http://depth-first.com/articles/2007/04/25/strings-and-things en-us 40 Walking the Web of Chemical Informatics <p><a href="http://daylight.com/meetings/mug01/Bradshaw/History/800x600/Strings_and_Things/sld029.htm"><img src="http://depth-first.com/demo/20070425/the_future.jpg" align="right" border="0"></img></a>I ran across John Bradshaw's excellent presentation <a href="http://daylight.com/meetings/mug01/Bradshaw/History/800x600/Strings_and_Things/sld001.htm">Strings and Things</a>. Part historical overview, part explanation of the SMILES/SMARTS <a href="http://depth-first.com/articles/2007/03/14/eleven-qualities-of-the-perfect-line-notation-for-the-web">line notation</a> systems, Bradshaw's slides are chock full of interesting tidbits.</p> <p>My favorite: <a href="http://daylight.com/meetings/mug01/Bradshaw/History/800x600/Strings_and_Things/sld029.htm">slide 29</a> - "Line notations are dead." It's a wonderful illustration of why predicting the future of technology is so tricky. The light pen became the mouse, the computer display became color, and Digital fell off a cliff. SMILES and SMARTS are the only things to have survived.</p> Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:28:00 +0000 urn:uuid:00ee8bee-8341-48d4-bc91-afb685b90acb Rich Apodaca http://depth-first.com/articles/2007/04/25/strings-and-things Meta smiles smarts linenotation