BBC Worldwide for Non UK Users Only
August 2, 2013
This is bewildering. Because of licensing intricacies, citizens of the U.K. cannot directly access articles at BBC Worldwide. Yes, that BBC—the *British* Broadcasting Corporation. Apparently, this is not a new development, but blogger Alex Warren brings the situation to our attention in, “BBC Blocking Articles from UK Residents.”
It is important to distinguish between BBC Worldwide and the original BBC, which is funded by U.K. television-licensing fees (Yes, U.K. citizens must hold a government-issued license to operate a television. That is another article altogether.) BBC Worldwide, on the other hand, says it makes its money by marketing content to the rest of the world. Warren explains that, when he clicks on a link to a BBC Worldwide article recommended by someone from beyond his country’s borders, he gets this message:
“We’re sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee. It is run commercially by BBC Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BBC, the profits made from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes.”
New programs are swell, but that doesn’t help a Brit who specifically wishes to read a particular BBC Worldwide article. I, sitting here in Virginia, can easily access more BBC content than can a citizen of the U.K., because I can directly get to either site (without paying a cent). What a deal for me! Warren opines:
“The BBC have created the world’s first anti-paywall. In the UK, we all (well, pretty much all) pay for the BBC through what is effectively a mandatory tax – so we can’t view this.
“Yeah, that makes total sense!
“I love the BBC, but this is idiocy. It may be convenient for the BBC to imagine that people in the UK are only viewing and sharing links with other people from the UK, but that’s not how the internet works.
“For now, we’ll just have to use a workaround when somebody posts a link to BBC.com. Here are a couple of options:
- Go to US Web Proxy and paste the link there
- Add nyud.net after the bbc.com in the domain name, so http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130701-why-you-feel-phantom-phone-calls/all becomes http://www.bbc.com.nyud.net/future/story/20130701-why-you-feel-phantom-phone-calls/all “
So, there are workarounds, which should help the U.K. citizens who hear about them. But that doesn’t change that this limitation is, in the words of one commenter, “bonkers.”
Cynthia Murrell, August 02, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Rocket Software Adds National Language Support
August 2, 2013
Rocket Software is making it easier for clients to do business across language barriers, we learn from “Rocket Software’s System Builder Extensible Architecture 6.2.2 Provides National Language Support” at Database Trends and Applications. This latest iteration of the company’s platform embraces national language support technology, as well as other improvements. We learn from the write-up:
“Along with the new SB/XA Designer and integration with Rocket CorVu Business Intelligence tools, SB/XA now provides National Language Support (NLS) to UniVerse customers, enabling them to store data in many character sets. The new support addresses the increasing globalization of the world economy, requiring software developers to implement solutions that can be easily adapted to different languages, cultures, customs, and regulations in order to establish a stronger presence in the worldwide market. With multi-language translation in SB/XA, NLS support allows organizations to run their business in the language and data format of their choice.”
The addition of NLS was prompted by feedback from a customer overseas, who wished to furnish an application to its call-center employees in their native language—a step that I’m sure considerably reduces misunderstandings.
Founded in 1990, Rocket Software distributes its enterprise software and hardware worldwide through independent service vendor (ISV) partners. The company is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts, and maintains offices around the world. Rocket Software focuses on helping each organization get the most from their unique IT situation.
Cynthia Murrell, August 02, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Enterprise Partnership Announced
August 2, 2013
The shift to unified information access is occurring throughout the enterprise search market. In order to make that shift more seamless and effective Attivio has partnered with Capax Global. Read all about the partnership in the article, “Capax Global and Attivio Announce Strategic Reseller Partnership.”
The article begins:
“Attivio, creator of the award-winning Active Intelligence Engine (AIE), has formed a strategic reseller partnership with Capax Global, a recognised leader in enterprise search and critical business technology consulting. The partnership addresses the changing needs of Capax Global’s customers as they deal with the widespread shift from traditional enterprise search to unified information access (UIA).”
Unified information access addresses both Big Data and unstructured data. Users are looking for a way to intuitively interact with their data in a way that produces meaning but does not disregard the user experience. LucidWorks, and other value-added open source enterprise providers, seek these same objectives through the use of open source infrastructure. LucidWorks relies on the power of Apache Lucene Solr to keep its customers satisfied at a low cost of both time and money.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 2, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Big Data and Its Less-Than-Gentle Lessons
August 1, 2013
I read “9 Big Data Lessons Learned.” The write up is interesting because it explores the buzzword that every azure chip consultant has used in their marketing pitches over the last year. Some true believers have the words Big Data tattooed on their arms like those mixed martial arts fighters sporting the names of casinos. Very attractive I say.
Because “big data” has sucked up search, content processing, and analytics, the term is usually not defined. The “problems” of Big Data are ignored. Since not much works when it comes to search and content processing, use of another undefined term is not particularly surprising. What caught my attention is that Datamation reports about some “lessons” its real journalists have tracked down and verified.
Please, read the entire original write up to get the full nine lessons. I want to highlight three of them:
First, Datamation points out that getting data from Point A to Point B can be tricky. I think that once the data has arrived at Point B, the next task is to get the data into a “Big Data” system. Datamation does not provide any cost information in its statement “Don’t underestimate the data integration challenges.” I would point out that the migration task can be expensive. Real expensive.
Second, Datamation sates, “Big Data success requires scale and speed.” I agree that scale and speed are important. Once again, Datamation does not bring these generalizations down to an accounting person’s desktop. Scale and speed cost money. Often a lot of money. In the analysis I did of “real time” a year or two ago, chopping latency down to a millisecond or two exponentiates the cost of scale and speed. Bandwidth and low latency storage are not sporting WalMart price tags.
Third, Datamation warns (maybe threatens) those with children in school and mortgages with, “If you’re not in the Big Data pool now, the lifespan of your career is shrinking by the day.” A couple of years ago this sentence would have said, “If you’re not in the social media pool now, the lifespan of your career is shrinking by the day.” How long with these all-too-frequent “next big things” sweep through information technology. I just learned that “CIO” means chief innovation officer. I also learned that the future of computing rests with synthetic biology.
The Big Data revolution is here. The problem is that the tools, the expertise, and the computational environment are inadequate for most Big Data problems. Companies with the resources like Google and Microsoft are trimming the data in order to get a handle on what today’s algorithms assert is important. Is it reasonable to think that most organizations can tackle Big Data when large organizations struggle to locate attachments in intra-organization email?
Reality has not hampered efforts to surf on the next big thing. Some waves are more challenging than others, however. I do like the fear angle. Nice touch at a time when senior managers are struggling to keep revenues and profits from drifting down. The hope is that Big Data will shore up products and services which are difficult to sell.
Catch the wave I suppose.
Stephen E Arnold, August 1, 2013
Sponsored by Xenky
Sentiment Analysis in Search Bolsters Collaboration and More
August 1, 2013
We are seeing a lot of information published in regards to the ties between search and collaboration. As collaboration inherently relies on search, it is no wonder that these two are consistently discussed in tandem — “How Search Amplifies Enterprise Collaboration” from Business2Community points this out too.
This article discusses how social features and metadata make information more findable and thus more likely to be used in collaborative projects between users.
The author, Christian Buckley, explains his evolving perspective on sentiment analysis:
I questioned the ability of this technology to adequately interpret and intelligently map end user sentiment to content and metadata, or “data about data,” improving the overall search experience. Sentiment analysis is an incredibly difficult thing to automate, much less deliver within mainstream platforms. Thankfully, we have a method for providing a robust sentiment-based layer to our structured collaboration platforms: social collaboration. Even the search leaders recognize that they cannot completely replace human interaction (at least not yet) as the ultimate semantic classification mechanism.
Collaboration is one key reason companies are seeking out enterprise search vendors utilizing semantic technologies. Expert System is one such company whose solutions offer precise analytics using their core semantic search technologies. Their linguistic analysis capabilities enhance the extraction and application of data in the natural language interface. Collaboration is only the beginning, Expert System also has semantically enriched tools for social media monitoring, customer service and more.
Megan Feil, August 1, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Cyber Threat Prediction from Recorded Future
August 1, 2013
Interesting. Caffeine Security lets us in on a development from a rising business intelligence firm in, “Recorded Future Announces Cyber Threat Intelligence Application.” The new product is named, reasonably enough, the Cyber Threat Intelligence Application. The brief write-up reports:
“The new app adds a set of real-time trend signals for attackers, TTPs, targets, and hacktivist operations. You can see what’s trending for each of the four categories, brush across entities to see cross-linkages, and drill down on interesting items to dig in and analyze.
“The application presents a real-time dashboard of cyber threats, and allows filtering based upon threat, target, operation, or any other criteria.
“One of the staff from Recorded Future was kind enough to demo the application for me today, and I am very impressed.”
For your chance to be impressed, see the company’s not-quite-two-minute YouTube video. The interface seems clear and intuitive.
Launched in 2009, Recorded Future is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with offices in Arlington, Virginia, and Göteborg, Sweden. Both Google and In-Q-Tel have invested in this innovative company. As the name implies, Recorded Future emphasizes predictive analysis, helping clients anticipate risks and seize opportunities.
Cynthia Murrell, August 01, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Has Oracle Swallowed Endeca?
August 1, 2013
Oracle is making headlines in the likes of ZDNet and other sources, with some good news and some bad news. The ZDnet article, “25 Striking Things Oracle Said On Its Q4 Earnings Call,” discusses just that. Up first is that their quarterly earnings fell short of expectations.
However, there was some good news. In just the fourth quarter, Oracle added 500 new SaaS customers — noting that they are bigger and growing faster than Workday.
President Mark Hurd was quoted as stating the following reassuring statements that Oracle will not be slowing down:
“‘Next week we will be announcing technology partnerships with the most largest and important SaaS companies and infrastructure companies in the cloud,’ Hurd said. ‘And they will be using and committing to our technology for years to come…Hurd’s ‘startling series of announcements’ will ‘reshape the cloud’ and perception of it. He mentioned Salesforce, NetSuite and Microsoft.”
Anyone remember when Oracle acquired Endeca back in 2011? It appears that Endeca might be getting marginalized.
Megan Feil, August 01, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Cuadra Becomes Lucidea
August 1, 2013
Last year, the veteran information management firm Cuadra bid fond retirement wishes to its founders, then-president Carlos Cuadra and then-CFO Gloria Cuadra. Now, the SydneyPLUS affiliate joins several others being wrapped into the rebranded Lucidea, we learn from that company’s post, “Announcing Lucidea. . . We Help You to Think Clearly.” The write-up tells us:
Lucidea is a newly created knowledge management software and solutions company that includes the SydneyPLUS, Inmagic, CuadraSTAR, LawPort,LookUp Precision, ARGUS.net and ISS products. Our solutions empower people to navigate the ever expanding universe of information, resulting in actionable knowledge. We highlight our clients’ brightest people, clearest thinking and best ideas.
Please follow the links below to access more information about this exciting new development, and take a few moments to learn:
- Why we think this is great news for our products, employees and customers.
- How this latest evolution of our corporate structure will affect you.
- What effect this will have on the products you are currently using.
The post includes links for more information: a letter from the CEO (PDF), the consolidated company’s mission statement, the official press release, and a useful FAQ page.
Founded in 1978, Cuadra is headquartered in Los Angeles. CuadraSTAR is an acclaimed software package with the flexibility to manage data collections of all types from multiple environments, including archives, libraries, museums, and publishing houses.
Lucidea began in 1989 as SydneyPLUS, and it bought Cuadra in 2008. That was just one in a series of purchases that gave the firm the resources to launch this current incarnation. The company has blended its valuable acquisitions into the consolidated and rebranded Lucidea that we see now, with offices in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
Cynthia Murrell, August 01, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Redesigning Enterprise Architecture at Gartner Catalyst Conference
August 1, 2013
The announcement has been made that Chris Haddad will deliver a presentation at the Gartner Catalyst Conference which concludes today in San Diego, California. Read more in the press release on PR Web, “WSO2 Vice President of Technology Evangelism to Speak on Redesigning Enterprise Architecture at Gartner Catalyst Conference 2013.”
The release begins:
“WSO2 today announced that WSO2 Vice President of Technology Evangelism Chris Haddad will deliver a presentation at the Gartner Catalyst Conference 2013, ‘Driving Enterprise Architecture Redesign: Cloud-Native Platforms, APIs, and DevOps.’ WSO2 is a platinum sponsor of the Gartner Catalyst Conference, which will run July 29 – August 1, 2013 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, CA.”
The talk should give some insight into the three fundamental drivers that power current enterprise architecture: cloud platforms, APIs, and DevOps. Many open source enterprise solutions providers, like LucidWorks, seek to incorporate these technologies into their software, ensuring flexibility and intuitiveness. LucidWorks Big Data and LucidWorks Search are both built on a solid base of Apache Lucene Solr, and incorporate a variety of leading technologies like Hadoop.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 1, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
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