Rich Media: Too Expensive to Store?
July 30, 2013
I saw an interesting post called “Cost of Storing All Human Audio visual Experiences.” I am no logician, but if one stores “all”, then isn’t the cost infinite? The person writing the post presents some data which pegs the cost for seven billion people at about $1 trillion a year.
Several observations:
- With the emergence of smart nanodevices with audio and video capabilities, perhaps the estimate is off the mark?
- Once the data are captured, who manages the content? Likely candidates include nation states, companies which operate as nation states, or venture funded start ups?
- How does one find a particular time segment germane to a query pertinent to a patent claim?
Interesting question if one sets aside the “all”. The next time I look for a video on YouTube or Vimeo, I will ask myself, “What type of search system is needed to deal with even larger volumes of rich media?”
Is the new Dark Ages of information access fast approaching? Yikes! Has the era already arrived?
Stephen E Arnold, July 30, 2013
Sponsored by Xenky
Image Search and, of Course, Google
June 13, 2013
Many years ago I lectured in Japan. On that visit, I saw a demonstration of a photo recognition system. Click on a cow and the system would return other four legged animals —- most of the time. Some years later I was asked to review facial recognition systems after a notable misfire in a major city. Since then, my team and I check out the systems which become known to us.
Progress is being made. That’s encouraging. However, a number of challenges have to be resolved. These range from false positives to context failures. In the case of a false positive, the person or thing in the picture is not the person or thing one sought. In the case of context failure, the cow painted on the side of a truck is not the same as a cow standing in a field with many other cows clumped around.
Software is bumping up against computational boundaries. The methods available have to be optimized to run in available resources. When there are bigger and faster systems, then fancier math can be used. Today’s innovations boil down, in my opinion, to clever manipulations of well known systems and methods. The reason many software systems perform in a similar manner is that these systems share many procedures. Innovation is often optimization and packaging, not a leap frog to more sophisticated numerical procedures. Trimming, chopping down, and streamlining via predictive methods are advancing the ball down the field.
I read with interest “Improving Photo Search: A Step across the Semantic Gap.” Google has rolled out enhanced photo search. The system works better than other systems. As Google phrases it:
We built and trained models similar to those from the winning team using software infrastructure for training large-scale neural networks developed at Google in a group started by Jeff Dean and Andrew Ng. When we evaluated these models, we were impressed; on our test set we saw double the average precision when compared to other approaches we had tried. We knew we had found what we needed to make photo searching easier for people using Google. We acquired the rights to the technology and went full speed ahead adapting it to run at large scale on Google’s computers. We took cutting edge research straight out of an academic research lab and launched it, in just a little over six months. You can try it out at photos.google.com. Why the success now? What is new? Some things are unchanged: we still use convolutional neural networks — originally developed in the late 1990s by Professor Yann LeCun in the context of software for reading handwritten letters and digits. What is different is that both computers and algorithms have improved significantly. First, bigger and faster computers have made it feasible to train larger neural networks with much larger data. Ten years ago, running neural networks of this complexity would have been a momentous task even on a single image — now we are able to run them on billions of images. Second, new training techniques have made it possible to train the large deep neural networks necessary for successful image recognition.
The use of “semantics” is also noteworthy. As I wrote in my analysis of Google Voice for a large investment bank, “Google has an advantage because it has data others do not have.” When it comes to predictive methods and certain types of semantics, the Google data sets give it an advantage over some rivals.
What applied to Google Voice applies to Google photo search. Google is able to tap its data to make educated guesses about images. The semantics and the infrastructure have a turbo boosting effect on Google.
The understatement in the Google message should not be taken at face value. The Google is increasing its lead over its rivals and preparing to move into completely new areas of revenue generation. Images? A step but an important one.
Stephen E Arnold, June 13, 2013
Sponsored by Xenky
ArnoldIT Announces New Gourmet De Ville Video Shorts
May 15, 2013
Gourmet De Ville, a new ArnoldIT information service launched in January of this year, will now be adding a video service to its print coverage of artisanal food and spirits.
Jasmine Ashton, editor for Gourmetdeville.com, will be hosting the weekly videos spotlighting innovative recipes and the latest industry trends.
Ashton remarked:
“I am very excited to be a part of this new service and look forward to sharing my insights on the craft food and beverage sector with viewers. I believe that the demand for information on gourmet food, beverages, and industry leaders is exploding. Gourmet De Ville makes high value information available in a concise, easy to understand format. Our videos will simply be another avenue to explore this content.”
In her first video, Ashton covers Limoncello Tiramisu. She introduces the video by saying:
“In Italy, it’s common to have a bottle of Limoncello brought out after dessert. The tangy lemon liqueur is believed to help you digest all that great pasta and rich sauces.
But we heard about a chef in Florida who makes Limoncello Tiramisu — an after-dinner drink and dessert all rolled into one.”
We are looking forward to watching Gourmet De Ville’s video coverage in the coming weeks and believe that they will be a refreshing addition to the content that is already available on the site.
Ric Manning, May 15, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Augmentext Video Live on GourmetDeVille.com
May 8, 2013
Short honk: The folks at GourmetDeVille, an information service covering artisanal and craft spirits sent me a link to a short news video. The talent is Jasmine Ashton, one of the ArnoldIT writing and research team. Ms. Ashton told me that she worked with Augmentext to develop this program. I wanted to send a happy quack to Ms. Ashton and her colleagues. I understand that more videos will be forthcoming. Although I am not a video person, I understand that video is a high value information type. I applaud the effort. Check out the 90 second news item at http://goo.gl/nLISJ.
Stephen E Arnold, May 8, 2013
Spnsored by HighGainBlog
Measuring the Worth of Social Media
April 26, 2013
When social media first started any companies thought it was a useless tool meant only for the younger crowd. Why would an established company want to promote itself through a tool meant for kids? According to LucidChart in the article, “Is Social Media Worthless?” the company polled 3,000 users on their Web behavior and found that social media played a small role in driving Web traffic. Social media experts are trying to justify the place it plays in a company’s business, but if it loses money it does not have any value.
“Social media denizens are, by and large, in it for themselves. They’ll promote your brand if it means their share of a cool $20 million, or a free pair of glasses, or whatever else you’re offering them. Everyone likes to pat themselves on the back and feel like they’re serving their fellow man, whether that’s retweeting a funny video or donating money to a favorite charity. But if your fans aren’t buying your product, or influencing others to buy your product, they’re not really fans at all. And all the brand awareness in the world isn’t going to change that.”
Harsh words for social media if the source is accurate. It echoes the era of MySpace filled with teenage girls and boys touting their social lives and interests. Social media has its place, but it needs to be reexamined in generating revenue for real life companies.
Whitney Grace, April 26, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Autonomy Lands Rich Media Deal
April 24, 2013
Autonomy just scored a plum placement, we learn from, “ENCO Systems Selects HP Autonomy for Audio and Video Processing,” hosted at Market Watch. ENCO, who makes the radio and TV audio-automation software DAD and DADtv, just selected Autonomy’s IDOL server for inclusion in the next version of enCaption, their automated captioning-generation system. We learn from the press release:
“ENCO Systems provides live automated captioning solutions to the broadcast industry, leveraging technology to deliver closed captioning by taking live audio data and turning it into text. ENCO Systems is capitalizing on IDOL’s unique ability to understand meaning, concepts and patterns within massive volumes of spoken and visual content to deliver more accurate speech analytics as part of enCaption3. . . .
“enCaption3 is the only fully automated speech recognition-based closed captioning system for live television that does not require speaker training. It gives broadcasters the ability to caption their programming, including breaking news and weather, any time, day or night, since it is always on and always available. enCaption3 provides captioning in near real time–with only a 3 to 6 second delay–in nearly 30 languages.”
Despite the soured relationship between HP and Autonomy, whom the tech giant snapped up in 2011, HP continues to leverage this increasingly valuable resource. Founded in 1996, Autonomy grew from research originally performed at Cambridge University.
Two engineers from MIT launched ENCO back in 1983, with a focus on computer-based process control applications in the industrial realm. The company branched into digital audio delivery and radio automation in 1991; since then, broadcasters large and small around the world have come to rely on their technologies.
Cynthia Murrell, April 24, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
YouTube and Its Content Play
March 31, 2013
Quite an interesting write up this: “Lessons Learned from YouTube’s $300 M Hole.” First, the “m” means millions. Second, the write up provides a useful thumbnail about Google’s content play for YouTube. The idea, if I understand it, was to enlist fresh thinking and get solid content from some “big names”.
The innovative approach elicited this comment in the write up:
There were a lot of recipients of this money, and many of them were major media companies trying their hand at online video that received some fat checks, up to $5M a piece, to launch TV-like channels. What we all found out is that, no matter how hard you push them and how much money you spend on them, YouTube doesn’t work like TV…and funding it that way is daft.
If the article is accurate, one channel earned back money. The other hundred or so did not.
The lessons learned from Google’s “daft” approach struck me as confirmation of the observations I offered in a report to a former client about Thomson Reuters’ “what the heck” leap into the great Gangnam style of YouTube; namely:
- Viewership and Google money are correlated
- Online video is different from “real” TV shows
- Meeting needs of users is different from meeting the needs of advertisers.
The conclusion of the write up struck me as illustrative of the Google approach:
With regards to the last lesson, allow me to submit to any YouTube employees out there that the ad agency doesn’t have the power in this equation. YouTube is a young company, it does not need to convert 100% of its value to dollars. Please, let the advertisers figure out for themselves how to tackle this very new medium instead of trying to shape the medium to meet their needs. Seems to me, that’s the strategy that got Google where it is today.
In short, Google may have lost contact with what made it successful.
Stephen E Arnold, March 31, 2013
A 60 Second Snapshot: Cebit 2013 Search
March 8, 2013
Just got off a wonderful flight from Hannover, Germany. You can check out a 60 second snapshot of the search challenges I addressed in my invited lecture. Click here for the YouTube video. An audio abstract of the talk is available as well. Click here for the MP3.
Stephen E Arnold, March 9, 2013
Search for Text Is Terrible. Now Search Has a New Challenge.
December 6, 2012
The question is, “Is search up for a new challenge?” I think of basic search like the high school athlete who was a star as a senior. In college, the person rode the bench. In the pros, the individual has an opportunity to attend a game.
In “Time Spent In Mobile Apps Is Starting To Challenge Television, Flurry Says”, the grim future of information retrieval becomes apparent. The article points out that fiddling with Web apps is getting into TV couch potato territory.
How does one find a TV show? I still watch folks channel flip. When I attend meetings with 20 somethings, the hook is a particular show regardless of format. Well, there is one format which is rarely mentioned—reading a book.
Search of text is not too slick. Now with the shift to digital media, can search make digital content findable? How about finding an app via iTunes? What about nailing down a new documentary? What about finding a video snippet displayed within an app on a mobile phone?
There is a growing need. Perhaps rich media search will work in a more useful manner than text search.
Stephen E Arnold, December 6, 2012
YouTube Surprises
September 26, 2012
I read “Brazilian Judge Orders Arrest of Local Google President over Negative Election Ads on YouTube.” According to the story:
Judge Flavio Peren ordered Google to remove the offending videos last week, but Google refused, leading Peren to issue a warrant for the arrest of local president Fabio Jose Silva Coelho and order YouTube and other Google services blocked for 24 hours. Google is reportedly appealing the decision, saying that it’s not responsible for content posted on its site.
Then one of the ArnoldIT goslings alerted me to this YouTube video. When the Gangnam parody played, an ad for Attivio and ad for the Attivio unified information access technology appeared. That is an interesting method of marketing enterprise content processing. We did not click on the link, and we did watch the somewhat offensive video.
Automated content and smart software can deliver some surprises. Google’s ad matching system knows context. The relationship between unified information access and a Gangnam parody did not make sense to me. Getting old I guess. I don’t like surprises.
Stephen E Arnold, September 26, 2012
Sponsored by Augmentext
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