The Ontologist: Michael Airhart

If you followed me on Twitter, follow me on Bluesky. As far as I'm concerned Twitter is gone. Not because I'm religious about this stuff, but my account got hijacked and I can't get it back, so let's close that book. It was a great innovative product that also...

Ex–Google exec says degrees in law and medicine are a waste of time because they take so long to complete that AI will catch up by graduation | Fortune “Higher education as we know it is on the verge of becoming obsolete,” the former Google AI leader told Fortune.

“AI itself is going to be gone by the time you finish a PhD. Even things like applying AI to robotics will be solved by then,” said Jad Tarifi, the founder of Google’s first generative-AI team. https://bit.ly/3Zysjdh

Employers can put their technical reviewers out there where qualified candidates can connect with them directly -- not through résumés.

Are juniors screwed? (Getting a job in a post-AI world) YouTube video by Theo - t3․gg

Instead of setting up job interviewees for failure, employers and recruiters should set up candidates for success. Especially in technical interviews, allow candidates to use the tools and work styles that they normally use.

Via @t3.gg

The Nerd Reich podcast investigates Silicon Valley's slide into authoritarianism From billionaire bunkers to network states, The Nerd Reich tracks tech's anti-democratic turn.

Nice @boingboing.net post about the Nerd Reich podcast: “…Connects threads that often get treated as separate stories.”

“The takeaway is a billionaire class that promises utopia while building escape routes from the society they're breaking.”

boingboing.net/2025/12/19/t...

Those strong populist and government tactics might counter the dangerous and authoritarian leadership styles that brought success to Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle, while methods of consensus and committee-based decisions led to paralysis and mediocrity among those companies' now-departed rivals.

3/3

Doctorow contrasts this with positive examples like Wikipedia, where Jimmy Wales gave up BDFL control in favor of shared governance. The lesson: tech doesn’t need strongmen; it needs institutions, constraints, and power-sharing to prevent benevolence from curdling into authoritarianism.

3/3

Authoritarianism isn’t an accident in tech—it’s a structural outcome of concentrated, unchecked power in reaction to the failure of companies that are hobbled by consensus and rule-by-committee.

2/3

Tech’s benevolent-dictator-for-life to authoritarian pipeline It’s damned hard to be an anti-authoritarian in a C-suite.

In December 2024, Cory Doctorow argued that Silicon Valley’s move toward authoritarian politics is rooted in how tech projects often begin as “benevolent dictator for life” systems and then scale without adding real checks on power.

1/3

• Governments must stop being deferential and reassert democratic primacy. @warren.senate.gov is one of the few leaders who do.
• Build confident, competent state power over tech. Governments are NOT too slow/dumb to govern technology.
• Reduce dependence on US tech firms.

2/2

AI expert Marietje Schaake: ‘The way we think about technology is shaped by the tech companies themselves’ The Dutch policy director and former MEP on the unprecedented reach of big tech, the need for confident governments, and why the election of Trump changes everything

What to do about big tech authoritarianism's creeping destruction of democracies?

In November 2024, @marietjeschaake.bsky.social said:

1/2

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

• Smart regulation of tech/AI
• A political leadership class willing to confront billionaires
• Mass public mobilization
• A broad political movement built around material needs (not “tag along with crypto”) centered on affordability
• More public ownership orientation in technology

2/3

In this July interview, @gilduran.com argues that the way out of “authoritarianism in tech” (and its spillover into politics) is to reduce the power and impunity of tech billionaires and put democratic/public control back in the driver’s seat. Solutions include:

1/3

The False Glorification of Yann LeCun Don’t believe everything you read

🚨 New from Gary Marcus (@garymarcus.bsky.social): a deep dive into the myth-making around Yann LeCun.

Many of LeCun’s most–publicized “big ideas” long predate him—and the media have built a false lone-genius narrative about him.

Man I love a network analysis. Who needs yarn and cork board when you have Gephi and a transparent conspiracy.

Custom graphs. Full control.

At #NODES2025 by @neo4j.com, Tony Smid explains why designing your own visualisation can outperform any plug-and-play tool.

📅 6 Nov, 13:00–13:30 CET
🔗 Learn more & register to join his session: neo4j.com/nodes-2025/a...

👀 Discover how to transform natural language questions into accurate #Cypher queries using an innovative loop of verification and correction—ensuring reliable results every time.

Explore this process! https://bit.ly/4pYpvlu


#Neo4j Makbule Gulcin Ozsoy

Google's New BlockRank Democratizes Advanced Semantic Search Google's BlockRank performed competitively with other state-of-the-art ranking models that were tested in research.

Google’s New BlockRank Democratizes Advanced Semantic Search Google's new BlockRank AI ranking method could make advanced semantic search accessible to everyone. The post Google’s New Block...

#Generative #AI #News #SEO

Origin | Interest | Match

Introducing Agentic Postgres, the Database for AI Agents Tiger is launching a new database for agents. Agentic Postgres is the first database designed from the ground up for Agents. It includes native full-text and semantic search built directly into the database. It has a new copy-on-write block storage layer that makes databases instantly forkable.

Introducing Agentic Postgres, the Database for AI Agents

Tiger is launching a new database for agents. Agentic Postgres is the first database designed from the ground up for Agents. It includes native full-text and semantic search built directly into the database. It has a new c…

#hackernews #news

Implementing DRIFT Search with Neo4j and LlamaIndex | Towards Data Science Combining global and local search to get the most accurate response

For those using @neo4j.com and @llamaindex.bsky.social, combining global and local search effectively can be a challenge. Tomaz Bratanic's new article demonstrates an implementation of DRIFT search to achieve more accurate and comprehensive responses from a knowledge graph.

NODES 2025 - Speaker Roundtable YouTube video by Neo4j

I am so hyped for #nodes25 in just two weeks! We kick things off with an amazing speaker roundtable! Tune in:
youtube.com/live/_DGziSs... #neo4j

Follow Bluesky's Semantic Web feed: knowledge graphs, linked data, and data taxonomy and ontology modeling.

Including Apache Jena, Cambridge Semantics Anzo, IBM Watson, PoolParty, Progress Semaphore, RDF, Stardog, Allegrograph, GraphDB, Graphwise, Neo4j, Ontotext, SPARQL, TopBraid and more.

Knowledge Graphs Gain Traction as AI Pushes Beyond Traditional Data Models Is graph really the new star schema? What do graphs like to non-insiders, and what attracts them to the community, methodologies, applications, and innovation?

Knowledge Graphs Gain Traction as AI Pushes Beyond Traditional Data Models

Is graph really the new star schema? What do graphs like to non-insiders, and what attracts them to the community, methodologies, applications, and innovation?

#hackernews #news

GitLab 18.4 released with GitLab Duo Model Selection and GitLab Knowledge Graph

about.gitlab.com/releases/...
GitLab 18.4 released with GitLab Duo Model Selection and GitLab Knowledge Graph

ORACLE: Ontology‑Driven Multi‑Hop Reasoning Boosts LLMs

ORACLE lets LLMs handle multi‑hop queries by auto‑building a knowledge graph, converting it to First‑Order Logic and answering sub‑questions, matching fine‑tuned scores without extra training. Read more: https://getnews.me/oracle-ontology-driven-multi-hop-reasoning-boosts-llms/ #oracle #llm

📦 scrypster/memento 0.9.2-beta

Advanced Neo4j knowledge graph memory system with MCP integration for AI tools and IDEs

🔗 https://bitbucket.org/scrypster/memento/

This makes my heart happy, and it’s nice that the blog can now afford a graph database to play with (graphrag, knowledge graphs, network science using graphdb). Never expected to see this, ever. Substack is digging my writing! #100daysofnetworks

Social SEO: Using Social to Build a Brand Knowledge Graph Learn how social media and secondary channels are essential for building a brand knowledge graph, which is key for ranking in AI-powered search.

To rank in AI-powered search, your brand must be a trusted entity within the knowledge graph.
Here's more mafostmarketing.com/social-brand...

You often hear that IKEA is a prominent user of knowledge graphs... But how exactly?

At #SEMANTiCS2025, Christelle Maignan, the lead ontologist @IKEA, lifts the curtain on the #IKEAKnowledgeGraph & talks real-world KG implementation at scale.

#knowledgegraphs #semantics #ikea

Liberation of data: how to liberate data from publications and how to reuse it #### **Description** This training session will offer participants a deep dive into the processes of annotating and sharing biodiversity data. The session will begin with an online theoretical introduction, providing an overview of the current state of biodiversity literature, the move towards the liberation of taxonomic data and the new opportunities this offers. This will be followed by two days of hands-on, in-person training focused on practical workflows for structuring, annotating, and circulating biodiversity data from scientific publications. Participants will explore how to annotate biodiversity datasets, ensuring they are properly formatted for reuse, and how to facilitate the sharing and circulation of these datasets within the scientific community. Trainees will also learn how to access and reuse data for their own research needs. By the end of the session, attendees will be equipped with the skills to enhance the accessibility and reusability of biodiversity data, contributing to more effective data exchange. ### **Online session** **15 October 2025** **14.00-16.00 Introduction: The state of biodiversity literature and the move towards data liberation** * Welcome: getting to know each other and trainees’ expectations * General introduction to the course * Technical requirements ### **Face to face** **10 November 2025** **Day 1: Structuring and annotating biodiversity data** **09.00-10.00 Module 1: Concepts** * Principles of semantics * The elements structuring a biodiversity publication * Annotations, attributes and linking: FAIR data * Workflows: template, individual extraction, born digital _versus_ scanned documents **10.00-10.30 – Coffee break** **10.30-13.00 Module 2: XML-first workflow** * Introduction to the XML-first workflow * Structuring a taxonomy/biodiversity paper * XML conversion and enrichment of the metadata * Annotating the data in JATS-Taxpub **13.00-14.00 – Lunch** **14.00-15.30 Module 3: Golden Gate** * The PDF workflow to enable re-use of data * Conversion and annotation of legacy literature * Learning and becoming a certified contributor **15.30-16.00 – Coffee break** **16.00-17.00 Module 3: Continuation** #### **11 November 2025** **Day 2:****Accessing and re-using biodiversity data** **9.00-10.30 Module 4: Curation and re-use of data from publications** * Curation and quality control of data already available in online repositories * TreatmentBank * Biodiversity Literature Repository * Synospecies * Ocellus **10.30-11.00 – Coffee break** **11.00-12.30 Module 4: Continuation** **12.30-13.30 – Lunch** **13.30-15.00 Module 5: Complementary re-use of data from publications** * Biodiversity PMC: specific annotation to question and answering * Biodiversity front end user interfaces * SIBiLS Collections * SIBiLS back-end services * SIBILS API & Data access channels * Curation-support tools * Advanced triage systems **15.00-15.30 – Coffee break** **15.30-17.00 Module 5: Continuation** * GBIF: occurrences to taxonomic names * GBIF – hosted portals * ChecklistBank: integrating names in CoL #### #### **Trainers** | **Laurence Bénichou** (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0713-0751) is a French publisher. She is the Head of the Paris Museum Science Press (MNHN), and founded in 2011 the _European Journal of Taxonomy_ with a board of European colleagues and serves now as the Liaison officer for the journal. Since 2018, she leads the E-Publishing working group of CETAF. An expert in the field of scientific publishing for the Ministry of French higher education and research, she specialized in Linnaean Taxonomy publishing, Communication Design and Media. Her research is focused on diamond open access, digital publishing and data mining. ---|--- | **Chris Le Coquet** (https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7416-8983) is a French publisher. He is a desk editor for the _European Journal of Taxonomy_ , and is also in charge of digital projects focused on the FAIRisation of biodiversity data at the Paris Museum Science Press (MNHN). | **Donat Agosti** (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9286-1200) is a Swiss biologist with over 30 years of experience, focused on making biodiversity data openly accessible. He co-founded Plazi in 2008, a Swiss NGO that develops workflows to convert scientific literature into FAIR data. Through partnerships with institutions like GBIF, NIH, Zenodo, and Biodiversity PMC, Plazi’s work enables the reuse of published data in global research infrastructures, with Plazi being the largest data contributor to Zenodo, GBIF and COL. He is also a widely published researcher in taxonomy and biodiversity informatics. | **Julia Giora** (https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7416-8983) is a Brazilian biologist with PhD and postdoctoral training in Animal Biology, with over 20 years of experience in research, higher education, and biodiversity data. Currently leading the Learning & Engagement team at Plazi, working internationally with FAIR scientific data and training. Also active as a content developer for universities and Brazilian NGOs focused on biodiversity conservation. Author of more than 20 scientific publications, including peer-reviewed articles, books, and book chapters. | **Emilie Pasche** (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9118-5762) is a research associate at HES-SO Geneva and SIB, and is involved in Biodiversity PMC. | **Markus Döring** (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7757-1889) is a German botanist and biodiversity informatician currently working for the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Trained originally as a botanist, Markus bridges the gap between taxonomy and data infrastructure. He has played a key role in developing the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, ChecklistBank and the integrated publishing toolkit (IPT). He is the lead developer for the Catalogue of Life and has been engaged in Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) since 2001 with contributions to Darwin Core and TCS. **** #### **Dates of Training period** One theoretical online session, plus two working days (October to November 2025) divided as follows: Online session Wednesday 15th of October 2025 Face to face practical experience Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th of November 2025 #### #### **Location** Villa Engler – Freie Universität Berlin, Altensteinstr. 2, 14195 Berlin #### #### **Course’s language** English #### #### **Target audience** Editors / Publishers / Librarians / Researchers / Students #### #### **Fee** The school enrolment is free. All the other costs are at the expense of participants. #### **Registration deadline** 30 September 2025 #### #### **Mode of trainees’ assessment** * A short quiz will be provided at the end of the theoretical introduction; * Short exercises will be provided at the end of each practical module. #### #### **Participant quota (min and max number of trainees)** 10–20 (1-2 groups) #### #### **Types of training/ Implementation method** 1. Theoretical modules/Online and in-person lectures 2. Practical experience / face to face * Structuring and annotating biodiversity data. / Hands-on exercises using XML-first workflow and Golden Gate * Exploring and reusing biodiversity data / Hands-on exercises using TreatmentBank, BLR, GBIF, BiodiversityPMC, etc. #### #### **Training Course** **learning outcomes** The present course will cover a variety of topics from purely theoretical to the development of practical skills in the field of biodiversity data. The main expected outcomes are: * Learn about the state of biodiversity literature and the move to liberate biodiversity data from publications * Familiarise with the standards and workflows in biodiversity data * Practice the structuration of biodiversity paper * Practice the annotation of biodiversity data * Learn how to efficiently access and reuse biodiversity data * Practice data infrastructures such as TreatmentBank, GBIF and BiodiversityPMC * First step to become a certified contributor to TreatmentBank #### #### **Certifications provided** 1. Certificate of Attendance by CETAF DEST with 5 ECVET Units (_European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training_) 2. Certificate by CETAF DEST according to Europass Certificate Supplement (certifying analytically the knowledge, skills and competences gained) #### #### **What trainees need to bring** 1. Laptop (up-to-date OS) 2. Microsoft Word 3. Java ver. 23 4. Libre Office ver. 7.6.5.2 (provided) 5. XML Mind ver. 9.5.1 (provided) 6. Golden Gate Imagine (provided) **Registration form** **More details:**dest@cetaf.org

Liberation of data: how to liberate data from publications and how to reuse it - DEST (Distributed European School of Taxonomy) https://cetaf.org/dest/liberation-of-data-how-to-liberate-data-from-publications-and-how-to-reuse-it/