Amazon and Its Fast Moving Cloud
January 3, 2011
Several years ago, I noted that Google’s technical papers described features and functions that were evident in Amazon’s actual services. At that moment, I realized the Google had lost its chance for a cloud utility play. Now the GOOG may come roaring back, but with the legal friction increasing, Amazon has some clean air through which to float its big, fast cumulus cloud. Sure, Rackspace is a competitor to Amazon, and every vendor is yammering about the cloud. But right now, the Amazon has a big PR push underway. Now, to be fair, the Amazon cloud generated a nasty storm with its hardware crash the other day. Not good.
That’s why the PR guns are firing. You can see two examples of “good news”. Navigate first to the “I love Amazon” sky writing from Netflix. “Why We Use and Contribute to Open Source Software” and “Netflix Touts Open Source, Ignores Linux.” Netflix, of course, is flying in the Amazon clouds. The other PR example is a bit of a downer for library types who expect books to be available. Point your browser thing at “Amazon Erases Certain Books on Kindle Due to Content.”
But despite the good and bad PR, Amazon managed to pull of an interesting and useful technical coup. “Announcing VM Import for Amazon EC2” said:
VM Import enables you to easily import virtual machine images from your existing environment to Amazon EC2 instances.
Useful for many applications. Crash recovery. I think so.
Net net: The others in the cloud race need to kick into a different gear. Google? A question, “Can you get that airplane aloft?” Storm clouds rushing in.
Stephen E Arnold, January 3, 2011
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New iPhone App Takes Down Language Barrier
January 3, 2011
¿Usted quiere oír la cosa más asombrosa nunca? ¿Habla usted español? ¿No?
Without Spanish language skills or time to correctly type this into an online translator, you may not realize I just asked if you wanted to hear about the most amazing thing ever. A new post on gizmag.com entitled World Lens app turns your phone into a real-time translator details what has just incited giddiness across the tech community: the latest in translation tools. Quest Visual has brought the future into the palm of our hands with its recently introduced “World Lens” for the iPhone, an application that uses your phone’s camera to “view printed words and translate them into another language as you watch.” You can expect modest photo editing options such as cropping and zoom, and what camera would not be complete without a flash? If that was not good enough, the process is near instantaneous while still maintaining the texts original color and font.
There are noted limitations. First, Spanish is the only language currently available. Don’t be too disappointed though as the programmers are working on others, promising to continue until they “get all the way across the globe.” Also, it is only compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 3Gs and the camera-equipped iPod Touch, so other users, including Android fans, are out of luck at this time. Finally, even Quest Visual recognizes that the translation will not always be exact; they do promise you will always walk away from the situation with the right idea.
I did notice a couple of reviews on the iTunes website stating that it was lame to give the application away for free only to turn around and charge five dollars for the plug-in languages (which is in fact the pricing model). Seriously? This novel instrument is straight out of a science-fiction novel, gadgetry many never expected to see in their lifetimes. We should be so lucky it only costs five dollars to own this incredible capability.
Sarah Rogers, January 3, 2011
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Simplexo Search
January 3, 2011
Short honk: I learned about Simplexo earlier this year. The company provides “optimized search for your mobile.” The company has a product that makes it possible for a user of Simplexo to search a desktop computer from a mobile device or a Web browser. Yahoo UK reported in “Simplexo Aims to Simplify Remote Desktop Searches”:
Simplexo said that the software could find emails in Outlook and Exchange Server, as well as documents in SharePoint, spreadsheets and database records, and can scour social networking applications such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
The service is to go live early in 2011. If you are interested in this type of product, navigate to this link and sign up.
Stephen E Arnold, January 3, 2011
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An Xoogler Looks Back at 2010
January 3, 2011
In “Reflecting on 2010: Searching for Answers” a former Endeca and Google (and current LinkedIn) employee, Daniel Tunkelang, gives his year-in-review. Some interesting notes about LinkedIn here, including that LinkedIn’s CEO sees his company as providing a Pandora-like service where job seekers can know instantly who has been promoted or left a given company and who they know there. Tunkelang also gives his opinion that Google should keep its relevance ranking secret, unlike Blekko, which is more upfront about its system. He states: “Now that web search is essentially a duopoly (at least in the US), I believe the real test of the value of transparency to users will be whether one of the two parties employs it as competitive differentiator.” It will be interesting to see where the other half of the duopoly (namely Bing) goes with transparency in 2011. Where’s my crystal ball?
Alice Wasielewski, January 3, 2011
Shocking Criticism of Google Search
January 3, 2011
Most folks tiptoe around the Google. Publishers with “real” journalists are careful to handle hot Google stories with “real” journalistic aplomb. Conference organizers cower when a speaker criticizes the Google. The hope may be that Google will exhibit or send a prepared speaker to talk on topic. Even azure chip consultants are wary. A job at Google would be a step into the Promised Land. No sense in putting one’s career in jeopardy.
Imagine my surprise when an academic took a tough stance toward Google and its present Web search system. You can read the full write up in “Why We Desperately Need a New (and Better) Google.” Here’s the key passage for me:
So I instructed my students to use Google searches to research each founder’s work history, by year, and to track him or her down in that way. But it turns out that you can’t easily do such searches in Google any more. Google has become a jungle: a tropical paradise for spammers and marketers. Almost every search takes you to websites that want you to click on links that make them money, or to sponsored sites that make Google money. There’s no way to do a meaningful chronological search. We ended up using instead a web-search tool called Blekko. It’s a new technology and is far from perfect; but it is innovative and fills the vacuum of competition with Google (and Bing).
Wow. Test queries. Human analysis. Findings that suggest lousy results.
The Beyond Search team monitors the Google closely. We find that Google is the most wonderfulest search engine in the world. But, hey, we are addled geese in rural Kentucky. Your mileage may vary.
Stephen E Arnold, January 2, 2011
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BitTorrent Top Searches in 2010
January 2, 2011
Short honk: I am not into BitTorrent. You may be like the goose. Or, you may not. Regardless of one’s affinity or lack of it, the list of the most searched words and phrases warrants a quick look. Navigate to “BitTorrent Zeitgeist: What People Searched For in 2010.” You can determine your “with it” score. Just tick off the referents you know. My score was a dismal 11 out of 100. Obviously 66 year olds are clueless about the content available on BitTorrent. Those with a more agile life outlook may find the list either thrilling or disheartening. What is a “hot tub time machine.” See what I mean. The phrase is number 100 on the list. Number 1: Inception. Go figure.
Stephen E Arnold, January 2, 2010
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Why I Love SAP?
January 2, 2011
It is 15 degrees Fahrenheit and snow is falling. Most American findability experts are in shut down mode. The weight of a lousy 2010 press the information retrieval wizards into quiet, hunched shapes. The countdown to the holiday season is underway.
What do I receive from SAP, an outfit that just admitted it misused Oracle’s intellectual property and has to pay a big fine? I got this email spam urging me to buy a copy of SAP Crystal Solutions. If you are not familiar with Crystal Solutions, one can suck in data and make some charts. If you want more information about this SAP product, navigate to the SAP Crystal Solution subsite on the SAP.com Web site.
What’s interesting is this remarkable offer.
Now I know gold is tough to read, and the magnify feature of my blog publishing system is pretty awful. Let me help you with the deal.
First, you can buy a bundle with enough stuff for four employees to be lost in SAP learning land for a year, maybe more if none of the staff is any good at business statistics. Second, the price of this deal is only $23,995, which is a discount of $8,769. That means the bundle costs $32,764.
A couple of observations:
First, I don’t know anyone who can spend $24,000 on a bundle. Those days are long gone. I got a check from a company that had in big letters “Requires two signatures if more than $20,000.” There you go. A bundle for the lucky dog with a credit card and the ability to spend $24,000 on an affordable business intelligence system. Quick get yours now.
Second, SAP is spamming me. I write a column for Information World Review that points out some of the more interesting activities of this company. I follow SAP because it had a search engine called TREX and I think it is still available.
Third, the buy online angle is interesting. I navigate to a Web page and take advantage of “year end savings.” Now that’s quite an offer to send as spam. Most of the pitches I get are for considerably cheaper products. I find spam really annoying, but the SAP spam is downright amazing.
Now get this. The fine print at the bottom of the email says the offer expired on June 30, 2010. Yep, that’s right June 30, 2010. As I write this, my trusty Timex tells me that today is December 15, 2010. Think SAP needs to rethink its email marketing campaign? I do. Don’t panic, gentle reader. I am queuing stories so this one is going to run 17 days after I save the file to WordPress. Such is the price of a free blog. That’s why I have two or three readers, and I am darned proud of that achievement.
SAP, I love ‘em.
Stephen E Arnold, January 2, 2010
Freebie, unlike the expired bundle of Crystal Solutions goodies.
IBM and Jeopardy
January 2, 2011
Short honk: Did you read “IBM’s Watson Program to Enter TV Contest”? IBM is using a Power7 machine and IBM smart software to compete against humans on a game show I have never watched. My question: If the mainframe is such a hot system, why isn’t IBM using big iron? Oh, I know. This is a PR project that will make me aware of the IBM brand, understand the value of its systems, and imprint on my mind the whizzy new multi-core Oracle killer. Actually I am still wondering about those mainframes that IBM insists are the workhorses of the computing world. I bet the head-to-head with humans will sell Power7 systems to game show watchers. Move ‘em like donut burgers at the Kentucky State Fair.
Stephen E Arnold, January 2, 2011
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Start Your Year with Your Content Radar On
January 2, 2011
I am concerned about the quality of information which appears in public Web search results. I was fooling around with queries for the “new” silver bullet, which is made of Fool’s Gold. You know this search revolution as taxonomy. Everyone wants a taxonomy because key word indexing usually disappoints the inept searcher. A taxonomy, therefore, is one way to allow a user to slam in a word and maybe get a “use for” or “broader term” to make the results more “relevant.”
But a taxonomy goes only so far. The depleted uranium bullet is one that uses “facets”, another faerie dust term. The hapless user clicks on a descriptor or bound phrase that is broader than a taxonomy entry and magic happens. The results will contain something even the junior college graduate can use.
There is a level above taxonomy and facets too. This is the Disneyworld of predictive search. The idea is that the “system knows best.” The user does not have to do much more than fire up the app or poke her nose against the touch pad’s icon and the system predicts and delivers the needed information. Sounds great.
The problem, gentle reader, is that indexing systems don’t know when the content is addled, wrong, shaped, or just chock full of crapola. Let me illustrate two examples from an outfit with Web sites as JazdTech.com. Yep, “Jazd”, not “jazzed.” That’s a clue that I notice. Some search systems are not as picky.
I use the little known metasearch system Devilfinder.com. Be alert. Turn on “safe search.” Now run the query for taxonomy software vendors and in the results list you find these promising links:
There you go. “2011 Top Taxonomy Software Companies in Pharma.” Right on the money. The problem is that the results are not germane to anything remotely close to taxonomy software narrowed to pharmaceutical applications. When I clicked on the link on New Year’s Eve, I saw this Web page:
It looks okay but the links are useless and so far off the keywords I used for the query that I laughed out loud. Okay, a metasearch system can make mistakes.
I ran the query “2011 Top Taxonomy Software Companies” on Google and I was greeted with a display that contained not one or two entries to JazdTech.com’s lousy content but there were many listings.
After the ads that Google feeds upon were 11 hits to pages which contained irrelevant information which superficially look like content.
What’s my point?
It is easy to run queries which return hits to Web pages which are like the sugar free candy for dieters. The goodies look like the real thing, but are not. That’s okay when fooling the snack addict. For online searching, users expect nutritious information.
JazDTech.com is one outfit benefiting from the indifference of “real” search and metasearch systems. The screenshot below contains lots of information which I find questionable. I can guard myself against most flawed Web content? Others may not so equipped.
The domain is registered to an outfit called JAZD Markets, allegedly operating out of Hampstead, New Hampshire. There appears to be a reference to a street address in Andover, Massachusetts on Dundee Park Drive. The “service” is hosted on my favorite outfit Hostgator.com. The staff at JAZD Markets list themselves on LinkedIn, but provide modest information about the quality control in use for the firm’s software listings. Perhaps one purchases a listing and selects a category in which to appear? I will have to check out Firehouse BBQ and Pig Roast when I am next in Andover, a lovely place.
The problem is that some researchers may waste valuable time or use information that will make their search and retrieval cannon explode in their face.
Stephen E Arnold, January 1, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
U.S. Federal Tech Goals
January 1, 2011
“Debrief from the White House Forum on IT Management Reform” by Bob Gourley hits the highlights of the U.S. government reform strategy. Of particular note: 800 federal data centers consolidated by 2015, moving to the cloud, new technology fellows program, and reducing barriers to small technology companies. Of course, Gourley recommends that you not just read his summary, but watch the entire video. He says, “If you are a student of IT and its governance, you will see what a good strategy looks like. If you are a student of federal policy, you will gain insights into what may be some of the most important shifts underway in the federal space today. If you are an integrator or technology vendor who served federal users you will learn a bit more about how your customer will be shifting in the future and how you can better position to help. And if you are an enterprise technologist you will learn of some very important things under way that will make your life easier and more productive.” I recommend you heed his advice and watch the video, found at the official White House site.
Alice Wasielewski, January 1, 2011
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