Beyond Search

More Autonomy Activity at HP

2012-05-31T07:01:23Z

Short honk. The addled goose is in London. The management traffic jam at Hewlett Packard seems to be getting worse. I thought London was tangled. I read “HP Names New Software Chief, COO.” The founder of Autonomy will leaving HP, which purchased Autonomy for $10 billion or so about eight months ago. First, an HP software wizard named William Veghte had responsibility for Autonomy. Not if the write up is accurate. The new boss reporting to Margaret Thatcher inspired Meg Whitman is a venture capitalist and former IBM software wizard, George Kadifa. Will there be more changes? Will the management snarl be resolved? Sure. But how will HP recover its $10 billion and keep those Autonomy customers happy? Tough questions. The goose has some ideas, but these are not for the free blog.

Stephen E Arnold, May 31, 2012

Sponsored by Information Today which bought me dinner last night

Sophia Search Comes to the US

2012-05-31T05:23:27Z

The Digital Librarian has reached our shores, Northern Ireland’s Sync Ni announces in “Sophia Search Discovers US Market.” Sophia Search now has several US publishing customers, including Random House, who use their newest innovation Digital Librarian to better understand the interests of their online customers. Writer Lauren McCoy describes the software:

“The ‘Digital Librarian’ understands the meaning of documents including pdfs, word files, news feeds and social media, so that it knows what is discussed in them. It uses this inherent understanding to enrich each document with additional knowledge to make it more findable when people search. Sophia automatically enriches documents with information about its topic & sub topic and also adds new knowledge about its meaning. For example a document that refers to heart attack will be enriched with additional terms such as heart disease, or myocardial infarct to increase the number of ways users can find it.”

I like Sophia Search’s motto: “great minds think differently.” Their technology uses Semiotics and Intertextuality to increase information findability, as opposed to approaches that rely on mathematics or pattern matching. Founded in 2007 by Dr. David Patterson from the University of Ulster and Dr. Vladimir Dobrynin from the State University of St. Petersburg , the company is headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland and has offices in San Jose, CA.

Cynthia Murrell, May 31, 2012

Sponsored by PolySpot

Considerations for Virtualizing SharePoint 2010 Database Server

2012-05-27T23:46:41Z

As part of continuing coverage of Robert Schifreen’s SharePoint 2010 series, we’re looking at his seventh installment, “To Virtualise or not to Virtualise.” Schifreen explains the practical, detailed decisions about configuration and resources, starting with virtualization.

While virtualization provides for the ability to consolidate multiple virtual guests within a single physical server by sharing the physical resources across the virtual machine, experts have differing opinions on virtualizing the SharePoint database server. But in Schifreen’s experience, the advantages outweighed any potential downfalls. He has this to say about the process:

In addition, some experts suggest that any more than two virtual CPUs is actually a bad move, since the server spends too much time waiting for CPUs to become available. This is something we’ll need to watch. We also took on board a widely held opinion that, on a virtual database server, you should not use auto-growing, thin-provisioned databases because it’s too easy for the hypervisor to lose track of how much free space you actually have. You’ll need to change some of the defaults in SQL Server because they’re not suitable for SharePoint.

Virtualization may be the path you want to take with your farm. It can reduce hardware costs, increase server utilization, lessen environmental impact, improve service levels, and extend the life of legacy systems. Schifreen’s article may be worth the read if you’re considering virtualization. And while you’re looking to reduce redundancy and increase efficiency, consider a powerful search feature to help you get the most return on your SharePoint investments. An IDC Study found that Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise gains each employee two weeks per year through focused finding of data, “an invaluable competitive advantage in business as well as providing employee satisfaction.”

We also like the feedback from Fabasoft Mindbreeze customers. The Chamber of Commerce, Upper Austria had this to say:

Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise provides our staff quickly and efficiently with all the information they need. The service center staff is able to respond to requests without delay, as all relevant information is found with only one query. This even further improves the quality of our customer services whilst simultaneously minimizing effort of our staff.

Look for quick results from an out of the box solution at Fabasoft Mindbreeze.

Philip West, May 31, 2012

Is YouTube a Two Day Old Cheeseburger?

2012-05-24T22:59:00Z

Today’s smartphones offers fresh video sharing apps that are making Youtube as appealing as a day old cheeseburger. The article How Social Video Could Kill YouTube leaves the impression that online video’s may get left in the microwave instead of on the dinner plate.

According to San Francisco-based Flurry;

“Startups like SocialCam and Viddy, two of the fastest growing social networks for sharing video on smartphones, may be on a collision course with Google-owned YouTube. While initial indicators are far from conclusive, rumblings of a possible market tsunami are afoot.”

“From January to March, people spent 10% less time watching YouTube videos online, while users of mobile video apps increased their viewing time by 52%.”

Times have changed and now Smartphones are the fresh apple pie of video. Why? They make the process simple. These ‘all in one’ devices are easily accessible and provide increasing process power, higher bandwidth and high-definition cameras. This makes them today’s favorite flavor when capturing memories and sharing them with friends and family.

Youtube has an app for video sharing, but it still requires multiple steps, whereas the apps offered by Smartphones are simple, often offering one step procedures to share. If this story is accurate, is there trouble ahead for Google’s video ambitions? Youtube may be doomed to become yesterday’s cheeseburger compared to the piping hot new apps available on smartphones.

Jennifer Shockley, May 31, 2012

Sponsored by PolySpot

PLM Training: There Is an App for That

2012-05-31T00:56:11Z

One of the challenges of any product lifecycle management (PLM) platform is providing adequate training for the necessary employees. Thanks to a great product, i GET IT, employees can receive training at their own pace via software. Now, to make it even easier employees can access their materials on their personal iPhones or iPads thanks to a new i GET IT app available at the app store according to the article, “i GET IT Introduces iPad App, Opens iPad to Engineering Users”, on MCAD Café.

The article explains the new app by saying,

“The i GET IT iPad app allows users to logon to their existing i GET IT account and access their personal learning path, including courses in SolidWorks, Autodesk products, Siemens PLM products and Dassault Systemes products. It also allows new users to sign up for free memberships and experience the full range of free courses available in the i GET IT portfolio.”

All too often PLM solutions fail because of lack of customer training. With PLM reaching across almost all departments of an enterprise more employees than ever before need to be trained in how to adequately use the platform. Inforbix, a leader in PLM solutions for small and midsized enterprises, places customer training and ongoing support as one of the first priorities in any PLM adoption. Thanks to companies devoted to customer training like Inforbix and i GET IT PLM solutions can be used to their fullest potential.

Catherine Lamsfuss, May 31, 2012

Arrogance Has Flavors? Here’s the JP Morgan Variety

2012-05-24T22:57:24Z

If JP Morgan’s arrogance had a flavor, what would it taste like? My guess would be bitter given the loss they incurred after their recent decisions. The article The Type of Arrogance That Cost JP Morgan $7 Billion tells us that they might rediscover the benefits of being humble in the future, if a lesson was learned.

JP Morgan threw intuition out the window as;

“They bet on the market almost exactly when it started its 10% nose-dive between the beginning of May and last week. JP Morgan bet against short-term protection on the market when investors were most complacent.”

“JP Morgan was assuming they knew better than everybody else. They assumed that the normal indicators of a complacent market were wrong, and that problems in Europe wouldn’t faze investors. Furthermore, they were so cock-sure that they were right that they bought no protection whatsoever.”

The flavor that will see the least bit of sampling for a while is definitely JP Morgan. Things could have gone much better had they utilized more thought and less arrogance in their decision making. Maybe they’ll be reminded that nothing is guaranteed as they eat some humble pie.

The wisest elders always say that you should never assume anything and you probably know the rest of that saying. One thing is for sure… the Execs at JP Morgan provide a keen reminder on why it’s important not to assume too much.

Jennifer Shockley, May 31, 2012

Sponsored by PolySpot

China Insists on Open Android for Motorola Deal

2012-05-24T22:57:32Z

SlashGear puts forth an interesting angle on how Google convinced China to approve its purchase of Motorola Mobility in “Open Android—The Price for China’s Motorola Bid Approval.” Well, maybe it is a perspective on how China squeezed Google for a deal. Could happen we suppose. Is search next?

Having already gotten the go-ahead from US and European authorities, China’s government was the last hurdle for the would-be partners. Concerned for other manufacturers who rely heavily on Android, a pledge to keep that operating system open for at least five years was described as China’s “main condition” for the green light. Writer Chris Davies reports:

“With Motorola brought in-house, suspicions were raised that Google might take a more aggressive approach and follow in Apple’s footsteps, marginalizing other Android OEMs such as HTC and Samsung in the process. Google execs promised that would not happen, with talk of a firewall between the two companies, but have met with no small amount of skepticism in response.

“The Chinese drive for openness would seemingly mean that Android will remain available for all who want it, at least for the next half-decade, though without full details of the deal it’s impossible to know under what conditions that will be the case.”

While we await those details, it is worth pondering what those next five years could bring. Will manufacturers find a workable Android alternative before time is up?

Cynthia Murrell, May 31, 2012

Sponsored by PolySpot

The Semantic Knowledge Tropes Is No Longer a Commercial Product

2012-05-24T22:54:00Z

The current version of Semantic Knowledge’s Troupe is now available for Download at no cost. This useful tool has been benefiting business for over a decade and has yet to outlive its usefulness.

Semantic-Knowledge has been in business since 1994 providing business consumers with the means to increase ROI with simplified Natural Language Processing software including; Semantic Search Engine, Text Analysis, Intelligent Desktop Search, Text Mining and Classification systems.

Tropes will perform different types of text analyses but the overall purpose is to assign, to analyze and to examine text. A basic summery of the program is:

“Content analysis consists in revealing the framework of a text, i.e. its meaning. This necessarily implies two things. First, there must be a theoretical conception of the text: this must describe both the textual organization of the things that are said and the structural organization of the thought-processes of the people who say them. Secondly, it implies the use of a tool derived from this theoretical conception and rigorously excludes the subjectivity of the investigator, at least until the analysis is finished.”

Tropes offer’s considerable time savings and enhances strategic data. Therefore it can help businesses to yield an exceptional Return On Investments (ROI). Since Tropes is no longer a commercial product, now users can experiment with this text based programming without the cost incurred during its initial release.

Jennifer Shockley, May 31, 2012

Sponsored by PolySpot

Lexalytics Uses Text Analytics to Find the Most Popular Superhero

2012-05-24T22:54:57Z

The LexaBlog recently posted some interesting information about popular superheroes in the article “The Avengers: Most Popular Superhero?”

According to the article, writer Seth Redmore analyzed 330,000 tweets regarding the new Avengers superhero movie by sending out query topics on the main characters as well as the actors playing them.

Redmore breaks the information down for us with several charts showing the most to least popular characters as well as the most to least popular themes as well as hash-tags.

When discussing his process, Redmore states:

“This actually does a good job of showing why I wanted to create query topics for the superheroes. Many of their names come out looking more like themes than like proper “names”. Many of these themes aren’t particularly useful, so, I excluded a bunch of them when I was doing other sorts of analysis. Next, I decided to see what themes were most commonly associated with each of said superheroes. As I said before, I pulled out things like “watching avengers” when I was doing this analysis, as it adds nothing in terms of what people were associating with this character/actor.”

How will this aid your business? Send us your ideas via the comments section of this blog.

Jasmine Ashton, May 31, 2012

Sponsored by PolySpot

The Semantic Sector. More Crowded Than a NY Subway

2012-05-24T22:49:26Z

Yet another provider has moved into the semantic search house according to Ontology launches OSS/BSS intelligent semantic search app suite. This field is becoming more crowded than a frat house during a party where everyone invites a friend. With multiple companies creating their own search providers the market’s saturation is going to reach an all-time high.

Each company to join the party see’s their product as more innovative than the last and now:

“Ontology Systems the semantic-search provider for enterprise data alignment, announced Ontology Intelligent 360, a suite of apps that deliver enterprise views, dashboards and fully featured operational solutions using Ontology 3 semantic search technology. The applications include real-time, revenue-prioritized service impact notification, customer care, end-to-end multi-vendor/technology topology, and margin management and benefit users in network operations, customer care, finance, sales and marketing.”

It’s the same old song and dance we see with each new company offering a search provider services. The new Intelligent 360 has joined in the line dance by utilizing the most state-of-the-art semantic search technology. Just like everyone else, they plan to provide a single, accurate, enterprise-wide view of customers, services and networking assets.

Even a frat house has a maximum capacity limit and parties sometimes get busted for exceeding limitations. We have to wonder when this rapidly growing industry is going to reach full capacity. For now, it seems the semantic search sector is getting more crowded than the frat house party of the year.

Jennifer Shockley, May 30, 2012

Sponsored by PolySpot