A Spin with Solr: Take Your Human Resources Too
July 3, 2011
Recently, I spent some time perusing an online slideshow presentation at http://www.slideshare.net/paramsethi1/solr-8459048 of Solr, an open source enterprise search platform from Apache Lucene . The information is through and the platform has some solid, intriguing features.
One of the highlights of Solr is that it uses the Lucene for full-text search. It also has hit highlighting, faceted search, clustering, database integration, rich document handling and geospatial search. Solr is highly scalable and it powers the search and navigation features of many of the world’s largest internet sites.
Solr may not be Exalead CloudView, www.google.com, but a number of companies and government entities use it to handle their searches. This fairly notable list includes WhiteHouse.gov, Netflix , StubHub, and other high profile outfits. (see “Top Five Public Sites The Use Solr”. )
Solr impressed me. It is described as “lightning fast” and has some very practical capabilities. After seeing everything they has to offer, I’d have to say Solr is worth a look. Like other open source enterprise solutions, I think you will want to have some open source wizards on staff or on contract. In today’s job market, a lack of human resources can give the enterprise a painful case of sunburn.
Jennifer Wensink, July 3, 2011
Holiday freebie
Hotel Ratings Get Sentimental
July 3, 2011
Viva Las Vegas! And if I’m “viva-ing” Las Vegas, I’d stay at the luxurious Bellagio. So why, when comparing the Bellagio to the like of Bally’s on TripAdvisor, did Bally’s have a higher score? It seems mind-boggling to me and made Lexalytics, who generated TripAdvisor’s online review scores, scratch there collective heads as well. In the Forbes article “Text Analytics Show Why Bellagio Underperforms Bally’s” Lexalytics went beyond the score and analyzed the actual text of the reviews to get some answers.
Jeff Catlin, Lexalytics CEO said that in the past “year or two he has seen a sharp rise in use of electronic sentiment monitoring in customer relationship management (CRM) and in travel and tourism.” When they applied their sentiment analytic tools to the Bellagio test case, they found the people simply expected more for their money and expected more from a 5-star hotel. Catlin went on to say that:
Through the simple application of sentiment analysis of publicly available information, we show that companies can make these comparisons with much higher reliability, at minimal incremental cost, and with an unprecedented ability to adjust categories on-the-fly, either based on these results, or to test out new hypotheses. In fact, using this technique, we can move beyond the limitations of traditional approaches by running additional analysis to discover new, previously unmeasured categories based on recurring themes within the data.
What an interesting use of the natural language process and I bet that companies who utilize sentiment analytics will see a competitive advantage because they can get beyond the consensus opinion get down to an individual level. It is all about getting personal and who knows, I just may have to rethink my Vegas accommodations next time.
Jennifer Wensink, July 3, 2011
Holiday freebie
More Than File-Sharing Needed in SharePoint 2010
July 2, 2011
The article “Is SharePoint 2010 Ready For Social Business? Nope” chomps on the meat and potatoes of the competition between leading file-sharing programs. The loser? SharePoint 2010, and it is no big surprise.
A run down of SharePoint 2010s inadequacies seen from a rather narrow angle is the focus of a This Week in Lotus podcast. Expert Luiz Benitez examines the overwhelming challenges Microsoft faces with its SharePoint 2010, focusing on file-sharing as a jumping off point. Mr. Benitez asserts that the much more progressive IBM Connections offers tools that meet the needs of organizations jumping into social computing.
Briefly moving past file-sharing into the other essential components of a successful social business platform Benitez states,
…this is just comparing file sharing. It doesn’t even get to compare head-to-head Wikis, Blogs, Forums, Team places, Profiles/My Sites, Ideation (which SharePoint doesn’t have), and other capabilities that are in Connections but not in SharePoint (microblogging!)
The final nail on SharePoint 2010s “sharing” coffin is that a major consulting company, IDC, ignored this weakness not once, but twice. We must admit we did not know about this alleged IDC shortcoming, but Mr. Benetiz has been more attentive.
Despite SharePoint 2010s popularity as a file-sharing entity, it clearly faces hurdles unlikely to be overcome with the fast-changing pace of social business initiatives demanded in the world marketplace. Microsoft may be able to redeem itself and its insufficient SharePoint with its next release. We think that SharePoint might be late to the sharing snack table.
Catherine Bize, July 2, 2011
From the leader in next-generation analysis of search and content processing, Beyond Search.
Google Misfires on Cloudy Office
July 2, 2011
According to the Business Insider’s “Google Tries to Show Microsoft How the Cloud Should Work,” the Internet giant has announced an update to its Google Cloud Connect that will let users open documents stored on Google Docs from directly within Microsoft Office through a new menu option. We learned in the write up:
The feature ONLY opens files that are in formats supported by Office, like .doc and .docx for Word or .xls and .xlsx for Excel.” “Google-formatted files can’t be opened from Office, so Google decided they shouldn’t even show up in the dialog box.
While Google’s update is an improvement over the lack of coordination between Microsoft’s Skydrive cloud storage service and Office documents, people who do some work in the browser and other work in Office and want all files to be available from everywhere are still without a solution.
Other vendors are adding value to Microsoft’s cloud offerings. You can get a good short profiles of a a couple of other companies in this sector in “Office 365 Partners Extend UC and Email Options.”
Stephen E Arnold, July 2, 2011
You can read more about enterprise search and retrieval in The New Landscape of Enterprise Search, published my Pandia in Oslo, Norway, in June 2011.
Patently Bad for the GOOG: Apple and Microsoft Snag the Nortel IP
July 1, 2011
I don’t know much about patents, patent attorneys, or the group Google, Apple, and Microsoft. What I learned today seemed less than ideal for the GOOG. “Apple and Microsoft Beat Google for Nortel Patents” informed me that lots of wildebeests were stampeding to the outskirts of the civilized world to gain control of patents. The lingo was “6,000 patent assets to a consortium made up of Apple, Microsoft and other technology giants for $4.5 billion in cash.”
Now this type of play is good for some outfits. One winner is likely to be ArticleOnePartners.com. Lots of outfits are going to want to know the scoop on the Nortel treasure trove. There will be some losers. I hate to point this out but Google seems to be looking down the corridor of a very long legal office building. The corridor has lots of doors. Behind each door is someone eager to sue Google for some alleged misstep. The corridor lighted with flickering neon tubes. The walls are government green. The floor is the weird gray stuff used in government buildings from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
The way to slow the Google is with legal hassles. Even for a patent klutz like me, it seems likely that the patent consortium may be hiring legal eagles, retired legal eagles, legal eagles to be and getting eyeballs devouring the Nortel patents and thinking about how those systems and methods may apply to what Google is doing.
Apple and Microsoft team up for the World Wrestling Federation battle over intellectual property related to telecommunications, mobile, and devices, among other related disciplines. Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/230150-the-10-best-tag-team-of-all-timeopinion
Back to ArticleOnePartners.com. This type of outfit is likely to find that its partner network is one way to help satisfy the need to get expert inputs about the Nortel intellectual property and related issues. The company says:
Article One enables our clients to access the world’s validity evidence to make better patent-related business decisions. Our clients connect with a global workforce of subject-matter experts and researchers who submit non-digitized evidence and foreign-language non-patent literature.
The New York Times’s article makes it clear that expert sources are going to be very much in demand. Of course, ArticleOnePartners.com has competitors, and these outfits will benefit as well. In my opinion, the Web scale of ArticleOnePartners.com gives it an advantage because most patent experts have limited bandwidth. Getting lots of eyeballs going quickly is a definite competitive advantage, but that’s just my observer’s opinion.
Here’s the passage I noted in the New York Times’s story cited above:
The Google offer was interpreted as a defensive move by the search engine giant, which was seeking intellectual property rights to shield itself from lawsuits as it moves deeper into the mobile business with its Android platform. ¶Kent Walker, Google’s general counsel, wrote at the time of the bid that it was supposed to ‘‘create a disincentive for others to sue Google.’’ ¶‘‘The tech world has recently seen an explosion in patent litigation, often involving low-quality software patents,’’ Mr. Walker wrote. ¶Now, thousands of crucial patents will be in the hands of rivals like Apple and Microsoft, both of which have shown themselves to be much more aggressive in patent litigation than Google. ¶On Friday, Mr. Walker said in an e-mail message that the auction’s outcome was ‘‘disappointing for anyone who believes that open innovation benefits users and promotes creativity and competition.”
So what? My view is:
- Google is now a target because it has made mistakes and is currently fighting a multi front legal battle on core issues that may decide its fate. The allegations about favoring certain Web sites could expose some information that makes the glow on Google’s advertising pot of gold less inviting
- Google is distracted from search with its management incentive for social software. Can search experts do social? Google is making them try, and I hope it works. What’s the plan B?
- Google has a tough competitor in Apple. The notion of Apple and Microsoft doing a World Wrestling Federation tag team match again Messrs. Brin and Page. That’s a match everyone will get to watch.
- The shift in Web search behavior makes Google’s brute force approach less and less relevant with each passing day. Dare I mention Facebook? Well, the company has 700 million members and may become an even greater force in social media.
- Google is fixated on rich media. Is YouTube.com a contender, or is it destined to watch other services pull farther ahead? Apple, are you ready to roll over for the Google. Amazon, giving up? Microsoft conceding defeat? Netflix, Netflix, are you frightened? Yikes. Trouble methinks.
Net net: The patent deal is a significant event because Google is on notice that the legal front is going to be like a certain battle in Russia in 1941. Long nights, cold, and tasty grub. What look like amenities may have catastrophic consequences. I hope the Google prevails. Apple, Microsoft and others have made clear their desires are different from mine. I am in the rear with the gear, thank you.
Stephen E Arnold, July 2, 2011
You can read more about enterprise search and retrieval in The New Landscape of Enterprise Search, published my Pandia in Oslo, Norway, in June 2011.
The Enemies of Google
July 1, 2011
Point your browser at “Google’s Enemy List, a Primer.” You will find familiar names: Apple, Microsoft and Oracle. There are a couple of oddities; for example, “travel sites.” Okay. Notice what’s missing? How about:
- China and other countries that are not Googley
- The European Community
- The FCC, the FTC, Fish & Wildlife, among other entities
- The US House and Senate
- The motion picture industry
- The recording industry
- The book publishing industry
- Bellheads
Oh, don’t forget Web sites mauled by Panda.
I’m worn out. You get the idea. Google has to win; otherwise, who would ask the company to a cotillion. One does not need a primer. One needs a grad school textbook in business tactics for those who are good at math.
Stephen E Arnold, July 1, 2011
From the leader in next-generation analysis of search and content processing, Beyond Search.
Google Books: Chugging Right Along
July 1, 2011
Search Engine Watch’s article “Google-British Library Partnership to Digitize 250,000 Books” reminded us that Google Books is chugging along. With Google working overtime to showcase itself as a portal and really fascinating legal issues surfacing in France, the once high profile Google goal of gathering the world’s information has drifted into the background.
But Google is beavering away with books. Its partner is the British Library. The project will add 250,000 books to the already 12 million-plus that Google has already scanned. These books are copyright free, and come from the British Library’s unique works collection. As with previous projects, completed in cooperation with over 40 libraries, Google will make these works available to anyone for non-commercial use, including reproduction and modification. The Library will also keep an archive of the files.
The documents will be searchable, of course. Rumor has it that Google will also assemble language usage and other data from the texts to add to their datasets.
Google keeps looking for angles on digitizing books. The article reported:
Google still has a long way to go if it wants to meet its ambitious aim: digitizing all of the world’s known 129,864,880 books by the end of 2019. This goal, announced by Google in August of last year, involves creating a digital library of over four billion pages. With many major libraries having unique copies of historical texts, partnerships like the one with the British Library are vital to that goal.
My hunch is that in one or more of Google legal battles, the issue of books, reuse, copyright, and other issues will be glued to the tar ball Google has become. In the meantime, eBooks are hot and Google’s role in their diffusion is likely to be significant. I just don’t know in what way. The British Library is a big name.
Cynthia Murrell July 1, 2011
You can read more about enterprise search and retrieval in The New Landscape of Enterprise Search, published my Pandia in Oslo, Norway, in June 2011.
Inteltrax: Top Stories, to June 30, 2011
July 1, 2011
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, particularly in regards to Data Mining.
First, in “Big Cinemas Storms the US Market by Utilizing Data Mining” we saw how India’s niche cinema operator has pulled in big revenue by strategically opening theaters in the US, plotting its attack with data mining.
In “FEMA Using Data Mining” we saw how the Federal Emergency Management Agency could be better utilizing its data mining services to recover millions of lost funds.
Finally, on the flipside, “Medicare Makes Bold Decisions with Data Mining” saw us concerned with Medicare’s recent opening of its information for data miners and its lack of security for sensitive information.
These three stories explored the upside and the possible downside of data mining. Whether it be used for successful business ventures, government stability or a possible security risk, this technology is a tantalizing reminder of the possibilities forming from years of information collection.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting Inteltrax atwww.inteltrax.com
Patrick Roland, Editor, July 1, 2011
Adobe, Customer Support, and Malarkey
July 1, 2011
Malarkey is, according to the Free Dictionary, “empty rhetoric or insincere or exaggerated talk; “that’s a lot of wind”; “don’t give me any of that jazz”. I learned the word from one of my grandparents who squeezed pennies until they screamed. Close watchers were they. Those folks knew rubbish. So do I.
I read an absolutely amazing write up “The New Art and Science of Great Customer Experience.” I am breathless. No, I am stunned. The author is, according to the post by Eric Savitz (not the author) is written by Rob Tarkoff, a senior manager at Adobe. Now, when I hear Adobe, I don’t think, “customer service.” I think about a Web site that is tough to navigate, my numerous official Adobe user names, and the incredibly awful support for the product I use to write my mindless, vapid monographs—Framemaker.
Come on, Adobe. Tell me how to set a custom color in Framemaker 9 and avoid generating every possible RGB value when I place a JPEG. Please, please, oh, Athena, please. Image source: Morguefile.
I do not think of Adobe and customer service, customer support, or customer anything. I think of annoying updates, ponderous PDF code, and an interface to Framemaker’s custom color controls that make me and my programmers weep in frustration.
Here’s the passage that got me thinking about customer support and search:
Some companies are taking the lead to provide true customer experience innovation. Smart brands are figuring out ways to extend the conversation beyond the purchase experience, creating new customer touch points by encouraging shoppers to share ideas and stories post sales on social sites such as My Starbucks Idea and Nike+. These brands are embracing new channels and new enterprise systems are being built to support them by discarding the constraints of past practices, architectures, and business models that inhibit true CEM.
Yikes, CEM or customer experience management. Wow. Oh, wow.
Today I think that word is just another bunch of baloney. Yep, ground mystery meat in a plastic tube is a good metaphor for “customer service” and its twin “customer experience”. I get the print version of Consumer Reports. One of the write ups in the July 2011 issue is “What’s Wrong with Customer Service?” I suppose this article is online, but for our purpose the article is a report based on what Consumer Reports’ readers perceived. The survey, like any whizzy 21st century mathercise can be distorted like a fun house mirror. Even though I am skeptical of surveys, the Consumer Reports’ data struck me as interesting for three reasons:
Protected: SharePoint’s Potential for Building Dashboards
July 1, 2011
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