Submission + - Freebase opens to the public (freebase.com)
suso writes: "A new user contributed information database website called Freebase has just given read access to the public, although they still consider this to be in a public alpha state. Freebase is similar to Wikipedia, except the data is more structured than free form. The company developed their own type of database, called a graph database. It is different from the typical relational database type that most database systems use. Another unique aspect of Freebase is that it provides an access API so that third parties can develop applications that use the data independently of the site."