Why are GPUs fundamental to AI? And AI training?

Deep learning algorithms require linear algebra (matrix multiplications) and GPUs are very functional for linear algebra and matrices (as per their original design to compute graphics transformations effectively).

The matrix multiplications are used to update weights, and multiple cycles of updating weights, often referred to as epochs are required to adequately train these neural network models.

GPUs are basically the "free weights" of the AI training world.  More GPUS means more "reps" of AI training moves.

Geoffrey Hinton was one of the early pioneers who harnessed the power of GPUs to achieve AI training speeds hitherto unknown.

Is Blazegraph now Amazon Neptune?

Blazegraph is an open source graph database written in Java. It has been abandoned since 2020 and is used in production by the Wikidata Query Service. It is licensed under GPL version 2.0. 

 

Amazon Neptune is Amazon's high performance graph database available through AWS. As Amazon acquired Blazegraph developers, it is possible Neptune is the new, maintained incarnation of Blazegraph.

Apache JENA

Apache JENA provides APIs for Semantic Web and linked data applications. It features ARQ, a SPARQL 1.1. compliant engine.

The Rationale Behind "Internationalized" Resource Identifiers

The "names" of graph nodes in RDF utilize IRIs or "Internationalized" Resource Identifiers.  They are "internationalized" in the sense that the allowable character set consists of the full range of Unicode characters which means Chinese characters, Hindi script and other languages can be utilized as names. This differs from URIs or Uniform Resource Identifiers (IRIs are a superset of URIs and URLs).

What is OpenRDF Better Known as?

RDF hackers will know about OpenRDF, which officially became Eclipse RDF4J in May 2016. 

Its tagline is its power to "create applications that leverage the power of linked data and Semantic Web".

Sesame was another name for what is now known as RDF4J.

Many name changes were also effected in the move to a new governance structure. For example:

org.openrdf.*  Java packages moved to org.eclipse.rdf4j.*

In particular the RDF4J project houses the SAIL (Storage and Inference Layer) API for low level transactional access to RDF data. Sail is dubbed the "JDBC of the RDF database world".

What is Dublin Core in Computer Systems?

Dublin Core is a metadata labelling system.  Its full title is the DCMI, or Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.

org.openrdf.query.MalformedQueryException

This is what happens when you get your RDF queries wrong in Blazegraph.

What is Snake Case in Computer Programming?

Snake case is a way of writing compound words, so that each word is separated by an underscore symbol. An example would be "cavendish_laboratory" or "sainsbury_laboratory". 

It is meant to be easier to read than camelCase, _camelCase or PascalCase.

A variant, Kebab Case, uses dashes and though commonly found in URLs, is also used in other contexts e.g. SPARQL-QUERY.

Change Font Size in Terminal on Windows 11

Changing font size in the Terminal in Windows 11 is a multistep process.  It is an important skill for developers.

1. Press the DOWN ARROW on the menu bar

2. Go to SETTINGS

3. Select the THREE BARS at the top left

4. Select the appropriate profile  (COMMAND PROMPT, as opposed to e.g. Windows PowerShell, Azure Cloud Shell).

5. Click Appearance and Edit Font Size (Default is 12 point, 10 point better for development tasks).

The Blazegraph Database - 50 Billion Edges Supported

The Blazegraph database is an ultra-high-peformance graph database supporting Blueprints and RDF/SPARQL supporting 50 billion edges on a single machine. 

It powers the Wikidata Query Service.

There is a Quick Start guide that shows you how to start the Blazegraph JAR file from its installed location. It will then greet you with a Welcome Message from SYSTAP.

java -server -Xmx4g -jar blazegraph.jar

What is THE Semantic Web Stack?

The Semantic Web Stack illustrates the architecture of the Semantic Web.

Another weird name for this is Semantic Web Cake or Semantic Web Layer Cake.

It's built from hypertext technologies (such as XML, XML namespaces) and utilizes middle layer technologies like RDF and SPARQL (which is a middle layer RDF query language).

Security layer and UI layer are evolving areas of Semantic Web technology which are not standardised.

Win Joe's Buzzword Alert - What is a SIEM?

SIEM is a buzzword in information security applications - that stands for Security Information and Event Management - basically this is observability for security events. This supports threat protection for organizations.

The Model Context Protocol (Merci, Anthropique)

The MCP or Model Context Protocol was introduced by Anthropic as a way of sharing data with LLMs, or put differently, connecting LLMs to wider data sources. 

Anthropic has dubbed it a "universal translator". 

MCP is also highly relevant for those developing AI agents. A standard protocol makes integration easier. 

MCP was mentioned by Sundar Pichai in Google I/Os 2025 keynote.

What is WebRTC?

WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is an open standard providing real-time communication between web applications using APIs. It was initially released in 2011 and was the work of Justin Uberti and Peter Thatcher. 

The official website can be found on the Google for Developers web.

One application it enables is browser-based VoIP telephony, or "web phones", enabling calls to be made and received from within a web browser.

Against AI-First

AI First is not often what you want in software.  Systems need to start with humans and human intentions and AI needs to provide seamless support not be front and center stage. The other thing is AI written by humans introduces human biases. These may make sense where the creator and end user are the same, but too often you have programmer biases entering consumer software which is bad for human-centered software development.