Search Engine Patent
October 16, 2013
SearchYourCloud called my attention to the US patent “Search Engine.” The number is US849573. You can snag a copy at the USPTO via its search engine. Be sure to refresh yourself about the USPTO syntax. Simon Bain, the inventor, is now a senior manager at SearchYourCloud. For those who want to keep pace with new methods germane to search, I found the explanation of the query expansion and deduplication processes of interest. You can get more information about SearchYourCloud at this link. Worth a look.
Stephen E Arnold, October 16, 2013
Content Spoofing: A Question of Relevance
October 16, 2013
I heard an AAAS podcast about fake academic papers in open access publications. I did not catch much information from the 20 second sound bite. I navigated to Google and keyed this query:
aaas open access journals
The hit I sought was number eight on the search results page. What is interesting is that the current “hot” item ranked below older information. In one case, the hit was irrelevant to my intent filtered by Google’s behind-the-scenes personalization methods; for example, www.sciencemag.org. Another hit pointed to a couple of outdated studies dating in one case from 2005.
And Bing? Same query. No relevant hit on the first page of the Bing results list. What about that Bing off stuff? Maybe baloney?
And Yandex? Same query. No relevant hits on the first page of results.
And DuckDuckGo, the metasearch engine causing some to swoon? No relevant hit.
Thoughts:
- Timeliness is not a priority in the free Web indexing systems
- Access to rich media containing relevant information for a user’s query is NOT indexed. For all practical purposes, the podcasts are invisible without prior knowledge
- Junk results are not filtered by any of the systems.
No big deal for me. Just another example of how the simplest query can return some darned interesting results.
By the way, the Google results page include two ads, both from “traditional publishers.” One of the advertisers publishes commercial databases. My recollection is that some of the content in these information services could be viewed as incorrect. In fact, one of the Google advertisers accepted the bogus paper.
What’s my point?
The task of finding relevant, on point information is getting more difficult, not easier. Furthermore, as folks shift to “hectic” modes of work, the idea that most people will double check information before accepting it as gospel may be outmoded.
Stephen E Arnold, October 16, 2013
The Church of Google
October 16, 2013
Have you found Google? If you are not offended by religious parody, you might enjoy a little site called the Church of Google. The home page declares:
“We at the Church of Google believe the search engine Google is the closest humankind has ever come to directly experiencing an actual God (as typically defined). We believe there is much more evidence in favour of Google’s divinity than there is for the divinity of other more traditional gods. We reject supernatural gods on the notion they are not scientifically provable. Thus, Googlists believe Google should rightfully be given the title of ‘God’, as She exhibits a great many of the characteristics traditionally associated with such Deities in a scientifically provable manner.”
As you can see, the site is really making a tongue-in-cheek case for atheism (or agnosticism, at least.) They use similar logic to that of Bobby Henderson, who came up with that whole “Flying Spaghetti Monster” thing in 2005 in an attempt to get through to the dogmatic among us. Googlism, though, has one advantage Pastafarianism lacks: evidence! The site lists nine “proofs” that Google is God. For example, the search engine comes very close to omniscience (it might not know quite everything, but it is close.) They also call the faux-deity omnipresent, being almost everywhere (on Earth) at once. Even the company’s “don’t be evil” slogan comes into play.
If you’re curious, check out the site for more of these “proofs.” You might also want to see the Prayers and Commandments pages for more parody. For a bit more straightforward take on the site’s point of view, the FAQ page is the place to go. There is also a forum in which one could lose an afternoon or two.
For our part, we believe in Google. Step aside Saint Augustine, Google has been made manifest.
Cynthia Murrell, October 16, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Online News Censorship in Jordan
October 16, 2013
Well, this is disappointing. New Europe draws our attention to another case of government censorship in, “Jordan Blocks 304 News Websites.” Searching for news can be tough when countries filter streams.
Jordan’s Department of Press and Publication (which used to be blatantly titled the Censorship Department) insists it respects the media as “one of the most important pillars of modern democracy,” but maintains that the blocks are necessary to prevent verbal attacks on groups and individuals. As of last year, new Jordanian websites are required to register with the Department. They must also appoint an editor who will take the fall if anything deemed slanderous makes it onto the site, comments sections included. The article tells us these regulations were implemented after several incidents in which:
“… online media were blamed for inciting religious or social prejudice and inaccurate reporting involving public figures. Targets of some of the articles claimed that some online editors sought bribes in return for halting publication of false rumors.”
That may be, but to our way of thinking the response seems unreasonable. Consider the locale, though; Jordan may actually be moving forward overall. We also learn:
“Since the Arab Spring uprisings that unseated four Arab leaders two years ago, Jordan has taken steps to ease restrictions on freedom of expression, opinion and assembly. The government also introduced special courts to deal with media cases, presided over by specialized civil judges. However, other constraints remain. That includes a ban on criticizing the king in public, punishable by up to three years in jail. King Abdullah II holds final authority in most matters.”
Well, that’s kinda what one would expect in a (traditional) kingdom. Big changes most often take place slowly, and journalists and bloggers in Jordan must still be very careful what they write. However, we can hope that this one step back is part of a generally forward progress.
Cynthia Murrell, October 16, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Value of Time Only Goes Up in Finance Industry
October 16, 2013
Sometimes 5 minutes can seem like an eternity, but how about 5 milliseconds? Most of us probably do not notice that fragment of a second, but computers certainly do. And in the world of finance, their end users following stocks quickly rising and falling do too. Popular Mechanics discusses this topic in light of a once-in-a-decade type of event: “New Transatlantic Cable Built to Shave 5 Milliseconds off Stock Trades.”
The last transatlantic cable was laid ten years ago and in the past, those cables have carried voice or internet data. Since most trades are conducted automatically where algorithms execute sales and purchases, those 5 milliseconds really matter.
There are some that say finance may be running at too fast of a speed. The article states:
“But there is one big bump in the road: Information and transactions now move so quickly that some regulators worry it’s too fast. Congress became leery of automated trading after its lightning-fast trades helped stoke the May 6, 2010 “flash crash” that dropped the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than about 1000 points. The market recovered within minutes, but the incident alarmed regulators.”
Unfortunately, the article did not disclose the cost of this effort. Needless to say, the price of real-time is not cheap.
Megan Feil, October 16, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint Alternatives are Plentiful
October 16, 2013
SharePoint has almost become the default word for enterprise search, in the same way that Kleenex is synonymous with tissue. But many enterprises find that SharePoint is lacking and are looking for alternatives. These organizations may benefit from a review of the article, “6 SharePoint Alternatives,” which provides good alternatives, particularly for users who are mostly interested in the intranet service that allows colleagues to share resources.
The article begins:
“SharePoint alternatives mentioned below are just some of the multiple options you have in case you are done with the program in question and are willing to switch to another one. Microsoft’s contender is a collaborative tool that allows you to share ideas, project work, documents and more with your colleagues and helps you stay organized at all times . . . But there are some efficient software that can give the aforementioned application a run for its money. And you can expect them to tag along pretty much all of these features and a horde of others.”
No doubt that the alternatives all have strengths and weaknesses, in much the same way that SharePoint has its own set of pros and cons. But many organizations are tiring of all the expensive customization that SharePoint requires and will opt instead for a lower maintenance, focused solution. Stephen E. Arnold, of ArnoldIT, often addresses this issue as he covers the search industry. A recent Arnold article reports that while SharePoint 2013 is structurally sound, many are disappointed in its implementation and key functions. Stay tuned for SharePoint tips and tricks, as well as promising alternatives.
Emily Rae Aldridge, October 16, 2013
Xenky Search Vendor Profile: Entopia
October 15, 2013
I have posted a profile of the now offline enterprise search vendor Entopia. You can access the write up at www.xenky.com/vendor-profiles.
Entopia is an interesting case. The company, like Endeca and Fast Search & Transfer, had embraced the idea that information access was the DNA of an organization. With access to information and metadata, a manager could make better decisions. The marketers jumped on the bandwagon and rolled out some fancy buzzwords to surround the incredibly complex Entopia system.
The Entopia approach is, in my opinion, one that took the SAP R/3 massive reengineering of work processes and applied the notion to information. Entopia included Tacit type tracking to identify people who were centers of influence in a company, search, concepts, automatic indexing, semantics, etc.
The only problem was that the cost of implementing the system once a client had been found was high. In 2006, the company wound down. The firm is still offline, but its very ambitious explanations of what information could do inspired many other vendors.
Like Convera, Entopia described a wonderful world of information access. The problem was and still is delivering in a way that meets users’ expectations and delivers a visible, easily documented payoff to the organization buying the dream and the software.
The profiles will not be updated or maintained. I am providing the information because some students may find the explanations, diagrams, and comments of interest. The information is provided on an “as is” basis. If you want to use this for commercial purposes, please, contact me at seaky2000 at yahoo dot com.
Remember. I am almost 70 years old and some of the final versions of these profiles commanded hefty fees. A reader reminded me that some big outfits have taken my work and reused it, sometimes with permission and sometimes not. Well, these are for your personal use.
Stephen E Arnold, October 15, 2013
History of Google in Timeline Form
October 15, 2013
Like many other companies, Google too has created a history of itself. Not only is there a company overview, but their company history page means business. From 1995 to 2013, there is a full timeline of notable events, fun facts and details galore.
For a company that set out to chronicle and archive a seemingly infinite amount of data and information, this comes as no surprise that the company would ensure an in-depth, yet user-friendly, timeline is provided of their history. They did after all develop the annual Google Zeitgeist, a visual look at what millions of people searched for over the year just ending.
Another fun tidbit from the timeline:
“September, 2002: Google News launches with 4,000 news sources. Today Google News includes 50,000+ news sources, with 70 regional editions in different languages. All told, Google News and other services send publishers 6 billion clicks per month as of 2012.”
Somewhat ironically, when we performed a query of ‘history of Google’ we came across a news story regarding Google and historical dates. We’ll let that title speak for itself: “Google Generation Clueless About Dates of World-Changing Events.”
Megan Feil, October 15, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
YouTube Release Audio Library Meant for Browsing
October 15, 2013
YouTube has seen quite a few headlines since they’ve announced their music video awards. That’s not all, however. In a recent Search Engine Watch article we learned that “You Tube Launches Audio Library, A Royalty-Free Music Library for Video Creators.”
According to the article, YouTube is aiming to assist users uploading videos in finding the perfect song to match their video. There are 150 royalty-free tracks that can be used to accompany an individual’s footage.
The referenced article tells us:
“The Audio Library is live now and offers tracks such as “Drop and Roll”, which YouTube described as “angry”, and a track called “Payday”, which the firm suggested will work with “bright” happy videos. The tracks can be ordered by genre and mood, so you won’t have to scroll through all 150 songs before you find the right one for your video. YouTube is calling for more musicians to get involved in the project, so those who fancy donating instrumental tracks to the service should get in touch.”
We found it interesting that users can browse tracks by several categories: mood, genre, instrument and duration. The article does not offer information on how tracks’ moods are characterized but it seems that this could potentially be another use for natural language processing – if it is not already. The larger question, however, is how does one actually search, or query, the library?
Megan Feil, October 15, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Ways Bing and Yahoo Are Better than Google
October 15, 2013
With 70 percent of U.S. users relying on Google, here’s a lone voice reminding everyone of the value of Bing and Yahoo. MakeUseOf asks (and answers), “What Do Bing and Yahoo Have that Google Doesn’t?” To be clear, writer Craig Snyder still believes Google is obviously the best. However, he describes a few tips the ruling search engine could pick from its rivals, illustrating his observations with helpful screenshots.
Bing’s top advantage, the article states, is rooted in aesthetics. Though Google comes up with some fun and interesting themes for special occasions, the Bing home screen is a visual treat every day. Snyder also prefers the way Bing handles image searches. He writes:
“I use Google Images frequently, but was a little surprised at how differently Bing handles their image searches. Bing Images includes ‘entity understanding,’ meaning that the search engine can interpret if what you’re looking for is a person, place, or thing and show image results more effectively based on this understanding. Bing Images filters out exact or near duplicates much better than Google. Bing even uses higher quality images as part of their algorithm.”
On the other hand, Yahoo’s strengths seemingly lie everywhere but their search functionality. Snyder complements the site on its start page, which presents quite a bit of well-organized information at a glance. He also wonders why Google has yet to offer suitable alternatives to Yahoo Local, Yahoo Answers, or Flickr. The article concludes:
“In my opinion, it’s not even worth questioning that Google is the best search engine you’re going to find. However, some of us are looking for more. Yahoo! offers a better homepage. Bing looks fresher and offers a more promising approach to searching for images. There’s more out there if you’re looking at the grand scheme of things, and it’s important to stay tuned in with what the other search engines have to offer.”
At least, as Snyder notes, such features from competitors keep Google on its toes. Though it would still lead the field, he suspects it would not be as good without the prodding from its rivals. I suppose that’s what healthy competition is all about.
Cynthia Murrell, October 15, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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