Penguin and Random House Converge
August 7, 2013
Penguindom House is here, we decided after reading “World Blockbuster in Penguin and Random Merger” at the U.K.’s Express. After the deal, said to create the world’s biggest consumer publishing company, the new entity will employ over 10,000 workers. Regarding the combined talent and titles, the write-up tells us:
“[The merger] brings together Penguin authors including Dawn French and Zadie Smith and Random House writers such as Andy McNab and Dan Brown, while the enlarged business has a back catalogue that takes in the likes of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.”
John Fallon, head of the education-focused Pearson, Penguin‘s parent company, is optimistic. (For the record, media firm Bertelsmann owns Random House. The two larger companies share ownership of the new entity almost equally.) Fallon states:
“This combination creates a clear world leader with a strong platform for continued creative and commercial success in a rapidly changing consumer publishing industry.”
Rapidly changing, indeed. Will this noteworthy development change the way writers must go about getting their work published, even through traditional, wood-pulp based channels? Will it stimulate interest in the self-publishing platforms available from Amazon, Apple, and others? Stay tuned.
Cynthia Murrell, August 07, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Xerox Branches Into Customer Service
August 7, 2013
Isn’t Xerox a copier company? Well, lately it has also been doing litigation and eDiscovery work. Now, Yahoo Finance tells us in “Xerox Acquires Customer Value Group,” the company is adding cloud-based customer service to its repertoire with its latest acquisition. (No word here on how much Xerox shelled out in this deal.)
Customer service? Our top goose remarks that he once called Xerox for help with a DocuTech scanner. He was reminded to ask his assistant whether he is still on hold.
The write-up tells us:
“Leading software company Customer Value Group’s key Software as a Service (SaaS) cloud application enhances cash collections of diverse firms by simplifying management of customer credit, collections, and disputes. It has an in-depth expertise in cloud-based accounts receivable software and manages the order-to-cash process that is related to approximately $15 billion of revenues in eight countries and multiple currencies.
“With this acquisition, Xerox aims to strengthen itself as a as a stand-alone software application provider for managing internal finances of various companies. As part of its finance and accounting process outsourcing services, Xerox will offer Customer Value Group’s Value+ product to its clients.”
The article emphasizes that Xerox will continue to comb the globe for choice enterprises to snap up in the years ahead. The company, based in Norwalk, Connecticut, now houses three operating segments, Technology, Services, and “Others”. That last one— well, that’s one way to avoid boxing yourself in.
With a focus on innovation and leading-edge software, The Customer Value Group boasts of a typical ROI 5 to 10 times the cost of engagement. The London-based company brings several prominent credit, collections, and customer-service clients to the table.
Cynthia Murrell, August 07, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Open Source is on Top
August 7, 2013
After a record setting year and an exciting conference season, no one can argue that open source is on the rise with no immediate signs of stopping. JavaWorld is in agreement and covers the latest open source news in their article, “Open Source Races to the Top.”
Their story begins:
“Last week’s OSCON conference served to remind us that open source software is setting the pace. We’ve come a very long way from the old saw that ‘open source doesn’t innovate.’ Instead, you might ask: Is innovation in enterprise software happening anywhere else other than in open source land?”
Open source is leading in innovation, but OSCON helped to prove that open source leads in other areas as well. From security to implementation to cost-effectiveness, open source leaders like LucidWorks are proving that open source is the total package. LucidWorks products can be implemented on-site, in the Cloud, or in a hybrid format. LucidWorks marries the best of open source with what organizations see as the safety and security of proprietary, and customers are very satisfied.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 7, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Brin and Synthetic Beef: Connection to Search?
August 6, 2013
I read “Google’s Sergey Brin Bankrolled World’s First Synthetic Beef Hamburger.” Quirk of a wealthy wizard? More significant signal about search? My view is that this synthetic beef media event is one tile in a larger mosaic of Google’s burgeoning role in synthetic biology. It is a relatively short journey in a modern synthetic biology lab from “meat” to self-assembled nano-devices. The journey may take years, but the conceptual distance is measured in the size of proteins. And search? Easy. A nano-system with a display in one’s eyeball and associated devices living happily in my chubby self is the ultimate in personalized advertising delivery. More important, the path from meat to cyborg passes through medical applications. If a person has a DNA or protein centric disease, that walk from meat to cyborg might allow physicians to remediate genetic diseases. From a government’s point of view, the journey might wander close to a military reservation. I commented on this application of nanotechnology in my article in the Public Intelligence Blog. Dot connecting underway. For information about our new for-fee briefing on Google and synthetic biology, write seaky2000 at yahoo dot com.
Stephen E Arnold, August 6, 2013
Sponsored by Xenky
Approaching Infrastructure Challenges with Intelligence API
August 6, 2013
The rise of metadata is here, but will companies be able to harness its value? Concept Searching points to the answer that ROI has not been successful with this across the board. A recent article, “Solving the Inadequacies and Failures in Enterprise Search,” admonishes the laissez-faire approach that some companies have towards enterprise search. The author advocates, instead, towards a hands-on information governance approach.
What the author calls a “metadata infrastructure framework” should be created and should be comprised of automated intelligent metadata generation, auto-classification, and the use of goal and mission aligned taxonomies.
According to the article:
The need for organizations to access and fully exploit the use of their unstructured content won’t happen overnight. Organizations must incorporate an approach that addresses the lack of an intelligent metadata infrastructure, which is the fundamental problem. Intelligent search, a by-product of the infrastructure, must encourage, not hamper, the use and reuse of information and be rapidly extendable to address text mining, sentiment analysis, eDiscovery and litigation support. The additional components of auto-classification and taxonomies complete the core infrastructure to deploy intelligent metadata enabled solutions, including records management, data privacy, and migration.
We wholeheartedly agree that investing in infrastructure is a necessity — across many areas, not just search. However, when it comes to a search infrastructure, we would be remiss not to mention the importance of security. Fortunately there are solutions like Cogito Intelligence API that offer businesses focused on avoiding risks the confidence in using a solution already embedded with corporate security measures.
Megan Feil, August 6, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Social Media Disorganization at State Department
August 6, 2013
Well, that’s a novel use of taxpayer money. Australia’s News.com reveals, “U.S. State Department Spent $690,000 to ‘Buy’ Facebook ‘Likes’.”(That’s about $630,000 in U.S. dollars.) According to a report from the U.S. State Department‘s Inspector General, over the last three years the agency spent this money to buy social-media “likes.” Perhaps one can buy love?
Er, not really. The tactic did not work well, even before Facebook started charging to push content to a page’s fans as well as non-fans. The practice ceased only when the change at the social site prompted a change in strategy. Actually it turns out that “strategy” is too strong a word. The write-up tells us:
“The report also stated that the bureau did not have a social media strategy. Various State Department bureaus had over 150 social media accounts that were uncoordinated and often overlapping.”
That is discouraging; no wonder there was trouble. The article specifies:
“The State Department’s Facebook page likes increased during the spending from 100,000 to more than 2 million and to 450,000 on Facebook’s foreign-language pages.
“Despite the increase, the IG said the spending did not reach the bureau’s target audience, mainly older and more influential people. Only about 2 per cent of the department’s fans engaged with the pages by liking, sharing or commenting.”
The Inspector General also reports that many in the Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs, the division responsible for the non-existent social media strategy, voiced objections to the approach. That is something. Perhaps their voices will be heard as the agency develops that strategy, as they surely must be doing after this misstep. Right?
Cynthia Murrell, August 06, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
NZ Super Fund Eyes High Potential Firms
August 6, 2013
Will New Zealand-based enterprise search provider SLI Systems get an injection of capital from the New Zealand Super Fund? It could happen. Scoop reveals, “NZ Super Fund Allocates $40M to Pioneer Capital Fund.” The write-up tells us:
“The New Zealand Superannuation Fund, which invests to fund the country’s universal state pension, will place $40 million in a new $150 million venture capital fund to finance fast-growing small to medium-sized businesses with global potential.
“The funds will be placed with Auckland-based Pioneer Capital, which already holds stakes in recently listed software company SLI Systems, boutique brewer Moa beer, and health system software developer Orion Health.
“This is Pioneer Capital’s second fund, to be known as PCPII, which is seeking $150 million to invest in privately-owned, small to medium-sized New Zealand businesses which are expanding in large international markets, with average investments of between $10 million and $30 million.”
SLI Systems seems to fit the bill for Superfund largess. The company went public earlier this year, and certainly has the global market in its sights. The company supplies tools for site search, navigation, merchandising, and search engine optimization. They boast that their technology learns from the behavior of visitors over time, resulting in more relevant results. The company has offices in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and, of course, New Zealand.
Cynthia Murrell, August 06, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Googley Predictions A La 2005
August 6, 2013
Today I revisit a blast from the past. In the autumn of 2005, blogger Mike Falick made some predictions in, “How Intelligent Searching Will Change the World.” We now know Falick was largely correct, and that Google is the survivor who gets to run the island. The post begins:
“The current edition of eSchool News has a great article that describes ‘intelligent searching’ through new technology for searching and navigating the internet. I found this article interesting because I have been bookmarking the websites referred to in the article as well as several others that I find very useful. As more and more information becomes accessible to anyone with a computer and an internet connection, Thomas Friedman‘s flattening of the planet will only accelerate. (See my prior posts on Thomas Friedman here and here.)
“Here are some of the websites I think are part of the rapid dissemination of information that are world-changers:”
Of the 12 entries, nine are Googley projects. Some, like Google Scholar, Google Earth, still exist under the original names. Others, like Google Suggest (now known as Autocomplete), have been wrapped into the ruling web-search engine. His other inclusions are still around, though decidedly in Google’s shadow: Gnooks, a listing of new books; video search site blinkx; and science resource site Scirus.
I like it when a futurist gets it right. Of course, predictions that fell flat could be even more entertaining. . . .
Cynthia Murrell, August 06, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Open Source Affordability Pressures Oracle and Others
August 6, 2013
The budget crunch is hitting everyone. IT departments are being asked to slim down and do more with less. Apparently the government is no exception. The affordability of open source has the government’s attention and is changing the content management and enterprise playing field. Read more about the changes in the Information Week article, “Feds Move To Open Source Databases Pressures Oracle.”
The piece begins:
“Under implacable pressure to slash spending, government agencies are increasingly embracing open source, object-relational database software at the expense of costly, proprietary database platforms. That’s putting new pressure on traditional enterprise software providers, including Oracle, to refine their product lineups as well as their licensing arrangements.”
So giants like Oracle are feeling the crunch, and it is trickling down throughout the proprietary world. But many organizations might not feel comfortable going completely open source, as in creating their own customized solution. So many are turning to a smart compromise, a value-added open source solution like LucidWorks. Customers get the affordability and agility of open source, but the support and expertise of an industry leader. Check out their support and services for assurance that going open source does not mean you will be left out on your own.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 6, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Google and Synthetic Biology: The Next Big Thing?
August 5, 2013
I may have learned something which Google watchers have known for years, since 2009 to be exact. On the other hand, I may have stumbled on tantalizing factoids, hires, and inventions which point to a new market initiative for Google.
I wrote a research summary for a fancy Wall Street-type outfit. That research became a footnote in a longer document destined for the institutional investor world. I then wrote a four-page summary for one of the outfits which pay me with love and sometimes money to write articles for “real” publications.
I want to point you to my hypothesis and the brief, public write up about some of my research findings. I want to set the stage or do theater majors call the mise en scène.
Google has attracted some big names in synthetic biology, hired the world’s leading proponent of man-as-a-cyborg, and founded the “moon shot” labs with the essentially unsearchable name of “Google[x] Labs.” The brackets wreck havoc with the now advanced searchless Google. The wonky “x” returns many, many false drops; that is, a query processor match which has little or no relevance to the user’s query. Coincidence? Probably not.
Google’s Singularity University and attached conferences explore quite a few forward-looking topics. Among the most interesting are those which focus on how advanced technology can do medical or human-enhancing things. Prior to one researcher’s presentation at the Singularity knowledge fest, the notion of putting a computer in one’s eye or using autonomous nanotechnology to repair faulty genetic strings was not officially on the Google agenda. Since those 2009-2010 presentations, synthetic biology is, based on my analysis of open source documents, both on the Google agenda and possibly the next big revenue push by the online advertising company.
Imagine the ad revenue from displaying personalized, context sensitive ads to folks wearing Google Glass’ next iterations: smart watches or contact lenses. These are sideshows, in my opinion, for the real purpose of the Glass investments. The main event is nanodevices for medical and pervasive computing functions.
As Google’s founders age, perhaps the nanotechnology will rescue a key engineer from a debilitating illness? Perhaps the nanodevices will allow Google to make each person a walking talking smartphone? No emasculating gizmo required. No silly eyeglasses necessary. The computer is not on the eyeball as a contact lens is. The computer is in the eyeball. Sound like science fiction? I no longer think that generic manipulation and fabrication is reserved for university or US government laboratories. Google has the staff, the money, and the business motivation to push costly, multi-disciplinary inventions from an experimental stage into the product channel.
The question is, “How quickly can Google move?”
Is it now time to think about Google as morphing into its next stage of corporate creature. Remember Google began as Web search. Then Google changed into an online advertising powerhouse. Next Google emerged as a dominant force in mobile phone operating systems. The future may be as one of the most important players in the field of synthetic biology.
You can dig into a few details at http://goo.gl/81cVEr. Disagree with me? Use the Comments section of the blog to explain why I am off base. Have information that extends my argument? Plug it into the comments section as well.
If you are interested in a for-fee (yep, you pay me) briefing on this synthetic biology at Google research, write me at seaky2000 at yahoo dot com. I correctly predicted Google’s mobile phone success in my 2004 Google Legacy monograph? Is it possible I am correct again or am I overlooking balloons and self-driving automobiles?
Stephen E Arnold, August 5, 2013, from Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky
Sponsored by Xenky
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