Protected: SharePoint Creates a Thirst for Information
November 16, 2011
Make Case-Based Approximate Reasoning a Reality
October 23, 2011
I stumbled across an interesting book on Amazon.com that has received a great deal of attention over he past few years. The book is called Case-Based Approximate Reasoning (CBR) by Eyke Hullermeier.
CBR has established itself as a core methodology in the field of artificial intelligence. The key idea of CBR is to tackle new problems by referring to similar problems that have already been solved in the past. One reviewer wrote:
In the last years developments were very successful that have been based on the general concept of case-based reasoning. … will get a lot of attention and for a good while will be the reference for many applications and further research. … the book can be used as an excellent guideline for the implementation of problem-solving programs, but also for courses in Artificial and Computational Intelligence. Everybody who is involved in research, development and teaching in Artificial Intelligence will get something out of it.
The problem with CBR can be the time, effort, and cost required to create and maintain the rules. Automated systems work well if the inputs do not change. Flip in some human unpredictability and the CBR system can require baby sitting.
Jasmine Ashton, October 23, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
NLP Gets a Full Monty
February 28, 2011
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is experiencing huge growth. From handwriting recognition to foreign language translation to predictive text on your handheld, NLP is used in many different ways to help our technology recognize what we mean when we simply speak or write English (or whatever language you happen to use in life). Natural Language Processing with Python is a book available in pdf that gives a useful introduction to NLP based on the Python programming language with its shallow learning curve.
According to its own introduction:
“This book provides a highly accessible introduction to the field of NLP. It can be used for individual study or as the textbook for a course on natural language processing or computational linguistics, or as a supplement to courses in artificial intelligence, text mining, or corpus linguistics.”
The book is geared toward beginning and intermediate levels, so even if you are new, don’t be intimidated. It is full of exercises, and the authors have used entertaining examples to lighten what might otherwise be a heavy subject. The book is available for free download and the Natural Language Toolkit with open source Python modules is as well. Whether your background is arts and humanities or science and engineering, this is a recommended read.
Alice Wasielewski, February 28, 2011
Protected: FAST Read: Ontolica
February 11, 2011
Search Based Application Book Available
January 29, 2011
We noted a new book Search-Based Applications: At the Confluence of Search and Database Technologies. According to Exalead’s Web log:
Published in the series of Synthesis Lectures on Information Concepts, Retrieval, and Services under the direction of Gary Marchionini University of North Carolina, this book provides students, researchers and professionals, a description of the concept and practice of the SBA. At the same time, the [Greg Grefenstette and Laura Wilber] highlight the increasing convergence of search technologies and databases, presenting the latest developments in the field of search that allow the SBA revolution. [The authors] have also located the phenomenon SBA in a broader context, taking into account current developments in the Web – notions of deep Web (or deep web – invisible), Semantic Web and mobile Web, and their influences on the next generation of SBA.
You can download a sample chapter at www.searchbasedapplications.com or order the book at this link.
Stephen E Arnold, January 29, 2011
Freebie but we know Dr. Grefenstette and expect him to for over a KFC meal the next time we are in France.
Search Patterns: User Experience Explained
February 19, 2010
The addled goose does not do book reviews. I was asked if I wanted a copy of Search Patterns by Peter Morville and Jeffery Callender. I said, “Sure.” I read the book, and I think that anyone mired in user interface for search and content processing systems will want to snag a copy. For me, the section that was Chapter 4, Design Patterns. The O’Reilly production value is good. The book is stuffed with screenshots. I am not sure when the book will be in the Harrod’s Creek bookstore. You can chase down a copy on Amazon.
After finishing the 180 page book, I kept thinking about the thrashing that goes on among procurement teams and vendors. The procurement teams know what they like when they see, and in my experience, have not too much information about what is required to make a particular interface feasible. The vendors do quite a bit of borrowing from one another. It is possible that some procurement teams will focus on the UX, user experience in the lingo of Microsoft. Maybe that approach will reduce the dissatisfaction among enterprise users of search and content processing systems?
Worth a look.
Stephen E. Arnold, February 19, 2010
No one paid me to read this 180 page book, examine the screenshots, and do some thinking about the shift from search plumbing to the UX. I am not sure to which government agency I report such uncompensated work. Maybe the Library of Congress whose interfaces knock my socks off each time I use LOC.gov.
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