Format of tokens

[Rob Seaman]

On Nov 2, 2007, at 6:27 AM, Brian Thomas wrote:

>>> you really can't go part way, either something is human- 
>>> recognizable, or it isn't.
>>
>> By this standard, the underscores are unnecessary for it to be  
>> human-recognizable.
>
> I think that is a matter of opinion (and really not terribly  
> fruitfull for argument as it can't be "proven" one way or the other).

You asserted an absolute.  Your assertion was backward, rather  
something is either UNrecognizable or not.  By this assertion,  
#astronomicaltoken is just as good as #AstronomicalToken or  
#Astronomical_Token.  It isn't trivial to drain all recognizability  
out of a token.  I haven't found the ur-reference, but:

	"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,
	it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a
	wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the
	frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae."

(Hell - note that "Cmabrigde Uinervtisy" is as semantically  
recognizable as "The University of Cambridge".  Must be something to  
do with the Bombardier at the Pickerel.)

In fact, even if we replaced #astronomicaltoken with #1743, the new  
token would float to its own natural level of recognizability.   
Individuals (whether end-users or programmers) handling the token on  
a frequent basis would learn that #1743 meant "Supernova Ia" or  
"Gamma-ray Burst" or "Impact Crater".

>> "Better is the enemy of good enough" describes the slipperiest of  
>> slopes.
>
> Look, in the end, as I wrote before, the main issue is parsability  
> of name's.

The main issue is reaching a consensus quickly.  VOEvent could have  
used an officially blessed list of concepts two years ago.  The alpha  
(perhaps not the omega) of the semantic web is in labeling objects  
according to a widely known vocabulary (or -ies).  The only way to  
reach the far end of the Greek alphabet is to start at the  
beginning.  Let's bless the SKOSified IAU Thesaurus, add additional  
application specific word lists, and start tagging our varied and  
sundry data objects.  Give it a couple of years and then, perhaps,  
we'll all find renewed interest in seeing what ontologies can bring  
to the IVOA Bar Mitzvah after a few guests have gathered.

- Rob