A Wealth of Words at Open Library
March 28, 2014
Looking for a book, any book? Head on over to Open Library, whose laudable goal is to provide “one web page for every book.” Though they have not reached that possibly unachievable aim, the many contributors have made a dent; the page hosts over 20 million documents. Open Library’s home page explains that, much like Wikipedia, the whole project is “open”—open software, open data, open documentation, and an invitation for anyone to “fix a typo, add a book, or write a widget.” The site’s About page explains:
“At its heart, Open Library is a catalog. The project began in November 2007 and has been inhaling catalog records from some of the biggest libraries in the world ever since. We have well over 20 million edition records online, provide access to 1.7 million scanned versions of books, and link to external sources like WorldCat and Amazon when we can. The secondary goal is to get you as close to the actual document you’re looking for as we can, whether that is a scanned version courtesy of the Internet Archive, or a link to Powell’s where you can purchase your own copy.”
How is this different from Project Gutenberg? Well, while Open Library strives to provide at the very least a link to every book in existence, Gutenberg seems content to host a mere 30,000 or so volumes. Part of what makes Open Library’s approach possible is the “borrow modern ebooks” option—users check out and relinquish access to digital copies of works still in copyright. The site pursues the rights to lend these books several ways. Some are contributed by the more-than-1,000 libraries participating in the In-Library Lending Program. There is also a smaller collection of about 11,000 ebooks contributed by the Internet Archive. Open Library also links to WorldCat and OverDrive.com to help users find any works not available in their expanding collection. Bookmark this one for the next time you need to find a book. Any book.
Cynthia Murrell, March 28, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Addiction Model Measures App’s Addictiveness Over Retention
March 28, 2014
The article on re/code.net titled Mixpanel: How Addictive Is Your App? presents a new analytic report called Addiction. Under a picture of a wrist cuffed to the smartphone it holds, the article cheerfully explains that fifty percent of social app users engage with the service for over five hours a day. Enterprise apps are used more during the business day, and messaging apps show a lesser addiction in their users, supporting the idea that people are now using social media apps for most of their communications. The article explains,
“Addiction adds an extra layer of insight that allows companies to analyze user behavior on an even deeper level. One thing that’s clear is that addiction is inextricably linked to function: If your product is a social app that people don’t use more than once a day, that’s a red flag — and not one you would have previously been able to catch if you relied solely on Retention.”
The article stipulates that the most important feature of Addiction is that it enables companies to visualize how “embedded” their service is in user’s daily schedules. This will allow them to better follow the effect of their smallest adjustments in the app and really see how their customers react. Whether or not this is a dangerous ability is not considered.
Chelsea Kerwin, March 28, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Improving SharePoint Ease of Use
March 28, 2014
None-technical users of SharePoint will rarely say that the solution is easy to use. In fact, many will actually circumvent the system, or develop their own ways to share information just because of the perceived effort of SharePoint. But some companies are creating solutions that improve the user interface of SharePoint without asking end users to understand the underlying architecture. Read more in the CMS Wire article, “If You Dress SharePoint Differently, Is it Easier to Use? #SPC14.”
The article introduces Akumina Interchange:
“’Akumina today announced the beta release of InterChange, a persona-based authoring and website management solution for SharePoint 2013. ‘With InterChange, casual content authors no longer need to ‘learn SharePoint’ or understand the underlying information architecture of their site to create and manage content,’ Rogers told CMSWire.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime search expert and gives a lot of attention to SharePoint on his Web site, ArnoldIT.com. He has found that customization is an important factor in SharePoint adoption. It would be interesting to see if this type of add-on is just as helpful, since end users would have fewer “unfamiliar” aspects to overcome.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 28, 2014
Facebook: All the News Socially
March 27, 2014
I read “STUDY: Facebook’s Role In Pew Research Center’s ‘State Of The News Media 2014’/” The source is a research project from Pew Research Center. The sample, well, who knows? The finding fascinating, particularly to advertisers, news professionals, and old people like me sitting around the cast iron stove in Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky.
Here it is:
30 percent of the sample get their [sic] news from Facebook.
The survey seems to have been completed in mid 2013, which may be important in the wake of Facebook’s interest in virtual reality.
The write up highlights six “Facebook-related findings.” I don’t want to spoil your fun by listing the listicle of the six factoids. I want to point out three of these insights:
- Three out of every 10 US adults get “some news while on Facebook.”
- The news is “shared by friends.”
- The demographics of the Facebook news consumers “were high earners and college educated.”
My thought is that social news is not something a traditional newspaper like my former employer the Courier Journal & Louisville Times considers a native habitat. The idea that social news is news is fascinating. With tools to generate disinformation, misinformation, and reformation, figuring out what’s accurate may be difficult for a Facebooker.
I assume that a Walter Cronkite of social media news will emerge. Advertisers are likely to sniff the edges of the Pew information and conclude, “Opportunity.” Experiencing Facebook as news is a facet of the service that has the potential to be disruptive. Which traditional network will run the Facebook news hour? Will Thomson Reuters and the BBC add a Facebook stream? Opportunities abound.
Stephen E Arnold, March 27, 2014
MarkLogic: Poised for Growth after 13 Years
March 27, 2014
I believe that MarkLogic opened for business in 2001. One of the founders was involved with Ultraseek, a search engine that eventually ended up in the hands of HP Autonomy. In case you did not recall Ultraseek, that product dates from the mid 1990s.
Why’s is this relevant to MarkLogic, a company offering an XML database?
I read “MarkLogic Poised for Continued Growth as the Industry Leader in NoSQL Marketplace.” The write up states:
growth in new markets including Japan and Europe, steady customer acquisition, strategic partner relationships and industry recognition, has further propelled the company into the leadership position within the NoSQL database market.
The company points to the release of MarkLogic, Version 7, which works out to one release every two years. The company “introduced new pricing and packaging, a free developer license, and cloud ready hourly pricing for Amazon Web services.” No details on the pricing were in the story. No information about MarkLogic’s revenues were included. After the last shift in senior management, MarkLogic seemed to be nosing toward $60 million in revenues in 2011, based on our estimates. Now three years later, the company is showing renewed press release activity, but I would have preferred some hard numbers. In those three years, MarkLogic has suggested that its XML database can work as an information retrieval system, a platform for conducting intelligence, and providing print publishers with a useful content processing system. In this 36 month period, open source solutions, JSON, and competitors have been moving in similar directions. Choice, at least in data management, abounds.
MarkLogic, since 2001, according to Crunchbase, has ingested $73.6 million in funding with the last cash infusion coming in 2013 from Sequoia Capital, Tenaya Capital, Northgate Capital, and Gary Bloom, who is, according to Businessweek, the chief executive Officer, President, and Director of MarkLogic.
The news release points out:
MarkLogic received many industry accolades during the last year. The company was favorably positioned in Gartner’s “Magic Quadrant for Operational Database Management Systems,” published in October 2013. In addition, MarkLogic was the only enterprise NoSQL database vendor featured in the report that integrates search and application services. The company was also recognized in the April 2013 “Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Search,”- the only company to have the same product featured on both reports. Other accolades include the 2013 Computerworld Honors Laureate, by IDG’s Computerworld Honors Program. The annual award program honors visionary applications of information technology promoting positive social, economic, and educational change. Furthermore, MarkLogic was selected as one of the 2013 Red Herring 100 Global Winners – recognized as a leading global private company and an innovator in the technology industry.
These types of awards are not identified as “content marketing” or pay-to-play studies. I assume these accolades are objective and based on the cited firms’ deep experience with Extensible Markup Language and its applications. Anything less would be suspect in my way of looking at the world of databases, semantics, search systems, and business intelligence solutions.
With fast moving deals for outfits like Oculus Rift, the surging growth of Elasticsearch among developers, and almost frantic efforts of some MarkLogic competitors to find a way to generate revenue growth and profits—MarkLogic appears in the news release to be showing signs of revivification.
My view is that investors may be looking some return on the money pumped into MarkLogic. Assuming that patience is a virtue, I wonder if this 2001 start up is ready to deliver a big pay day to its stakeholders. WhatsApp, founded in 2009, was a home run for its stakeholders. Cloudera seems to be on a similar trajectory.
MarkLogic is 13 years old and proving to be like a teen in a fancy private school. Money is needed periodically. Do teens repay their parents? My teens did not. Investors may not have the appetite for underwriting without a return that I did as a happy parent.
Stephen E Arnold, March 27, 2014
Next Feature of Nuance Promises Network of Connected Devices
March 27, 2014
The article on Nuance titled Experience a More Human Conversation Through Nuance Cloud Service begins with some reflections on the 2014 Mobile World Congress. Effortlessness is the rallying-cry of mobile consumers- they want machines that not only hear but understand. The article explains,
“To help brands and developers worldwide support this need, Nuance recently announced Nuance Cloud Services, a cloud platform that defines the user experiences of some of the largest and most well-respected brands by transforming them into intelligent personal assistants that understand and engage with users on a simpler, more human level… In addition to our technologies, we’ve worked with content and technology partners to ensure that Nuance Cloud Services grants our partners access to a massive range of content and services.”
This means that through Nuance Cloud Services, streaming is possible no only on smartphones and tablets but with smart TVs, as well as connected cars and PCs. The network that this creates informs the intelligent virtual assistant of the users preferences over time. Nuance also promises depth of customization to satisfy the desires of any partner brand. The search function for Nuance’s What’s Next feature is offline. This is all well and good, but it sounds more like what is happening now then in the future. So what is next? Maybe search that works?
Chelsea Kerwin, March 27, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Splunk and Tableau Developed Connector to Analyze Machine-Generated Data
March 27, 2014
The article on TechWorld titled Tableau Folds Splunk Data Into Business Analysis shares information on the new connector enabling the analysis of machine-generated data, developed in partnership by Tableau Enterprises and Splunk. The collaboration allows for a better understanding of product analytics and customer experience, since Splunk’s software collects data on what customers do when they visit a website. The article explains,
“The new driver for Tableau expands the scope of how Splunk data can be used by the enterprise. It imports data captured by Splunk into Tableau’s data processing and visualization environment. As a result, business analysts can merge the event data generated by servers with other sources of data, which would potentially provide new insights into customer behavior or corporate operations…The connector is a ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) driver that is included in the Tableau 8.1.4 maintenance release.”
Splunk’s software was initially used more for finding issues in a system, but with the addition of analysis tools the software’s ability’s were broadened. Now instead of just noting trouble spots on a website, the software is used to discover patterns in customer behavior. The article uses the example of users filling shopping carts on a website but not making purchases. Splunk’s software is used by managers to pinpoint the issue that is causing that lack of follow-through. Whether or not the partnership of Tableau and Splunk will pay off remains to be seen.
Chelsea Kerwin, March 27, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Talend CEO Reports on Customer Advisory Board Highlights
March 27, 2014
The article titled CEO Field Report from the Customer Advisory Board on the Talend blog relates highlights from the CAB meeting. Talend CEO Mike Tuchen explained that the meeting was mainly with CTOs and chief architects from companies using Talend for their main integration solution. Tuchen was surprised to learn of pressure being put on companies by consulting firms such as Gartner. The article explains,
“In Gartner’s Magic Quadrants for both Data Integration and Data Quality we’re (Talend) in the Visionary quadrant, a couple pixels south of the Leader’s quadrant. As a result, nearly all of the customers there related stories about how some of the big legacy vendors who are in the Leaders quadrant have repeatedly tried to win back their business, resorting to sowing FUD with their colleagues and their CIOs once they realized that they couldn’t unseat us directly.”
Tuchen laughed off this troubling information, since it was his own customer’s wondering aloud ““Why is <our buyer> making this risky bet on Talend rather than working our safe proven solution?” Tuchen responded with gratitude and pride in his own customers loyalty and enthusiasm. He also holds some certainty that once top analysts begin to hear such stories from their own clients “the issue will take care of itself.” It is an interesting angle on how consulting firms attempt to pressure companies.
Chelsea Kerwin, March 27, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Compliance Update to SharePoint Could Shake Partners
March 27, 2014
SharePoint Conference 2014 was full of announcements, plans, and projections. Users and managers kept an eye on the program hoping to see updates that would improve ease of use and overall efficiency. One such announcement projected an upcoming unified compliance tool. Read more in the Fierce Content Management article, “Compliance, Video Portals Could Shake SharePoint Partners.”
Developer partners have long enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with SharePoint when it comes to add-ons for the enterprise, but the article says that might be about to change:
“But compliance and video updates unveiled at last week’s SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas, could unnerve some of the partners on which Microsoft relies. During the event Microsoft teased its forthcoming Unified Compliance Center, which builds upon compliance tools found in Exchange and allows them to be leveraged seamlessly across all tools in Office 365. The tool will allow for multifactor authentication to facilitate not just eDiscovery but true auditing and compliance enforcement.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and gives a lot of attention to SharePoint on his Web site, ArnoldIT.com. He often finds that customization and critical add-ons are key to a successful SharePoint deployment, so this announcement will really up that capability for most users.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 27, 2014
Google and Pricing: High Stakes WalMarting
March 26, 2014
I read a number of write ups about the new Google cloud pricing. The main idea, in my opinion, that unifies the different reports is, “Everybody loves a bargain.” Consider “Google Slashes Cloud Prices: Google vs AWS Price Comparison.”
The essay-editorial begins with the invocation of the Google-Amazon joust:
Google threw down the gauntlet to challenge AWS public cloud supremacy by announcing significant price reductions across its Google Cloud Platform. The eye-opening price cuts covered compute (32-percent reduction), storage (68-percent reduction), and BigQuery (85-percent reduction). Google also signaled that future reductions could follow Moore’s Law — citing that historically public cloud prices have dropped only 6 to 8 percent annually as compared to 20- to 30-percent reductions in hardware prices.
The fact that neither Amazon nor Google provide much detail about their actual costs, profits, number of customers, and goals for their cloud services is not of much interest. Explanations of how pricing thresholds operate and migrate excite little curiosity.
Google, playing the Google Search Appliance card, seems to suggest that Amazon’s pricing is complicated. Yep, it is and it is very difficult to pin down with confidence what something will cost until the bits have been chomped and the Amazon accounting system processes its inputs and bills the customer. There is chatter about “sustained use” pricing, on demand pricing, and heavy reserved instance pricing, and in the article I have used as a pivot point for my comments, a cheer for RightScale’s services. These will help the cloud customer figure out what cloud computing costs.
Several observations:
First, the pricing is an example of the WalMarting of technical services. Doesn’t the entire world want lower prices? Once a market has been “won,” what happens? Creative destruction? I refer you, gentle reader, to WalMart’s challenges to rekindle (pun intended) that Sam Walton fire. The profit flat line is not good news to some WalMart stakeholders. But the Google pricing is little more than an old-fashioned price war in a Walton-like march for market share.
Second, Amazon has a bit of a cost problem. The murky Amazon financials, the hard to figure out side companies, and the blurring of revenues from product and services lines are tough to parse. Amazon is working overtime to generate no friction revenue (Prime pricing) and constrain costs. The results are a robust top line and growing pressure on expenses at “everyone’s favorite” online store. Google is cutting prices at a time when Amazon is maybe less than prepared for a price war.
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