Google and Its Ageing Plumbing
June 4, 2015
Short Honk: Check out the diagram from a PhD thesis. You can find the document at http://malteschwarzkopf.de/research/assets/google-stack.pdf. Note that some parts of the GOOG date from the early days when the Alta Vista crowd left the totally clueless HP in the late 1990s. Will some of the older plumbing ever change in a substantive way? Google competitors hope that the 16 year old search giant suffers from progeria. False hope, however.
Stephen E Arnold, June 4, 2015
HP: Vague. More Like MBAism Chasing Dollars
June 4, 2015
I read “Whitman Paints a Vague Picture of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.” By golly, the gray lady and I appear to agree. The split of flagging HP into two units is described as vague. I think HP is doing what an MBA study group would do to resolve a difficult case: Look for the easy way out. A couple of bouts of spreadsheet fever will create numbers to make the deal look super. The only problem is that there is little recent evidence available to suggest that two HPs will perform any better than one HP. Lexmark, another printer company, is just buying companies. IBM, another wounded rest home candidate, is doing the billion dollar bet thing. I assume that HP’s splitting is more likely to generate the desired result than the IBM and Lexmark approaches. My question: What if none of these three struggling giants can recapture their youth after bouts of MBAism? Perhaps employees will have an opportunity to find their future elsewhere? Nothing vague about these moves in my opinion.
Stephen E Arnold, June 4, 2015
Users Hope SharePoint 2016 Eases Integration Woes
June 4, 2015
SharePoint integration is often mentioned as one of the lowest points of user satisfaction for the whole solution. However, to be fair, SharePoint has very drastically moved away from its very simple start. Its original purpose was document sharing, and probably just Office documents at that. Now the platform is expected to handle any type of file constantly emerging in the fast-moving world of content. IT Business Edge takes a good look at the issue in its article, “Why SharePoint 2016 Needs to Address Integration Shortcomings.”
The article begins on a humorous note:
“SharePoint integration must be really hard, judging by this new infographic, “Seven Alcoholic Drinks to Imbibe as Your SharePoint Integration Project Fails.” . . . Why is SharePoint so hard to integrate? There’s the obvious reason, of course: Microsoft’s built it for Microsoft ecosystems with little concern for heterogeneous environments. Still, that’s not the only reason it’s a pain. In fact, SharePoint had integration problems even with other Microsoft solutions, as this 2012 post by an application architect shows.”
There are clearly issues with SharePoint integration, and in light of them, head SharePoint execs are discussing improvements to the 2016 platform. While it will take some time before it is known whether the changes do improve user satisfaction, keep an eye on ArnoldIT.com for the latest updates. Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and his Web service gives a good deal of attention to SharePoint. In fact, his dedicated SharePoint feed is a good place to start for the latest need-to-know information.
Emily Rae Aldridge, June 4, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Apple Acquires Search Startup Ottocat
June 4, 2015
Apple needed a better search system for its app store, so it bought a startup; according to TechCrunch, “Apple Acquired Search Startup Ottocat to Power the ‘Explore’ Tab in the App Store.” Writer Ingrid Lunden observes that the deal was kept pretty quiet, but suspects it was agreed to in 2013; that is when Ottocat’s website disappeared. Months later, Apple implemented the “explore” feature for its App Store. So why did Apple pick Ottocat? The article explains:
“In a nutshell, its technology essentially addressed pain points on both sides of the App Store: for users unable to find specific enough results for subject-based app searches when they don’t have a specific app in mind; and for developers unhappy with how well their apps could be discovered among a sea of 1 million+ other apps. The premise was to do away with keywords by categorizing apps into increasingly more specific subcategories that worked on a ‘drill-down’ principle — eliminating the guesswork and potential inaccuracy of keywords altogether. …
“For example, rather than searching on ‘guitar’ or scrolling through the full selection of music apps that the term might call up, or the chart for the most popular music apps — which can contain streaming apps, apps that are designed to work with specific hardware, apps that let people use their phones to play music, apps that teach them how to play a specific instrument, and so on — you can start to look at specific subcategories to find a selection of apps you may want to download.”
Launched in 2012 by Michelle Cooper and Edwin Cooper, Ottocat is headquartered in Oakland, California. Lunden wonders whether the Cooper pair is now working at Apple, and what they might be working on. Search for Safari, perchance? Maybe neither Yahoo nor Microsoft will provide Safari’s default search once Apple’s deal with Google expires, after all.
Cynthia Murrell, June 4, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
NSA Blanket Data Collection Preventing Accurate Surveillance
June 4, 2015
The article on ZDNet titled NSA Is So Overwhelmed with Data, It’s No Longer Effective, Says Whistleblower examines the concept of “bulk data failure” by the NSA and other agencies. William Binney, a whistleblower who has been out of the NSA for over a decade, says that the sheer amount of data the NSA collects leads to oversights and ineffective surveillance. The article states,
“Binney said he estimated that a “maximum” of 72 companies were participating in the bulk records collection program — including Verizon, but said it was a drop in the ocean. He also called PRISM, the clandestine surveillance program that grabs data from nine named Silicon Valley giants, including Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, just a “minor part” of the data collection process. “The Upstream program is where the vast bulk of the information was being collected,” said Binney.”
It appears that big data presents challenges even when storage, servers, and money are available. Binney blames the data overload for bungles that have led to the Boston bombing and Paris shooting. He believes the NSA had the information needed to prevent the attacks, but couldn’t see the trees for the forest. Smart data collection, rather than mass data collection, is his suggestion to fix this information overload.
Chelsea Kerwin, June 4, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Google and Fact Ranking: Close but No SEO Cigar
June 3, 2015
Based on my experience gleaned in rural Kentucky, home of Pappy Van Winkle, Google ranks more than Web pages, people, news stories, and links. Google ranks with lots and lots of factors. The Googlers are busy lads and lasses in the ranking department. There are many reasons. One of them may be ad-centric.
I read “Beyond Links: Why Google Will Rank Facts in the Future.” In my opinion, the write up is close by no cigar and certainly no an SEO cigar. Here’s a passage I highlight in dramatic orange:
Since web pages can be littered with factual inaccuracies and still appear credible because of a high number of quality links, the Google team is pursuing a future where endogenous signals carry far more weight than exogenous signals. In short, Google may soon be more concerned with the information your website contains than the level of trust people have in your website. New websites could immediately be ranked higher than established competitor sites just by hosting content that is more factually accurate than theirs.
I have quite a bit of confidence in the GOOG; however, there is one sticky wicket: What is a fact? Facts can be tricky in math; for example, infinity or zero, fact or fanciful notion. One whiz kid went crazy noodling the infinity issue, infinities of infinities, and sets of infinities on the left and the right of the good old decimal point.
Rah rah for the Google Knowledge Vault. There are some statistical tools to rank a fact as more or less correct. Will the SEO crowd be able to game the system so their clients’ Web pages are more factual? Will Google use facts to drive ad sales? Will the user know what is and is not correct? Is there a factual answer to this question: Which is more sophisticated technically? Facebook or Google. What does the Knowledge Vault think?
Stephen E Arnold, June 3, 2015
IBM and GoogLe: Food Fight
June 3, 2015
IBM Watson crafts recipes. Yep, barbecue sauce with tamarind. How does Goggle respond? Navigate to “Google Cooking Up AI to Count Calories in Your Food Photos.” I noted this passage:
Kevin P. Murphy, a researcher who works with Google’s research lab and specializes in artificial intelligence and algorithms and theory, said the new AI uses “the depth of each pixel in an image” and “sophisticated deep-learning algorithms” to identify food, judge its size and come up with a calorie count.
Will Google report on the calorie payload in Watson recipe? Will the innovation improve Google’s search relevance? Will the Google cafeteria display Goggle calorie data?
Stephen E Arnold, June 3, 2015?
SoundHound Voice Search
June 3, 2015
Annoyed with Cortana and Siri? SoundHound has an alternative for some folks. SoundHound’s recognition technology can pinpoint the name of a song . According to “SoundHound’s New Voice Search App Makes Siri and Cortana Look Slow.”
I highlighted this passage:
Mohajer’s [SoundHound wizard] original vision is here in the form of Hound, a voice search app that can handle incredibly complex questions and spit out answers with uncanny speed. Right now, you have to ask those questions inside the Hound app, but the company hopes to get the technology everywhere — even your toaster…
The article continues:
Hound the app functions and feels almost exactly like Google’s Voice Search, but seems much faster at identifying words and delivering answers.
Will Google and Siri improve their systems? Worth watching and checking out the SoundHound system in real world conditions with loud background conversation and a person with less than BBC grade enunciation.
Stephen E Arnold, June 3, 2015
The IBM Watson Ecosystem
June 3, 2015
Short honk: Add to your Watson knowledge. Navigate to “IBM Watson: The Future of Cognitive Computing.” The write up explains the whys and wherefores of IBM’s billion dollar revenue play. But the item I highlighted asks a very good question:
Imagine you could collect all the world’s data , understand it, and use it to help people live, work, and play better. What would you do?
My answer? Google.
The source of the write up is summer up from this statement from PFSK’s Web site:
PSFK provides a new generation of creative minds ideas to live, work and play better. We share over 20 times a day on PSFK.com inspirational projects, people and passions in topics like arts & culture, design, retail and technology – and we spread these across our social channels and add even more amazing links we find along the way. We bring to life the discussion with the events we run in different cities around the world – and our team of researchers and strategists at PSFK Labs also provide some awesome companies, such as Apple, BMW, Google & Samsung, with trends-led advice.
Definitely a firm with a firm grip on the vagaries of cognitive computing.
Stephen E Arnold, June 2, 2015
Google Plus, the Future of Google, Gets Harder to Find
June 3, 2015
Shocker. At age 70, I don’t pay much attention to social media. I did notice Google Plus and one of the goslings may have created an entry for me. I did notice Google Plus when the lovable outfit incentivized employees to use the service. Okay, really popular. Like Orkut and other social experiments, Google Plus seemed to be an add on to a service focused on algorithmic functions.
I read “Google Ditches the Google+ Link on Its Many Web Properties, Hides It in the App Menu.” I don’t think of the nine dots as hidden, but Google Plus is not displayed like the search box or the feeling lucky link.
Does Facebook makes its service one extra click away?
Stephen E Arnold, June 3, 2015
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
