine, is that webpage is the standard property on topics, not website. The thought was that people are pretty likely to link to all kinds of miscellaneous web URLs from topics, most of which wouldn't merit a display name.

Webpage: "title" property should just use "name" property instead

2007-08-25T03:07:22.0007Z

ah, i hadn't realized that /common/webpage had become a cvt. i don't think that makes sense
according to the usual semantics of compound value types, though i see how it works
better by invoking the cvt code in the freebase.com client.

the thing is, i'm working on a bookmarking app, where webpages/uris can be first-class topics.
if something is to be a discussion hub it should have a display name. some uniqueness must
also be maintained - at most one "webpage object" should be created per uri. i was expecting
to use /common/webpage for this.

currently it doesn't seem like webpage works this way - it puts the display name in an unusual
place, and causes the creation of lots of redundant instances of /common/webpage.
there is a lot of unnecessary data duplication going on to have a separate /common/webpage
for every reference to every uri.

Webpage: "title" property should just use "name" property instead

2007-08-24T23:01:42.0007Z

Not sure what you mean when you say most webpage objects display badly. Where? Outside of Freebase.com?

Using the name property would cause a number of problems for our existing UI in Freebase -- namely it would require the user to input a name for the webpage before inputing the URL. The URL is what we consider the primary input here. We've added specialized code to populate the title with the URL if a user fails to input one.

Aside from simplifying input, we don't want people to confuse webpages with websites... a webpage is really like a weblink... whereas a website is a root domain in most cases. There are probably many interesting webpages (links) to link to on amazon.com or cafepress for instance, but we don't necessarily want people to title each of these and create a topic about them -- this is one of the points of the CVT/mediator structure.

Webpage: "title" property should just use "name" property instead

2007-08-24T22:58:33.0000Z

Some Web pages are badly-titled; it is useful to know both the title and what the page is. That said, the name should probably be what is entered in webpage-valued properties, rather than the title.

Webpage: "title" property should just use "name" property instead

2007-08-24T22:26:02.0005Z

right now, most webpage objects display badly by default because they don't have
name properties. instead they have a "title" property. i would propose to just use
"name" to hold the title, which both simplifies the schema and provides a useful display
name for the webpage object.

Topic: Related Topics

2007-08-16T01:06:32.0011Z

Back in the early days it was easy to navigate topics by clicking on links in articles. Since wikipedia articles are just blurbs it would be helpful if type Topic had a property for Related Topics. Of course, the goal is to type topics so related topics are added to specific properties. A Related Topics property would serve as a bucket for relationships that are not yet represented by a property. Later when a relevant property is added the topic can be removed from Related Topics and added to the appropriate property.

This request is the result of a search I did for "cell phone antenna". I wanted to link that topic to a webpage I found that describes reception issues and sells boosters. Also, is it okay to use the Weblink(s) property liberally, like a backwards way of tagging webpages?