Pleading with Microsoft to Step Up Mobile Development
March 12, 2014
Mobile computing is not just the latest trend. It is here to stay, and users of all varieties are pleading with major platforms to offer more mobile functionality. SharePoint should be used to hearing the pleas of users in this arena, but Search Content Management offers a well-written request in their article, “Dear Microsoft: Step Up Mobile SharePoint Development.”
The article sums up the issue:
“Microsoft now stands at a crossroads, surrounded on all sides by able competitors and imprisoned somewhat between its behemoth server technology stack, the growing cloud and the critical need to reinvent the face of its applications. Microsoft has been dragged kicking and screaming into the mobile era. Now it needs to update SharePoint development to really embrace the mobile revolution.”
Stephen E. Arnold of ArnoldIT.com is a longtime expert in all things search. He knows that the future is mobile and gives a lot of attention to the growing movement. He has found that while mobile is a “want,” security and functionality are “needs” in the enterprise. So Microsoft’s challenge will be to give equal weight to these areas.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 12, 2014
Attensity Analyze 6.3: Signs of Life Evident
March 11, 2014
Attensity has been a quiet sentiment, analytics, text processing vendor for some months. The company has now released a new version of its flagship product, Analyze, now at version 6.3. The headline feature is “enhanced analytics.”
According to a company news release, Attensity is “the leading provider of integrated, real-time solutions that blend multi-channel Voice of the Customer analytics and social engagement for enterprise listening needs.” Okay.
The new version of Analyze delivers to licensees real time information about what is trending. The system provides “multi dimensional visualization that immediately identifies performance outliers in the business that can impact6 the brand both positively and negatively.” Okay.
The system processes over 150 million blogs and forums, Facebook, and Twitter. Okay.
As memorable as these features are, here’s the passage that I noted:
Attensity 6.3 is powered by the Attensity Semantic Annotation Server (ASAS) and patented natural language processing (NLP) technology. Attensity’s unique ASAS platform provides unmatched deep sentiment analysis, entity identification, statistical assignment and exhaustive extraction, enabling organizations to define relationships between people, places and things without using pre-defined keywords or queries. It’s this proprietary technology that allows Attensity to make the unknown known.
“To make the unknown known” is a bold assertion. Okay.
I have heard that sentiment analysis companies are running into some friction. The expectations of some licensees have been a bit high. Perhaps Analyze 6.3 will suck up customers of other systems who are dissatisfied with their sentiment, semantic, analytics systems. Making the “unknown known” should cause the world to beat a path to Attensity’s door. Okay.
Stephen E Arnold, March 11, 2014
Twenty Electric Text Analytics Platforms
March 11, 2014
Butler Analytics collected a list of “20+ Text Analytics Platforms” that delve through the variety of text analytics platforms available and what their capabilities are. According to the list, text analytics has not reached its full maturity yet. There are three main divisions in the area: natural language processing, text mining, and machine learning. Each is distinct and each company has their own approach to using these processes:
“Some suppliers have applied text analytics to very specific business problems, usually centering on customer data and sentiment analysis. This is an evolving field and the next few years should see significant progress. Other suppliers provide NLP based technologies so that documents can be categorized and meaning extracted from them. Text mining platforms are a more recent phenomenon and provide a mechanism to discover patterns that might be used in operational activities. Text is used to generate extra features which might be added to structured data for more accurate pattern discovery. There is of course overlap and most suppliers provide a mixture of capabilities. Finally we should not forget information retrieval, more often branded as enterprise search technology, where the aim is simply to provide a means of discovering and accessing data that are relevant to a particular query. This is a separate topic to a large extent, although again there is overlap.”
Reading through the list shows the variety of options users have when it comes to text analytics. There does not appear to be a right or wrong way, but will the diverse offerings eventually funnel
down to few fully capable platforms?
Whitney Grace, March 11, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Protest Outside Sochi Olympics
March 11, 2014
Here’s an interesting roundup of responses to Pussy Riot’s Sochi PR play. MediaMiser reports, “Sochi 2014: Social Media Reacts to Pussy Riot Olympic Controversy.” For anyone who is unaware, Pussy Riot is a Russian punk-rock band famous for their political protests. Writer Elisabetta Bianchini summarizes the precipitating events:
“The band ended their five-day stay in Sochi today [February 20] with a video posted on YouTube criticizing the Olympics and President Vladimir Putin. This video follows the two best-known members of Pussy Riot, Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina, being detained on Tuesday for alleged theft from their hotel, and being beaten by Russian authorities (see the video footage here).
“Pussy Riot is known for creating music videos condemning Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church in their colourful balaclavas. The band started making headlines after filming a video protesting Putin in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, and were subsequently sentenced to two years in a penal colony for the crime of hooliganism.”
Most of the tweets Bianchini samples are supportive of Pussy Riot’s efforts. One, however, suggests that it is inappropriate to conflate the Olympics with protests against the Russian government. I understand the call to show respect for the Olympics, which is supposed to bridge all things political. On the other hand, I imagine the fleeting international attention posed an opportunity the protestors couldn’t pass up.
Curious geese that we are, we tried to get more information about this event and the band’s grievances. Oddly enough, searches for inside info are not too helpful.
Cynthia Murrell, March 11, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Download A Free TemaTres Pack
March 11, 2014
Despite the dubious quality of the blog Home-Education. Free Download., they do make an interesting point with the post “TemaTres Pack.” Other than a link to a questionable download Web site, there is nothing in the post. What sort of knowledge can a user glen from a blog that was obviously made to house content and make a few cents on a dollar for the creator?
TemaTres is a legitimate open source vocabulary server developed to manage and exploit dictionaries, taxonomies thesauri, and other formal representations of knowledge. It can also be downloaded at SourceForge, trust this over the above link.
Open source is a key player in technology and software development. Proprietary and open source are ingrained with each other and it is difficult to discern where the line is drawn-except when money comes into play. This link to a TemaTres download begs the question: what does free downloads do to the business models of Smartlogic, Modeca, and other vocabulary management firms?
Companies are built on the entire premise of developing software to manage information, control vocabulary lists, and present it in a useful form. Open source is a boon to users, but is TemaTres going to dampen these companies’ profits? It is possible, but open source lacks the organization of a paying its developers and sometimes offering a robust solution without an IT professional.
Whitney Grace, March 11, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Exchange and SharePoint Server Releases Set for 2015
March 11, 2014
Under Microsoft’s new accelerated release cycle, many were speculating that the next Exchange and SharePoint Server release might occur during 2014. However, Microsoft announced that the newest version of those products would not be made available until sometime next year, 2015. Redmond Magazine gives the details in their story, “Next Exchange and SharePoint Server Products Arriving in 2015.”
The article begins:
“Microsoft won’t ship new releases of Exchange Server or SharePoint Server until sometime next year, the company indicated today. The news comes from Jeff Teper, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of the Office Service and Servers group, in an announcement. Microsoft’s current server releases are Exchange Server 2013 and SharePoint Server 2013. Both of those servers received Service Pack 1 updates last week, so IT pros may be relieved to hear that Microsoft won’t release new products till next year.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search, and the mastermind behind ArnoldIT.com. He gives SharePoint a good bit of attention, so stay tuned to learn more about how SharePoint managers are adjusting to Service Pack 1. It may provide some foreshadowing for what users can expect in the 2015 release.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 11, 2014
Google Is Yesterday: Apps, Not Search, the Future
March 10, 2014
I read “Google Searches for role in App Age.” This is a for fee item, so you will need to pony up money or buy a copy of the dead tree edition of the March 10, 2014, Wall Street Journal. If you have a WSJ account, here’s your link, gentle reader, www.wsj.com and click on the “Top Stories in Tech” by Rolfe Winkler. You may want to try this link too. Great name, Rolfe.
The point of the write up for those who have not been watching Google with Murdochesque eye wear is that mobile users use apps. Mobile users are not too hip to the Web search thing.
According the the write up:
On a phone, links to apps often are more useful than Web links. The apps may be tuned for the smaller screen, and tap features of the phone, like knowing a user’s location, to provide more relevant information: the Open Table app can automatically show restaurants nearby.
Be still my heart. The write up points out:
Speaking at a conference last week, Nikesh Arora, Google’s chief business officer, said that while mobile ads are less lucrative than desktop ones today, he believes in the long-term mobile ad revenue “will be a multiple” of desktop ads due to all the extra information smartphones can capture about their users.
Was the WSJ expecting Google to watch as Facebook wormed into the global social app opportunity?
Several observations:
- Google is based on doing a better job of Web search than Fast Search & Transfer did
- Google is based on an idea developed by GoTo, implemented by Overture, and a once opportunity rich play by Yahoo
- The Google train has been chugging down the Web search path for more than a decade. Trains age.
Just as the automobile put the nose lock on trains, Google is working overtime to make sure its momentum does not abate. But an airplane-like breakthrough may be looming.
Will Google be able to generate revenue from its many side ventures so that top line revenue does not suffer erosion? Will Google be able to deal with a business model built on the missteps of Alta Vista, Fast Search’s vision that enterprise search was its future, and Yahoo’s stumbles?
These are interesting questions. Just as Amazon struggles to put lipstick on the pig of its soaring costs, Google seems to be frantically rummaging through its cosmetics drawer and “searching” for a plastic surgeon to make sure it is one compelling creature.
Barges, balloons, bio-engineering—perhaps these are the future of Google or not. Even the WSJ closes its somewhat shallow write up with a nod to Facebook’s “mobile app ads for engagement.” No matter. Search is not dead, but it is increasingly marginalized.
Stephen E Arnold, March 10, 2014
For Big Insights Try A Big Download From IBM
March 10, 2014
IBM might not be the first name when it comes to open source, but they experiment in that area and they have offered a free, downloadable version of BigInsights. On IBM’s developerWorks page, IBM InfoSphere BigInsights Quick Start Edition can be downloaded without any strings. It was made available to anyone who wants to experience enterprise level features, play with Hadoop, and figure out what it can be used for.
IBM describes Infosphere BigInsights Quick Start Edition as:
“IBM InfoSphere BigInsights Quick Start Edition is a free, downloadable non-production version of BigInsights that enables new solutions that cost effectively turn large, complex volumes of data into insight by combining Apache Hadoop, (including the MapReduce framework and the Hadoop Distributed File Systems), with unique, enterprise-ready technologies and capabilities from across IBM, including Big SQL, text analytics and BigSheets.”
Can IBM use the word “big” to explain its product even more? Yes, they can, because they forgot to include big data solutions. This is, of course, a sales gimmick to entice people to buy the professional edition, but it has the open source benefits, especially in customer support and the IBM name.
Whitney Grace, March 10, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Help For Those Who Want To Normalize Medical Controlled Term Lists
March 10, 2014
There is a big demand in the healthcare industry to manage electronic medical record information (EMR). One way that is done is by using term lists that contain specific medical keywords. It might sound simple to create a keyword list and then code a program to normalize information in medical charts, but it is more complex. The press release, “Apelon And Clinical Architecture Partner To Evolve And Enhance Healthcare Terminology Management; Introduce Interoperability Sentinel” from Apelon’s Web site details the new partnership.
Apelon is an internationally renowned clinical informatics company and Clinical Architecture is an innovative software solution company that managed the complexities in healthcare terminologies. Their team up uses Clinical Architecture’s Symedical and Apelon’s professional services to bring its clients the best product and services individually tailored to their clients. The new idea is called Interoperability Sentinel.
“Not all organizations have the internal expertise or resources to effectively manage their terminology assets. However, the growing requirements for data exchange, quality reporting and population health can make clinical interoperability the difference between success and failure. Applying the strengths of each company, Apelon and Clinical Architecture have created Interoperability Sentinel. Now instead of tying up valuable resources or falling behind on Meaningful Exchange, for a monthly fee clients can subscribe to Interoperability Sentinel where Apelon experts use Symedical’s powerful runtime services to proactively monitor and manage terminology exchange.”
The combination of the two companies brings the best of their resources together and solves a multitude of problems experienced in healthcare information management.
Whitney Grace, March 10, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Predictions For Real Time Technology
March 10, 2014
Phil Leggetter is a real time software and developer evangelist and on his blog he wrote a post entitled, “10 Real Time Web Technology Predictions For 2014.” He says in the post that he based his 2014 predictions on trends in 2013 and what has happened so far in 2014.
He notes that nearly all applications have a real time sync in their code for relevancy and that real time is becoming a common commodity. This means that real time fixtures will be included in frameworks, but it will not diminish their importance. One can expect to see more real time APIs, increasing API offerings and adding to their values, and WebHooks will gain more prominence.
Leggett mentions that open source needs an data sync solution, which comes as a surprise because there is nearly an open source program for everything. Why has this not been made yet?
Video and audio communication are getting even bigger. Real time video and data communication in real time is going to be even more important for applications and it might be time to check out peer-to-peer data sharing. What is even better is real time developer tools are on the horizon.
The next 10 months of 2014 is going to be very exciting for real time web technology, real time solution providers, real time hosted services, and more importantly for us developers. I expect some serious advancements in existing solutions and some new players to come along. Real time web technology is going to become even easier to integrate into existing applications and we’re going to have a much wider range of choice when building real time apps from the ground up.”
Will real time technology be the buzzword trend this year? Again, it is only predictions.
Whitney Grace, March 10, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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