Autonomy: 1996 to 2006 Free Report Available on Xenky
February 4, 2014
Update: The HP Autonomy deal is back in the news. See “HP Restates Autonomy’s 2010 Revenue Down 54%, Citing Errors.”
Autonomy was one of the first—some may argue the first—enterprise search vendor to embrace Bayesian-Laplace methods and power its way to almost $1 billion in revenues in 15 years. Hewlett Packard bought Autonomy in 2011, and Autonomy remains a high profile information processing brand.
But what gave Autonomy its revenue oomph? Other vendors tried to match Autonomy’s marketing, technology, and indirect sales. Google generated more revenue than Autonomy, but Google sold ads. In the enterprise sector, Google found itself watching Autonomy close deal after deal.
This report combines information from several Autonomy analyses written by Stephen E Arnold, and his research team. A similar report from an azure chip or mid tier consulting firm can cost as much as $3,500. (Four of Mr. Arnold’s reports are on offer at that rate by IDC, one of the perceived leaders in for fee research by independent experts.)
This free 25 page report provides some important historical information and a description of the Autonomy system.
To download a free copy, navigate to the Xenky.com Web site and select Autonomy from the list of 11 free enterprise search vendor profiles. The report is available at http://bit.ly/1boX86v.
Other reports in this free series of historical and analytical white papers are Convera, Dieselpoint, SchemaLogic, and Verity. Each analysis provides useful information about the wise and sometimes ill advised business and technical decisions companies have made.
If you are interested in a more in-depth discussion of select Autonomy patents and its Digital Reasoning Engine’s mathematical methods, write seaky2000 at yahoo dot com. Put Autonomy Report in the subject line. ArnoldIT will reply with details about this expanded Autonomy analysis.
Kenneth Toth, February 4, 2014
Tutorial for ElasticSearch Basic Setup
February 4, 2014
The article on DZone titled Getting Started With ElasticSearch offers a step-by-step guide to the search engine to fill the hole in tutorials. The author promises that by the end of reading the post the user will be armed with the tools to begin working with ElasticSearch in Windows 7. The instructions begin with the assumption that the user already has Java installed.
After downloading ElasticSearch, the tutorial explains:
“I am new to Curl and cygwin and i wanted to cut short the time frame to learn it (as most of the command references on ElasticSearch.org are for non-Windows platform). You can install Curl from http://curl.haxx.se/download.html and cygwin from http://cygwin.com/install.html. Now let’s test what we have done till now. In Windows7 Desktop Environment, start command line and cd C:\elasticsearch-0.90.3\bin. Now execute elasticsearch.bat. This will start one of the ElasticSearch nodes on the localhost.”
After a few more steps, the article concludes with the information that status 200 simply means everything is working. The tutorial continues with installing elasticsearch-head plugin into your environment and finally developing an application for employees within a department. The details are well worth looking over in order to get ElasticSearch jumpstarted and to get users working on their search projects.
Chelsea Kerwin, February 04, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
PageZepher Desktop Search Good for Publishing Formats
February 4, 2014
Here is a search and conversion tool that bridges a gap to make working with certain data much easier. Markzware has created PageZephyr, a desktop solution that can even index the proprietary publishing formats of QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign, and MS Publisher. The product’s page includes a handy, three-minute video highlighting some of the solution’s functionality.
The list of features specifies:
- Index content easily within Apple Macintosh storage volumes.
- Desktop Search within Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress and Microsoft Publisher files.
- Edit content from search results within a convenient Storyboard Window.
- Extract content from multiple documents simultaneously.
- Export content to rich text format RTF or a plain text TXT file.
- Publish and distribute content to the internet using output options to blog sites like WordPress, Google *Docs, Scribd, and Box.net.
- Supports Microsoft Publisher 2002 – 2010, QuarkXPress 4 – 9 and InDesign CS – CS6 file types.
- PageZephyr does not require Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress or Microsoft Publisher.
As this list points out, users of PageZephyr don’t need to have those publishing applications installed in order to find, view, or modify documents. The ability to edit any content within, and export it from, the platform is a handy feature.
Founded in 1992, Markzware is also the maker of the successful FlightCheck pre-print quality control software. The company emphasizes ease of use and day-to-day labor reduction, and also works to minimize its environmental impact. Markzware USA is headquartered in Santa Ana, California, and the spun-off Markzware Europe makes its home in Pijnacker, Netherlands.
Cynthia Murrell, February 04, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Cluuz: Back Online
January 31, 2014
Overflight happily reported that www.cluuz.com came back online. Good news.
Stephen E Arnold, January 31, 2014
Yahoo Attempts to Regain the Search Crown
January 30, 2014
Yahoo has not been the top search engine for a long time and they have focused their energies on other promising projects. CEO Marissa Mayer kept search in the back of her mind when she purchased Aviate, creator of a contextual app search and organization for mobile phone users. Business Insider describes the acquisition in “Yahoo Just Acquired A New Search Product That Could Hurt Google.”
According to the article, contextual search is very important to technology companies and many already have projects concerning the new search trend in development.
What makes contextual or semantic search different? The article states:
“Basically, contextual search differs from the regular search you know on Google by trying to anticipate what you really mean or want based on cues in your past searches or in other stores of data the search tool has access to. It’s not just about matching keywords and ranking incoming links.”
Under Yahoo, Aviate’s product will organize phone apps on the home screen based on its best guess to what the user needs at the moment. Mayer is probably out to solve the app overload problem, where users download hundreds of apps and hardly use any of them. Aviate takes hide and seek out of finding apps. The search product will also locate items before users access other search applications.
Mayer has a good idea. Organize the tools that are supposed to make life easier. It also sounds like she is trying to set up the Yahoo equivalent of the Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store. What will she name it?
Whitney Grace, January 30, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Cluuz Offline
January 29, 2014
My Overflight system posted an alert a few days ago that www.cluuz.com was returning null sets. I tried to telephone and email the company, but no one has replied. According to Nick Waddell in February 2012, Sprylogics was founded about seven years ago. The co0founder was Avi Schachar, a former officer in Israeli intelligence. His idea for a relationship analysis system became the principal product of Sprylogics. The software gained some traction in Canada.
Sprylogics went public in 2007. When Mr. Waddell wrote his commentary “Investors Look for Cluuz to Sprylogics [sic] Resurgence”, the share price of Sprylogics dropped to one penny. On January 29, 2014, the share price is $0.49, ticker SPY on the Canadian exchange. An analyst report presents the company as a mobile solution.
In December 2013, a Sprylogics’ presentation to investors circulated. The document is “Sprylogics: Seeing beyond the Obvious Investor Presentation.” That document asserted that the company was focusing on “patented, location-based and cont4ext-sensitive search.” Sprylogics intends to monetize the intersection of mobile messaging and local search. The presentation highlights three differentiators for the company’s technology:
- More functionality within chat
- A method for preventing “users from leaving for third party services”
- Keeps users in context via a sharing function.
The company’s technology plus that of Poynt, a “strategic acquisition”, delivers Sprylogics 2.0. The company’s presentation suggests that it has a war chest of $6 million. The search technology appears to come from Nimbuzz.
The management of the company, according to the presentation, consists of:
- Marvin Igelman, CEO
- Alex Zivkovic, CTO. A 2008 with Mr. Zivkovic is available in the Search Wizards Speak series at http://bit.ly/1egcIlV
- David Berman, CFO
- Bhavuk Kaul, VP product marketing, who was the head of search at Research in Motion.
If you want to contact the company, I would suggest a snail mail letter to 64 Jardin Drive, 2A in Concord, Ontario L4K 3P3.
The ArnoldIT team was quite fond of the Cluuz.com service.
Stephen E Arnold, January 29, 2014
AddSearch Scores $650K in Seed Funding
January 28, 2014
Finland’s AddSearch has picked up a hefty investment. A press release over at PRWeb reports, “AddSearch, Instant Search Tool for Websites, Announces $650k Seed Investment and Imminent Launch.” Founded last April, the company has set out to fix what is broken in site search. The write-up tells us:
“AddSearch is a lightning fast hosted search tool for any website, offering instant and accurate search results after the first keypress. AddSearch works across all devices, gives website owners complete control over their search results and is very easy to install….
“‘Website search is broken’, commented Pasi Ilola, AddSearch co-founder and CEO. ‘Existing search solutions for websites offer a very poor and slow user experience, often failing to provide the most relevant search result. Building and maintaining your own search functionality is highly expensive and time-consuming. That is why we created AddSearch – it is easy to set up for the website owners and it just works.'”
We really look forward to site search that functions well and is a pleasure to use, because existing systems really are terrible. Does AddSearch hold the key? The company is based in Helsinki, and is now (I imagine) pleased to be financially backed by Vision+ and Tekes.
Cynthia Murrell, January 28, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Asknet.ru: A Semantic Search Engine
January 27, 2014
We learned about a new semantic search engine. A public demonstration is available at http://www.asknet.ru/EN/index.htm. Some chatter about the system appeared on LinkedIn. Like many of the next-generation search systems, there were some questions and comments from the “experts” who participate in the LinkedIn search discussions.
According to the Web site:
AskNet search technology is its main product and the focus of the commercial licensing and development. The search engine combines the speed of an index with the functionality of linguistic analysis. The AskNet search engine reverses the search result process. Traditionally, search engines provide links to large numbers of documents that contain reviews. They leave the users to hunt their answers in thousands of pages and millions of words. AskNet`s linguistic analysis makes it possible to provide meaningful answers to searches as quickly as traditional search engines. No linking required!
One LinkedIn expert pointed out:
AskNet Search ( online service asknet.ru) is the demo version. Not all algorithms are implemented for asknet.ru. All of them are implemented in the enterprise search engine. AskNet Search realized metasearch functions using snippets from Google. These text snippets are not whole sentences. Therefore, the quality of linguistic search AskNet Search could be better, when it used sentences for search, rather than a snippets from Google.
We suggest running some test queries and determining if the system delivers useful results. Keep in mind that a technology demonstration is usually set up to make it easy to get a “feel” for the basics of a system.
With regard to semantics and analytics, the supporters of today’s hottest technologies often are like supporters of the Liverpool football team. The coach is usually wrong and one or two players are terrible. The team concept, however, is one to support to the death. Rational? Nah. Part of today’s standard operating procedure? You bet.
My view is:
- Many vendors are recycling old algorithms with a Project Runway touch up. The basic design, however, is recognizable as a cute little red carpet number. Innovation is a bow or a tuck.
- Some so-called experts (folks I describe as poobahs, azure chip consultants, of people with a dog in the fight) see their clients’ products as truly wonderful innovations. The notion that a researcher in 1980 hit upon a method and created a product based on that method is of little or no consequence. Who cares what Julius Caesar said after the battle of Alesia. Ancient history.
- Prospects may not be looking for a better search solution. Prospects may be looking for a system that is less of a problem than the incumbent solution. Therefore, the procurement team is trying to keep their paycheck, not revolutionize information retrieval.
- Many systems work only if the user knows what he or she is looking for. Predictive search (go with the search history and the norm for a cluster) is good enough. Who has time to do deep dive research in today’s rush-rush-rush business climate.
The buzzword blizzard makes it difficult to figure out what system delivers what. I know I am easily confused, and my hunch is that others may face the same hurdle. Will Sochi feature a confusion jump involving leaps of faith over search vendor claims?
Stephen E Arnold, January 27, 2014
Chocolate Toothpaste and Search
January 25, 2014
The ArnoldIT Overflight snagged this headline on January 16, 2014: ‘Chocolate Toothpaste’ Prevents Tooth Decay. Unusual news can be entertaining. Then on January 24, 2014, I spotted this headline: P&G’s Chocolate Toothpaste: Innovation or Desperation? The source of this story was not a secondary information source. The Innovation or Desperation item appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek.
Here’s the quote to note:
The line, which P&G (PG) promises to start selling soon, comprises three flavors: “Mint Chocolate Trek,” “Lime Spearmint Zest,” and “Vanilla Mint Spark.” Here’s how the Crest marketing team describes the new paste: “It’s a whole new world of deliciousness for toothbrushes everywhere.”
The hook for me was not “chocolate toothpaste prevents tooth decay.” This assertion reminds me of marketers who assert that a particular search system delivers value or understands human discourse. The problem is that the association of “chocolate AND tooth decay” is easier for me to grasp than “chocolate PREVENTS tooth decay.”
With search, value is difficult to connect to search. Search costs money, generates more work because documents have to be opened and read, or creates a willingness among busy users to assume that a search result is a correct result.
The Businessweek story connects “innovation” and “desperation.” Marketers have hit upon a product innovation that will make some influencers go for the chocolate toothpaste.
Search and content processing vendors have been following this path for many years. Not only is the uptake of new jargon standard operating procedure for search vendors, the consultants and experts working in search are turbochargers of constant exploration of ways to make search have sizzle. Search is analytics, taxonomy, knowledge, Big Data, etc.
I recall that in one of my university’s required classes, one professor insisted that ancient people cleaned their teeth with twigs. I also know that search methods from the years before “smart software” worked as well.
Progress in search and retrieval, like the chocolate toothpaste innovation, are not “innovation and desperation.” The juxtaposition of attributes is another indicator that the disconnect between expectations and reality is a characteristic of business today.
Will chocolate toothpaste work better than “regular” toothpaste? Will the new search system work better than “regular” search systems? Under specific test conditions, it is possible to “prove” efficacy. But in the real world, toothpaste like search has a baseline of performance. Wordsmithing, odd juxtapositions, and cleverness cannot be confused with Daliesque novelty.
Stephen E Arnold, January 25, 2014
Nuance Offers New Vocal Search
January 23, 2014
People have been waiting for years when they could go into their homes or work place and simply say a vocal command, then a computer would respond with the correct information. Nuance Communications is taking the world a step closer to that reality, says 4 Traders in the article: “Nuance To Start A Whole New Conversation With Launch Of New Dragon Assistant For Intel RealSense Technology.” Nuance’s new Dragon Assistant is available for computers that use Intel Real Sense technology and even better is that tablets can now use it.
Dragon Assistants comes with two personalities, British Butler and American female. Users can have an ongoing dialogue with their assistant and can ask it to do a variety of activities using vocal commands. Users will also be available to ask questions and receive answers. Dragon Assistant will have a knowledge pool supplied from over 170 content providers.
The article states:
” ‘Together with Intel, we are changing the way people experience their devices, starting a whole new conversation,’ said Michael Thompson, executive vice president and general manager, Nuance Mobile. ‘This latest version of Dragon Assistant is transformative. People can have an interactive dialogue that is natural and intuitive, with a voice assistant that listens and understands the context of conversation – just as you would expect from a personal assistant powered by Nuance and Intel.’ “
Expect there to be kinks in the Dragon Assistant. Developers have been trying to create an intelligent and human-like assistant for years, each project brings us one step closer. I presume, however, we still have not brought it up to Star Trek standards yet.
Whitney Grace, January 23, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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