[Start] Inter-project standards - example - categorizing an issue

[Michael Allan]

By way of a concrete example, here's a standard that I actually need
tomorrow for some code I'm writing.  It's not much different from what
Mark foresaw:

Mark Murphy, excerpting his earlier email, wrote:
> This is a system of issues ("When should our troops leave Iraq?") an
> positions taken by citizens on those issues.
> 
> John Q. Citizen can raise an issue by posting a Web page marked up in a
> POSH format, providing the title and description of the issue, the
> community to which it applies...

I need something more generalized, where the users can
define/categorize an already *existing* issue.  So I need to yank RDF
content from them.  The RDF subject is the issue (poll) URI, and the
predicate/object are the category fields.  I need these 3 fields, in
particular:

  * TITLE : e.g. "Bylaw for Snow Removal"

  * SUMMARY_DESCRIPTION : e.g.

       "This is a bylaw that lays out the responsibilities
        of property owners..."

  * OBJECT : e.g. "normLaw",

        classifying the poll's object, as one of:

        | norm
            - act = enforcement of norm (generic, unspecified)

        | normLaw
            - act = promulgation as law

        | normPlan
            - act = execution of plan

        | normPolicy
            - act = adherence to policy

        | office
            - act = election to office (generic, unspecified)

        | officeExecutive
            - act = election to executive office

        | officeMember
            - act = election to assembly

I need to pull this data from the cloud, rather than config it
centrally.  So RDF, no problem... But all the other projects are doing
similar things.  These are going to be public standards - just as Mark
foresaw.  (And I have to add: his idea of distributing out the votes -
kind of like OpenID - so the voter physically holds her own ballot -
that's too cool to leave as just an idea.  Ditto for voter
registrations and voter lists.  If we can work out a practical
standard, it's the ideal way to equalize access to the raw data.)

(sorry for posting so much)
-- 
Michael Allan

Toronto, 647-436-4521
http://zelea.com/