Capgemini Renews Vows with Exalead
December 15, 2010
NMK reports that “Exalead and Capgemini Extend Global Partnership to Provide Innovative Search-Based Solutions.” Congratulations are in order for the happy couple as they set foot into the international market! Prior to going global, Exalead and Capgemini worked together in France to deliver SBA solutions to joint clients.
“The rapid increase in online data sources means that businesses in today’s 24/7 economy, need quicker, more user-friendly and flexible tools to interpret huge volumes of information. This new global partnership with Exalead means that Capgemini is expected to help companies worldwide in the reduction of costs, and drive innovation through increasing the value of their information with the use of an innovative Information Management solution.”
Exalead Cloudview and Capgemini give their clients an easy, reliable program that can both manage and interpret structured and unstructured data. All levels of office workers will benefit from this program.
Stephen E Arnold, December 16, 2010
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Google Explains Objectivity
December 15, 2010
Fast Company ran an interesting, but terse, article “Top Google Engineer.” The article addresses the issue of objectivity in Google search results. Some companies feel that Google is delivering less than objective search results. Here’s the passage that caught my attention:
“What we do at Google and what we’ve done for years is to not inject any subjectivity into these algorithms,” says Amit Singhal, Google Fellow and head of the company’s search quality, ranking, and algorithm team. “We didn’t want to introduce any bias into the mathematical modeling—our modeling is predicting, given a letter, what’s the probability of completion.”
Questions that crossed my mind upon reading the Fast Company article were:
- What is the role of hit boosting in the administrative components of the search algorithms?
- What administrative (human or algorithmic) interactions take place for results from large advertisers, partners, or internal Google units; for example, Google Apps or Google Local special advertising offers?
- What “supervisor” or “library look up” functions operate to place certain content in certain regions of a display page; for example, ads at the top and the side of a page or in other displays such as video?
- What is the numerical recipe for filling the various containers on a custom Google page; for example, Google.com/ig? Are humans involved in setting or tweaking threshold settings for page displays?
I understand the point about algorithms. I am curious about the supervisory functions performed by other algorithms and the Google engineers responsible for certain operations. I don’t have the answers to these questions, and I don’t think the recent articles about search result objectivity shine much light into the dark corners of search and page display administration (particularly the role of human engineers), and code “janitors” ( a term used in a Google patent document), and supervisory operations for results page assembly.
Stephen E Arnold, December 15, 2010
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Yahoo and a Not So Merry Holiday
December 15, 2010
I am burned out on Yahoo. I did my first Yahoo analysis in 2002, and the company bored me then. I found the Semel and Yang escapades amusing. I even perked up when the Yahooligans made a commitment to search and then generated results for my test queries that left me baffled. Even the new US Department of Treasury search system looks good when compared to Yahoo’s results. For a test, open a new browser window, click on the shopping tab, and do a search for “Angel perfume.” You don’t need the quotes. Here are the first two results. Remember. I want to buy a bottle of perfume.
The hit under the pictures has this headline: “Angel Perfume Is Dangerous.” Click on the link. I get a weird animated page with the title “Clarins and Thierry Mugler Acknowledges that Angel Perfume Is Dangerous.” Great information if I were doing this search on a general Web index: “’Angel perfume danger.” I am not. I want to buy perfume.
This is an example of Yahoo’s search. I hope the Yahoo ad sales people don’t pitch the Angel perfume account. This query is not what I expected. I want to buy the perfume, not learn that it, like any similar substance, will burn or kill me if I drink it. Buy is the operative concept. Run the query on Google Shopping and you get links to buy perfume. The Math Club gets it right. The Yahooligans do not.
“Yahoo Still Silent On Today’s Layoffs, But Employees Vent” did not amuse me. In fact, it forced me think about the trajectory of online services companies. When money is flowing, there is no investment in managing the business. When times get tough, management becomes a tough problem. In fact, some online companies may be unmanageable. Google’s solution is to manage by controlled chaos. After more than a decade of “controlled chaos,” Google is starting to show some signs of strain. I mean two operating systems plus the Google infrastructure, the Buzz thing, the Wave thing, the hassle with every offended Street View weak sister, et al.
Here’s the killer quote from the TechCrunch article cited above:
The atmosphere here has never been worse.
That will keep the blue chip folks busy. Will Yahoo survive? Will a white knight ride to rescue the Yahooligans? Will AOL cut a deal that makes 1 + 1 = 3?
Not sure. What is clear to me is that first AOL lost its way, now Yahoo. The question is, “Which big online outfit is next?”
Stephen E Arnold, December 15, 2010
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Xoogler Predicts the Future of Chrome
December 14, 2010
Quite a bomb shell in “Gmail Creator Paul Buchheit: Chrome OS Will Perish or Merge with Android.” I don’t know if the prediction will come true, but the notion of two separate operating systems struck me as very expensive and quite confusing. Mr. Buchheit was Mr. Gmail. He then became Mr. Facebook. Now he is Mr. Banker. Xooglers are adaptable. A Xoogler even runs AOL, and that is a fascinating operation to monitor.
But back to the Android Chrome prediction. In my opinion, the key passage in the write up was not the killer tweet; it was:
Google to date has posited that Android and Chrome OS, its two operating systems, address different markets that will remain distinct despite the growing convergence of the devices they run on (netbooks, tablets, smartphones). Google co-founder Sergey Brin, however, has stated in the past that Google will likely “produce a single OS down the road”. Ironically, the key architect of the Chrome OS project, Matthew Papakipos, left Google over the Summer — for a job at Facebook, Paul Buchheit’s most recent former employer.
What will happen? I have learned that predicting Google’s activities to be a difficult challenge for even the most astute prognosticators. I confine my predictions to big fuzzy observations that are never really right or wrong. Quite a goosely skill I might add.
Observations about Android and Chrome are in order:
- Two of anything offers more choice, but it also means that in a Math Club environment one will have a higher score and, therefore, be more relevant. In short, two generates a list. The winner is the item with the most “votes”. No subjectivity involved. Google is not into subjective search results.
- Developers who pick the wrong horse are losers. Now I know the theory that Google code works like a champ on anything Google. Well, yes and no. Chrome is a cloud thing and Android is more of a gizmo thing at this time. I sure wouldn’t want to be the developer who backed the wrong horse. Maybe that unified, locked down Apple approach has some charm.
- Users are not likely to know an Android from a Chrome. The whole Google-is-into-hardware baffles me as well. Apple may end up looking pretty good. Even though the iPad and the iPhone are two different gizmos which means hassles for developers, the look and feel of the iPad and the iPhone is pretty similar. Users probably want consistency and sizzle more than detailed information about the operating system.
In short, Google threw out two “innovations.” Google now has to find a way to deal with the opportunities and downside of moving forward in a way that generates substantive revenue. Meanwhile, little old Apple just keeps cranking out gizmos people want and can use without knowing much, if anything, about the plumbing. User experience maybe?
Stephen E Arnold, December 15, 2010
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Blekko Bared
December 14, 2010
If you want to know about Web search engine Blekko, you will find “The Secrets Behind Blekko’s Search Technology” interesting. If I read the article correctly, Blekko built on the “Google legacy.” The idea is that Google got some things right and other things no so right. Blekko has figured out how to use “swarm” methods to obviate the need for the throughput choking approach of Google.
One of the most interesting passages in the write up from my point of view was this one:
This led them to the radical step of building an entirely decentralized architecture, with no masters, slaves or indeed any servers with special roles.
There are other interesting points in the article. However, for me the key message was that Google is now saddled with less-than-modern methods. Whether Blekko knocks Google off its lofty perch is irrelevant. The next generation of Web search systems will continue to push forward.
Poor Google now its hugely expensive infrastructure is, if Blekko is correct, starting to show signs of wrinkles and gray hair. Google now has many irons in the fire and brute force search is still the one trick money maker.
Challenges ahead as 20 sometimes build on Google’s legacy.
Stephen E Arnold, December 14, 2010
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IBM OmniFind Affordable?
December 14, 2010
The Search and Findability blog recently published OmniFind Enterprise Edition 9.1 – new capabilities discussed over breakfast, heralding the achievements of the latest version of IBM’s search platform. According to the post, “Apart from a large number of improvements in the interface, the change to basing the new solution on open source (Lucene) has proven to be a genius by-pass of some of OmniFinds previous shortcomings.” New features including but certainly not limited to type ahead, faceted search, search within results are discussed in sufficient detail.
The author does mention a lingering issue, the licensing model, and cites an August Beyond Search post by Stephen E. Arnold detailing just that. Then the topic fades as rapidly as it was euphemistically glossed over. For all the remodeling of the search platform’s capabilities, there still seems to be no real adjustments to the IBM pricing model revolving around a la carte type fees and license connectors. What about customer support and API potential?
More than once it is stated that the new features make OmniFind 9.1 worth taking a look at. If IBM still hasn’t offered any concrete affordability or support solutions, is that true?
Sarah Rogers, December 14, 2010
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Facebook and Its Facebook Nation
December 14, 2010
I found the “World Map of Social Networks Shows Facebook’s Ever Increasing Dominance” startling. I am not a Facebook denizen. If you poke around, you can locate a Beyond Search Facebook page which a software robot maintains. But the map is an eye opener. I suppose this is what was behind Microsoft’s alleged buy out offer for Facebook a couple of years ago. There’s not much to say about a map, but there are several data tables and these are revelatory. Facebook is number one in a selected list of nine countries. Russia is Facebook resistant which is no big surprise. Google may want to get on its scooter to get in this Facebook game. If the data in the tables are accurate, LinkedIn might be a potential target for Google or Microsoft.
Stephen E Arnold, December 14, 2010
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Exclusive Interview with Kapow Software Founder
December 14, 2010
Our sister information service, Search Wizards Speak, published an exclusive interview with Stefan Andreasen, the founder of Kapow Software. You can read the full text of the discussion on the ArnoldIT.com Web site.
Kapow is a fast-growing company. The firm offers tools and services for what is called data integration. Other ways to characterize the firm’s impressive technology include data fusion, mashups, ETL (jargon for extracting, transforming and loading data from one system to another), and file conversion and slicing and dicing. The technology works within a browser and can mobile enable any application, integrated cloud applications, and migrate content from a source to another system.
In the interview, Mr. Andreasen said about the spark for the company:
As soon as we started building the foundational technology at Kapow.net in Denmark, I knew we were on to something special that had broad applicability far beyond that company. For one, the Web was evolving rapidly from an information-hub to a transaction-hub where businesses required the need to consolidate and automate millions of cross-application transactions in a scalable way. Also, Fortune 1000 companies were then and, as you know, even more so today, turning to outsourced consultants and hoards of manual workers to do the work that this innovation could do instantly.
On the subject of car manufacturer Audi’s use of the Kapow technology, he added:
In one user case, Audi, the automobile manufacturer, was able to eliminate dependencies, streamline their engineering process, and minimize the time-to-market on their new A8 model. Audi employs Katalyst to integrate data for their state of the art navigation system, called MMI, which combines Google Earth with real-time data about weather, gas prices, and other travel information, customizing the driver’s real-time experience according to their location and taste preferences. In developing the navigation system, Audi had relied on application providers to write custom real-time APIs compatible with the new Audi system. After months of waiting for the APIs and just two weeks away from the car launch date, Audi sought Kapow’s assistance. Katalyst was able to solve their problem quickly, wrapping their data providers’ current web applications into custom APIs and enabling Audi to meet their target launch date. By employing Kapow, Audi is now able to quickly launch the car in regional markets because Katalyst enables the Audi engineers to easily change and integrate new data sources for each market, in weeks rather than months.
For more information about Kapow, navigate to www.kapowsoftware.com. The full text of the interview is at http://www.arnoldit.com/search-wizards-speak/kapow.html.
Kenneth Toth, December 14, 2010
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A Google Goof in Android Online Payments?
December 14, 2010
Yet another Google Goof or YAGG? Maybe.
I don’t use an Android phone. I have one. I don’t use the Android online store. I visited it once. I don’t use an iPhone. I visited the App Store and found it too much like a 1950s Warner Brothers cartoon. So, I am not in a position to comment about the features, functionality, or search systems in these stores.
I am able to read. I just worked through “Google’s Checkout ‘Failure’ Now a Big Problem for Android” and was surprised to learn that Google has a lousy payments platform for the Android. With 300,000 Android phones activating every time the sun rises, I was surprised.
Here’s one of the passages that caught my attention:
Most Android users, including me, just don’t buy apps. This stands in marked contrast to the culture of paid apps over at Apple or RIM. One of the fundamental reasons for this is the lack of Checkout adoption. If Checkout were widely penetrated among consumers, as iTunes is, there would be less friction in trying to buy apps. Other systems are being tried, including carrier billing in some cases. And now Rovio, maker of the wildly popular game Angry Birds, has vowed to develop an in-app carrier-billing payment system that bypasses Checkout. This is reportedly based on frustration over the limitations of Android billing. The company will also let third parties use the system as well.
The article asserts that Google may have to buy a company to get what it needs.
The questions that occurred to me were:
- Isn’t Google racking up a string of product disappointments?
- How much social capital does Google have? If problems persist, won’t that capital be depleted more quickly than it can be accrued?
- Will developers and customers just go some place else?
I don’t know much about Angry Birds. I do know about Angry Humans. At what point will pundits and poobahs assert that Google is broken when it attempts anything other than online search and ad injection?
Stephen E Arnold, December 14, 2010
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A Clear Video from Lucid Imagination
December 13, 2010
Lucid Imagination has posted a video on their blog: “Solr Tuning Tips From Sourcesense.” It’s eighteen minutes of pure Solr excitement! Gustavo Fernades, Senior Open Source Consultant at Sourcesense UK, gives a rousing discussion about “six Solr tuning tips that can help significantly reduce query times in large-scale and near real time search environments. He covers adding memory, auto warming, application profiling, FieldValueCache, JVM and garbage collection, and using maxWarmingSearchers.”
When you watch the video, it helps to have a working knowledge of Solr to understand how to integrate into your program. Apache Lucene created Solr as an open source search platform. Its main features are dynamic clustering, database integration, full-text search, and hit highlighting.
Stephen E Arnold, December 13, 2010
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