OpenNebula on Infrastructure Management
February 8, 2013
OpenNebula is in the business of infrastructure management, but is seeking to differentiate itself from the pack and hasten enterprise adoption. The full story is provided by GigaOm in its piece, “OpenNebula Open-sources Service Management Layer with Enterprise in Mind.”
The article begins:
“OpenNebula, the European answer to the likes of Eucalyptus and OpenStack that counts CERN and China Mobile among its customers, is moving to differentiate itself from competitors by freely releasing OpenNebulaApps, a suite of cloud application management tools that sit on top of its traditional infrastructure management toolkit. The OpenNebulaApps tools were previously available only to OpenNebulaPro customers but, according to project director Ignacio Llorente, OpenNebula realized there was more value in opening them up.”
OpenNebula is trying to build on their open source base and customize on the boom of cloud apps. They may be able to make a good go of it. But, on the other hand, while they may succeed in their traditional role of infrastructure management, it may be best to leave enterprise to the experts. One we would recommend taking a long hard look at is LucidWorks. LucidWorks can offer the ongoing trust of the industry and a reliance on the most trusted names in open source, Lucene and Solr.
Emily Rae Aldridge, February 8, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Google Feels the Aftershocks of Buzz
January 24, 2013
Google is, once again, facing fresh litigation over Buzz. The short-lived service, which shut down in October of 2011, is another persistent thorn in fast moving, almost regulation-free Google’s side. Online Media Daily reveals, “Google Faces New Lawsuit About Buzz.”
Networking tool Google Buzz was supposed to bring us closer to Google’s utopian vision of total connectivity, and it began its mission by tapping, unasked, into Gmail users’ contact information. Unfortunately, the move meant that personal details, like names of a user’s doctor, lawyer, coworkers, and other contacts, could suddenly become public. As it turns out, not everyone was willing to sacrifice privacy for the interconnection dream. Go figure.
Google rectified the situation almost immediately, but that has not shielded them from legal action. The article recalls:
“Google settled the FTC charges by agreeing to create a comprehensive privacy program and submit to independent privacy audits for the next 20 years. Google also promised that it will obtain people’s express consent before sharing their information more broadly than its privacy policy allowed at the time of collection.
“The company resolved the private class-action litigation, agreeing to pay $6 million to various privacy organizations and $2.5 million to attorneys who brought the case. Individual users whose privacy was breached didn’t receive anything.“The settlement agreement, approved by U.S. District Court Judge James Ware in San Jose, Calif., provided that users who didn’t agree with the resolution could opt out.”
As it turns out, three users recently objected to the settlement enough to file their own suits. In fact, a couple of them seek to represent classes of users, totaling about 20,000 users between them. This could represent a hefty outlay for Google—all because someone didn’t run what seemed like a simple idea by the legal department. I hope that is now a mandatory step inside the beleaguered company.
Cynthia Murrell, January 24, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Fifteen Year Old Invents Information Filter App
January 18, 2013
Useful apps can be made by anyone, but Fast Company reported on how “This 15-Year-Old Built An App To Help His High School Debate Team. It Could Do Much More Than That.” Tanay Tandy invented an app he calls Clipped that was developed to extract information from news articles and other sources and create a bulleted list. It is being touted as a new tool that could put research assistants, Congressional aides, and judicial clerks out of work. Clipped has received mixed reviews so far, but Tandy is working on an upgrade that should resolve the problems.
Tandy personally created the algorithm for his debate prep. Here is how he uses it:
“I use it to scan over articles, and after using Clipped, if I like an article, I have to go back and read the whole thing. For a typical debate I have about 100 different evidence files about 2-3 pages in length. There might be an article where the title might sound appealing, but after running Clipped, I can see the focus of the article is definitely not what I’m looking for. Last year for a debate on animal rights, I found a paper on animal rights–but it was targeted towards the philosophical side of why to respect animal rights. But for that specific debate, I was looking for evidence from the scientific side, research showing that animals can think as much as humans.”
Tandy does not believe anyone is too young to launch a product as long as the right people are around and ego does not go to a person’s head. Tandy just built a tool to make his life easier and was not looking for fame, but now he has a project that will appeal to college review boards. Also Google might be keeping an eye on him for future jobs.
Whitney Grace, January 18, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Venture Funding Tracker from Digimind Offers Enhanced Features
January 16, 2013
Digimind drives competitive intelligence information with its service that tracks venture funding. Now that’s smart digging. TheNextWeb informs us, “WhoGotFunded.com Unveils Premium Accounts Offering More Filters, Keyword Searches, and Data Exports.” Three new premium account types offer users a number of useful features.
The free version of WhoGotFunded is still available, but the paid options may be worth the cost if your organization requires extended filtering, more than three results from keyword searches, or the ability to export data on more than three deals per month. Paying up also gets users “power” email alerts and user support. The write-up by Ken Yeung reports:
“Started by a group of technologists, the site uses text mining technology to curate funding news for any company around the world. When we spoke with Paul Vivant, one of the founders, he said that the site’s goal was to build the most comprehensive funding database in the world that would become ‘a source for venture capitalists, business angels, founders, CEOs, corporate executives, journalists, bloggers, and investment bankers’. . .
“The company is offering a free 14-day trial with its Starter plan, which costs $49 per month. The next two plans are $149 and $749 per month, respectively. Each plan offers the same amount of credits, search results, and features — the main difference is just how much data do you get.”
Yeung notes that there are similar services out there, but Digimind seems to be confident that it has something unique to offer. The company works to save its clients time and money by automating and streamlining the collection, analysis, and sharing of data. Its global client list includes organizations from a broad range of industries.
Cynthia Murrell, January 16, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Latest Desktop Version from dtSearch Available
January 14, 2013
We spotted dtSearch’s latest desktop version, v7.72.8085-Lz0, for sale at Release BB. Will this new release be a splash or a flash?
The product description reads:
“The dtSearch product line can instantly search terabytes of text across a desktop, network, Internet or Intranet site. dtSearch products also serve as tools for publishing, with instant text searching, large document collections to Web sites or portable media. Developers can embed dtSearch’s instant searching and file format support into their own applications.”
A few of the product’s features include a variety of helpful search options, data exports in several formats, and specialized forensic indexing and searching tools. See the company’s official Desktop product page for more details.
Incorporated in 1991, dtSearch began its R&D in 1988. They have since become a major provider of information management software, supplying award-winning solutions to firms in several fields and to numerous government agencies in the areas of defense, law enforcement, and space exploration. The company also makes its products available for incorporation into other commercial applications. dtSearch has distributors worldwide, and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.
Cynthia Murrell, January 14, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
ComScore Announces New Media Measurement Platform
January 2, 2013
Google must be pleased. Tom’s Hardware announces, “Google Only Site to Surpass 100 Million Unique Visitors.” The article is really, though, about a new platform, the Media Metrix Multi-Platform, being used by ComScore, which tracks Web site visitors. The article tells us:
“The platform is currently in a beta stage in the U.S., with its technology tracking metrics including audience size and demographics on desktop browsers and mobile devices. The new system also accounts for users utilizing multiple devices to access the sites. . . . “For Facebook in particular, the Media Metrix Multi-Platform makes it the third-most-visited site on the web during September via 179,411,000 visitors. When judging by desktop traffic, it would drop to fourth place. “Google remains at the top spot by using either ComScore’s new measurement strategy or its old platform. It was the only site to surpass 100 million unique visitors on both desktop and mobile.”
A chart listing the recent results, ranking traffic at 20 sites, is included in the article. The tool will remain in beta for several months. ComScore uses its Web traffic analysis expertise to help clients manage their digital investments. Founded in 1999, the company went public in 2007. ComScore is located in Reston, Virginia, and maintains offices around the world.
Cynthia Murrell, January 02, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint Gets a Stricter Governance Tool
December 31, 2012
SharePoint is Microsoft’s glorified collaborative content management platform. It usually provides decent out-of-the-box solutions for managing projects and allowing users to work and share on content collectively, but sometimes it needs help from an IVP to make it better. Metavis is an add-on software solutions provider and according to Web Media 360 they have “Metavis Introduces New SharePoint Governance Enhancement Tool.”
The new governance tool is called Informant and is currently in its beta phase. It is supposed to help control the comings and goings of files outside of SharePoint. These actions hold a security risk for all enterprise-based companies:
“Metavis says it is the transfer of content beyond the confines of SharePoint which holds the gravest potential consequences in terms of undermining the integrity of an enterprise’s content management and security strategy. Such transfers, says Metavis, have become more frequent owing to the proliferation of file sharing platforms.”
Informant will help SharePoint users monitor and control transfers in their SharePoint environment as well as tagging, archiving, and placing permissions on files. Securing data is a big part of any information governance. Technology makes it so easy to steal information, but it also makes it easier to lock it down. Take precautions to monitor your data.
Whitney Grace, December 31, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Google Search Tools to Boost Efficiency
December 27, 2012
MakeUseOf has supplied a handy roundup of Google search mechanisms with “More Free Google Search Tools You Might Not Be Using So Much.” The accounting follows Google’s recent, less cluttered redesign. Filters that used to be on the left are now at the top, and the “More” menu supplies other search services (news, books, etc.) The Search Tools on the right can be used to fine-tune results.
Writer Saikat Basu explains his motivation for the article:
“Google Search alone is a maze and it takes quite something to use it in different ways to call oneself as a ‘power user’. Google Search operators and Advanced Search are just barrels of a multi-barreled canon.
Too confusing? No…look at it this way – each filter and operator on Google Search is designed to be a crosshair on a scope mounted on that ‘canon’. You need to use them appropriately for the relevant search result. So, I am advancing this article with the assumption that you don’t use most of the search tools as much as you should every day. Let’s explore a few neat search tools which we miss in the flurry of typing in the queries.”
Basu tells us how to use Google Search to find free stuff; who doesn’t love free stuff? More to the point, he describes in detail how to use filters to get (and only get) the results we need while saving time. For example, the Sites with Images filter gives information about each site that is not available with the regular Image Search. One feature I am sure to start using immediately is the “Verbatim” filter, which searches for exactly what you type, without consulting your browsing history, similar terms, or even spellcheck. This almost compensates for so brazenly taking away the “+” that I’ve missed since they launched Google+. Almost.
There’s a lot here that most searchers never take advantage of. Like anything else, a few minutes spent learning could repeatedly save time later. Check it out.
Cynthia Murrell, December 27, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Visual Aids Always Make Data Analysis Better
December 24, 2012
You might have asked yourself the question, “what is data?” The answer according to Dictionary.com is individual facts, statistics, or items of information or a body of facts/information. Data basically supplies you with knowledge about a subject. When it comes to data analysis, you will probably ask yourself this question as well, “what is the best way for me to represent my data findings?” The answer to this one is even simpler: use visual aids. If you are unsure where to find useful and free data visuals, Computer World has been keeping a running inventory of “Chart and Image Gallery: 30+ Free Tools for Data Visualization and Analysis.”
Running through the list you will notices there are free tools for presentations, charts, and other ways to represent your analysis findings without relying on an expensive, commercial software. These free tools do require a certain set of skills; each one is ranked according to difficulty:
“Skill levels are represented as numbers from easiest to most difficult to learn and use:
1. Users who are comfortable with basic spreadsheet tasks
2. Users who are technically proficient enough not to be frightened off by spending a couple of hours learning a new application
3. Power users
4. Users with coding experience or specialized knowledge in a field like GIS or network analysis.”
With Big Data becoming even a bigger player in the business world taking advantage of these tools will help your organize the results from your Big Data analysis. Visual aids have come a long way from the standard PowerPoint.
Whitney Grace, December 24, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Buzz Words for Clustering Abound
December 21, 2012
As the end of the year 2012 approaches, media mavens are abuzz with new buzz words. We have sighted another in the recent Clearwell Systems blog post on e-discovery 2.0. The article, “Q&A with Predictive Coding Guru Maura R. Grossman, Esq.” points out the idea of technology assisted review(TAR).
Technology assisted review is described as being synonymous with clustering, concept search or other early case assessment tools.
One question addressed is the number one mistake practitioners should aim to avoid when using these tools. The article tells us that accuracy can be misleading because it is usually impacted by the number of relevant documents in the overall total collection.
Delving deeper into this scenario, the article states:
“Consider, for example, a document collection containing one million documents, of which ten thousand (or 1%) are relevant. A search or review effort that identified 100% of the documents as non-relevant, and therefore, found none of the relevant documents, would have 99% accuracy, belying the failure of that search or review effort to identify a single relevant document.”
Many vendors report that their tools boast 99% accuracy. This word should obviously be taken lightly, or at least within the proper context.
Megan Feil, December 21, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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