Twitter Shortcut for Search Results Related to Products and Services
July 13, 2013
The article titled How to Find People Asking For Your Products Or Services on Twitter on Market Intelligence offers a simple tip that might yield results for certain services. Typing –http ? “Keyword” into Twitter’s keyword search will discover the stream of search results for any given keyword. The article explains,
“Imagine you are a company selling cosmetics and are launching a new face cream. By entering the query -http ? “face cream” into Twitter search, you will see a stream of all people who mentioned face cream in a tweet… The first girl is asking for suggestions for a night time face cream. Do you offer a similar product? If so, hit reply and send her your recommendation.”
The article goes on to look closely at the first few hits, noticing that, (voila!) one of them is a blogger who might write about her interaction with the face cream touted on Twitter. I imagine in real life this would take a lot more combing through inane and irrelevant posts. Whether or not it works when the product or service is not popular on Twitter, or even non-existent, is not mentioned in the article. Perhaps this advice is aimed only at mainstream services, making it, like Twitter, useful to some, but useless to many.
Chelsea Kerwin, July 13, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Free AIDS Research Available Online
July 12, 2013
The articles available on Taylor & Francis Online under the heading Highly Cited AIDS Research offer substantial insights into the most current AIDS knowledge. The journals cover everything from timelines, prevention information, geographical breakdowns of the spread of AIDS, studies on the perceptions of those diagnosed with AIDS in all different parts of the world, and even support, like the study titled Is It Just Me? Experiences of HIV Related Stigma. An example from one study titled AIDS Fatigue and University Students’ Talk About HIV Risk states in the abstract,
“Drawing on a qualitative study that included 20 focus group discussions with male and female students at an urban-based university in South Africa, this article reports on perceptions, attitudes and reported behaviour with respect to HIV and AIDS and safer sex in the campus setting, with an aim to better understand how young people are responding to the challenges of HIV and AIDS in contemporary South Africa. The findings demonstrate the gap between reported HIV-prevention knowledge and safer-sex practices among a group of young and educated South Africans.”
The difficulties surrounding AIDS treatment in developing countries has been well documented already, the daily schedule being thought insurmountable in places where the general population does not know the exact time throughout the day. Sharing information can only lead to more breakthroughs in the ability to treat victims of the disease and perhaps lower the social stigma as the world recognizes the extent of the infected population.
Chelsea Kerwin, July 12, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Hootsuite and Attensity Integration Promises Customer Service Breakthroughs
July 12, 2013
The article on Hootsource titled Why Having a “Big Data Strategy is a Bad Idea by Catherine H Van Zuylen, a VP at Attensity, addresses Hootsuite’s launching a new integration with Attensity. The article claims that the combination of the two will create the ultimate customer service machine. Companies can basically eavesdrop on their customers on social media and learn where the conversation is going before it gets there. The article explains,
“For example, you may hear about someone complaining that your new device got so hot in someone’s hand that they claim to have been burned. This information should immediately be routed to legal (for determination of veracity and risk), to engineering (to alert them to start testing for and diagnosing the issue) and to customer service… It might also be time for marketing to pull that “The hottest phone this summer” marketing campaign.”
Another article, Hootsuite Launches Attensity Integration to Automate Enterprise Customer Service on Market Wired, explains the potential windfall of marketing intelligence now possible. Ryan Homes, a CEO of Hootsuite, stated that the partnership will enable “the world’s largest brands to cut through the noice on social media to engage with their customers.” The integration is certainly an interesting way to boost Attensity’s impact as competition increases.
Chelsea Kerwin, July 12, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
DuckDuckGo Offered as Private Alternative to Google
July 12, 2013
The article titled “Search Engine Privacy; DuckDuckGo Does Not Track Its Users” on Slate is an interview with DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg. This search engine was created as an alternative to Google with the benefit that while Google stores the all of the data you give it, DuckDuckGo does not. Due to the leaks about NSA’s widening monitoring practices, DuckDuckGo’s traffic exploded, rising from 2 million queries before the story broke to over 3 million. The article explains who this search engine is aimed at,
“Different people prefer different experiences and user interfaces. Google is trying to appeal to the average user—we are trying to carve out a niche for the serious person who knows what they’re doing and wants their privacy protected and a great result. We have servers around the world, and we can see how much traffic is coming in from which areas, so we know our users are about 50 percent United States, 50 percent international. “
Painting Google as Walmart and DuckDuckGo as a boutique search engine seems to be a working strategy for Weinberg. His emphasis on privacy appeals to a great number of individuals. Weinberg mentioned just a few examples of common searches, medial and travel related, that no one wants made public. Of course the two search engines are not impossible to use together- perhaps reserving DuckDuckGo for searches that are potentially embarrassing or personal.
Chelsea Kerwin, July 12, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Lucene Solr Updates Released
July 12, 2013
The latest Developer Break news update on The H gives a rundown on the most important notes for developers. Read the full story at, “Developer Break: Lucene, Solr, Spring Roo, Node.js, PyQt 5 and more.”
The update begins with a focus on the latest in the world of Apache Lucene Solr:
“Apache’s Lucene search library and Solr search platform have had a bug fix update to version 4.3.1. The Lucene 4.3.1 update includes fixes for a deadlock bug and an optimisation, while Solr’s 4.3.1 update offers many fixes for SolrCloud. Downloads for Lucene and Solr are available from the usual mirrors.”
Value-added solutions that are built upon open source have the benefit of constant updates and improvements due to the frequent update schedule kept by open source solutions. Unlike proprietary solutions, like Microsoft SharePoint for instance, major updates are not rolled out every few years, but rather small, continuous, unobtrusive improvements are the norm. LucidWorks, which uses Apache Lucene and Solr as the basis of its architecture, benefits from the cost effectiveness and scalability that open source brings. Frequent improvements to the architecture mean that users are never lagging behind.
Emily Rae Aldridge, July 12, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
The Future of Data Analysis Platforms
July 11, 2013
Large consulting and accounting firm Information Management expresses its views on analytics in, “Big Data: Rethinking the Platform.” Writer Narendra Mulani sketches out a common problem for today’s companies: incorporating new analysis technologies into existing infrastructures. Some try to forgo the new by translating all data into a structured format before analysis but, he explains, that frustrating path just ends up wasting time and money. It is better to accept from the beginning that your system will need an overhaul to make the most of the big data trend.
Companies can approach their redesign a number of ways, stresses the write-up. Virtualized and consolidated data centers have become popular, but Mulani suspects another model might supplant that approach. He writes:
“In particular, a platform consisting of large numbers of smaller, commodity servers handling storage locally is highly scalable. To expand capacity, the business just adds more of these smaller servers, which are relatively inexpensive, rather than having to upgrade enterprise services and storage equipment at great cost. . . . In practice, in order to deliver the most value to the business, chief technology officers and their teams will need to operate with both [old and new] models, while ensuring their data flows to the right places at the right time. This hybrid model will enable businesses to capture the benefits of new big data platforms without giving up their existing architectures. Indeed, some of the technologies that power the new will also be used to invigorate what is already in place.”
The article goes on to enumerate some things to consider with such a hybrid approach, and notes that what works for one organization will not meet the needs of others. Designing a system requires a balance between development costs and potential benefits for each company. For Mulani, one central principle guides the process: “IT should be an enabler of business results.” It is a simple concept that nevertheless eludes some decision makers.
Cynthia Murrell, July 11, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Data Visualizations as Fine Art
July 11, 2013
It can be a challenge to visually present data in a way that is easy to understand, yet not snore-inducing. Information Management asks, “Data Visualizations: Do You Prefer Destroyed Farms or Fancy Pies?” In this write-up, Justin Kern explores the intersection between art and data visualization.
Kern has been spending time with a book by Nathan Yau, “Data Points: Visualization That Means Something.” Yau’s examples have inspired Kern, and prompted him to contemplate how familiar works of art might function as hypothetical data visualizations. He notes that designing these aids so that they actually communicate clearly is necessary but difficult in today’s business world, and suspects that artists could help:
“For artists, they’re already expressing interest in data as a medium, and the information management field might be one of the few where they could find such a quick entry into decent paying and intellectually satisfying work. And, whether we’re clear about it or not, CIOs, data managers and business analysts are reaching out for information ‘storytellers’ through visualizations. It wouldn’t be too broad a stroke to paint a scene where ‘corporate art’ is more about exciting, innovative and engaging data visualizations and less about that wrought iron abstract piece forgotten about in the middle of a bank headquarters courtyard. I’m geeked up to see how the art and data worlds will combine to make the destroyed farms and refrigerator pies that usher in a new wave of business understanding with a touch of heart.”
Interesting vision. If this Kern turns out to be barking up a valid tree here, this could become a lucrative avenue for artistic types. Will data visualization classes start popping up in BFA curricula?
Cynthia Murrell, July 11, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
MaxxCAT Launches Program for Nonprofits
July 11, 2013
MaxxCAT has implemented a program designed to help nonprofits, we learn from “MaxxCAT Hopes to Bring Search Appliances to Nonprofit Organizations with NPO Buyers Program,” posted at PRWeb. The limited-time NPO Buyers Program pairs a choice of search appliances (the EX-5000 enterprise search or SB-350 search) with extended integration and support services.
The program aims to fill one particular gap NPOs often face; the press release tells us:
“While all MaxxCAT search appliances are easy to integrate, nonprofits often face resource shortages in their IT departments. To address this concern, MaxxCAT will include three hours of Integration Services with each appliance purchased under the NPO Buyers Program. The Integration Services Group provides top-level service from the experts who design and build MaxxCAT’s appliances, and three hours is typically enough time to implement a search.
“Each MaxxCAT appliance comes with a year of email support plus software updates as well as a one year hardware warranty. In addition, nonprofits will receive an extra year of email support plus software updates.”
This is a limited-time offer, so interested NPOs should check out this link soon. Perhaps if they get a good response, the company can be persuaded to extend the program.
Based in Pittsburg, MaxxCAT was founded in 2007 to capitalize on the high-performance, specialized hardware corner of the enterprise search market. The company also provides integration services and managed hosting. A focus on performance, simplicity, and ease of integration keeps MaxxCAT at the fore of the high-performance field. This foray into serving nonprofits can only help the company’s standing.
Cynthia Murrell, July 11, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Entity Extraction with Solr
July 11, 2013
Entity extraction is a feature that many enterprise users want to build into their architecture. Solr 4 has the features that allow a work around or “poor man’s” entity extraction. Erik Hatcher, one of the founders of LucidWorks, explains how in his SearchHub blog entry, “Poor Man’s ‘Entity’ Extraction with Solr.”
The instructions begin:
“Entity extraction, as defined on Wikipedia, ‘seeks to locate and classify atomic elements in text into predefined categories such as the names of persons, organizations, locations, expressions of times, quantities, monetary values, percentages, etc.’ When drilling down into the specifics of the requirements from our customers, it turns out that many of them have straightforward solutions using built-in (Solr 4.x) components, such as: Acronyms as facets; Key words or phrases, from a fixed list, as facets; Lat/long mentions as geospatial points.”
SearchHub is one of many means through which LucidWorks bolsters its support and training to all Apache Lucene Solr developers as well as LucidWorks customers. LucidWorks users find that both the LucidWorks Big Data and LucidWorks Search solutions are ready to go out-of-the-box but allow customization and scalability in a way that Hatcher demonstrates above.
Emily Rae Aldridge, July 11, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Online Privacy Issues Rile Tech Industry
July 10, 2013
The recent revelations about PRISM include the little detail that the biggest tech companies seem to have cooperated with the federal online surveillance program, though the extent of their complicity has yet to be revealed. The New York Times reports, “Data-Driven Tech Industry Is Shaken by Online Privacy Fears.” Writer David Streitfeld recalls that the threat of government meddling has hung over the Internet since early on; he writes:
“The technology world has always strived to keep Washington at a certain arm’s length. Regulation would snuff out innovation, the entrepreneurs regularly cried. Bureaucrats should keep their hands off things they do not understand, which is just about everything we do out here.”
We now see how that worked out; perhaps the shift was inevitable. Some of us have always gone by the idea that anything we put online might, by accident or design, be seen by anyone at any time. What some once deemed paranoid has been revealed as prudent. For its part, Silicon Valley is churning over the whole controversy, with many tech professionals working furiously to map the correct way forward. On the other hand, the article notes:
“In the meantime, some tech leaders have another idea: lie low. Gordon Eubanks, a valley entrepreneur for 30 years, can see both sides of the argument over privacy and security. Until it is resolved, he said, ‘I’ve just become really careful about what I put out there. I never put online anything about where I live, my family, my pets. I’m even careful about what I “like.”‘”
Eubanks is wise. Listen to the insider, folks, and be careful out there.
Cynthia Murrell, July 10, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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