Adieu, Google Code Search
February 6, 2012
Russ Cox, former Google intern, is getting a little misty eyed at Google’s retirement of Code Search. Back in 2006 Cox helped to build the application, which searched for open source code throughout the Web. Now he has posted “Regular Expression Matching with a Trigram Index or How Google Code Search Worked” to mark the occasion.
The write up gets into some detail about the processes behind Code Search’s Indexed Word Search, Indexed Regular Expression Search, and Implementation. Check out the article for details. Cox summarizes:
Despite all their apparent syntactic complexity, regular expressions in the mathematical sense of the term can always be reduced to the few cases. . . considered above. This underlying simplicity makes it possible to implement efficient search algorithms like the ones in the first three articles in this series. The analysis above, which converts a regular expression into a trigram query, is the heart of the indexed matcher, and it is made possible by the same simplicity.
Hmm, we thought trigrams are patented by Brainware. Interesting use of this technology.
Though Google Code Search is no more, Cox recommends investigating some standalone programs for localized indexed regular expression searches, like the one found here.
Cynthia Murrell, February 8, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Semantic Wranglers to Tame Media Content
February 6, 2012
When the prolificacy of the media scape overwhelms, it is semantic technology to the rescue. So declares ReadWriteWeb in “Semantic Tech the Key to Finding Meaning in the Media.” Writer Chris Lamb maintains that today’s deluges of information have made attention span the prize, and delivering relevancy the key. Strategies have included tapping readers’ social graphs, profiles, and preferences to filter news content. Lamb writes:
These current approaches are doomed. With respect to social graph curation, people have different roles at during different times. On the weekend, a reader might be interested in arts, entertainment and sports news based on a friends and family. During the week, this same person may be interested in business news based on recommendations from trading partners in the capital markets. How do readers seamlessly reconcile this?
Lamb doesn’t have the answer, but says he does know what technologies will underlie the eventual solutions: tagging, semantic extraction, disambiguation, and linked data structures (including cloud data). See the write up for more the reasoning behind each.
Semantic technology can perform useful functions. Rich media pose some special challenges. Among them are the issues of data volume and available processing power, latency, and variability in indexable content. What about a silent movie? What about a program which features interviews with individuals with a substance abuse problem who speak colloquially with a mumble?
Cynthia Murrell, February 6, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Oracle Faces Challenges After Acquiring Endeca
February 6, 2012
Forrester’s Boris Evelson recently reported on Oracle’s October acquisition of the enterprise search and data management solution provider Endeca in the blog post “Oracle Leapfrogs BI Competitors by Acquiring Endeca.”
In the post, Evelson argues that this was a smart move on the part of Oracle because it takes the company from playing mostly in the traditional BI space to integrating unharmonized data sources and performing search-based BI.
With this in mind Evelson remarks:
This acquisition now really differentiates Oracle’s BI suite, but it will not be without significant challenges for Oracle and Endeca. OBIEE is the strategic BI platform at Oracle. No ifs, ands, or buts. Even the ubiquitous Essbase is taking a back seat by being positioned mostly as a cubing engine with OBIEE as a recommended front end. As the first order of business, I expect the combined teams to first come up with an SQL or MDX wrapper for Endeca so that OBIEE can be used to access its index. Beyond that, I expect that Oracle will position Endeca as a special-purpose BI tool.
Our opinion on the matter is this, Endeca’s technology is secondary to the firm’s consulting services “wrapper” and scaling, particularly for big data in near real time, remains a challenge. We don’t have a dog in the fight and some of the pundits, not only have a dog, but have a stake in the dog show.
Jasmine Ashton, February 6, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Cignifi Uses Mobile Phone Usage to Discern Credit Risk
February 6, 2012
There’s a new predictive analytics twist in the realm of credit worthiness. Slashdot informs, “Banks Using Mobile Phone Usage to Gauge Credit Risk.” Should’ve known—everything now comes back to the phone.
Startup Cignifi focuses on consumers who use mobile phones but have no access to formal financial services. In the absence of credit histories, the company has developed software that makes credit risk predictions based on phone usage patterns. Writer Hugh Pickens explains,
The way you use your phone is a proxy for your lifestyle say the developers. ‘We’re looking at things like the length of calls, the time of day, and the location you make them from. Also things like whether you top up [a pre-paid SIM card] regularly. We want to see how stable the patterns are. When you look at that, you can create these behavioral clusters that give you information about users’ appetite for new [financial] products, and their ability to repay a debt.’
Cignifi is currently operating in Brazil, and is looking to expand to other limited banking countries like China, India, the Philippines, and Mexico. Deployment in the US is not planned anytime soon. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has offices in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Oxford, England. In fact, it was behavioral mathematicians in Oxford who developed the technology. Go figure.
Cynthia Murrell, February 6, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google Shift: Lamenting the Inevitable
February 5, 2012
The addled goose is recuperating. In the interstices between biological auto mechanics and the outputs of patient-hungry pharmaceutical companies, I browse content which gets lots of clicks. In the Lady Gaga Era, Mark Zuckerberg may not have her sense of fashion, but the lad does generate headlines. Not surprisingly, with the rise of the $100 billion Facebook and the Apple quarterly reports, one expects some reflection of the changes the Internet has manifested in the last five years. Remember. We are talking Internet time, which may not be dog years, but five years is a hefty chunk of a plugged in, tuned in, and wired up “expert.”
Here’s an example of a commons. Nice, right? A happy quack to Engage for a great visual metaphor.
For the goose, however, it is the same old cycle. I am tempted to trot out that college favorite Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and his fascinating The Difference Between Fichte’s and Schelling’s Systems of Philosophy. But I shall instead reference “It’s Not Whether Google’s Threatened. It’s Asking Ourselves: What Commons Do We Wish For?” Though somewhat more colloquial than Herr Hegel’s titles, the thought is an interesting one. The core of the idea is that that old Googzilla just ain’t what she used to be. Here’s the passage I noted:
I’m focused on trying to understand what the Internet would look like if we don’t pay attention to our core shared values. And it’s not fair to blame Apple, Facebook, Amazon, or app makers here. In conversations with various industry folks over the past few months, it’s become clear that there are more than business model issues stifling the growth of the open web.
The author has hooked this statement to what are described as “core values.” Hmm. The idea is that there is a greater good involved if the Internet (an undefined concept because I presume everyone knows what the word means) should embody “no gatekeepers,” “an ethos of the commons,” “no preset rules about how data is [sic] used,” and “interoperability.”
These are interesting points but the fact is that as I write this in my addled state on a dreary Sunday morning in the intellectually bankrupt Commonwealth of Kentucky, I wish to point out:
- Core values are tough to slap on the folks whom I know. I imaging venturing into a more intellectually enlightened place, getting folks to agree on care values might be tough. I am thinking about rounding up some bright lights in Syria, for example.
- There are gatekeepers, lots of them. The gatekeepers include various governmental entities, outfits like Jike.com, Google and Twitter, and more coming on the bandwagon for “control” every day or so.
- The “commons” is another fascinating concept. My recollection is that the chestnut from English history is that the commons were trashed. A more up-to-date interpretation appears in the quirky Science Creative Quarterly’s “Tragedy of the Commons Explained with Smurfs.” If smurfs struggle, imaging what folks in Harrod’s Creek will do. By the way, the chief visual characteristic of this part of Kentucky is fences. Forget Robert Frost. Fences are a big deal for financial, social, and technological reasons.
- I find the notion of “no preset rules” intriguing. The fact is that there are many rules about how data are to be used. The fact that people do not follow the rules makes clear that the notion of sharing certain values does not fit in 2012. Most people have zero concept of the data which are available from commercial outfits and even less understanding of what makes systems like i2 and Recorded Future work so well. In today’s world, rules are put in place so that when there is a “justifiable cause”, action can be taken. Preset rules are the main business of those running governmental entities.
The “old” Internet has become a memory. My mother, God rest her soul, would use the past as a way to make the present come up short. I remember her telling me that when she was in school in the 1930s, students and teachers were somehow better than the teachers I had in 1950. I understand the importance of remembering the past. Opening an long unused box containing knickknacks my mother treasured can release molecules which take me back to the time when she was reminding me to pick up my socks.
The reality, however, is that as much emotion as memories convey, the real world is different and changing. Pining for the “old” Internet is an indulgence which is mentally satisfying on some level. Adopting a parental tone is part of today’s “mindset.” See, for example, Cognition in the Wild by Edwin Hutchins.
What’s this have to do with search? Here you go, gentle reader:
- Free, public search systems and some commercial online systems do not return objective, accurate information.
- Walled gardens are a consequence of the economic environment in which organizations exist. The fuzzy, warm notions of “freemium” seem quaint in the world of the 99 percenters.
- The evolution of online is toward consolidation and what I call a “logical monopoly.” The reason has to do with users who are reluctant to change once something becomes a habit. The other driving force is economic rationality. Who can afford to create a competitor to any of the monopolies which have formed or are now coalescing in online?
The net net is that some folks may not like today’s online world. Get used to it is my suggestion. The goose prefers pond water unsullied by mine drainage runoff. Guess what? Those pristine ponds are history, just like the good, old Internet.
Stephen E Arnold, February 5, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Social Media Saves Coca Cola!
February 5, 2012
Big new. From the shoot yourself in the foot department comes another reminder of “real” marketing.
Even though I am one of those unfortunate Diet Coke addicts, the recent inverted color Coca-Cola can problem was not lost on me. The white can was a collaborative project with the World Wildlife Fund to raise awareness and donations for the polar bear. The white can was taken off the market in just five weeks for various reasons: customers confused it with Diet Coke, asserted it tasted different, or were utterly offended at the change of the iconic red can.
Guess who saved the day? A search and content processing vendor, that’s who. After customers reacted on social media, Attensity analyzed the feedback. We learn more in the article, “Social Analysis: Coca-Cola’s White Can Turnaround”:
On one hand, the data clearly indicates that Coke’s white can was well liked by most, indicating clever marketing by Coke to create Buzz around an extremely familiar product. On the other hand, there was just enough real negative sentiment towards the white can to justify a swift reaction to avoid the issue escalating any further, especially in light of the social media feedback on announcements from companies like Bank of America and Netflix.
Never mind that the overall purpose of the campaign was lost in the hoopla surrounding the can color, we wonder about the marketing intelligence behind this move. Our question: Why wasn’t appropriate research done prior to the misstep? A Coca Cola tradition, perhaps?
Search vendors rank right up there with Coca Cola. Who can forget the Google and the Muppets? Google Plus to the rescue?
Andrea Hayden, February 5, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Fat Apps. What Happened to the Cloud?
February 5, 2012
If it seems like a step backward, that’s because it is: Network Computing declares, “Fat Apps Are Where It’s At.” At least for now.
Writer Mike Fratto makes the case that, in the shift from desktop to mobile, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Cloud-based applications that run only the user interface on mobile devices are a great way to save space– if you can guarantee constant wireless access to the Web. That’s not happening yet. Wi-Fi is unreliable, and wireless data plans with their data caps can become very expensive very quickly.
Besides, says Fratto, services that aim to place the familiar desktop environment onto mobile devices, like Citrix XenApp or VMware ThinApp, are barking up the wrong tree. The article asserts:
There isn’t the screen real estate available on mobile devices–certainly not on phones–to populate menus and pull downs. . . . But that is how desktop apps are designed. Lots of features displayed for quick access because you have the room to do it while still providing enough screen space to write a document or work on a spreadsheet. Try using Excel as a thin app on your phone or tablet. See how long it takes for you to get frustrated.
So, Fratto proposes “fat apps” as the temporary alternative, applications designed for mobile use with local storage that let you continue to work without a connection. Bloatware is back, at least until we get affordable, universal wireless access worked out.
I am getting some app fatigue. What’s the next big thing?
Cynthia Murrell, February 5, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Hot Company Financial Performance Graphic
February 4, 2012
Check out the informative graphics in Mashable’s “How 9 Tech Giants Traded After Going Public [Infographic].” On the heels of Facebook’s initial public offering, this write up examines the fates of other tech companies who have gone public. Writer Matt Silverman explains:
Given the hubbub (or the hullabaloo, if you really want to get technical), we thought it might be wise to look back at the history of tech companies that have gone public. The IPO is all very well, but how valuable did they remain once the stocks start flying? “The results, as our friends at Statista have compiled below, are mixed.”
Yes, some companies like Yahoo, LinkedIn, and eBay shot up in the first day, while others picked up speed more slowly. The graphs of stock performance in the first fifteen days demonstrate those differences.
Long-term success is another matter, though. The second set of graphs show how much $100 invested on that first day would be worth now. The big winner: Microsoft. Er, Microsoft? Well, that company is the oldest on the list, dating back to 1986. It has had a while to climb.
Cynthia Murrell, February 4, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
New CEO at Yahoo Axes Customer Support
February 4, 2012
Digg asks, “Under New Leadership, Will Yahoo Find Its Way?” Our view: nope. The CEO shuffle doesn’t seem to have helped the waning company the last three times they tried it.
Installed January 9, Scott Thompson is Yahoo’s newest captain. The article reports:
Thompson, who was previously president of eBay’s PayPal unit, might be Yahoo’s last hope for becoming relevant again as a player in online display advertising, a market which the media company once dominated. Private equity firms and others — such as Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.com — had recently been showing an interest in buying Yahoo, which had been evaluating a number of strategic options.
The company’s challenges revolve around an identity crisis, asserts the write up. Could the frequent leadership turnover has anything to do with that?
With his technical background, Thompson is a unique choice for the Yahoo CEO chair. Perhaps that will help him succeed where others have not. A priority for the new boss, he has said, is to balance customer and merchant needs, something he worked on at PayPal.
How does the new Yahoo CEO deal with sagging revenues? Navigate to “Flickr Lays Off Highest Level of Customer Support.” We learned:
Yahoo has laid off at least five employees at Flickr, including the highest level of customer support: the people who fix bugs like the mistake that obliterated power user Mirco Wilhelm’s 3,400-odd photos last year.
Thompson will have to take more substantive action if the company hopes to catch up with outfits like Facebook and Google. Investors and users are unhappy, so the great turn-around may have a narrow window.
Cynthia Murrell, February 4m 2912
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Facebook in Brazil
February 4, 2012
It is no secret that Facebook is the world’s leading social networking site. But it is not every day that you see it leave competitors in the dust. Read Write Web recently reported on the social networking giant in the article “It Only took One Year for Facebook to Beat Orkut in Brazil.”
According to the article, after being launched in 2004, Orkut quickly became the top social networking site in Brazil and it remained dominant until a few months ago. However, a recent ComScore report showed Facebook steadily increase and eventually beat out Orkut with 36.1 million visitors in December 2011.
Alex Banks, ComScore’s managing director in Brazil said:
Brazil has always been a particularly social market and currently owns the fifth largest social networking population in the world. But despite the cultural affinity for social media, Facebook adoption had traditionally lagged in the market.
What changed? maybe globalization has proven to be stronger than Brazilian nationalism?
Jasmine Ashton, February 4, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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