Twitter and Iran Coverage
June 16, 2009
Despite the yip yap about the future of Twitter and its general uselessness, the little service that could provided some information about the hoe down in Iran. Seems to me that traditional media faced some challenges, so those with knowledge of Twitter were able to send out news bullets in 140 character packets. Useful that. You can read the CBC’s take on the Tweets in its June 15 story “Twitter Emerges as News source during Iran Media Crackdown”. For me the most interesting comment in the report was:
Citizenlab, which runs out of the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies, is one of many groups making software available that allows citizens in Iran to sign on to a server that gives them secure access to web pages anywhere, bypassing government restrictions. The software, PsiPhon, has been made available for Twitter users, as the social messaging tool has taken centre stage as a source of news from Iran since Saturday.
Is the information as “good” as that available from Fox News or the estimable CNN? I don’t know. But I much prefer seeing a stream and making my own decisions about what seems to cooking. I sure couldn’t locate timely info on the mainstream media sites. Twitter may not be the top rated news site in the pantheon of info giants, but I think it was useful and showed its potential.
Stephen Arnold, June 16, 2009
IBM Equals Cost and Complexity
June 16, 2009
I had heard that this PR push was coming. That’s the reason I posted the story detailing the steps required to connect OmniFind to other IBM software. If you don’t recall that post and the eight Web pages of technical procedures and code snippets, you can read “Teaching IBM OmniFind to Index IBM’s Portal Document Manager Content” or my other Web log posts about IBM’s technology.
The New York Times’s “IBM. to Help Clients Fight Cost and Complexity” is a Big Bertha information blast, and I was delighted to see the story getting such strong pick up and play. Disinformation is a wonderful thing in the opinion of the addled goose.
The story, by Steve Lohr, stated:
In the cloud market, I.B.M. plans to take a tailored approach. The hardware and software in its cloud offerings will be meant for specific computing chores. Just as Google runs a computing cloud optimized for Internet search, I.B.M. will make bespoke clouds for computing workloads in business. Its early cloud entries, to be announced on Monday, follow that model. One set of offerings is focused on streamlining the technology used by corporate software developers and testers, which can consume 30 percent or more of a company’s technology resources.
Mr. Lohr concluded:
I.B.M.’s cloud strategy, the company said, is the culmination of 100 prototype projects with companies and government agencies over the last year, and its research partnership with Google. “The information technology infrastructure is under stress already, and the data flood is just accelerating,” said Samuel J. Palmisano, I.B.M.’s chief executive. “We’ve decided that how you solve that starts by organizing technology around the workload.”
Several comments:
- Nary a mention of IBM’s previous cloud initiatives. I was hoping to read about the IBM Internet dial up service or the grid system that I learned about from a person in West Virginia (definitely a hot bed of massively parallel computing). I was hoping for a reference to the early cloud system used inside IBM for its own technical information center. No joy.
- Complexity is not reduced with cloud computing. If anything, data interchange and access becomes more complex, particularly if the IBM customer has other hosted services plus a vegetable medley of mainframes, mid range, and client server IBM gear. Hooking this stuff up and reducing latency without using the equivalent of the GNP of Switzerland perhaps should have warranted a comment?
- IBM is a trend surfer. It is becoming more and more dependent on engineering and professional services. I was looking for a comment, maybe a hint of doubt that the IBM cloud push would assist companies now, not at some vague time in the near future.
Will IBM run a full page ad about its new cloud services in the newspaper? I don’t know, but I will be looking for one. An ad will be a nice complement to the story I just read. Just my opinion, Big Blue and Gray Lady. Just my opinion.
Stephen Arnold, June 16, 2009
Koogle: Vertical Search Engine
June 16, 2009
Short honk: Extreme Tech reported a vertical search engine called Koogle. Developed in Israel, the system has been designed for orthodox Jews. Details appear in “Devout Jews Launch Kosher Search Engine”. The story reported:
The site, at www.koogle.co.il, omits religiously objectionable material, such as most photographs of women which Orthodox rabbis view as immodest, Altman [company executive] said. Its links to Israeli news and shopping sites also filter out items most ultra-Orthodox Israelis are forbidden by rabbis to have in their homes, such a television sets.
More information will be posted when it comes to me.
Stephen Arnold, June 16, 2009
Intel and the Cloud. Wow.
June 16, 2009
Please, read Dave Asprey’s “What Intel Can Teach Google about the Cloud.” I was surprised. Mr. Asprey wrote:
But these cloud compute providers, liberated from the shackles of Moore’s law, can’t grow network speeds as quickly as they can add servers, creating exactly the same problem that CPU vendors faced when their CPUs grew faster than the system bus. It’s getting worse, too — according to the lesser-known Nielsen’s Law, Internet bandwidth grows at an annual rate of 50 percent, compared with compute capacity, which grows at 60 percent, meaning that over a 10-year time period, computer power grows 100X, but bandwidth grows at 57X. Ouch. So what did Intel and AMD do when faced with the same problem? They looked for a fix they could apply quickly. The quick fix was to add a cache to the processor, which allowed the CPU to run at full speed and store results in temporary memory until they could move across the slower system bus. It also allowed them to keep selling faster processors while they tackled the longer-term project of improving standards for bus speeds.
Three comments:
- Intel tried a cloud play with some expensive data centers and a deal with Convera. Intel demonstrated that it could not deliver.
- Physics is indeed the problem for servers. The Google is dabbling in a range of interesting engineering to compensate for those issues. Caching is one solution, not the only solution. On CPU caches can introduce latency and on die data to’ing and fro’ing reduces some fancy multicore gizmos to piggies.
- Look at the approach of Perfect Search in Orem, Utah. Mr. Asprey’s assessment does not apply to that firm’s engineering approach. Big oversight in my opinion.
Stephen Arnold, June 15, 2000
Semi Social Collaboration Wins Some Fans
June 16, 2009
Wikipedia is a useful service. There is some disinformation in its listings, but I find it helpful for certain types of information. The US government looked upon Wikipedia and realized that the same approach might have utility for the intelligence community. Thus was born Intellipedia. A news story that appeared on one of my Google centric tools pointed me to this story: “CIA Adopting Web 2.0 Tools Despite Resistance”. For me, the operative words were “some resistance”.
I am writing this in Washington after a couple of meetings that reminded me that silos exist and still being constructed.
The notion of a semi collaborative system has utility. I can’t provide details of my meetings or the parties involved, but I can say, “Silos big and small remain.” Some military social events just aren’t like a frat party or a neighborhood BBQ. Probably never will be and probably a good thing.
Stephen Arnold, June 16, 2009
Nonprofit Research and the Associated Press
June 15, 2009
I am in the middle of an Illinois cornfield. I have just scanned a short item in Slashdot that points to information that seems to suggest a new twist for the AP. The Associated Press, walking close to a stream of red ink, will distribute information from a handful of non profit outfits. I urge you to read the Slashdot post and the full story, which I will do when I am back to the civilized world of Harrod’s Creek. Illinois makes me nervous. Here’s why I find this interesting:
- Non profit outfits often have an agenda. That agenda influences their reports, news releases, and activities with certain thought leaders. Outsiders may have a tough time figuring out what’s “objective” in my opinion.
- A non profit may be in the lobbying business, and as a result, the agendas are, shall we say, fluid. Distribution of microchanges will be confusing to some folks who expect a more predictable approach to what’s important.
- Non profits are subject to those who provide big infusions of cash. Distributing information from sponsored activities extends the impact of the non profit and its agenda with little opportunity for different voices to be heard when the message goes out.
With this decision, the AP seems, in my opinion, to be undergoing a significant change. It’s too early for me to determine if the change will be substantive, negative, or positive. I think non profits will jump at the chance to use the AP as a branded RSS feed in real time.
Stephen Arnold, June 15, 2009
The Half Life of Online Info and Services
June 15, 2009
You have a chunk of radioactive material. With each tick of a clock, the chunk loses some of its radioactivity. Some chunks are dead in the blink of an eye (less if you are unlucky enough to have the wrong chunk around for a second or two) or maybe centuries. The idea is that the chunk goes dead. Those who worry about radioactive decay think in terms of half life; that is, how long for the chunk to lose half its punch.
I am working on a new study which should be wrapped up before the end of summer. One idea I have been exploring is the half life of online information. Time is important to value and time is expensive to manage. The cost of some computer systems is gated by one’s definition of “acceptable time”. An example is an index refresh. It’s cheaper to update an index once a month via a batch process than deal with Twitter’s Tweets in near real time.
I enjoyed “MySpace Problems May Spread to Facebook, Twitter” by Anthony Massucci. He has hit on one of my study’s findings, and this gives me an opportunity to comment, following my no news policy for this free Web log. He began the story with the key idea:
As Facebook and Twitter watch what’s happening at MySpace, they should be worried and heed the warning of potential problems to come. Social-networking sites grow like weeds and, well, die like weeds too.
Yep, dead on. He continued:
As exciting as it must be for these executives to be working at these companies as they grow quickly, there’s cause for concern. Grow too fast and the costs can’t be contained. Grow slowly and you are in danger of becoming irrelevant. Take a buyout and you likely lose control. Decline buyout attempts and take the risk that there won’t be enough money or revenue to help sustain future demands.
Well said. Let me add several observations:
- The decreasing half life has significant implications for investors, users, and technology companies. The reward for fielding a success is not going to be sustainable. In effect, the rapid degradation releases more particles that can be recombined or can, acting in unexpected ways, kill other things, probably companies in adjacent businesses. Like a radiation victim, the illness looks like one thing, but it quite another. A diagnose and remedy are often tough to deliver in the time the victim has left. Scary thought in today’s lousy financial climate.
- The recombination of particles such as programming languages, methods, and user needs can produce one of those artificially fertile Petri dishes that puzzle first year biology students. if something wild and crazy emerges, that could overrun one’s lab mate’s Petri dish, spoiling a well planned, predictable exercise book project. Wasted time for sure.
- The ecosystem in which rapid decay takes place may be altered and quickly. Mt Etna goes boom and lots of changes took place quickly. Lots of scrambling obviously. Disruptive. Maybe that’s not a sufficiently strong word.
Just my opinion. The half life is a big deal in electronic information. More on this topic in my new study. “Wave” at the parade of innovations. Then pick the right “wave” to surf.
Stephen Arnold, June 15, 2009
Microsoft Bings Enterprise Maps
June 15, 2009
Google Earth, the destroyer of traditional enterprise geographic methods, may get binged. If you have not taken a close look at Bing Maps, today’s the day. Navigate to http://www.microsoft.com/maps, and enjoy. The branding is wacky, but the service looks quite interesting. Microsoft said:
Bing Maps for Enterprise is an integrated set of services that provides quality geospatial data, rich imagery, cutting-edge technology, and dependable performance that helps organizations visualize data and provide immersive end-user experiences. Bing Maps for Enterprise, now supported by both the Bing Map Control and the new Bing Maps Web Services, offers new map detail, feature enhancements, and robust platform capabilities.
My thought is that Bing has to do some hurry up. The Google’s stealth enterprise Terminator has been maps. I visited a government agency and learned several years ago that “maps” meant Google. I expect that Bing maps will be available for a very reasonable price, maybe zero in certain accounts. I also think that those nervous about the scope of Google’s ambitions will find Microsoft the lesser of two members of the tech elite.
Microsoft is pushing its notion of immersive imagery. The renaming of basic services may be a brilliant marketing technique or it is more of the obfuscation of what’ a service does. Say immersive imagery and I think about games, not maps.
This is a dust up to watch for three reasons:
- Google and Microsoft may be forced to engage in a price war with “free” being the end game
- Google has a lead, so the marketing baloney will come faster and more enthusiastic
- Customers will find that making a map choice leads to lock in. Instead of openness, both companies’ vision is of a walled garden with a hefty entrance fee.
Excitement ahead. Which map will you choose to check the on ramp? What’s clear to me, the addled goose, is that search now means in part maps, map applications, and rich applications for a range of enterprise applications.
Stephen Arnold, June 15, 2009
Google, Microsoft, Yahoo Search Death Match
June 15, 2009
Well, not really “death” death. Ihar Mohaniok’s “Blind Search Engines Comparison on Real Queries” caught my attention. The youthful looking M. Mohaniok wrote:
Just in time for Bing launch, one of Microsoft engineers has built a “Blind search” engine, which allows to compare search results from Google, Yahoo! and Bing without branding (and without all helpers, like “universal” aka News/Video/Images, or spelling correction, unfortunately). The concept isn’t new, but I don’t know other public implementations.
Mr. Mohaniok summarized his tests. Bottom-line:
So, total count on difficult queries: 15 for Google, 1 for Yahoo!, 1 for Bing, 1 draw. If we include Yandex for Russian-language queries, it steals one win from Google.
Not a scientific test, but I find the results suggestive.
Stephen Arnold, June 15, 2009
Computer Scientists Gauge Attractiveness
June 15, 2009
You are working away in your dorm room at CalTech, Kansai Institute of Technology, or the Planck Institute, and it strikes you. An algorithm can determine whether you are cool, a babe magnet, a guy attractor, or just cool. Why let those who major in Economics or Art Appreciation or a cheerleadeer or football quarterback determine what’s in and what’s out in terms of the X factor. An algorithm not those odd popular people can do the job.
The dream, according to a Slashdot post with the title “Microsoft Seeking Hot or Not Patent”, is close to realization. According to the patent publication US20090150203:
Architecture for providing feedback to a viewer and/or contributor on fashion and other personal appearance decisions that the contributor desires. The contributor uploads self images for viewing and rating (or voting) by viewers who choose provide an opinion on different fashion and/or cosmetic looks of the contributor. The contributor takes images show the contributor presented with a number (e.g., two) of different fashion choices. The snapshots can then be processed for upload to a website or other accessible location by one or more viewers. The viewers can cast a vote for one of the images by selecting the desired image, in response to which the viewer and/or contributor will be presented with overall statistics for that set of images as to how other viewers voted, as well as a next set of photos depicting the user in a different fashion and/or cosmetic choice. This process can continue until terminated.
Organizations in the business of judging sex appeal may need to find their future elsewhere. Microsoft’s engineers may be able to peg your animal appeal. I wonder how the method works on addled geese.
Stephen Arnold, June 14, 2009
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