SPARQL Standard Opens Data on the Web

2008-01-15: Today, the World Wide Web Consortium made it easier to share and reuse data across application, enterprise, and community boundaries with the publication of three new Semantic Web standards for SPARQL (pronounced "sparkle"). SPARQL is the query language for the Semantic Web (see Semantic Web use cases). SPARQL queries hide the details of data management, which lowers costs and increases robustness of data integration on the Web. "Trying to use the Semantic Web without SPARQL is like trying to use a relational database without SQL," explained Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director. There are already 14 implementations of the standard, which is comprised of three W3C Recommendations: SPARQL Query Language for RDF, SPARQL Protocol for RDF, and SPARQL Query Results XML Format. Read the press release, testimonials and learn more about the Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Invites Implementations of SMIL 3.0 (Candidate Recommendation)

2008-01-15: The SYMM Working Group has published the Candidate Recommendation of Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL 3.0), an XML-based language that allows authors to create interactive multimedia presentations. presentations. Using SMIL 3.0, an author can describe the temporal behavior of a multimedia presentation, associate hyperlinks with media objects and describe the layout of the presentation on a screen. The Working Group is building a test suite help ensure interoperable implementation. Learn more about W3C work on Synchronized Multimedia (Permalink)

Service Modeling Language 1.1 Drafts

2008-01-14: The Service Modeling Language (SML) Working Group has published the third Working Drafts of Service Modeling Language, Version 1.1 and Service Modeling Language Interchange Format Version 1.1. The former defines the SML 1.1, intended to model complex services and systems, including their structure, constraints, policies, and best practices. The latter defines the SML 1.1 interchange format, designed to ensure accurate and convenient interchange of the documents that make up an SML model. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. (Permalink)

Last Call: SMIL Timesheets 1.0

2008-01-10: The SYMM Working Group has published the Last Call Working Draft of SMIL Timesheets 1.0; this is also the First Public Working Draft. This document defines an XML timing language that makes SMIL 3.0 element and attribute timing control available to a wide range of other XML languages. This language allows SMIL timing to be integrated into a wide variety of a-temporal languages, even when several such languages are combined in a compound document. Because of its similarity with external style and positioning descriptions in the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) language, this functionality has been termed SMIL Timesheets. Comments are welcome through 15 February. Learn more about W3C work on Synchronized Multimedia. (Permalink)

W3C Welcomes Review of Three OWL 1.1 First Public Drafts

2008-01-08: The OWL Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of three Web Ontology Language (OWL) 1.1 specifications: Structural Specification and Functional-Style Syntax, Model-Theoretic Semantics, and Mapping to RDF Graphs. OWL is used to define Semantic Web vocabularies. Together, these new specifications extend the W3C OWL Web Ontology Language 1.0 with a small but useful set of features that have been requested by users, for which effective reasoning algorithms are now available, and that OWL tool developers are willing to support. The three specifications cover, respectively, the syntax, semantics, and mapping to RDF of OWL 1.1 ontologies. Learn more about the W3C Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)

XHTML Access Module; Comments Welcome

2008-01-07: The XHTML2 Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of XHTML Access Module. This document is intended to help make XHTML-family markup languages more effective at supporting the needs of the accessibility community. It does so by providing a generic mechanism for defining the relationship between document components and well-known accessibility taxonomies. Learn more about the HTML Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Talks in January

2008-01-03: Browse W3C presentations and events also available as an RSS channel. (Permalink)

• 23 January, San Francisco, CA, USA: Unifying a Fragmenting Market Through Standardisation to Encourage Mobile Web Industry Development.Matt Womer presents at Mobile Web USA.
• 23 January: eGovernment and the Web.José Manuel Alonso is at Virtual W3C Seminar.
• 30 January, Stockholm, Sweden: The Semantic Web.Olle Olsson presents at JFokus 2008.
• 31 January, Gijón, Spain: TIC y Gobernabilidad.José Manuel Alonso participates in a panel at Cooperación al desarrollo 2.0.
• View upcoming talks by country
• More talks...

Last Call: Selectors API; New Draft of DOM Level 3 Events

2007-12-21: The Web API Working Group has published the Last Call Working Draft of Selectors API. Selectors, which are widely used in CSS, are patterns that match against elements in a tree structure. The Selectors API specification defines methods for retrieving Element nodes from the Document Object Model (DOM) by matching against a group of selectors. Comments are welcome through 06 January 2008. The Working Group has also published a Working Draft of DOM Level 3 Events, a generic platform- and language-neutral event system which allows registration of event handlers, describes event flow through a tree structure, and provides basic contextual information for each event. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity. (Permalink)

W3C Invites Implementations of DCCI 1.0 (Candidate Recommendation); first draft of Delivery Context Ontology available

2007-12-21: The Ubiquitous Web Applications Working Group has published the Candidate Recommendation of Delivery Context: Client Interfaces (DCCI) 1.0. This document defines platform and language neutral programming interfaces that provide Web applications access to a hierarchy of dynamic properties representing device capabilities, configurations, user preferences and environmental conditions. In addition, the Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Delivery Context Ontology, which provides a formal model for the delivery context which other specifications can reference normatively. Learn more about the Ubiquitous Web Applications Activity. (Permalink)

Last Call: SVG Print 1.2 Language, Primer

2007-12-21: The SVG Working Group has published Last Call Working Drafts of SVG Print 1.2, Part 2: Language and SVG Print 1.2, Part 1: Primer. The former defines features of the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Language that are specifically for printing environments; the latter provides guidelines on how to use the print specification with SVG 1.2 Tiny and SVG 1.2 Full modules. Comments on both specifications are welcome through 08 February. Learn more about the Graphics Activity. (Permalink)

Device Description Repository Core Vocabulary

2007-12-21: The Mobile Web Initiative Device Description Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Device Description Repository Core Vocabulary. This document describes the Device Description Repository Core Vocabulary for Content Adaptation, that is, the properties that are considered essential for adaptation of content in the mobile Web. Its intended use is to define a baseline vocabulary for implementations of the Device Description Repository (DDR). Learn more about the Mobile Web Initiative Activity. (Permalink)

Public Virtual Seminar on Web Issues to be Organized by W3C Spain Office

2007-12-20: On 23 January 2008, the W3C Spain Office will hold a virtual seminar where W3C staff will discuss the latest news in Web topics such as e-Government, Video on the Web, and Mobile Web in developing countries; see the program for the full list of topics and speakers. The public is invited to participate over the Internet in the seminar, which will take place in English from 15:00 to 18:00 (CET); see the participation instructions. The seminar, hosted by UPM, will also be broadcast online. Learn more about the W3C Spain Office. (Permalink)

Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Drafts: Format, Best Practices, Primer

2007-12-19: The Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Working Group has published three documents: First Public Working Drafts of EXI Best Practices and EXI Primer, as well as a Working Draft of EXI Format 1.0. EXI is a very compact representation for the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Information Set that is intended to simultaneously optimize performance and the utilization of computational resources. Using a relatively simple algorithm, which is amenable to fast and compact implementation, and a small set of data types, it reliably produces efficient encodings of XML event streams. The primer and best practices documents complement the format specification. The best practices document also presents information suitable for the general reader interested in EXI's intended role in the expanding Web. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. (Permalink)

Cool URIs for the Semantic Web (First Public Draft)

2007-12-17: The Semantic Web Education and Outreach Interest Group has released a first Working Draft of a document explaining the effective use of URIs to enable the growth of the Semantic Web. URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) more simply called "Web addresses" are at the heart of the Web and also of the Semantic Web. Cool URIs for the Semantic Web discusses two strategies for choosing URIs for the Semantic Web, gives pointers to several Web sites that use these solutions, and briefly discusses why several other alternatives are less effective. Comments on this draft are requested by 21 January, to be integrated into a final document at the end of the Group's charter. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)