Beyond Search

Google Baby Steps to Video Conferencing Outfits

2009-11-20T21:01:56Z

Video conferencing, telepresence, and plain old conference calls with PowerPoint decks on Scribd must feel like the the Mandubii tribe behind the walls of Alesia. The Mandubii probably had little interest in long term holiday planning. Caesar made it clear that Alesia and its inhabitants were not going to have a long, happy life. The Google, moving with baby steps, has cranked up its digital legions to march on Polycom, Cisco, Webex, GoToMeeting.com, and any other outfit in the video conferencing business. I know the “experts” will point out that the Google cannot do much to win the hearts and minds of big spenders like the Department of Defense. My view is that the “experts” may want to recalibrate their thinking. I found this article interesting: “Free Video Conferencing from Google.” The business hooks was lacking but the basic idea is clear. One question that “experts” may want to answer requires a quick look in the musty Econ 100 textbooks. I think the index may have an entry for “predatory pricing”. Worth a quick look. That “free” word is an annoyance in my opinion.

Stephen Arnold, November 21, 2009

Okay, this is one I want to report to the Federal Communications Commission. No one paid me to point to the source article.

Exalead and Real Travel

2009-11-20T21:01:03Z

I noted “Real Travel Chooses Exalead CloudView Search” in the SEO Journal. I have been a fan of the Exalead technology for a number of years. You can read an exclusive interview with Exalead’s founder in my Search Wizards Speak series. The last time I was in Paris, one of the Exalead engineers took me to Tennessee Fried Chicken for some “real southern” fried cooking.

The news is that Real Travel will “will use Exalead CloudView to deliver a ’smart’ search-based application designed specifically for the travel industry.”

According to the Ulitzer, Inc. story:

“We [Real Travel] needed a powerful search solution that could scale with us and effectively integrate traditional travel data with unstructured web information,” said Ken Leeder, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Real Travel. “After a thorough review, our search and data architects concluded that a partnership with Exalead would enable us to accelerate our development efforts and provide travel shoppers with the rich information they need to plan their next trip.”

A happy quack to the Exalead team. Oh, Tennessee is noted for its Bar-B-Que and whiskey. Kentucky is horses, bourbon, and KFC.

Stephen Arnold, November 21, 2009

To the Department of Agriculture: I was not paid in comestibles or cash to write this article about Exalead.

Google and Its Desired Repositories

2009-11-20T21:00:37Z

I find “desired repositories” quite enticing. I was going to call this write up “A Repository Named Desire” but I was fearful that some lawyer responsible for the Tennessee Williams’ play would object. Most of the Sergey-and-Larry-eat-pizza Google pundits follow the red herrings dragged by the Googlers toward the end of each week. Not me. I pretty much ignore the Google public statements because those have a surreal quality for me. The messages seem oddly disconnected from what Google’s deep thinkers are * actually doing *. When Google does a webinar, it is too late for the competitors to do much more than go to their health club and work off their frustrations.

That looks simple. From US20090287664. Notice that the types of repositories are extensible.

If you want to see some of the fine tuning underway with the Google plumbing, take a peek at 20090287664, Determination of a Desired Repository. This is a continuation of a 2005(!) invention in case you thought the method looked familiar. You can find the write up at your favorite US government Web site, the USPTO. (Don’t you just love that search interface. Someone told me that the search engine was from OpenText, and I am trying to verify that statement.)

Here’s what caught my attention:

A system receives a search query from a user and searches a group of repositories, based on the search query, to identify, for each of the repositories, a set of search results. The system also identifies one of the repositories based on a likelihood that the user desires information from the identified repository and presents the set of search results associated with the identified repository.

Seems obvious, right? Now think of this at Google scale. Different problem? It is in my book. What has the Google accomplished? Just one claim. Desired repositories at Google scale.

Stephen Arnold, November 21, 2009

Again, I want to report to the USPTO that I was not paid to write yet another cryptic comment about a Google plumbing invention.

Medical Disinformation: Is My Doc Getting Dis-Info?

2009-11-20T20:57:24Z

I read an article, which if spot on, troubled me. The story appeared in TechDirt with the catchy title “Senate Exploring Med School Profs Putting Names On Ghostwritten Journal Articles In Favor Of Drugs.” I have some modest experience in the halls of Congress, and I have heard about the influence of big pharma. As a result, I am doubtful that much traction will come from the drag strip tires slapped on the information highway over this matter. Nevertheless, let me point you to the passage in the article that I found memorable:

…often the pharma companies would ghostwrite articles, and then get professors to basically put their names on the works, which were designed to emphasize the benefits of certain drugs, while hiding or de-emphasizing the risks.

My father is ill, and I am concerned about his care. The idea that some medications may not work as “advertised” bothers me. Heck, I take some medications. What about me? Maybe this marketing stuff has strayed outside the faded white lines on the information highway?

Stephen Arnold, November 21, 2009

I think I will disclose to the US Senate Sergeant at Arms that I was not paid to write this article. Think it will help? Will some online vendors charge for possibly incorrect marketing collateral?

Google and Artificial Anchors

2009-11-20T14:42:37Z

Folks are blinded by Chrome. What might be missed is what’s often overlooked—Google’s plumbing. Once you have tired of the shiny, bright chatter about Microsoft’s latest reason for its fear and loathing of Google, you may want to navigate to the USPTO and download 20090287698, “Artificial Anchor for a Document.” Google said:

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for linking to an intra-document portion of a target document includes receiving an address for a target document identified by a search engine in response to a query, the target document including query-relevant text that identifies an intra-document portion of the target document, the intra-document portion including the query relevant text. An artificial anchor is generated, the artificial anchor corresponding to the intra-document portion. The artificial anchor is appended the address.

The system and method has a multiplicity of uses, and these are spelled out in Googley detail in the claims made for this patent application. In this free Web log, I won’t dive into the implications of artificial anchors. I will let you don your technical scuba gear and surf on the implications of artificial anchors. Chrome is the surface of the Google ocean. Artificial anchors are part of the Google ocean. Big, big difference.

Stephen Arnold, November 21, 2009

I want to disclose to the USPTO itself that no one paid me to be cryptic in this article.

MailArchiva: An Open Source Email Archiving Tool

2009-11-20T03:50:24Z

A happy quack to the reader who sent me a link to Junauza.com’s article “Open Source Email Archiving Software”. I was not aware of this software. With lawsuits all the rage, you may want to download this package and keep in handy. One never knows. The passage below provides the necessary links:

MailArchiva actually comes in two editions: the Open Source Edition (OSE) and Enterprise Edition (EE). See HERE to compare their features. If you want to download MailArchiva, you will have to sign-up HERE first.

I am downloading now. And if you have a corrupt email file, you may want to take a look at DiskGetor Data Recovery. There is a trial version.

Stephen Arnold, November 20, 2009

I want to disclose to the US Post Office that I was not paid to write about email which is rendering said institution somewhat out of step. You can’t lick email.

American Online Tries a Jarring HR Play

2009-11-20T03:49:55Z

I try not to think much about America Online, aka AOL. I have not been thrilled with the company’s use of the Relegence.com technology, which I quite like. I heard that at one time AOL used the Fast Search & Transfer SA system, so I did not need to waddle my goose tail down that well worn path. I am really tired of Fast ESP and I think that unless I missed something, the Fast ESP technology was not the main event at the Microsoft developers’ conference or at the Microsoft shareholders meeting. If I overlooked an announcement, please, send me the links. What blipped my radar this afternoon at the BWI airport was this story: “We Need to Fire 2,500 Volunteers”. My goodness. Airplanes cannot be controlled. There’s crazy talk about President Obama from a taxi driver who earned $11 in seven hours on the job. The dollar is not exactly the currency of choice in some * big * countries. Against these warps, the woof from AOL that the company wants volunteers to be terminated. The notion is disturbing. Just call it straight:

Stephen Arnold, November 20, 2009

I want to report to the National Park Service that AOL did not pay me to write this opinion. In fact, a confused antelope would not have have paid me any attention for this story.

Telling Google What to Do: A New Sport

2009-11-19T10:47:37Z

I am sitting in a tech briefing but my RSS reader pinged and delivered this article “Five Reasons Why Google Should Not Sell Handsets”. I have noticed that tech publications are delving into business consulting. Maybe I am hypersensitive, but I think that in the hunt for readers, the notion of offering Harvard Business Review type information is taking precedence over technology. This article offers reasons why Google should not do something that is as yet a rumor. My hunch is that the article is may be speculation about speculation. That’s okay, but are the reasons set forth based on a solid business foundation. I don’t want to repeat the five points. I will highlight one and offer a comment:

It would alienate handset makers – Unless Google believes it can become the King of Smartphones the way it already dominates search, how do you justify what a Google-branded phone would do to the rest of the industry? Why would anyone want to support Android with Google selling against them?

On the surface,the idea makes sense. Most businesses don’t want to annoy established vendors working in well known ways. The problem is that Google is not always ready to follow the parade. Examples abound. The IPO and the focus on search are two business examples. The result was that Google pretty much does what it wants. If someone gets with the program, that’s okay with Google. If not, Google moves on. Two years ago most telcos would have scoffed at the idea of Google as a global telco player. And today?

My thought is that if tech publications want to drift into the balmy seas of the good ship HBR, the business analyses should be based on facts, not opinions. Oh, just my opinion by the way.

Stephen Arnold, November 20, 2009

I wish to disclose to the FCC that no one paid me to offer this comment from the sidelines.

Google Chrome OS Means Bad News for Microsoft

2009-11-20T03:53:27Z

Yesterday one of the goslings used a Windows computer to hook into one of my Macs. The reason was that the Mac’s Unix operating system ran certain tools needed for some mobile software development. I would have skinned the cat a different way, but he is younger than I, much younger. I thought of this exiting from Windows to use Unix tools when I read “The Future of Linux is Google.” If the write up is accurate, this means more than a Google news conference to talk about Chrome as an operating system. The implications are that Windows in all of its multifaceted glory will have an even more annoying issue to address. Google needs to bleed some revenue from the Microsoft franchise. That weakening may be what is needed to make this digital Hertz Avis situation more interesting. The just might be some legs under that open source horse.

Stephen Arnold, November 19, 2009

I need to disclose to the Third Army stable detail that this post with its horse reference was not funded by an equine or human source. Nay or neigh?

MarkLogic Tames Big Data

2009-11-20T22:49:06Z

I spent several hours on November 18, 2009, at the MarkLogic client conference held in Washington, DC on November 18, 2009. I was expecting another long day of me-too presentations. What a surprise! The conference attracted about 250 people and featured presentations by a number of MarkLogic customers and engineers. There were several points that struck me:

First, unlike the old-fashioned trade show, this program was a combination of briefings, audience interaction, and informal conversations fueled by genuine enthusiasm. Much of that interest came from the people who had used the MarkLogic platform to deliver solutions in very different big data situations. Booz, Allen & Hamilton was particularly enthusiastic. As a former laborer in the BAH knowledge factory, the enthusiasm originates in one place—the client. BAH professionals are upbeat * only * when the firm’s customers are happy. BAH described using the MarkLogic platform as a way to solve a number of different client problems.

MarkLogic’s platform applied to an email use case caught the attention of audiences involved in certain types of investigative and data forensics work.Shown is the default interface which can be customized to the licensee’s requirements.

Second, those in the audience were upfront about their need to find solutions to big data problems—scale, analytics, performance. I assumed that those representing government entities would be looking for ways to respond to President Obama’s mandates. There was an undercurrent of responding to the Administration, but the imperative was the realization that tools like relational databases were not delivering solutions. Some in the audience, based on my observations, were actively looking for new ways to manipulate data. In my view, the MarkLogic system had blipped the radar in some government information technology shops, and the people with problems showed up to learn.

Finally, the MarkLogic presentations about the firms XML and Xquery centric approach were clear and mini-graduate school courses on why the MarkLogic technology could handle large data flows, the need for real time updating, and outputs that were, in the words of one MarkLogic customer, “ready to use by a 19 year old in a stressful in theater situation”. I sit through quite a few technical briefings. I asked one MarkLogic presenter for a copy of this slide deck because my own analysis of one XML method was inferior to his.

Was there a downside in this gathering? Sure. MarkLogic’s automated Xquery generating tools are not yet part of the platform. This means that licensees may need some MarkLogic assistance with certain Xquery functions. The automated code tools with their own graphical interface are in the present release and more become available in early 2010. The MarkLogic team was busy adapting to the number of people who showed up. Pre-registration was required, but the interest in the event meant that it was crowded with standing-room-only for three of the four sessions I attended. This is a sharp contrast to the conferences that attract small audiences.

If you have not been paying attention to MarkLogic’s information processing capabilities, take a look at the firm’s Web site at http://www.marklogic.com.

Stephen Arnold, November 20, 2009

I want to report to the Bureau of Land Management that MarkLogic bought me lunch. Well, I stood in line with 200 plus people and got two small sandwiches and a Diet Coke. But two MarkLogic people were friendly to me and promised to keep me in mind in the event they needed me and the goslings to do a competitive analysis or give a speech. No dough, though and the chocolate cake was gone before I went back to the buffet for dessert.