SharePoint 2014 Conference Roundup
March 19, 2014
The 2014 SharePoint Conference just concluded. Microsoft hosts this large conference devoted to the SharePoint platform. Bill Clinton made headlines as the keynote speaker, but there were lots of other great noteworthy points. Get the rundown in the article, “Roundup: Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2014.”
The article starts with an overview:
“This year, the conference offered a wide range of presentations, certification testing, labs, workshops, Q&A sessions, and networking events for the attendees to polish their talents and to meet the professionals from various fields of SharePoint and Yammer. Tons of topics were discussed.”
The article then goes on to discuss the finer points of the conference. Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and maintains the Web site ArnoldIT.com. He pays attention when SharePoint makes the news, working to disseminate points of interest to enterprise managers and end users.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 19, 2014
How Google Innovates: According to Google and MIT
March 18, 2014
Navigate to “Why Google Doesn’t Have a Research Lab.” You will read how Google does research without a Bell Labs’ type operation. According to the write up:
“There doesn’t need to be a protective shell around our researchers where they think great thoughts,” says Spector. “It’s a collaborative activity across the organization; talent is distributed everywhere.” He says this approach allows Google make fundamental advances quickly—since its researchers are close to piles of data and opportunities to experiment—and then rapidly turn those advances into products.
If you are not familiar with Dr. Spector, you can get the Google biography at http://bit.ly/1fVC4qM.
With regard to Glass, the article states:
Spector even claims that his company’s secretive Google X division, home of Google Glass and the company’s self-driving car project (see “Glass, Darkly” and “Google’s Robot Cars Are Safer Drivers Than You or I”), is a product development shop rather than a research lab, saying that every project there is focused on a marketable end result. “They have pursued an approach like the rest of Google, a mixture of engineering and research [and] putting these things together into prototypes and products,” he says.
I find this interesting. My exposure to synthetic biology suggests that something more than a group of cubicles and some lab equipment is likely to be needed. For example, the machines required to engineer nanodevices require robots. Perhaps Google’s interest in robots is more than high tech gadget collecting?
When fooling around with protein manipulation, some basic requirements are not likely to be found in a Silicon Valley slap up building.
Important? Probably not. Dr. Babak Amirparviz can probably work out of his tiny garage. No official Google bio is available for this innovator. You may find his inventions with Dr. Whitesides’ interesting (US 8,574,924) or Dr. Amirparviz’ patent document Assay Device and Method (US 20100279310). I suppose these systems and methods can work in a Google snack area next to the microwave and coffee machine.
Red herrings probably thrive in Google’s “projects” set up.
At least, MIT finds this plausible.
Stephen E Arnold, March 18, 2014
Drone Journalism
March 18, 2014
A story brimming with video footage may just demonstrate the future of journalism. BuzzFeed shares, “This Amazing Footage Shows Why Drone Journalism is About to Go Mainstream.” (The videos are all active as soon as you land on the page, so beware of that if you have a slow connection.)
Writer Jim Waterson discusses the reasons he expects the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by news organizations to boom in the near future, illustrating each point with at least one drone-captured video clip. Foremost, of course, is the ability to take shots one couldn’t get from the ground, either because of hazardous conditions or because an aerial vantage point is desired. The write-up also notes that drones are good for time-lapse footage; the example shows an approaching storm. Another angle, so to speak: news organizations are learning that drone videos, which look very different from traditional footage, catch the eye and, perhaps, more viewers.
There are some legal issues reporters must be aware of. In Waterson’s home nation, the U.K., drones are not allowed to fly over crowds. Also, journalists must obtain qualifications from the Civil Aviation Authority before they can be legally paid for such footage.
What about cost? Photographer Lewis Whyld has been at the fore of British drone journalism. The article shares his take on getting started with drone tech:
“Whyld says a self-build drone suitable for journalism could cost ‘below a thousand pounds [about $1,670 USD], plus about £350 [about $585] to stick a GoPro camera on the front of it’ – news that will please media organisations that are short of funds. But he says there’s two approaches to making drones: ‘The BBC has quite a big budget with three of these machines and I’m just building stuff in my front room. People that don’t know what they’re doing are drawn into spending lots of money. You can get a Hollywood-standard system by buying cheaper equipment and building it up and knowing the components. Otherwise you can spend thousands and thousands – and if you crash it’s all gone.’ Basic drones for beginners – described as ‘toys’ by Whyld – cost as little as £250 [about $420].”
On top of that, of course, is the cost of those Aviation certification exams—around £1,500 (about $2,500) for one person. Whyld estimates that getting one drone journalist up and running costs over £10,000 (about $16,730). That’s a significant investment, but, according to this article, the results are well worth the cost if one does it right.
Cynthia Murrell, March 18, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Kontagent Comes Clean
March 18, 2014
A recent partner audit by Facebook prompted the removal of business intelligence firm Kontagent from the Facebook Mobile Measurement Program (MMP). A post at the Kontagent Kaleidoscope blog from the company’s CEO, “An Update on our Relationship with Facebook, How We Store Data,” addresses the issue head-on. Andy Yang admits his company made a mistake, but assures us that absolutely no data breaches resulted from the misstep. Furthermore, though the company is not currently part of the MMP, it is still working with Facebook in other areas.
Yang details what precipitated his company’s removal from the program. They did violate Facebook’s policy on how long they could store data, but note that the slip-up occurred as they were working to exceed Facebook’s requirements on privacy and security. Still, they say, the mistake was theirs, they are learning from it, and they hope to earn the chance to rejoin the program. See the post for more on their security measures and on what transpired with Facebook. Yang summarizes:
“In short, Kontagent created an encryption policy that we designed to completely protect user privacy while addressing Facebook’s policy in one elegant solution. In hindsight, while our intentions were good, we overthought the solution when a more basic approach would have better met Facebook’s requirements.
“I completely respect the audits that Facebook conducts to ensure their partners are properly compliant. We will address each of the issues noted in Facebook’s audit despite not being a member of the MMP.”
After its launch in 2007, Kontagent cut their data analysis teeth on SaaS analytics for key social game developers. Now, leading brands in a variety of fields depend upon their expertise. Based in San Francisco, Kontagent also maintains offices in Toronto, London, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Cynthia Murrell, March 18, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
New CEO for Kroll
March 18, 2014
Kroll Ontrack, owner of search suite Engenium, has a new CEO with a financial focus. BusinessWire‘s “Kroll Appoints New Chief Executive Officer, Emanuele A. Conti” has us wondering whether Kroll disappointed its stakeholders. Here’s the passage that caught our attention:
“Charlie Gottdiener, head of Portfolio Operations for Providence Equity Partners and Chairman of Kroll, said, ‘I feel very confident in the future we will forge under Manny’s leadership. He has a deep understanding of the international consulting and data-intensive markets that Kroll operates in and a solid track record for improving operations and delivering strong financial results. I believe his knowledge and wealth of leadership experience combined with his entrepreneurial spirit will help us achieve the full potential of our multifaceted Kroll businesses.'”
For his part, Conti says he is looking forward to working at the “iconic and high-energy organization.” His background spans several industries and emphasizes performance and growth. Kroll Ontrack began as a software outfit in 1985, and its work with damaged hard drives led to its focus on data recovery. The company snapped up conceptual-search firm Engenium in 2006. Kroll is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
Cynthia Murrell, March 18, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Full Fidelity Analytics from Karmasphere
March 18, 2014
It is the data equivalent of a distortion-free sound system— Karmasphere blogs about what they are calling “Full-Fidelity Analytics.” Karmashpere founder Martin Hall explains what the analytics-for-Hadoop company means by the repurposed term:
“Ensuring Full-Fidelity Analytics means not compromising the data available to us in Hadoop in order to analyze it. There are three principles of Full-Fidelity Analytics:
1. Use the original data. Don’t pre-process or abstract it so it loses the richness that is Hadoop
2. Keep the data open. Don’t make it proprietary which undermines the benefits of Hadoop open standards
3. Process data on-cluster without replication. Replication and off-cluster processing increases complexity and costs of hardware and managing the environment.
“By adhering to these principals during analytics, the data remains rich and standard empowering deep insights faster for companies in the era of Big Data.”
The post goes on to list several advantages to the unadulterated-data policy; Hall declares that it reduces complexity, lowers the total cost of ownership, and avoids vendor lock-in, to name a few benefits. The write-up also discusses the characteristics of a full-fidelity analytics system. For example, it uses the standard Hadoop metastore, processes analytics on-cluster, and, above all, avoids replication and sampling. See the post for more details about this concept. Founded in 2010, Karmasphere is headquartered in Cupertino, California.
Cynthia Murrell, March 18, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Determining SharePoint Cloud Deployment
March 18, 2014
Not so long ago, SharePoint deployment only meant one thing – onsite. However, users are now faced with a multitude of deployment options, which can be overwhelming. Even if users just look at cloud deployment, the options are numerous. CMS Wire helps break them down in their article, “SharePoint in the Cloud: You Have Options.”
The article begins:
“When it comes to hosting SharePoint on premises or moving it into the cloud, there is never one right answer. Companies need to understand every hosting option available to them and find the one that best fits their available resources and technical needs. In this article, we’re going to take a look at the available platforms and who might benefit most from each.”
The article then goes on to detail several different deployment options. Stephen E. Arnold gives a lot of attention to SharePoint on his Web site, ArnoldIT.com. He has made a career out of following search and its implications for organizations. SharePoint is perhaps the search application with the greatest reach.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 18, 2014
IBM Watson: Now a Foodie
March 17, 2014
One of my two or three readers sent me a link to “IBM’s New Food Truck Uses a Supercomputer to Dream Up All Their ‘Surprising’ Recipes.” For code wrappers and Lucene, Watson is a versatile information processing system. Instead of an online demo of Web indexing, I learned about “surprising recipes.”
The initiative to boost Watson toward its $10 billion revenue goal involves the Institute of culinary Education.” The idea is that IBM and ICE deliver “computational creativity” to create new recipes. Julia Child would probably resist computerizing her food activities. Her other, less well known activities, would have eagerly accepted Watson’s inputs.
The article quotes IBM as saying:
“Creating a recipe for a novel and flavorful meal is the result of a system that generates millions of ideas out of the quintillions of possibilities,” IBM writes. “And then predicts which ones are the most surprising and pleasant, applying big data in new ways.”
The article even includes a video. Apparently the truck made an appearance at South by Southwest. From my cursory research, the Watson truck was smart enough to be elsewhere when the alleged inebriated driver struck attendees near the pivot point of Austin’s night life.
The IBM marketing professionals are definitely clear headed and destined for fame as the food truck gnaws its way into the $10 billion revenue objective. Did IBM researchers ask Watson is this was an optimal use of its computational capabilities. Did Watson contribute to the new Taco Bell loaded beefy nacho grillers. Ay, Caramba!
Digital Government Makes People Unhappy
March 17, 2014
A GCN headline states that “Report Finds US Citizens Unhappy With Digital Government.” All we can say to this is we are not surprised. The Accenture report titled: “Digital Government: Pathways To Delivering Public Services For The Future” says that the US ranks sixth in government using social media and digital services to communicate with people.
US citizens are apparently uncomfortable with using mobile and cloud technology to communicate with the government.
The government launched 140 free apps in both English and Spanish that deal with government services, but 43 percent of the US does not to use them. As for the cloud, US citizens fear that security is not tight enough and their privacy rights are not protected. The report does offer three priorities that the US population wants the government to focus on:
“According to U.S. citizens, the top three priorities for improving future public services are to provide cost-efficient, sustainable services, to deliver a clear and stable long-term vision and to better understand better the priorities of citizens and communities.”
What exactly does that mean? It does not even add up to three! It sounds like a whole bunch of jib jab or a company’s bland mission statement. The US is never satisfied.
Whitney Grace, March 17, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Ray Kurzweil Says Robots
March 17, 2014
We have reported on Ray Kurzweil’s uncanny psychic powers before (really, he is just has the notorious ability to predict future technology trends) and according to The Guardian article “Are The Robots About To Rise? Google’s New Director Of Engineering Thinks So” he thinks that robots are going to out think humans by 2029. It is not a farfetched idea, considering that technology is getting more advanced every year. Google hired Kurzweil to be its new engineering director, the first job he’s ever held. Google has also been snapping up artificial intelligence companies and researchers to build a new robotics division:
“And those are just the big deals. It also bought Bot & Dolly, Meka Robotics, Holomni, Redwood Robotics and Schaft, and another AI startup, DNNresearch. It hired Geoff Hinton, a British computer scientist who’s probably the world’s leading expert on neural networks. And it has embarked upon what one DeepMind investor told the technology publication Re/code two weeks ago was “a Manhattan project of AI”. If artificial intelligence was really possible, and if anybody could do it, he said, “this will be the team”. The future, in ways we can’t even begin to imagine, will be Google’s.”
This is starting to sound like every science-fiction story set in the near future. Kurzweil does not want robotic technology to overtake our lives, instead he wants it to augment our reality. He has his critics who point out not all of his predictions have been true. He does have the human fallacy. If we go back to the science-fiction genre, this is going to be the time romanticized by future authors.
Whitney Grace, March 17, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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