[Data-modeling] And while I'm at it... bicycles

[Kirrily Robert]

We don't have a bicycle commons, and it's something that keeps coming  
up again and again.  The problem, I'm told, is that different types of  
bikes require wildly different schema, and that it's hard to find  
something that will work for eg. racing bikes, mountain bikes, and  
recumbents.

Existing bike bases:

http://cyclocross.freebase.com/
http://www.freebase.com/view/user/andmalc/bicycle
http://www.freebase.com/view/user/sla001/bike

The cyclocross one is the best built-out, I think, while andmalc's is  
the most general.

May I propose the following?  A bicycle commons, with some simple  
types in it:

* bicycle type, eg. mountain bike, recumbent, cruiser, folding bike
* bicycle manufacturer
* bicycle model

... and the obvious properties connecting the three.  This would allow  
for some simple queries along the lines of "manufacturers of folding  
bikes" and be a starting point for those who want to build bike- 
related bases.  I met such a guy on the weekend, and had to admit that  
we didn't have anything in the commons for him, so that's why this has  
come to the fore right now.

K.

-- 
Kirrily Robert
Freebase Community Director
kirrily at metaweb.com