Short Honks: 8 March 2017
March 8, 2017
We have a number of items which reveal great thought and actions in our world of digital information and other whizzy technological doings.
An Imponderable
First up, a quote to note from the New York Times, an outfit which is reinventing itself to be digital. I wonder if anyone recalls Jeff Pemberton and his Times Online notion from the 1980s. My hunch: Nah. Here’s the quote from the March 7, 2017 dead tree edition, ScienceTimes section, page D3 under the heading “Activists Rush to Find Dark Data under Threat”:
If they [the US government] are going to delete something, how will we even know it is deleted if we did not know it was there?
Yes, another expert in step with the antics of FirstGov.gov now USA.gov. Where are those data? The online version of the story at this link may charge you to view the content. Yes, the digital Gray Lady.
Hewlett Packard: Into Commodities
I don’t know too much about the ins and outs of a big time outfit like Hewlett Packard. I did note that Hewlett Packard is going to buy Nimble Storage for $1 billion. The write up states:
Some analysts, however, wonder if HPE overpaid. “This take-out price seems a little stretched for an asset that was not turning a profit,” Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz wrote in a note to clients. “Plus, Nimble had been losing competitive momentum as the storage incumbents caught up on flash- and hybrid-based solutions.”
Yep, buying a money losing business which is pitching a commoditized storage method. What happens if HPE pairs its pricey Autonomy technology with Nimble Storage? Interesting hybrid to analyze with HPE’s predictive analytics tools.
Farewell Socl (Pronounced Social)
I don’t think there is a counseling service for disappointed Socl users. You know and use Socl, don’t you? Microsoft has decided to kill its social community. Microsoft is sure its “supportive community of like minded people” will forgive the Softies for this anti-social action. We noted this comment in the Verge:
[Microsoft] launched its own social network more than four years ago.
How time flies when you are fighting Facebook.
Google Buys a Community
The Google is going to be social. I noted that the containerizing outfit has purchased Kaggle. The write up in TechCrunch reported:
[Kaggle] is basically the de facto home for running data science — and machine learning — competitions.
Get those talented coders early and be social about it. You know. Friendly, courteous, team oriented. Take that, Facebook.
Stephen E Arnold, March 8, 2017
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