Words are Boring and Google Will Fix it with Semantic Markup
December 28, 2013
The article titled How Semantic Search is Killing the Keyword on iMedia heralds the end of keyword-driven search in place of semantic search, or the user’s intention. Based mainly on Google’s work on the Knowledge Graph, a web of information that attempts to connect related data and provide a user with answers to questions they might not have known to ask. The article goes so far as to call keyword-centered content a thing of the past.
The article explains:
“Current trends in search engine marketing and optimization have been underscored by Google’s Knowledge Graph and its Hummingbird update. Both emphasize the importance of not only having high-quality content but also adding semantic markup… to your content, which makes it possible for machines to detect meaning or intent. Marking up your site’s content is crucial to its success in search engines… It not only improves the display of search results, but it makes it much easier for users to find desired web pages.”
The article goes on to describe what exactly would replace boring text-based search results. With semantic markup, the search results can consist of more visuals, ratings, reviews, anything to keep the user interested (the article considers semantic markup search as having more “personality.” Who needs words anyway?
Chelsea Kerwin, December 28, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Making the Most of SharePoint 2013
December 27, 2013
This holiday season, CMSWire is holding out some love for SharePoint in their article, “A Stolen Kiss for Your SharePoint Governance.” The author, Andrew Bishop, finds that while SharePoint 2013 adoption moves along at a rapid pace, implementation of the improved features of 2013 does not keep this same pace.
Bishop writes:
“My first article for CMSWire discussed the exciting new features of SharePoint 2013. There is much to like about this latest release of the Microsoft collaboration wunderkind. In the period since the release I’ve seen a steady move by customers to SharePoint 2013, but not necessarily a big uptake of its new features. This is the case with my own customers, but also what I have heard from other end users and consultants.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and he keeps up with SharePoint at his search news service, ArnoldIT.com. Arnold finds that while SharePoint adoption is widespread, users are still widely dissatisfied with implementation. It may be that many do not take full advantage of all the SharePoint features, or that not enough time or energy is given to customization. Keep up with the latest SharePoint news at ArnoldIT.com.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 27, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
RTT Renowned 3D Innovator Acquired by Dassault Systemes
December 27, 2013
The article on 4–traders titled Dassault Systemes Announces Voluntary Public Takeover Offer to Acquire up to 100% of the Share Capital in Realtime Technology AG that seems to put Dassault’s recent search momentum on hold for more 3D. The company that they are buying, RTT, proclaims itself as a 3D leader for “exploring innovative ways for an emotive digital product experience across the entire product lifestyle.” This includes showroom concepts, storyboard development and visualization tools. The details of the acquisition are outlined in the article,
“The voluntary public offer is subject to the fulfillment of the condition precedent that the closing of the aforementioned private acquisition agreements occurs. All terms and conditions as set out in the offer document apply… RTT shareholders can only accept the voluntary public offer vis-à-vis their respective custodian bank as set forth in further detail in the offer document.”
The acceptance period for the offer began December 11, 2013 and will end January 29, 2014. It is even possible to read the entire offer document (in German) online. Dassault Systemes is considered the premier 3DEXPERIENCE Company in design software, and solution management. With 170,000 customers internationally ranging in size and industry, we expected Dassault to continue with their development of search, but this acquisition seems like a retreat into their comfort zone.
Chelsea Kerwin, December 27, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
EasyAsk Upgrades Musician Superstore Website Search
December 27, 2013
The article titled Metakinetic Teams Up with EasyAsk To Provide A New On-Site Search Solution To Andertons on the ecommerce agency Metakinetic’s website promotes the partnership formed in order to overhaul their top client’s site search. Andertons superstore for musicians is being upgraded, the article explains,
“The solution from EasyAsk has been rapidly deployed as a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution and empowers Andertons to take control of a single solution for their on-site search, navigation and merchandising functions. Using natural language processing, the solution allows Andertons to give its website visitors an easy and intuitive way to navigate the site, helping them to easily find the product for which they are searching.”
The natural language capability offered by EasyAsk taps into the unstructured data on the products and makes it searchable. Keywords from product descriptions will ensure that every relevant item appears, but the user also has the option of placing limits such as price minimums and maximums. A Director from Metakinetic named Darren Bull lauded the EasyAsk team for their professionalism and efficiency, and claimed perfect confidence in seeing an uplift in sales as a result of the changes made. Online customers have high expectations for the ease and ingeniousness of shopping websites, and the adjustments to the Andertons’ might have just brought them into the 21st century, just in time for Christmas.
Chelsea Kerwin, December 27, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Plagiarism Trackers
December 27, 2013
With the Internet it is easier than ever to plagiarize by either stealing or buying someone’s work. The Internet is a double edge sword, however, because there are tools available to people to check a work for veracity and originality. Unless you are a teacher or in some form of academia, you might not be aware of the Web sites that are plagiarism checkers. Through our own research, we have complied a list:
Dustball—A trusted checked since 2002.
Plagiarism Detect—Useful but has problems when Bing changes its API.
Small SEO Tools Plagiarism Checker—A simple free checker.
Plagiarisma—Available in different languages with other useful features and downloadable apps.
Copyscape—Has the unique feature, Copysentry to allow users to monitor plagiarism on the Web.
Plagium—Like many of the other checkers, but has a beta version to check social media.
There is an expression that says, “there are no original ideas anymore.” New ideas spring up all the time, but it takes a lot more work to create something new than it does to make something from scratch. Plagiarism does not benefit anyone, especially the stealer. Use the plagiarism tools to improve your work quality and come up with something new.
Whitney Grace, December 27, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
OpenText Content Server Works with SharePoint
December 26, 2013
SharePoint is one of the most widely adopted pieces of software on the market. For that reason, much is made of getting SharePoint to work alongside other software applications. Many organizations will cobble together a collection of applications in order to get the entire job done. Market Wired addresses this issue in their article, “Use Microsoft SharePoint to Access Files on OpenText Content Server With Brava!”
The article begins:
“In large organizations, headquarters may keep important data and documents in OpenText Content Server while individual departments use Microsoft SharePoint for team collaboration. If this sounds familiar, you have probably encountered this problem: How can workers using different content management systems collaborate on the same content?”
Readers might find the discussion of OpenText helpful. However, many will want more information about SharePoint and implementation tips and tricks. Stephen E. Arnold of ArnoldIT.com provides an excellent SharePoint news feed that SharePoint users at all levels will find informative.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 26, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Finally Some Cloudy News on Metadata
December 26, 2013
For Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, his team broke down data silos and moved all the data to a cloud repository. The team built Narwhal, a shared data store interface for all of the campaigns’ application. Narwhal was dubbed “Obama’s White Whale,” because it is almost a mythical technology that federal agencies have been trying to develop for years. While Obama may be hanging out with Queequag and Ishmael, there is a more viable solution for the cloud says GCN’s article, “Big Metadata: 7 Ways To Leverage Your Data In the Cloud.”
Data silo migration may appear to be a daunting task, but it is not impossible to do. The article states:
“Fortunately, migrating agency data to the cloud offers IT managers another opportunity to break down those silos, integrate their data and develop a unified data layer for all applications. In this article, I want to examine how to design metadata in the cloud to enable the description, discovery and reuse of data assets in the cloud. Here are the basic metadata description methods (what I like to think of as the “Magnificent Seven” of metadata!) and how to apply them to data in the cloud.”
The list runs down seven considerations when moving to the cloud: identification, static and dynamic measurement, degree scales, categorization, relationships, and commentary. The only thing that stands in trashing data silos is security and privacy. While this list is useful it is pretty basic textbook information that is applied to metadata in any situation. What makes it so special for the cloud?
Whitney Grace, December 26, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Lovely is the Apartment App for Mobile Devices
December 26, 2013
Zillow is a popular real estate database for people interested in purchasing a home, but it is not handy when it comes to finding smaller or temporary living quarters. Life Hacker has the scoop on a new app for people on the hunt for the perfect apartment or a rental home, “Lovely Puts Your Search For a Perfect Apartment On Your Phone.” The Lovely app, which recently launched for Android, gives people access to listings, photos, top-down Google map views, and ability to apply directly for housing.
The article states:
“The app looks sharp, and makes picking out listings on a map easy. Tell Lovely what you’re looking for in an apartment and how much you want to spend, and you’re good to go. You can easily identify the newest listings by their colors on the map or in your list, and you can set up alerts so you get push notifications when a new listing appears that meets your criteria.”
Another great feature for Lovely is the “Renter’s Card” that includes your personal information and renting history to be sent out to landlords and pre-apply for the apartment you have to act immediately on or lose it. Real estate shopping just got a whole lot more exciting and personable with this app. On a technical spec, where are the Lovely people getting their information from to maintain relevancy?
Whitney Grace, December 26, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Microsoft Earns Yahoo More Money Than Realized
December 26, 2013
Yahoo is pulling itself out of the red and is back on track to becoming a popular search engine and Web service. According to the ZDNet article, “Yahoo Says Microsoft Search Providing 31 Percent Of Revenues,” Microsoft is the reason why. Yahoo credits the 31% gain in its quarterly summary to its partnership with Microsoft. Yahoo claimed Microsoft only brought them 10% in sales from a previous statement. It has most definitely changed!
Yahoo and Microsoft signed a ten-year deal, where Microsoft would power Yahoo’s search and become the ad sales force for Microsoft’s premium properties.
The article states:
“Over the past year, Yahoo has been seeking a way to get out of the deal, claiming the company hasn’t found it financially lucrative. Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer supposedly also has sought Microsoft’s pending change in CEO as a possible loophole for getting out of the deal earlier than expected. As SearchEngineLand noted, there is a clause which would allow Yahoo to exit early from the partnership in 2015 if the revenue-per-share threshold vs. the market leader (Google) doesn’t pass muster.”
Microsoft would like the deal to continue past the ten-year agreement, but both companies failed to provide comment in the article. In a prior article from ZDNet, Yahoo might be building a new search/personalization technology to relaunch itself as its own search provider. Yahoo may not want to break the deal now, especially if they are working on a secret project. They will need the money to fund research and development if they want to stand a chance against Microsoft.
Whitney Grace, December 26, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint and Enterprise Content Management
December 25, 2013
SharePoint may be the flagship ECM (enterprise content management) system, but that does not mean that it is perfect. In addition, such a huge system means that users constantly have to keep up with the latest news and updates. Read more in the CloudTweaks article, “7 Essential Facts About SharePoint And ECM.”
The article begins:
“Pioneer enterprise content management systems like SharePoint can help in take up your business to the next level, but only if you use them correctly. Here are seven things you need to know about this leading web application platform featuring the Office suite, collaborative workforce software and more.”
A couple of common themes that run through this article are: 1) security is key and 2) complexity continues. Stephen E. Arnold of ArnoldIT.com is a longtime leader in search. He often covers SharePoint news and finds many of the same conclusions. While SharePoint is widely adopted, there are noted weaknesses, and users are always looking for the latest tips and tricks.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 25, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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