Attivio: A Wave Maker
April 13, 2011
“Attivio Software Making Waves” reported that Attivio, Inc. and Traction Software have teamed up with the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative and Cornell University to collaborate on a “community portal”. The portal will bring together members of the scientific community, including universities and agricultural organizations from around 45 countries. They will work together to study wheat rust (a fungal disease that jeopardizes wheat, barley, and rye crops) and to prevent it’s spread. The write up said:
Knowledge is typically spread through presentations and the publication of research within leading journals – a process that can slow the exchange of knowledge by months and years…Given the severity of the threat to the world’s food supply, the BGRI could not afford to operate on that kind of timeline. We needed a collaborative platform that could be easily organized and updated and be accessible from anywhere in the world.
The Attivio software has the ability to compile the information of scientists all over the globe. Scientists often use a wide range of formats and file types. The Attivio system processes a range of content types, include information in SharePoint or locked up in the unwieldy Adobe Portable Document Format. Attivio does search as well as business intelligence functions. The objective is to save scientists time and money in their efforts to stop the Borlaug Global Rust blight. Without the Attivio system , wheat rust might extend its reach.
Worthwhile effort at a time when most search vendors want to do customer support (also a blight of sorts) and shift the responsibility of finding information to algorithms (an intellectual blight of sorts).
Leslie Radcliff, April 13, 2011
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Protected: Lost a View? Pentalogic to the Rescue
April 13, 2011
Have Your Cake. Eat It Mashed Up
April 12, 2011
The blog Search Nuggets is all about reviewing user experience and business strategy and their latest blog “The Corporate Mashup” is no different. In the blog Marcus Johansson expounds on the need for a corporate search engine that allows users the freedom to search information and receive relevant queries in little time.
In today’s mishmash of business and technology it is important to have an understanding of user requirements as well as technical savvy, such is the case with search engines like Google. The engines are everywhere, even in your toolbars. They’re readily available for users at any time of day and have no problems communicating information between the systems. The problem arises when you put the same search engines to use behind the “corporate firewall.”
“Imagine if you had a common front-end to all those esoteric systems. A solution that lets you search everything at once, with proper tools to dig around in the result set. Even better, a solution that lets you act on the results… You find whatever you’re looking for, and you act on it immediately.”
Because of the strict social restrictions most systems don’t share information and users become bogged down with endless URL’s. that’s where Enterprise Search comes in, it creates a common thread between systems so that you can find what you need, when you need it. Sounds pretty good if you think about it, now if the corporate mash up dream could only be brought to fruition.
Stephen E Arnold, April 12, 2011
Search Technologies: Makes the Google Search Appliance Sing
April 12, 2011
According our information here at Beyond Search, There are more than 35,000 Google Search Appliances in organizations worldwide. Although data are sketchy, some US government agencies have more than 50 GSAs providing search and retrieval functions. To put the number 35,000 in context, Autonomy has more than 30,000 licensees of its search system worldwide. In short, since 2002, the Google Search Appliance has moved from novelty to one of the most widely used enterprise search and retrieval systems in the world. Only public Web search systems reach more users than Google’s GSA.
In order to learn the ins and outs of the Google Search Appliance one had to put in long hours scrutinizing Google’s copious online documentation and then work through a GSA set up. Google makes a low cost appliance available, but many managers and system administrators need a fast start and insider tips for getting the most out of GSA.
Until now, combining the basics with the “need to know” information to make the Google Search Appliance sing was knowledge that simply was not available in an easy-to-digest form. Search Technologies, one of the world’s leading search consultancies and integration firms, has responded to this market need. We learned that Search Technologies will participate in a Federal Search Seminar on May 5, 2011. The location is the Google office at 1101 New York Avenue. You can get additional information at this link. You can register via the Search Technologies Web site at this link.
The program will include how to plan a sophisticated search application. The Search Technologies and Google team will discuss the most common pitfalls and how planning can mitigate these challenges. The return on investment will be discussed with particular reference to the payoffs from Google’s simplified approach to deployment and the next-generation methods for integrating disparate content into the GSA’s retrieval system. In addition, the session will dig into how to connect to multiple repositories within an organization. Running separate queries across many different enterprise and desktop systems is no longer feasible in today’s fast growth data environment. The session will also include a review of the most recent technological advances in search, including the innovations in the latest version of the GSA.
According to Search Technologies’ founder, Kamran Khan:
This session is about how to fit search into real life business issues. Technology is important, but a focus on the business problem is paramount. The presentations provide the attendee with expertise gained through implementation of the GSA in a variety of different work situations. A focus on specific business objectives makes the GSA sing.
Appliances, like toasters, are made to plug in. but the GSA benefits from being implemented with a business focus. The Search Technologies’ team has handled more than 60 GSA implementations. You can benefit from this direct knowledge in the Google Washington, DC office. Space is limited.
Stephen E Arnold, April 12, 2011
Search Technologies
Predictive Movie Watching?
April 12, 2011
Ever wish you could bypass the annoying ritual of figuring out just what movie you should rent? Now you can.
According to ReadWriteWeb, Hunch, a predictive entertainment tool, has reached a collaborative agreement with Samsung and Digitas to launch a new interactive social movie watching experience called “The Smart Living Room.”
After a viewer answers a series of Hunch personality questions, The Smart Living Room creates a personalized movie recommendation including the genre best suited for that viewer as well as movie title suggestions. The viewer can then create a movie watching event by inviting friends and family through Facebook or email.
The Smart Living Room uses Hunch’s same movie predicting ability and applies it to television.
Stephen E Arnold, April 12, 2011
Protected: The Answer to SharePoint Solutions: The Genesis Framework
April 12, 2011
Has Facebook Netted the Chinese Golden Carp?
April 11, 2011
I was in Hong Kong 10 or 11 days ago. I had a number of informal conversations with individuals who were wild and crazy and who were straight and narrow. Baidu is definitely a factor in the China market, but if the folks with whom I spoke know their dry fried Szechuan crispy beef, the Chinese government is generally keen on having a purpose-built, slices-dices-chops search engine. Oh, it will curate too. Like the word “curate”. It means filter I believe.
When I read “Facebook May Strike China Deal With Baidu,” I wondered if the deal would have legs. I don’t doubt that there will be some type of “play” for Facebook. In fact, I agreed with this statement:
These sources said the new venture wouldn’t involve Facebook.com, which is blocked inside China like many more social networking sites, but a jointly owned, new social networking website. It’s unclear when the site could launch: joint ventures need to be approved by the Chinese government and that can take a while, and they have to staff it up with experienced executives that both sides can agree on.
Three observations.
First, the social function of next generation communications is pretty darned impressive. In a nation state which is into black and white rules, the likelihood of unfettered social media is probably not a popular idea among the government’s senior officials. I am not sure it is all that popular in other countries, but China is the new superpower so what it does is quite influential.
Second, if China whips up a “good enough” search engine, life for the non governmental entities can be okay but probably not great. The unfettered approach to business that is popular in the US is not likely to flourish quite as business would in the US ecosystem. Stated another way, don’t get a Baidu tattoo just yet.
Third, in the business and political climate of China and its client states, I am not sure that “social” is going to work exactly as it has in Egypt. Social conditions are different and there is a some evidence that cleverness is a key part of survival in China.
When I was in Xian, a city alleged to be one of the termination points for the “Silk Road” trade route. According to information provided to me by my “personal guide”, merchants would be admitted to a special area connected to the main city. Upon entering the area, the merchant would see a big space. When the gate shut, the merchant would see he was in a walled area. Egress required opening a gate. Merchants, according to my “personal guide” did not get keys. The big gun would negotiate with the merchant. If the merchant was recalcitrant, the big gun had the merchant in a good looking, secure holding pen.
I figured out that if the big gun made an offer, it was probably a good idea to accept that offer. After all, I understand the notion of “shooting fish in a barrel.”
Whether this anecdote is correct is irrelevant. The fact that I heard it from a “personal guide” provided sufficient insight to how at least one Chinese professionals perceived the best practice for negotiating with merchants from outside of the Middle Kingdom. I recall reading this bit of advice:
All warfare is based on deception.
Net net: The search and social story is still unfolding for a darned big market that Google has managed to blow off and Facebook is angling to net like a big golden carp. My, my. Interesting.
Stephen E Arnold, April 11, 2011
Freebie
Google and Microsoft: The Security Card
April 11, 2011
The source is Microsoft. I don’t know if the information in “Google’s Misleading Security Claims to the Government Raise Serious Questions” is accurate. The tension between Microsoft and Google seems to be increasing. The allegation that Google is behaving like a combination of Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and Commodore Vanderbilt brightened my blog a few days ago. Now we get Microsoft’s playing the security card.
Powerful stuff and a maneuver that will have to be discussed by the various government decision makers as long as the budget keeps on paying them. Toss in a few assorted blue chip and azure chip consultants, and you have a recipe for investigations, depositions, study groups, and PR excitement. Good news for some I guess.
Here’s a passage I noted:
…Imagine my [Microsoft professional’s] surprise on Friday afternoon when, after some delay, some of the court papers were unsealed, at least in part. There for all to see was a statement by the Department of Justice contradicting Google on one of its basic FISMA claims. The DOJ’s brief says (on page 13) “On December 16, 2010, counsel for the Government learned that, notwithstanding Google’s representations to the public at large, its counsel, the GAO and this Court, it appears that Google’s Google Apps for Government does not have FISMA certification. This revelation was apparently as striking to the lawyers at the Department of Justice as it was to me. The Justice Department brief states “We immediately contacted counsel for Google, shared this information and advised counsel that we would bring this to the Court’s attention.
My view on this matter is that until more information becomes available to me in Harrod’s Creek, the best I can do is assert, “Interesting.”
The impact of the security card is of interest to fewer people than own iPods but ultimately may be more important than some of the other hoo-hah about Google. The notion of stretching security like a rubber sheet may be one of those plays that persist through time. Like a clever chees move from a young Bobby Fischer, specialists may pick up the play and make it a model for young Microsoft emulators to absorb, modify, and use to devastating affect.
Best to be prepared for these sorts of things. Looking back won’t do the job. The security card is a big play.
Stephen E Arnold, April 11, 2011
Freebie
Quote to Note: Puppy Kicking Technocrats, Cease and Desist
April 11, 2011
This is a quote to note and a short honk. First, point your browser bloat machine at “Microsoft Has Lost the War to Linux.” Next, note the quite slick phrasing; for example, “somewhat strange interview”, “Linux based Android”, and “from the Vole” (borrowed from a somewhat more crisp blog by the way). Finally, consider this passage:
He said that he didn’t care about Microsoft these days. It used to be Linux’s big rival, but now it’s kind of like kicking a puppy.
“Kicking a puppy”. Slam dunk. The only problem is the persistence of such non entities as IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle. But the “kicking a puppy” is T shirt material. Now we just need a better name for Solr. Maybe “puppykicker”?
Stephen E Arnold, April 11, 2011
Freebie
Gartner Breaks New Marketing Turf
April 11, 2011
Gartner has a thriving practice in everything to do with digital information. The publicly traded company seems to be sending a message that I hear as “we’re desperate”. Maybe I am wrong but spam from IDG (another researchy-type outfit) that has the subject “Gartner Insight, 3 Top Papers + Win an iPad 2” does not evoke the wood paneled methods of McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, or Bain (yep, the Bain with the now apocryphal kumbaya sessions at a Holiday Inn on Route 128). As wacky as the blue chip consulting firms are, I find email with the words “insight,” “top papers”, and “win and iPad” quite piercing cries for attention.
First, there are not “3 top papers” on offer. The count seems closer to four, but at my age my eyesight is failing. See for yourself whether I got the number four correct:
The other signals that reached me via spam email was the big button that said “Register Now.”
The angle, of course, is leads and input into how Gartner can improve. I also found this enjoinder fascinating:
I will definitely forward the spam message to my one friend, a 70 year old with a beat up truck and a limp.
One positive note: Gartner and IDG got a free mention in a free blog which contains information for which one does not have to register, enjoin a friend, or miscount to access. Of course, the quality of information in Beyond Search is miserable, but we don’t even spam. Heck, we don’t follow up on proposals, return phone calls, or attend conferences where “pay to play” is the new business model.
Objectivity is what one thinks it is, right? And what about search? No white papers about enterprise search? No quadrant? Sigh.
Stephen E Arnold, April 11, 2011
Freebie but no drawing to win an iPad. How is that drawing conducted by the way?
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