!!!Gadgets DB
This can be use to create/bootstrap a [Gadget encyclopedia].

!!functionalities:
*regroup information
*promote accurate information
*computer-friendly
*human friendly
*full text search 
*precise queries
*describe interoperability features (plugs, protocols)
*improve extraction of information
*explain cryptic characteristics (e.g. Processor number gives gigahertz and nb of cores)
!!Sources of information:
*online shops -> characteristics, price, images, text description, manual, link to manufacturer
*manufacturer website -> specs, whitepapers, manual, 
*wikipedia
*gadget websites
*hacking websites -> internals, projects using the gadget
*search engine -> urls to check for more information
!!Modes of operation:
*firefox extension that analyzes current page
*wiki like website
*mindmap
*match projects and gadgets (e.g. Project using ir on palm, suggest Zaurus)
*find gadgets that work together
*check source(s) for a fact
*add credibility to a fact
!!Important aspects of gadgets:
*brand, reference, manufacturer
*price
*power supply, battery operation
*physical connectors
*displays
*speakers
*microphones
*keys, buttons
*touchable areas
*weight, size
*operating conditions (temperature)
*wireless communication
*processing units
*RAM
*ROM
*Flash
*expansion slots
*storage
*software compatibility
*availability (when, sellers)
!!Gather data from one web page:
*need to use structure (tables for instance)
*customization per website
*level 0: gather key:value pairs , e.g. "Nb usb port" : "6"
*level 0: exclude parts of web pages that are about something else (menus etc)
*level 0: merge key:value pairs from multiple sources (keep traceability separately)
*level 0: store key:value pairs in repository
*level 0: consult key:value pairs
*level 0: find similar objects
*level 0: compare 2 objects (diff)
*level 0: search for objects with certain characteristics.
*level 1: associate keys with different names
*level 1: break up key value pairs that are grouped unduly by source
*level 1: add links automatically in consultation about key:value pairs (e.g. Processor reference, manufacturer etc.)
*level 1: add links automatically in webpage
*level: draw chonologies, charts
*level 2: look at unstructured doc and extract key:value information by matching keywords and patterns

!!Page observation data model
A page observation can be described by:
*unique id of observation
*url: url where observation was made 
*date time of observation
*title
*alias(es) of object described
*other key values pairs

This means that a page/observation is associated of aliases. This means a key can have multiple values. Not really ideal

Aliases can be stored in an index, occurrences of aliases in a document can be used to link to possible interpretations.
A unique Alias can be added to a document (manually? Ouch!). An occurrence of an alias could be annotated with the unique alias (wiki syntax?)

Changing/adding values to an observation makes traceability harder. How do I avoid that? Maybe just keep an audit log.

One problem: how to go from observations to a single body of facts:
*create a group of all observations relating to the same item?
*merge/filter and create a new observation
Observations can be performed multiple times and yield different results (e.g. Price may change). Do we keep all individual observation or just keep track of changes?