Digital Reasoning and Entity Based Analytics
October 5, 2011
As the entity-based analytics discipline becomes more prominent in the business sector, private company Digital Reasoning has already made great strides in setting the standard for achieving actionable intelligence.
Dr. Ric Upton will be leading Digital Reasoning’s Washington, DC area office and team in this exciting time for the company. Their product Synthesys is exactly what analysts require in this era of ever-amassing data.
While many other firms offering intelligence software focus on an aspect of entity extraction, Synthesys provides analysts with a comprehensive package for automating the interpretation of big data when the work of search and content processing systems has been undone.
In an exclusive Arnoldit.com interview, Upton revealed how Digital Reasoning deals with such high volumes of real time information. He said:
[O]ur processing and analytics often have to complement these high volume data flows. We do this in part through judicious use of cloud-based processing augmented by intelligent methods of processing and storing data as it becomes available so that we can avoid the need to perform batch processing or redundant processing of previously-captured data.
The real value is their focus on content centric analytics instead of using statistical algorithms to analyze structured data. Essentially, they decipher the subtext and implicit meanings of content that doesn’t have to be well-structured. The real feat in this is that Digital Reasoning can automate this analysis without any data preparation.
Without Digital Reasoning’s systematic interpretation of data, analysts and clients would actually have to spend hours upon hours of time reading and comprehending content.
Upton shared the reasons why clients have typically used their software:
Our ability to automate understanding is critical to customers with concerns about time, accuracy, completeness, or even the ability to leverage the massive amount of data they have generated.
Serving as an intermediary between the raw data and analysts in the business process, this software has the capabilities to understand the subtleties of the human language. Synthesys can understand the underlying messages in the context of the content’s medium—whether it is a blog, a tweet, or an SMS.
In the interview, Upton sheds insight into how this rich entity extraction manifests itself:
We don’t just extract a name, we can develop and create a persona – the sum of what a person is called, where they have been and when, their relationships with other persona, their behaviors over time, etc.
Digital Reasoning is already looking towards the future, which forecasts that other media such as video and audio sources hold clout as data. As they work on developing methods to analyze these structures, competitors’ opportunities to dominate this field dwindle away.
Megan Feil, October 5, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Yandex Buys into Blekko: Is a Move on Google Underway?
October 5, 2011
Blekko, a search engine company with goals to provide better search results than those offered by Google, has now secured $30 million in funding from a range of old and new investors. The most notable of which is Yandex, a Russian IT company which operates the largest search engine in Russia. With 64% market share, Yandex is ranked eighth – largest in the world and develops a number of internet-based services and products.
According to the Search Engine Land article Russian Search Engine Yandex Leads $30 Million Investment in Blekko , Blekko CEO Rich Skrenta said:
Yandex will help Blekko in a number of ways beyond the funding, including providing some technology infrastructure support. As a result of the new funding and Yandex support Blekko’s index and search results will improve considerably “in the tail.” For the most common search queries Blekko has been highly competitive but not done as well for more obscure or longer query strings.
By landing a big fish like Yandex, i’m sure that Blekko has gained additional confidence in their ability to compete with Google for the title of number one search engine in the world. However, Blekko has some flaws. Topix.net uses Blekko for search. We find that the system is pretty much useless. Maybe Yandex sees a silver lining. Google should not be too concerned—yet.
Jasmine Ashton, October 5, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Tibbr 3: Findability Vendors, Be Aware
October 5, 2011
Tibco recently announced its new version of software, Tibbr 3.0, which provides all the same amenities as before but adds a component of social networking into the mix. Realizing that social networking is now a necessity in the workplace, version 3.0 enables users ease of access to documents and other data all while still interacting within Tibbr.
In a release Tibco broke Tibbr 3.0’s features into five categories: Unifying Communications in the Workplace, Beyond Follow Act on Activity Streams from Enterprise Applications, Adding a Social Layer to Existing Legacy Applications in Context, Document Management, and Beyond the Workplace.
Perhaps the most interesting of it’s new features is the social networking applications in Beyond the Workplace. As the release explains,
Version 3.0 incorporates tibbr Communities, a function that helps an enterprise to create, manage and monitor stakeholders on one platform, thereby enabling seamless engagement with internal and external contacts, as and when needed, with a single login and URL.
This newest version of Tibco software validates the overwhelming cry from every industry that social networking is not simply a fad and is here to stay. Google is trying their hand at it, as is several others. Companies must begin looking at how social networking can strengthen their business and unite employees for a more fluid and efficient workplace. Worth a look.
Catherine Lamsfuss, October 5, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Azure Chip Consultant Blames Users for Lousy Search Systems
October 5, 2011
I was fascinated by a write up that perhaps incorrectly covers the recent Forrester research study “Market Overview Enterprise Search. I think the finding from the uptown consulting firm was based on independent research group and an evaluation of 12 enterprise search vendors. The vendors represented a broad spectrum of a market which is dominated by five or six firms. I admired the catholic approach and appreciated the inclusion of some systems that are likely to face tough financial challenges in the months ahead.
In the article Forrester: Enterprise Search Software Limited By User Strategy the writer breaks down the report to explain the differences in the various search providers and also provides us with some advice from Forrester for search consumers. The article states:
The report has a handful of recommendations for enterprises looking for an enterprise search product: Be firm in search requirements, conduct a proof of concept, hammer out a support and services agreement, meet with the vendor semiannually to update the organization’s plan and understand that technology is just one piece of the search puzzle. It explains that the quality of the search experience reflects the discipline with which a group manages its information assets.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems crazy to blame search weaknesses on the discipline of the users. But intellectually it is much easier than tackling the innards, requirements, and customization of information retrieval systems. Isn’t it wonderful that search experts are so darned on the ball.
Jasmine Ashton, October 5, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google Reinvents Itself. Whither Search?
October 5, 2011
We think that search may be kicked to the side of the road. Search is a vector for advertising. Precision and recall are irrelevant. Fancy words and clever phrases like “filter bubble” metaphorically make clear that what you get may be what Google wants you to see. But Bing is Googley too. So, search gets a lot of chit chat, but search remains a tough problem.
With the recent peek into Google’s algorithm-tweaking process fresh on salivating advertiser’s minds, Google hints at some exciting new developments that would change the face of search. The article, Google Wants Search to Know What You Know, on Technology Review, explains of a new, innovative search technique Googlers are exploring.
The high and the low of the new Google plan is that Google would remember what one searched and how they worded it, allowing the search results to grow with the user. While it may seem that this next-level of searching relies on psychic ability, there is a lot of science behind it. Already, Google offers users the ability to save their searches. The next step would primarily build on that.
Also included in the Googler brain-child would be re-education. Teaching users to conduct smarter, more efficient searches would go a long way in producing more reliable and useful search results. As the article explains,
Wiley (lead designer of Google user experience team) says that adjusting users’ approach to long-term search tasks is a particularly delicate process. “How do you give help at the right moment and in the right way?” he asks. There are dangers to distracting or confusing users, or to pulling them into an experience that feels unfamiliar.
While Google has a strict policy of ‘don’t break the search!’ it’s great to imagine a day when Googler teams can toy around enough with the infamous algorithms and produce a search that can grow with a user’s understanding of a topic. Perhaps Wiley summed it up best by saying, “It’s better to under-promise and over-deliver.” If what Wiley is describing is an under-promise, the search industry will be reinvented by Google’s over-deliverance.
We think there is another way to summarize the shift: search is sales.
Catherine Lamsfuss, October 5, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
SharePoint Goes Metro
October 5, 2011
In Windows 8, it seems that search is available just deep in a nest of options. Findability has morphed from precision and recall to glitz. We discuss a lot of behind the scenes topics for SharePoint, but we don’t often touch upon the subject of user interface. Simple usability for sharing content is SharePoint’s main goal. Without an easy-to-use interface, Microsoft would scare off potential customers. The Fear and Loathing Blog (don’t let the name fool you) talks about “Adopting the Metro Style for Line of Business Apps.”
The Metro Style is a new design that invokes you to re-imagine your user interface and how to reorganize. Good design practices are a must when switching over to Metro. It’s a good plan for any business app solution. Task oriented UI is the way to go. It keeps users from opening hundreds of windows and allows a more focused approached to business.
Metro is different. It forces you to think about your application in a different manner. No longer are you trying to get tree view feeding items into list view feeding details into file view. There are still groups and collection of groups and all that but remember your UI now is a functional, breathing, living thing. Minimalism is best here so you want to get out as much information in as effective space as possible. As Microsoft pointed out, a live tile isn’t something you should be posting every detail to. It’s an extension of the application so treat it as a first class citizen, not a UI element that needs to be pretty.
Keep it simple is the main message here when designing business apps. Most of the time businesses don’t know what they want and if you come off as an expert in UI, you’ll not only sell your business solutions, but get a strong heaping of hero-worship.
Our view is that findability is more than an interface. Have you ever watched a person looking for the Help function in Apple Keynote on an iPad. Lots of poking and hunting, which is fund for 10 years olds. For busy executives getting ready for a sales call, pulling a wisdom tooth is more fun.
Therefore, we suggest that you embrace SharePoint, adapt to the Metro interface, and install Ontolica. Developed by SurfRay, Ontolica is a findability solution that eliminates frustration.
Whitney Grace, October 5, 2011
SurfRay
HP Acquires Autonomy. Investors Put on a Happy Face
October 4, 2011
A news release whizzed by on October 3, 2011, bearing happy tidings to Autonomy stakeholders. The deal with Hewlett Packard has been consummated. The news release asserted:
The acquisition positions HP as a leader in the large and growing enterprise information management space. Autonomy’s software offerings power more than 25,000 customer accounts worldwide and, as part of HP, will provide high-value business solutions to help customers manage the explosion of unstructured and structured information. Autonomy offers solutions that are complementary across HP’s enterprise offerings and strengthens the company’s data analytics, cloud, industry and workflow management capabilities.
Now with Ms. Whitman at the helm and Autonomy in the HP flotilla, will the company be able to generate the revenue required to pay for the “meaning based computing company.” I don’t have a clue. HP has some interesting challenges, but it has some big money units, including the ink business. I also think the print on demand unit has some potential, and the company desperately needs an improved findability solution for that unit as well as the HP Web site.
Fascinating to consider what HP can do. Microsoft paid $1.2 billion for Fast Search & Transfer. After three years, Fast Search is more or less a freebie for customers who buy oodles of client access licenses and jump on the SharePoint bandwagon. What will HP do with Autonomy? Make lots of money quickly is presumably one goal. We will monitor the trajectory of the deal because we think Mike Lynch could be the person to push out Ms. Whitman and get Autonomy managed effectively. Mr. Lynch is associated with search, but I think he is a much under-rated senior manager. HP could be the platform he needs to allow his skills to be showcased on a larger stage. Some “real” consultants who failed at being Web masters, home economics majors, and students of 18th century poetry will doubt my confidence in Mr. Lynch. Well, that’s why I am a big wheel in rural Kentucky and the “real” experts hang out in the world’s watering holes, not a pond filled with mine run off. Oh, the real consultants are not counting their billions as is Mr. Lynch I surmise.
Stephen E Arnold, October 4, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Supercomputer Predicts Political Revolutions and Maybe More
October 4, 2011
It sounds like science fiction but it appears that technology has evolved to the point where we can now use a supercomputer to predict revolutions. Shocking I know. The way it works is software retrospectively scans over 100 million news articles from the past 30 years and uses sentiment analysis, text geocoding and predictive analytics to determine what direction political upheaval will go.
According to the Read Write Web article, Can the World’s Next Political Revolution be Predicted by Computers? this technology has greater implications than just predicting revolutions. The author states:
This is Culturnomics at work. One of the more well-known applications of it would be the Google Books Ngram Viewer, a Google Labs project that scans 15 million digitized books to reveal the frequency of certain words and phrases over time. By applying a similar methodology to news articles, researchers can gain insight into human society on an even bigger scale and in a more real-time fashion. A growing body of work has shown that measuring the ‘tone’ of this real-time consciousness can accurately forecast many broad social behaviors, ranging from box office sales to the stock market itself.
While this is still a relatively new area of study, this could have major implications for the flow of unfettered information and it is very exciting to see what can happen when brilliant minds from different fields work together. However, this sounds like the PR usually output by IBM and its Watson business unit.
Jasmine Ashton, October 4, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Modus Operandi’s Software Has a New M.O.
October 4, 2011
Looks like this project has the capability to spread. Modus Operandi’s new software will speed up access to intelligence reports that are put into a common format, ultimately allowing U.S. intelligence to be one step closer to communicating effectively and efficiently across its various networks.
The press release, “Modus Operandi Completes New Software To Provide Faster Access to Intelligence Reports,” gave us some introductory information:
“The applications, which are now available for download and use by the entire DCGS-SIGINT community, automate the process of converting SIGINT reports from multiple formats to one metadata community standard format,” said George Eanes, vice president of business development at Modus Operandi.”
These two software applications, Wave XSLT Generator and Metacard Generator, bring some exciting possibilities to the table, thanks to the Small Business Innovative Research Phase III project.
The technology was developed to completely change the pre-existing differing formats of structured and unstructured data into the same one. That information then posts to the Distributed Common Ground/Surface System Signals Intelligence Integrated Backbone.
Those two main actions yield essentially an electronic index that analysts can search and access data that was originally produced by multiple platforms.
More woe for humans working in the information vineyards.
Megan Feil, October 4, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Quote to Note: Google on Motorola Mobility
October 4, 2011
Quote to note. We read “Google’s Schmidt Says Acquisition of Motorola Won’t ‘Screw Up’ Android”. In addition to the professional sounding phraseology in the Bloomberg news story, we noted this passage:
The Android ecosystem is the No. 1 priority, and that we won’t do anything with Motorola, or anybody else by the way, that would screw up the dynamics of that industry,” Schmidt said in an Oct. 1 interview with Bloomberg Television’s Erik Schatzker in Nantucket, Massachusetts. “We need strong, hard competition among all the Android players. We won’t play favorites in the way people are concerned about.
Okay. So if Google owns a company like Motorola Mobility and provides support to that outfit, will the treatment of Motorola be identical to the treatment of other Android centric manufacturers, partners, and ecosystem dwellers? Will attendance at a Google company meeting impart any special insight? Will having Googley online meetings or time shifted chats in MOMA provide the Motorola folks with some ideas, insights, or information?
My hunch is that the likelihood of the information remaining compartmentalized is an interesting one in theory. In practice, I am not certain that “we won’t do anything with Motorola or anybody else by the way that would screw up the dynamics of that industry.”
Great quote. Let’s see how the future arrives for deals that get put together quickly, engender so much controversy, and have already made best friends out of Samsung and Microsoft.
Stephen E Arnold, October 4, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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