Installation Guide for Oracle Endeca 3.1 Download Final Steps
January 17, 2014
The guide titled Installing Endeca 3.1 IAS on 3sixty-analytics Blogs will provide the necessary information after you have installed Endeca. (Although it sounds like a cart before the horse, you’ll need an installation guide after you have installed Endeca.) The article explains that the Integrator Acquisition System (IAS) is the final step in the process, and they promise that it is also the easiest.
The article outlines:
“Assumptions: You have installed Endeca Server. References: Oracle Installation Guide. Download: create an install directory: mkdir /home/endeca/installers/endeca/3.1/ias. Go to download page: Download this item into /home/endeca/installers/endeca/3.1/ias. Extract: cd /home/endeca/installers/endeca/3.1/ias unzip V40529-01.zip. Configure: Nothing to configure. Execute: chmod +x ./EID_3.1_IAS.sh ./EID_3.1_IAS.sh –target /home/endeca. Press <space> to accept the licence. Select ’2? (Jetty). Accept the defaults (just press enter) for: Port, Shutdown Port, Host name.”
The outline ends with instructions to verify and start the service. The article stipulates that the script will give no feedback, but should only take under 20 seconds before the browser will provide a response. Oracle Endeca 3.1 is an effective way for a company to offer customers an easy method of searching a website and finding the desired information or products quickly. Version 3.1.2 became available for download in April 2013.
Chelsea Kerwin, January 17, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Evaluating SharePoint 2013 Mobile Features
January 17, 2014
A common theme in the SharePoint discussion of 2013 was mobile. Mobile was everywhere: Twitter feeds, tech blogs, and enterprise news. And while SharePoint has made some strides toward a more pleasant mobile user experience, many are still skeptical. Search Content Management reviews SharePoint’s mobile strivings in their article, “Are SharePoint 2013 Mobile Features up to Snuff?”
The article states:
“Thankfully, SharePoint 2013 has vastly improved the mobile experience. One major improvement is the inclusion of the new contemporary view, which is for mobile devices that support HTML5. This approach provides a richer experience than was available in SharePoint 2010. For mobile users with older devices that do not support HTML5, SharePoint defaults to the classic view. For a comparison of contemporary and classic views, check out Microsoft’s site.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and dispenses his professional opinion through his information service, ArnoldIT.com. He pays a lot of attention to SharePoint and mobile is a common theme. His opinion would be a good one to consider when debating whether or not to supplement SharePoint with add-ons that enhance the mobile experience.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 17, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Xooglers and Management Expertise
January 16, 2014
Two items warranted posting on my white board.
The first was the somewhat ungainly local news service Patch. I noted this version of the action: “AOL Gives Up Control of Money-Losing Patch as Shares Rise.” Patch was invented by Tim Armstrong. AOL then bought Patch and hired Mr. Armstrong, a Xoogler. Or, maybe it was hired Mr. Armstrong and then bought Patch? Either way, the trajectory of Patch made clear that getting hired at Google and then becoming a real manager at a powerhouse like AOL were not congruent. Patch, according to Bloomberg, was “a pet project.” I assume it was like one of the old-school 20 percent free time projects except this one had an appetite for cash and served as a trigger for quite a bit of corporate explaining.
The second was the item I saw regarding another Xoogler’s management acumen: “He Was Fired: Here’s Marissa Mayer’s de Castro Buh-Bye Memo to Yahoo Staff.” Make that two Xooglers: the boss Xoogler at Yahoo Marissa Mayer and the number two at Yahoo, Henrique De Castro. I noted this passage:
During my own reflection, I made the difficult decision that our COO, Henrique de Castro, should leave the company. I appreciate Henrique’s contributions and wish him the best in his future endeavors.
Mr. de Castro will need a pick up truck to haul off his severance pay which is in the millions of dollars. Not bad for less than two years work.
The point is that some folks see getting hired by Google, flourishing in the Google greenhouse, and getting high praise from Googlers as the equivalent of management and operational expertise in the “real” world.
These two articles contain information that folks are mistaking Google employees with Google’s success. I would point to online advertising based on approaches developed by outfits like Overture as slightly more important.
My hunch is that AOL and Yahoo will generate further evidence about the management insights of Xooglers. Why are these Xooglers former Googlers anyway? Too bad I don’t have the energy to dig into the human resources angle. There are many azure chip consultants who can explain the why’s and wherefore’s.
Stephen E Arnold, January 16, 2014
Basic Search Tips for SharePoint
January 16, 2014
The article titled Not Getting The Search Results You’re Looking For In SharePoint? on Microsoft Office divulges tips to help users who are having trouble with SharePoint, the content management platform from Microsoft. The basic issues it mentions relate to too many or too few results. For those receiving too few results, tips include generalizing search terms and ensuring your settings aren’t blocking the results. For too many results, the article suggests using Advanced Search.
This is what the article suggests for no results regarding syntax use:
“If an error message tells you to make sure you’re using the proper syntax, the search system interprets your search as a KQL query, but finds that there’s something wrong with the syntax. Check that you’re using the right syntax, and particularly the right number of parentheses and double quotation marks. If you want to search for a phrase that contains a parenthesis or double quotation mark, make sure that you enclose the entire phrase… in double quotation marks.”
You can also consult the Keyword Query Language (KQL) Syntax Reference for querying in KQL. However, we have a hunch that this advice is not too useful if the content is not in the index or some other system level issue is a problem. Consider the article more of a basic troubleshoot guide, not a comprehensive directory.
Chelsea Kerwin, January 16, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Recommind Survey Shows Stats Related to Information Governance
January 16, 2014
The article titled Bridging the Global Information Governance Gap on IDM offers more governance advice from the findings of Recommind’s survey of US and UK companies. The survey posed questions related to information governance (IG), which is “a cross-departmental approach to optimising [sic] the value of information simultaneously associated risks and costs.” We had thought Recommind was a variant of the Autonomy type of system, we are learning new things every day. Their survey revealed that only 58% of companies in the US have an IG policy. The article quotes the global head of information governance at Recommind, Dean Gonsowski:
“It is this over-reliance on employee-based governance that is giving organizations a false sense of security. While it’s positive that organisations recognize the need for information governance, many are still not taking the requisite steps to truly govern their information in a proactive manner. In fact, many are still in the dark about governance and don’t have a full sense of the data deluge they are currently facing.”
He went on to explain that there are tools to remove the risky reliance on individuals. Not only can IG diminish the risks, but can also aid in the response efficiency of eDiscovery requests. Keeping data protected and also accessible is vital, and most US companies have not taken the proper precautions.
Chelsea Kerwin, January 16, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Google Search Appliance VS SearchBlox Price and Indexing Limit Comparison
January 16, 2014
The article on SearchBlox titled Google Search Appliance Price Comparison with SearchBlox explains the slippery pricing data available to consumers on Google Search appliances. The article states that for a more limited document storage space Google charges $30,000 while SearchBlox, for unlimited storage, charges only $5,000 (but these numbers are only approximations). SearchBlox also offers more constant support and maintenance than Google, making it a very appealing option in the world of intranet or Web site search.
The article explains:
“SearchBlox provides the option of seamlessly moving away from the Google Search Appliance without skipping a beat. In addition to the cost-savings and feature comparison, scalability of the solution is something to consider given the explosion of content. SearchBlox scales both vertically (by adding more CPU/RAM to the existing setup) and horizontally (by adding more search servers that can be run in a cluster) without disrupting your architecture.”
SearchBlox even allows for Google administrators using XLS with a “faceted search plugin” that promises not to disturb the infrastructure. Allowing users to index unlimited documents certainly beats Google’s 500K indexing limit. A quick check of the GSA Advantage site shows that the Google Search Appliance is a significantly more expensive alternative to the open source based SearchBlox solution.
Chelsea Kerwin, January 16, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Streamline SharePoint Extensions
January 16, 2014
SharePoint has become the dominant collaboration tool on the enterprise. Problems are always going to arise with such a large piece of software, but there are tools and approaches that make solutions quicker in coming. IT Business Edge explores this idea in their article, “Streamline SharePoint Extensions for Business Users.”
The article says:
“To maximize the organization’s return on its investment in SharePoint, IT administrators should use the Extend SharePoint Prioritization Tool, available in our IT Downloads. This spreadsheet helps the organization determine which functions within SharePoint provide the most benefit to the business, and which will allow IT to prioritize its time in fixing problems and creating a more streamlined usage for business users.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and the man behind ArnoldIT.com. He focuses on all aspects of search but gives a good bit of attention to the enterprise, particularly SharePoint. He advocates smart add-ons and creative solutions that work in conjunction with SharePoint. Without them, SharePoint can be a greater hindrance than it is an asset.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 16, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Attivio on the Better Decisions Offensive
January 15, 2014
I read “A Search Engine That ‘Makes’ Data-Driven Business Decisions.” The enamel on the article was about making decisions without old fashioned search.
In the article/interview, Attivio (a user of open source software) positions the company in this way:
Attivio is focused on unifying information. The end goal of big data is to make some insight that is actionable.
I understand. Actionable information. The article explains:
With search engines, there is no concept that one page is linked to another. So, we added a graph engine, a mathematical graph, where there are nodes and links between them. We use the graph to link the results in query A to all possible results in query B. So, it is incredibly fast.
Does this remain anyone other than me of Autonomy’s embedded link invention from six, seven years ago?
Then I learn about the magic:
They put them in front of this interface. When a ticket comes in, they automatically identify the related content across all sources. Now, the sysadmins are happier, the company is happier, and these folks are learning all about this environment that they don’t really need to be trained on.
In short, the system goes beyond search just like IBM Watson, HP Autonomy, Palantir, and dozens of other content processing vendors.
Will Attivio become the next $800 million in revenue search vendor? There are some heavy hitters chasing the same brass ring. So far most search vendors get stuck in under the $100 million glass ceiling. With open source software offering a lower cost option, how will the dozens of information retrieval cum business intelligence systems fare in 2014? Good question. No answers yet.
Stephen E Arnold, January 15, 2014
Video from Vivisimo Examines Big Data Management
January 15, 2014
The nine minute video article Big Data and Vivisimo- Managing and Extracting Insights From Large and Heterogenerous Data from IBM on Optimized Target Traffic explains the four V’s of Big Data as they pertain to Vivisimo. Typically only three V’s are named, “volume, velocity and variety.” Volume covers such questions as how does one get multiple data sets into Hadoop? Velocity is related to asking about frequency of updates and whether there is a single static repository, while variety refers to analytics to perform and applications to build. But the video also offers the fourth V of variability.
Bob Carter of Vivisimo explains:
“Lastly there is the issue of variability, in the sense that I need to deliver the information to different audiences. It could be done in different implementations, let’s say it’s a cross domain environment where I’m putting a Big Data system on a secure network and I have to offer up a subset of that information to a higher level network or to a different domain. How do I smartly share that information with other agencies or other commercial customers on my supply chain?”
Variability, according to Vivisimo’s agent, also encompasses considerations of different security settings and management requirements. Omitted from consideration however is the cost of “touching” a single record in an exception file. But serial processing is expensive, just like handling variety in Big Data.
Chelsea Kerwin, January 15, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Thetus Opens Office in Nashville and Begins Recruiting
January 15, 2014
The article on the Thetus blog titled Thetus South is Now in Business celebrates the opening of a Thetus office in Nashville, Tennessee. With headquarters in Portland, Oregon, Thetus was incorporated in 2003 and has since developed semantic modeling technologies. Savanna 3.3 is analytic software that offers search and discovery, among other tools. The article on the blog mainly examines the building Thetus will now call home.
The article states:
“Located in the heart of Nashville’s historic arts district, the newest addition to the Thetus family embodies the classic Thetus feel while creating its own identity in unique and historic Cummins Station. Originally built in 1907 , Cummins Station is famous for once being the warehouse for Maxwell House Coffee. Over a century later, it’s making a new mark on Nashville as a fabulous and creative LEED Gold mixed-use space…. a perfect match for Thetus!”
The company offered some pictures of the gorgeous windows in the space, and gave some details about enhancements made (such as removing the paint from the brick and removing the carpet. Cummins Station is home to over 140 businesses ranging from IT to restaurant to a gym. The blog also encouraged job-seekers to apply. They are also embracing Nashville’s culture, sponsoring the 2013 Hack Nashville, a coding event.
Chelsea Kerwin, January 15, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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