geo and named locations

Tantek,

> 1. Mark up your content as semantically as possible. 
Certainly if  
> you relax
> this, you can decide to only use geo and not markup the
names of  
> locations
> etc.  But the reasons why are even bothering with
microformats is  
> that a lot
> of us have walked the path of semantic XHTML, then
semantic class  
> names, in
> the pursuit of marking up our content as semantically
as possible,  
> without
> compromising the content and presentation.

I do indeed believe in making content up as semantically as
possible.  
I guess my concern here is whether the use of hCard is
appropriate,  
given the "contact information" aspect of the
specification (and its  
association with vCard)

>
> 2. Minimum reinvention.  There is no need to (and it is
in fact a  
> bad idea
> to) invent a new format for named locations, when hCard
solves that  
> problem
> perfectly well.

I suppose my concern is that hCard is specifically
associated with  
vCard, and also restates its purpose as being for
"contact  
information" - and not all uses of place names or geo
locations are  
going to be that. For example, the summit of Everest, or the

splashdown location of Apollo 11.

> Thus there is no other logical conclusion other than to
use hCard  
> to markup
> named locations.

Except the semantics of hCard is not for capturing locations

generally, but in the specific circumstance of contacting
people

> That being said, if you have a concrete alternative to
propose, you  
> may have
> thought of something better.

No, not at all. On the one hand, I do agree totally that we
have a  
specification for location, hCard, and it makes sense to
reuse that.  
But as mentioned above, there is a tension between the idea
of  
contact information, and the idea of location ore generally.
But I  
think your proposal to generalize hCard is an excellent one,
just not  
one I would have had the courage to make 

> In essence, hCard works well as a semantic construct to
represent any
> instance of a person or organization or for that named
locations.   
> Some of
> this has certainly evolved through usage and experience
since I first
> drafted hCard, and perhaps it is time to revise the
hCard to  
> reflect this
> expanded semantic usage, in order to reduce pedantic
worrying. ;)

Precisely  It would
somewhat decouple hCard from the semantics of  
vCard, but that would be evolutionary, so in keeping with uf
principles

So your proposal might be to loosen or remove the
association between  
hCard and contact information specifically, and have
something along  
the lines of

"hCard is a simple, open, distributed format for
people, places,  
companies, and other organizations. Although its origins lie
in  
vCard, from which it takes its name, practical use has
demonstrated  
that a more general format may be required for encoding
information  
about places, people or organizations which is not
specifically  
contact information."

(just taking a fist stab at that)

Thanks as always Tantek,

john

John Allsopp

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geo and named locations

Thread: geo and named locations