Quote to Note: Radio Shack and Focus
September 17, 2014
Navigate to “History of Misses for Radio Shack.” Hurry. I have no idea how long the source document will remain online. The write up is a business school type paper that explains why Radio Shack is essential running out of oxygen.
Here’s the quote I noted:
RadioShack tried many paths. But going in all directions without a full commitment is not enough, particularly when the core brand is not sustained. RadioShack has branded itself well but it led itself too far from its strengths.
Remind you of any large companies in the online business? If you buy enough race horses, one of them is going to win. At least that’s the theory that motivates some folks.
Stephen E Arnold, September 17, 2014
Microsoft Azure Search is the Search of the Future
September 17, 2014
For a preview of Azure Search, visit Microsoft Azure. The article promises that Azure search is a breakthrough in “search-as-a-service for web and mobile app development.” For fast search, the future is Azure Search, the cloud platform that allows for the building, deployment and management of applications. Developers will be pleased at the ability to incorporate search without the infrastructure to worry about. The Azure client libraries are open source and available through GitHub. The article includes this information,
“Azure Search boosts development speed thanks to support for familiar tools and a consistent global cloud platform. Quickly provision search and start populating the index to get up and running quickly. Like other Azure services, Search uses familiar REST API calls. The worldwide network of Azure datacenters means reduced search latency no matter where your application is located.”
Pricing details are also available here. The pricing details include this information,
“Azure Search is sold in combinable “search units” that have a defined queries-per-second (QPS) benchmark and document count (index storage) benchmark associated with each unit.”
By combining units, users can achieve higher QPS and/or higher document count. Currently Microsoft is offering a month-long free trial, which should be enough time for anyone to ensure that it is worth the investment.
Chelsea Kerwin, September 17, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Goodbye Content Google Takedown Requests On the Rise
September 17, 2014
The article titled Chart of the Day: Google Receives Millions of URL Takedown Requests Each Day on Business Insider reports on the ever-ascending number of takedown requests Google gets every day. According to the article, it was only a few years ago that the number of requests coming in was limited to a few hundred daily. Yet only in the past year it has gone from just over half a million a day to just under 1.2 million. The information comes from Google’s transparency report. The article states,
“Based on Google’s data, which was charted for us by Statista, Google was asked to remove about 8 million search results just last week. As you can see from the chart, the number of takedown requests shot up around May, which is when Google first decided to publicize the contents of those takedown requests. As 9to5Google’s Mark Hearn points out, Google only received a few hundred takedown requests per year just a few years ago.”
The reason for the mad growth is the increasingly simple process of uploading and accessing pirated content through search engines and torrents. If this is true, how exactly does one find certain information? Sound like, goodbye content!
Chelsea Kerwin, September 17, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Cloud Based Mathematica from Wolfram
September 16, 2014
I read “Launching Today: Mathmatica Online.” The interface is similar to the desktop application. The benefits of having the Mathematica tool accessible on non desktop devices and without requiring a local installation of the program are many; for example, notebooks work on tablets. With refreshing candor, Dr. Wolfram notes:
There are some tradeoffs of course. For example, Manipulate can’t be as zippy in the cloud as it is on the desktop, because it has to run across the network. But because its Cloud CDF interface is running directly in the web browser, it can immediately be embedded in any web page, without any plug-in…
Worth a look at http://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/online/.
Stephen E Arnold, September 16, 2014
Xooglers Craft a New Search Engine
September 16, 2014
If you are interested in searching for off color content, you will be thrilled to learn that Boodigo awaits your input. Gizmodo reports that the system surfaces off color content on Tumblr. Now a Yahoo property, the Xoogler running that show wanted to suppress off color content. Well, now another Xoogler has made it easy to surface Tumblr’s seamier and steamier content. We have not run queries on Boodigo. We will leave that to your discretion.
Stephen E Arnold, September 16, 2014
Alternatives to Windows Search
September 16, 2014
For some common searches, Windows’ built-in desktop search function works just fine. Other times, though, our hard-drive hunts call for something more. Reporter Martin Brinkmann at ghacks.net shares his list of “The Best Free Desktop Search Programs for Windows.” He writes:
Desktop search tools offer faster searches, better options and filters, and a better user experience as a consequence. These tools can be sorted into two main categories: programs that require indexing before they can be used, and programs that work right out of the box without it. Let’s take a look at the requirements for this top list.
Requirements
*A free version of the program needs to be available.
*Search all files and don’t limit results.
*Compatibility with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions and versions of the Windows operating system.
*Top list of desktop search programs
The list takes a quick look at each application so that you know what it is about. Below that is a table that you can use to compare the core functionality followed by our recommendations.
Brinkmann describes 11 services and tacks on four more suggested by readers. Curiously, absent is one of our recommendations, Sowsoft Effective File Search. For the rest, see the ghacks article for Brinkmann’s observations, and don’t forget to scroll down for his handy-dandy comparison table.
Cynthia Murrell, September 16, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Android in the Enterprise
September 16, 2014
Can a deal with HP help Google’s Android catch up to Apple’s iOS in the business market? According to Business Insider, “Google Is Chasing Apple’s Mega Deal with IBM.” The potential deal is said to revolve around Google Now, which would serve as a voice-search tool for company information. Considering Apple’s recent partnership with IBM, the timing here is interesting. However, despite the certainty implied in the BI headline, Google seems to be playing it cool. Writer Eugene Kim reports:
“The report [at the paywall-guarded site The Information] said the two companies have been in talks for about a year now, though Google hasn’t shown as much interest in the deal so far. But HP could be a potential partner since it has deep roots in enterprise clients and has been developing a mobile search product nicknamed ‘Enterprise Siri,’ according to the report.
“In fact, HP had discussed the ‘Enterprise Siri’ idea with Apple earlier this year, before Apple announced its partnership with IBM last month, the report said. It also said HP at one point pitched the idea of building a Nexus phone for businesses, with advanced encryption features, which was turned down by then-Android head, Andy Rubin.”
So, as of this writing we don’t really know whether this deal will go through. One thing seems certain—Google will have to do something if it wants to catch up to Apple in the enterprise. Is this deal with HP the answer, or is the famously innovative company eyeing some other solution(s)?
Cynthia Murrell, September 16, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint Simplifies Cloud Use with Better Updates
September 16, 2014
The next major update to SharePoint functionality will not occur until sometime in 2015, but for now users can get the most function out of their current implementation by taking advantage of Service Pack 1. Especially important for customers who intend to integrate Cloud components, SP1 focuses on reliability, security, and performance. Read more in the Enterprise Apps Today article, “SharePoint Updates Ease Move to Cloud.”
The article begins:
“Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 has been out for quite some time and received a Service Pack update earlier in the year. While SP1 included the usual mix of performance, reliability and security fixes, it also provided a number of new and updated features with an eye toward the cloud. Another update makes it easier to use Yammer as the social network of choice over the outdated Newsfeed.”
For more tips and tricks regarding getting the most out of your SharePoint installation, head on over to ArnoldIT.com. Stephen E. Arnold has made a career out of all things search, and gives a good bit of attention to the enterprise. His SharePoint feed helps users and administrators navigate the often complicated and potentially frustrating ins and outs of SharePoint.
Emily Rae Aldridge, September 16, 2014
Autonomy Technology a Good Buy Says HP Big Dog Isherwood
September 15, 2014
If you follow the HP Autonomy firefights, you will enjoy “Autonomy Deal Fallout ‘More Extreme’ Than Hoped, says HP’s UK boss Andy Isherwood:
In spite of HP’s allegations that Lynch and senior Autonomy management inflated revenues with phantom deals and hidden low-margin sales, Isherwood liked what he found. Technologically at least it was a good buy, he insists….We’re seeing clearly a lot more customer buying so it’s not an issue with the product.”
I also noted the positive signal of one percent revenue growth. Mr. Isherwood asserts:
Despite the decline in outsourcing revenues, a global trend, HP surprised Wall Street last month with 1pc revenue growth – its first in a dozen quarters – on the back of increasing share of the PC market. The UK picture was better still, with only outsourcing in decline. After falling last year overall sales here are on track to grow 7pc, says Isherwood.
With this atta boy and positive financials, what went wrong with Autonomy? As Isherwood says:
Unsurprisingly, he has only good things to say about the leadership of Whitman, Lynch’s nemesis. She is nearly two years into a five-year plan to turn the HP oil tanker, with increased investment in research and development, and a focus on the big trends of cloud computing, mobile working and big data as part an attempt to turn HP’s scale and diversity to its advantage. “HP is a broad-based company,” says Isherwood. “Meg understood that immediately. At that time we had said we were going to hive off the PC business, but she came in and said ‘no’, the power is in the broad portfolio.”
If there’s no management culpability, HP wants its money back. Interesting.
Stephen E Arnold, September 15, 2014
Short Honk: Goggle Intervention-Objectivity?
September 15, 2014
Short honk: Navigate to “How Google’s Autonomous Car Passed the First U.S. State Self-Driving Test.” Do you find this statement interesting?
Google chose the test route and set limits on the road and weather conditions that the vehicle could encounter, and that its engineers had to take control of the car twice during the drive.
I do. With intervention it is much easier to pass a test. The same method of shaping characterizes Google’s approach to modeling for “nowcasting.” I discuss this hand crafting of methods to deliver an acceptable result in my next KMWorld article.
Stephen E Arnold, September 15, 2014
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