Hello, Quick intro: my name is Jason Borro, software developer, and I just launched http://openguid.net
My hope is to establish an open (community driven) repository of identity for use across the semantic web. I've developed a specification (http://openguid.net/specification) for linking ontological classes, instances, and normal web content. I'm looking for any and all feedback. Brief motivation: while I admire attempts at grand unification of concepts such as UMBEL, I believe the creators of OWL had it right when they suggested designing ontologies for use (http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-owl-guide-20040210/#DesignForUse). This flexibility makes it hard to link concepts to instances and to preserve semantics over time. In addition, some attempts at making primary URIs (such as Open Calais) leave me suspicious of corporate interests and I question the permanency. I propose a pragmatic solution to these issues with an permanent open database of identity. I have seeded the database with WordNet3.0 and am in the process of linking OpenCyc. UMBEL and YAGO are next on the list. RDF documents declaring the synonyms will be made available. Please check it out and consider joining the google group (http://groups.google.com/group/open-guid-discussion) to discuss further. Thanks for your time, Jason http://openguid.net
