Google vs Alpha: A Phantom Faceoff
May 6, 2009
Technology Review had an opportunity to put Google Public Data (not yet available) and Wolfram Alpha (not yet available) to the test. The expert crafting the queries and reporting the results of the phantom face off was David Talbot. You can read his multipart analysis here:
I found the screenshots interesting. The analysis, however, did not answer the questions that I had about the two services; for example:
- How will these services identify sources with “credibility” scores? I have heard that Google calculates these types of values, and I assume that Wolfram Alpha will want to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets as I try to do in this human written Web log
- What is the scope of the data sets in these two “demo” or trial systems? I know first hand how difficult it is to get some data in their current form for on the fly analyses. There are often quite a few data sets in the wild. The question is which ones are normalized and included and which ones are not? Small data sets can lead to interesting consequences for “the decider”.
- What is the freshness of the data; that is, how often are the indexes refreshed? Charts can be flashy but if the information is not fresh, the value can be affected.
Technology Review is trying to cover search and that’s good. Summarizing sample queries is interesting. Answering the questions that matter is much more difficult even for Technology Review.
Stephen Arnold, May 6, 2009
IBM and Data Mashups
May 6, 2009
Google Public Data and Wolfram Alpha. Dozens of business intelligence vendors like Business Objects and Clarabridge. Content processing systems like Connotate and Northern Light. And now IBM. These companies and IBM want to grab a piece of the data transformation, analysis, and mashup business. In the pre crash days, MBAs normalized data, figured out what these MBA brainiacs thought were valid relationships, and created snazzy charts and graphs. In the post crash era, smart software is supposed to be able to do this MBA-type work without the human MBAs. IBM, already owners of Web Fountain and other data crunching tools, bought Exeros, a privately held maker of computer programs that help companies analyze data across corporate databases. You can read one take on the story here.
If you want more information about Exeros, explore these links:
- The official news release here
- The architecture for transformation and other methods here
- Data validation block diagram here.
How does Exeros differ from what’s available from other vendors? Easy. Exeros has enterprise partners and customers plus some nifty technology.
What I find interesting is that IBM pumps big bucks into its labs, allows engineers to invent data transformation systems and methods, and then has to look outside for a ready-to-sell bundle of products and services. Does this suggest that IBM would get better return on its money by focusing on acquisitions, and scaling back its R&D?
Will this acquisition allow IBM to leap frog Google? Maybe, but I don’t think so. Google has had some of IBM Almaden wizards laboring in the Googleplex along with other “transformation” experts. Google is edging toward this enterprise opportunity with some exciting technology which I describe in Google: The Digital Gutenberg here. IBM thinks a market opportunity exists, and it is willing to invest to have a chance to increase its share.
Stephen Arnold, May 6, 2009
SharePoint Overview
May 6, 2009
Barb Mosher wrote “SharePoint Online (SaaS) Review – What It Is and Isn’t.” You can find the full write up published by CMS Wire here. Ms. Mosher has done a very good job of explaining the Software as a Service implementation of SharePoint. She walks through the basics and provides some screenshots. She has done what she could to make these screenshots easy to follow, but I find the steps for some basic tasks convoluted. Addled geese are not good candidates for SharePoint wisdom, I suspect. The most useful part of the article is her description and lists of what is included and what is not included. With regards to search, it seemed that only the bare bones of queries within a site are supported. I have questions about the stability of SharePoint from the cloud, which she did not address. Latency also triggers questions in my mind. Useful information to download and keep close at hand.
Stephen Arnold, May 6, 2009
Google and Its Secret
May 6, 2009
I read an interesting article by Tom Foremski who wrote “GOOG’s Dirty Little Secret” for ZDNet. You can read the write up here. Mr. Foremski asserted that Google is in efficient creator of ad value. For me the most interesting remark was:
Google makes for an easy target but it is a figurehead for a much bigger problem. It’s not just Google that has a a poor value recovery mechanism for content — the entire Internet has a horrendously poor value recovery mechanism for content. I’d love to see lots of Google’s top engineers working on this problem. The reason we don’t is that this is a far tougher problem than search. And it is surprising that Google’s top engineers aren’t working on this problem. Because if media companies fail, there will be a lot less content. That means a lot less search. What’s the point for searching if there is little new on the web? Whoever creates or discovers a more efficient value recovery mechanism for content will have solved the single most important problem facing the future of the Internet.
When I read this passage, I asked myself, “Is this Google’s problem?” Google is one example how clever people can rethink an information problem. Traditional publishing and media packaged content and pumped up value. Think about the $20 CD music disc, the wacky packaging, and the silly art work. Information in electronic form deconstructs certain business models. Value now comes from different factors. In some ways, Google has solved this problem and efficiently.
Stephen Arnold, May 6, 2009
Microsoft and Spain: Open Source Challenge
May 6, 2009
I saw an interesting write up in Open … called “The Shame in Spain” here. I don’t know much about Spain, so you may have a different view of how software sales work in that country. According to the Open … article, Microsoft has made significant progress in halting the use of open source software in that country. The Web log reported:
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s government is finalizing a plan that would supply all children who attend state schools with personal computers with touch-screens so to “promote awareness within families of the usefulness of information and communication technologies and encourage their use.” Specifically, we’re talking about Microsoft technologies.
The Web log asserted:
This is really scandalous on so many levels. It’s clearly born of ignorance about what is really being offered – lock-in to Microsoft’s systems – in the naive belief that touch-screens are somehow the future, probably just because the iPhone has one. It is born of arrogance that the government knows better, and therefore needn’t consult with others that might have a view or – heaven forfend [sic] – knowledge on the subject. And it’s born of sheer stupidity, throwing away the huge lead that Spain had in this area, forcing local governments that had saved money by opting for GNU/Linux to waste money on an unnecessary and doubtless insecure solution from Microsoft, and as a result making the country dependent on a foreign supplier when it could have nurtured its own domestic software industry.
Assume this has some truth in these statements. When one thinks about enterprise search, Microsoft has a number of options to exercise as it works to build the uptake for the Fast Search ESP system:
First, Microsoft can offer a Windows 7 type of one year free to use trial. This could have the effect of putting other vendors on ice until users decide to license Fast ESP or seek a third party solution.
Second, Microsoft can bundle Fast ESP with SharePoint. I have heard there are 199 million licenses at this time with more coming on line each week. This tactic would have a significant impact on the big vendors like Google as well as the smaller Certified Partners who thrive because Microsoft allows SharePoint customers to use approved solutions.
Third, Microsoft can cut the cost of an enterprise system like Fast ESP. This tactic could spark an old fashioned price war. Only competitors with deep pockets and appetite for this type of marketing battle would be likely to survive. Today’s economic climate may make it difficult for smaller firms to get much-needed financing to stay alive.
I think the Spain case is an interesting one. As it unfolds, there may be some hints about Microsoft’s broader enterprise search strategy.
Stephen Arnold, May 6, 2009
Tweepz: Twitter People Finder from Exalead
May 6, 2009
Exalead is riding the Twitter train. Exalead, http://www.exalead.com, a
leader of search-based business application solutions and information
access in the enterprise and on the web, has created an engine that
searches accounts at Twitter, a free social messaging utility that’s hot
right now. Tweepz, http://www.tweepz.com, has crawled 3,913,354 accounts
as of May 4, 2009.
A spokesperson for Exalead told Beyond Search:
The main reason the company supported Tweepz was that it was extremely difficult to find people on twitter. The power of Tweepz is that it enables you to find people by their biography, location and name. This can be of help when you are looking for people to follow, want to get in contact with somebody from a specific company etc. Twitter does not provide this functionality right now.
Beyond Search learned that improvements are planned; for example:
- Index people homepage as well, making it possible to find people based on the content of their Web page
- Provide a way to get personal recommendations on people which you
might want to follow - Keep track of the subjects that individuals are talking about on
Twitter
The current service returns results by by account (title, name, description, location, Web site, etc.), and there are sorting and search refine suggestions too.
Since Twitter is all about following people, this engine could be gold for those looking to connect to others with similar interests/business. One nice little whistle on the Tweepz train? RSS your results as a feed for continuous updates. Exalead is chugging ahead of the pack with this project. Tweet @tweepz for more info.
Jessica Bratcher, May 6, 2009
Google String to Display Some Web Page Date Info
May 5, 2009
Short honk: Great tip for displaying when a Web page was published before viewing the Web page. Navigate to Lifehacker here for details on how to use the string &as_qdr=y15. Good find.
Stephen Arnold, May 5, 2009
Atwitter over Twitter
May 5, 2009
I stepped off an airplane and faced a large number of Twitter acquisition rumors. I flipped through 15, maybe 20, and concluded that there is thin ice despite the heat generated by speculation. The one write up that resonated with me was Henry McCracken’s “Twapple? Let’s Recap a Dozen Other Apple Acquisitions That Aren’t Going to Happen.” Mr. McCracken wrote:
People love to talk about Apple buying other famous companies. Sometimes they say that deals are in the works (although I wonder if any of the rumored transactions even reached the talking-it-over stage). Other times, they just wistfully hope that a deal might happen, or wonder what would transpire if it did.
Spot on.
I believe that those with dough are making pilgrimages to the Twitter shrine. I believe that the deal climate is improving. I think that the buzz about Twitter has been increasing. Twittter has been the one outfit to make real gains in the Golden Age of Google. Twitter represents hope, not a season winning effort.
Without more facts, the conversation is similar to water cooler chatter before the NCAA tournament pairings are announced.
Stephen Arnold, May 5, 2009
Scholarly Research Shocker
May 5, 2009
Short honk: Don’t read this post if you are offended by strong language. The authors are answering the question “What Is The Best Search Engine For Scientific Journals?” The winner is Google Scholar. The loser. Ebsco. In between some names that are familiar. In my opinion the days of the commercial database are likely with a whimper or a bang.
Stephen Arnold, May 4, 2009
Ebook Wariness
May 5, 2009
Short honk: Technews World ran an interesting article about books that are not available in digital form. You can find “The E-Book Library’s Conspicuously Absent Volumes” here. Hillel Italie included a number of examples of authors, publishers, and estates wary of jumping into the digital zeros and ones.
Stephen Arnold, May 3, 2009
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