Holiday Rumor: Lexmark and Possible Misprints
December 14, 2015
Holiday festivities in Kentucky feature good cheer and bourbon. The combination yields interesting behavior and rumors. At a hoe down this weekend, one tippler talked about Lexmark, the progeny of IBM in 1991. Lexmark became a publicly traded company in 1995 and became one of Kentucky’s technology poster children. Today Lexmark is more diversified because of a push that began to gain speed in 2010 with its purchase of Perceptive Software. The idea is that Lexmark would become an end to end solutions provider, not a vendor of printers and ink.
The company blipped my radar when it purchased two outfits with search and content processing software. ISYS Search Software had been around since the late 1980s, and Brainware also had some miles on its odometer. Brainware had built a search solution based on its patented n-gram technology. Both brands have mostly disappeared since the Lexmark acquisition.
The company then purchased for $1 billion the one time big dog in document scanning. Between Perceptive and Kofax, Lexmark had a vision of becoming a document processing company. The idea was not a new one in Lexington, which had fostered Exstream Software, purchased by Hewlett Packard in 2008.
I read “Company Shares of Lexmark International, Inc.” and learned:
The Company has disclosed insider buying and selling activities to the Securities Exchange, The officer (Vice President), of Lexmark International Inc /Ky/, Coons Scott T.R. had unloaded 10,000 shares at $38.24 per share in a transaction on July 21, 2015. The total value of transaction was $382,400. The Insider information was revealed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a Form 4 filing.
The December 10, 2015, Forbes’ article “Weak Demand For Printer Supplies And Hardware Will Continue To Hinder Lexmark’s Printer Business” did little to suggest that the grouser’s comments were wide of the mark.
How has that Lexmark transformation from IBM printer manufacturer to solutions outfit worked out?
If the information shared at the holiday party is accurate, the answer is, “Not so well.” I have no idea if the comments were accurate, muddled by Kentucky’s famous distilled spirits, or the individual’s annoyance that his shares in Lexmark were not putting hay in his horse barn. But the points I noted were:
- The top dog at Lexmark made noises that he wants to leave the company, perhaps as quickly as the new few weeks. The separation terms apparently are rumored to be sufficiently generous to put horses and hay in his stalls.
- The company is for sale and is being shopped in the proper Bluegrass manner. I assume this means with investment bankers who understand the value of digital horse flesh.
- Sales of printers are on hold. The idea is that no one is buying these devices for holiday gifts. The hardware folks at Lexmark are understandably acting like the Grinch stole their Christmas.
- Morale at the company seems to be entering a winter freeze. According to the party talker, grousing is a popular pastime.
The real journalism outfit (Wall Street Journal) reported in October 2015 that Lexmark was “exploring” a sale. So that item in my list of notable party rumors may be accurate. The point about the president, the employee attitude, and the president’s desire to find his future elsewhere may be fluff.
The IBM Lexmark Infoprint EMP156 is perfect for a home office. Don’t forget to order the options: stacker, feeder, and “attention” light.
Lexmark has about $1 billion in debt from its purchase of the document imaging company. The company’s repositioning seems like a good MBA type idea. The problem is that Lexmark has some IBM DNA. The promising Kapow unit is not likely to scale. The enterprise search sector is not likely to scale. The demand for n-gram search is not likely to explode with growth. Here’s the Google finance graph which suggests that revenues and profits are not taking off like SU 35:
My view is that the there will be some disruption for employees (not a good thing in my opinion) and for the city of Lexington (not a good thing for the technology pitch from the Chamber of Commerce).
Worth watching to see if the party chatter is accurate.
Stephen E Arnold, December 14, 2015
Google and Quantum Computing
December 14, 2015
I read “What is the Computational Value of Finite Range Tunneling?” The paper concerns a numerical recipe running on Google spiffy new D-Wave quantum computer. I also read “Google, D-Wave, and the Case of the Factor-10^8 Speedup for WHAT?” This paper points out that Google is making progress with the D-Wave quantum computer. How much progress is a matter for debate among the aficionados of quantum computing. If you are interested in the benchmark, the Google write up and the For What essay are both quite good.
When I worked through these documents, several thoughts crossed my mind, and I jotted down several. Here are two which will not require you, oh, gentle reader, to wade into the murky world of benchmarks and qubits:
1. IBM has a deal, which may be announced by now, to build high performance computer systems for the US government. My hunch is that IBM deserves a pat on its blue suited back for landing a contract to produce something tangible, unlike the Watson marketing hype-o-rama. To my knowledge, Google does not have this sort of deal. Google is writing about another company’s computer, not developing its own super systems. I think this is interesting. In the good old days prior to 2007, the Google was more of a doer. Now Google is a refiner.
2. Googlers have made the D-Wave perform. That’s good. The problem is that like the ORNL wonks using Crays to index health text, the computer is not one available to lots and lots of people. In fact, to verify the Googlers’ achievement, folks with Fancy Dan equipment have to replicate what the Googlers achieved. There will be lots of controversy. The Cray is a user friendly device compared to the D-Wave. Google seems to be working overtime to convince people that it is still a technology leader. I wrote about the gaggle of Googlers talking about Google’s artificial intelligence and machine learning achievements. My question is, “Is the Google feeling the heat from companies doing better in cutting edge technologies?”
Stephen E Arnold, December 14, 2015
Short Honk: Space Time for the Couch Potato Physicist
December 11, 2015
Hey, the weekend is almost here with football and thoughts about the joy of the upcoming holidays with family. For a relaxing read, check out “What Is Spacetime, Really?” For fans of network and graph analysis, Stephen Wolfram shares his most recent big idea. In addition to references to his books, which I assume you, gentle reader, have read, Wolfram explains spacetime. If you are a bit rusty on the notion of space time, Einstein’s theories, and theoretical physicals, don’t worry. The answer is nodes.
Stephen E Arnold, December 11, 2015
Google Executives Have a Look but No Touch Rule
December 11, 2015
Have you ever been to a museum and the curator told you to “look, but don’t touch the exhibits?” The phrase comes into play, because museums want to protect the integrity of the exhibits and to keep them preserved for the ages. One of the draws about these new, modern companies is that all employees are allowed to engage with each other in different departments and the higher-ups are available without a hassle. Or at least that is the image they want to project to the public, especially Google. Business Pundit exposes bow Google CEOs interact with their employees in “Google’ s Top Execs Are Always Visible But Almost Never Approachable” like a museum exhibit.
Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Sundar Pichai make themselves seen at their Mountain View headquarters, but do not even think about going near them. They are walled off to small talk and random interactions because all of their time is booked.
Company developer advocate Don Dodge wrote on a Quora Q&A that Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Sundar Pichai are in the no approach zone, Dodge explains:
“However, that doesn’t mean they are easy to approach and engage in discussion. They are very private and don’t engage in small talk. They are usually very focused on their priorities, and their schedule is always fully booked. Larry is a notoriously fast walker and avoids eye contact with anyone so he can get to his destination without disruption.”
Get Larry a Segway or one of those new “hoverboard” toys, then he will be able to zoom right past everyone or run them over. Add a little horn to warn people to get out of the way.
Whitney Grace, December 11, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
The Crowded Skies of Alphabet Google
December 2, 2015
I read “Google Is Ramping Up Hiring for Its Ambitious Plan to Make ‘Energy Kites’.” The idea is that energy kites will join Loon balloons in the sky. According to the write up:
Makani’s energy “kites” don’t resemble the type you see on beaches or in fields on windy days: They’re plane-like machines tethered to ground stations. Rotors on the kite launch it high into the air, where it then starts to rotate, driving an on-board generator to produce electricity, which moves down its tether to a grid below.
Interesting. What happens when Amazon drones fly through a Loon balloon serviced region where the Alphabet Google energy kites are aloft. Toss in some consumer drones, the efforts of various government contractors, and assorted birds. What happens? I do not know. Birds struggle with jet engines. How will the creatures adopt to energy kites? My hunch is that the answer may be, “Not a problem.” Right. Okay for humans. For the hapless white pileated woodpecker? Bad luck.
I much prefer the search and content processing thing. But that’s just my old fashioned view of a company with a core competence in information access.
Stephen E Arnold, December 2, 2015
Cybercrime to Come
December 2, 2015
Apparently, we haven’t seen anything yet. An article at Phys.org, “Kaspersky Boss Warns of Emerging Cybercrime Threats,” explain that personal devices and retail databases are just the beginning for cyber criminals. Their next focus has the potential to create more widespread chaos, according to comments from security expert Eugene Kaspersky. We learn:
“Russian online security specialist Eugene Kaspersky says cyber criminals will one day go for bigger targets than PCs and mobiles, sabotaging entire transport networks, electrical grids or financial systems. The online threat is growing fast with one in 20 computers running on Microsoft Windows already compromised, the founder and chief executive of security software company Kaspersky Lab told AFP this week on the sidelines of a cybersecurity conference in Monaco.”
The article also notes that hackers are constantly working to break every security advance, and that staying safe means more than installing the latest security software. Kaspersky noted:
“It’s like everyday life. If you just stay at home and if you don’t have visitors, you are quite safe. But if you like to walk around to any district of your city, you have to be aware of their street crimes. Same for the Internet.”
Kaspersky’s company, Kaspersky Lab, prides itself on its extensive knowledge of online security. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Moscow, the company is one of the leading security firms in the world.
Cynthia Murrell, December 2, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Yandex Takes on Google with Anticompetitive Business Practices
November 30, 2015
Google is the dominate search engine in North America, South America, and Europe. When it comes to Asia, however, Google faces stiff competition with Yahoo in Japan and Yandex in Russia. Yandex has been able to hold a firm market share and remains stuff competition for Google. Reuters says that “Russia’s Yandex Says Complained To EU Over Google’s Android” pointing to how Yandex might be able to one up its competition.
According to the article, Russia has petitioned the European Commission to investigate Google’s practices related to the Android mobile OS. Yandex has been trying for a long time to dislodge Google’s attempts to gain a stronger market share in Europe and Asia.
“The new complaint could strengthen the case against Google, possibly giving enough ammunition to EU antitrust regulators to eventually charge the company with anti-competitive business practices, on top of accusations related to its Google Shopping service. The formal request was filed in April 2015 and largely mirrors the Russian company’s claims against the U.S. company in a Russian anti-monopoly case that Yandex won.”
The Russian competition watchdog discovered that Google is trying to gain an unfair advantage in the European and Asian search markets. Yandex is one of the few companies who voices its dislike of Google along with Disconnect, Aptoide, and the FairSearch lobbying group. Yandex wants the European Commission to restore balance to the market, so that fair competition can return. Yandex is especially in favor of having mobile device users be able to select their search engine of choice, rather than having one preprogrammed into the OS.
It is interesting to view how competitive business practices take place over seas. Usually in the United States whoever has the deepest pockets achieves market dominance, but the European Union is proving to uphold a fairer race for search dominance. Even more interesting is that Google is complaining Yandex is trying to maintain its domiance with these complaints.
Whitney Grace, November 30, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Do Not Go Gently into That Dark Web
November 26, 2015
The article titled Don’t Toy With The Dark Web, Harness It on Infoworld’s DarkReading delves into some of the misconceptions about the Dark Web. The first point the article makes is that a great deal of threats to security occur on the surface web on such well-known sites as Reddit and social media platforms like Instagram. Not only are these areas of the web easier to search without Tor or I2P, but they are often more relevant, particularly for certain industries and organizations. The article also points out the harm in even “poking around” the Dark Web,
“It can take considerable time, expertise and manual effort to glean useful information. More importantly, impromptu Dark Web reconnaissance can inadvertently expose an organization to greater security risks because of unknown malicious files that can infiltrate the corporate network. Additionally, several criminal forums on the Dark Web utilize a “vouching” system, similar to a private members club, that might require an investigator to commit a crime or at least stray into significantly unethical territory to gain access to the content.”
A novice could easily get into more trouble than they bargained for, especially when taking receipt of stolen goods is considered a felony. Leave the security work to professionals, and make sure the professionals you employ have checked out this Dark Web reading series.
Chelsea Kerwin, November 26, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Business Intelligence Services Partnership Between Swedish Tech Companies Zinnovate and Yellowfin
November 25, 2015
The article titled Business Intelligence Vendor Yellowfin Signs Global Reseller Agreement with Zinnovate on Sys-Con Media provides an overview of the recent partnership between the two companies. Zinnovate will be able to offer Yellowfin’s Business Intelligence solutions and services, and better fulfill the needs that small and mid-size businesses have involving enterprise quality BI. The article quotes Zinnovate CEO Hakan Nilsson on the exciting capabilities of Yellowfin’s technology,
“Flexible deployment options were also important… As a completely Web-based application, Yellowfin has been designed with SaaS hosting in mind from the beginning, making it simple to deploy on-premise or as a cloud-based solution. Yellowfin’s licensing model is simple. Clients can automatically access Yellowfin’s full range of features, including its intuitive data visualization options, excellent Mobile BI support and collaborative capabilities. Yellowfin provides a robust enterprise BI platform at a very competitive price point.”
As for the perks to Yellowfin, the Managing Director Peter Baxter explained that Zinnovate was positioned to help grow the presence of the brand in Sweden and in the global transport and logistics market. In the last few years, Zinnovate has developed its service portfolio to include customers in banking and finance. Both companies share a dedication to customer-friendly, intuitive solutions.
Chelsea Kerwin, November 25, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Predecessor of Virtual Reality Devices and Google Glass?
November 24, 2015
I saw this image in the Daily Mail. This reality enhancing device is discrete and, in my opinion, fashionable. Will the design influence other augmented/virtual reality devices? Is this the precursor of Google Glass?
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/391531761331811268/
I like the symmetry of the design. Tasteful and I assume it goes with formal and informal wear. One question: Does this implementation deliver on point search results and permit voice search?
Stephen E Arnold, November 24, 2015
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