WAND Inc Makes Integration Plans with Nintex Workflow Official
August 30, 2012
Last week WAND, Inc announced its plans to integrate with Nintex Workflow. Wand, Inc is attributed to making search work better by the use of its various taxonomies and Nintex is the world’s leader in SharePoint Workflow. Separately they are powerhouses in their specific field and combined they seem to have a lot to offer each other. The article, WAND adds automatic tagging to Nintex Workflow sheds some more light on what this match up could mean:
“The DataFacet Automatic Annotation custom action for Nintex Workflow allows a user to automatically tag documents with taxonomy metadata as part of a workflow process. Users who have DataFacet and Nintex Workflow …will be able take advantage of this custom action to control when a document is automatically tagged and base conditional actions on those tags. Workflows can be configured to tag documents with any terminology that is stored in the SharePoint Term Store, including terms from any of WAND’s Foundation Taxonomies.”
If everything runs smoothly for these two, this seems like a decent match up that has some great potential. I think it is safe to say that we can be expecting some great things from these guys in the coming years.
Edie Marie, August 30, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
MetaVis Leaders in SharePoint Migration Web Site Launch
August 30, 2012
MetaVis Technologies are innovation leaders in the semantics industry. They are well known for their SharePoint Migration and data managing tools. Their company just recently announced the launch of their new web site, http://www.metavistech.com. The site is said to offer new solutions for migration, administration, and have different tools for SharePoint users. The article, MetaVis Technologies Launches New Website goes into more detail:
“Our new Website reflects the tremendous growth we have seen with sales growing more than 175 percent year over year,” said Peter Senescu, President and Co-founder of MetaVis Technologies. “Our new product suites are built on the MetaVis platform providing one user interface to manage all your migration, security, backup and information architecture needs in SharePoint or Office365. Customers no longer need multiple third-party vendors or products.”
MetaVis Technologies is a household name in the SharePoint migration world and nothing but the newest technologies and highest grade is expected from their latest installment. You can expect to see things like their Migration Suite, Administration Suite, Tools for Office 365, and Tools for SharePoint Users on the new site. As an added bonus all products from this company already come SharePoint 2013 ready.
Edie Marie, August 30, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Poderopedias Technology Tracks Chilean Elite
August 30, 2012
A new technology tested in the Poderopedia project completely changes the meaning of “Big Brother is Watching.” The tools are first being run in Chile to promote transparency. Data storage and queries are being used to map out and visualize the different relationships between Chile’s most influential people. The article, The Semantics Behind Poderopedia tells us a little more:
“These technologies allow us to represent a diverse set of relations between entities (people, companies, organizations) in a flexible way. The goal is to identify and express relations of power and influence of people and organizations…we added many new classes and subclasses of connections. This may sound trivial, but it involved a lot of debate and the hard work of our entire team before we could show it to others — with the hope that it could be a small contribution to the open-source community.”
This is a very interesting way to implement the use of these semantic technologies – and if the logistics of Poderopedia are of interest there is a link on the article to more details, which is a recommended quick read. Of course, it is safe to assume that if it works in Chile it’s only a matter of time before it spreads to other countries, including the US. But, here in the states it appears that invasion of privacy could come to the forefront in the execution of this kind of technology.
Edie Marie, August 30, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Google Introduces the Knowledge Graph
August 28, 2012
Jon Mitchell of Read Write Web recently reported on some new developments with the Google search results in the article “How Google Organizes the World: Q&A With Manager of Knowledge Graph.”
In the article, Mitchell interviews Emily Moxley, Google’s lead project manager for the Knowledge Graph, which appears on the right hand side of the page displaying facts and images about the subject of Google queries along with the usual Web results.
When asked how things are added to the Knowledge Graph and if it learns new concepts from users, Moxley replied:
“It’s very actively maintained by Google employees. Metaweb, before, was this repository of entities and facts, and [the company’s employees] were very much using their intuition about what people cared about and what information to go find. Since they’ve been acquired by Google, Google has all these users looking for information, and from that, we’re able to see what things are interesting about the world. Through that, we’re able to grow the Knowledge Graph in an efficient direction.”
I’m glad to hear that Google is going back to what it does best. Focusing on search. Google is indeed wonderful. Now do I get a mouse pad and a free Odwalla juice for mentioning that obvious point?
Jasmine Ashton, August 28, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Machine Learning Paragons Square Off
August 22, 2012
It is an AI kerfuffle, we learn from Tor.com’s “Norvig vs. Chomsky and the Fight for the Future of AI.” The two prominent machine linguists, one old-school and one new, are at philosophical odds over the future of machine learning. Simply put, the esteemed Noam Chomsky seems to have started it when he criticized today’s researchers for using statistical methods to mimic behavior without attempting to understand the meaning of that behavior. Google’s director of research Peter Norvig shot back, insisting that such understanding is overrated. Instead, he advocates a statistical reasoning approach underpinned by huge amounts of data populating huge lookup tables.
Tor’s Kevan Gold describes the conflict well. This issue embodies the conflict between getting the answer and understanding the answer; Gold’s math homework analogy captures it well. In his conclusion he extrapolates:
“What seems to be a debate about linguistics and AI is actually a debate about the future of knowledge and science. Is human understanding necessary for making successful predictions? If the answer is ‘no,’ and the best way to make predictions is by churning mountains of data through powerful algorithms, the role of the scientist may fundamentally change forever. But I suspect that the faith of Kepler and Einstein in the elegance of the universe will be vindicated in language and intelligence as well; and if not, we at least have to try.”
Christopher Berry also contributes to the discussion in his Eyes on Analytics blog post, “Norvig, Chomsky, Science, Models.” Check out his umbrella analogy. I like his succinct conclusion:
“Machine learning is as a power tool in the belt. It isn’t a substitute for the objective itself.”
Though both of these writers seem to bolster Chomsky, I suspect this issue will not be resolved quickly, if at all. Stay tuned.
Cynthia Murrell, August 22, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Latest Version of TemaTres Vocabulary Server
August 18, 2012
Version 1.5 of the open-source vocabulary server TemaTres and ISO 25964-1 can now be downloaded here. A number of enhancements in this version aim to extend the configuration possibilities and specialization of controlled vocabularies. On new relationship management capabilities, the description states:
“Allow create user-defined relationships:
“By default, includes the following sub-types of relationships: hierarchical partitive, Hierarchical instance, Spelling variant, Abbreviation, Full form of the term. It allows creation of unlimited sub??-types of relationships.
“Manage relationships between terms and other web entities:
“Set relations between terms and other resources available online. Allows mapping relationships with other vocabularies, or other web resources.
“Includes types of relationships editor for creating new types of relationships. By default include: broadMatch, broadMatch, exactMatch, majorMatch, minorMatch, narrowMatch. These types of relationships are recognized by the skos-core engine as valid to be mapped in skos-core.”
The ability to export to WordPress XML has been added, and users can now define hidden labels. As of this version, the SKOS Core engine recognizes the following as valid note types for mapping: DEF (definition note), ED (editorial note), EX (example), and CH (change note.)
TemaTres data can also be exported in the following formats: Zthes, TopicMap, Dublin Core, MADS, BS8723-5, RSS, SiteMap, txt, and SQL.
Cynthia Murrell, August 18, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Oracle Gets Some Open Source Love
August 17, 2012
Oracle is introducing another upgrade according to the Technews article “Oracle Announces Update to Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse.” This new design time tool will be for Oracle Application Development Framework the standards based, strategic framework for Oracle Fusion Applications and Oracle Fusion Middleware.
Just as previous packs, this one will offer Oracle’s latest steps to compete with open source search:
“This package offers enhancements for developing secure Web Services. The release is the first to support Eclipse Juno and provides new JAX-WS design-time features for developers targeting both the Oracle Web Services Manager and Oracle WebLogic Server service security stacks. Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse is a free set of Eclipse-based plug-ins that enables developers to build Java EE, Web Service, Cloud, Spring and Oracle ADF applications for the Oracle Fusion Middleware platform.”
A package that contains this many improvements cannot be developed over night. The amount of time spent and cost of coders alone must have been monumental. Open source search continues to grow and evolve, so it makes sense that Oracle would make attempts to evolve as well. Still, the continual addition of user packs will become monotonous over time.
Oracle is getting a little Open Source love, but they could use a lot more. How long will it be before Oracle embraces open source search in order to chop off the brutal costs of maintaining and enhancing proprietary search systems?
Jennifer Shockley, August 17, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Free SpicyNodes
August 16, 2012
We have learned from the blog of Hayden Jared that we can get a free version of SpicyNodes in his “SpicyNodes Evaluation“. The nodemap application is billed as “a fresh, visual way to guide visitors on a journey through your Web site.” I think it is pretty nifty.
The free version does have limited capabilities, of course, but would be enough to get a feel for the software. Even a visit to SpicyNode’s home page serves as a good example of how the application can function for a Web site. Here’s Jared’s take:
“The layout does provide a very coherent and simple tool for categorizing and viewing information. One particularly underdeveloped aspect of the site is that there aren’t live links or videos embedded within the different bubbles of text within the SpicyNodes node-map. This makes the site more simple in that it is very self-contained. But it also limits the interactive possibilities that the site could have.”
Perhaps for GenY, the lack of embedded busyness is a point against SpicyNodes, but for me it is a plus. The design is clean, professional, and easy to navigate, all very important when trying to attract and retain traffic. The customization possibilities for the look and functionality are endless, and the site provides detailed advice for groups like museums, educators, communities, and businesses.
It is difficult to describe this interactive visual tool in words. I highly recommend you check out SpicyNodes for yourself.
Cynthia Murrell, August 16, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Ontopia 5 2 1 Released
August 15, 2012
Ontopia’s Blog has posted an extremely brief notice: “Ontopia 5.2.1 Released.” The post states that “This is a minor release which fixes the vizigator and vizlet in the distribution.” (Vizigator is a nifty graphical visualization too.) It then refers us to the release notes, which state:
“This release is a minor bug fix release, which includes the fixed vizigator and omnigator vizlet.”
The following bugs have been fixed:
- Issue 438: Vizigator is not starting on Mac!
- Issue 439: TopicNameComparator might throw NullPointerException
- Issue 440: bat file pointing to noneixisting jar file in 5.2.0“
Ontopia‘s suite of open source tools help developers build applications based on Topic Maps. This important open source technology is an international industry standard for information management and interchange. A couple of developers have been working on Ontopia for over a decade, and new participants have been pulled in from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway.
Ontopia 1.0 was released in 2001, and the core engine is considered very stable. The software is released under the Apache License 2.0. Because the entire product is released as open source, there are no essential proprietary add-ons. Several options for commercial support are available.
Cynthia Murrell, August 15, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
PredPol Algorithm Credited for Reduced Crime
August 15, 2012
It looks like an algorithm from startup PredPol is successfully reducing crime, we learn in “L.A. Cops Embrace Crime-Predicting Algorithm” at MIT’s Technology Review. The analysis software, previously tested in Santa Cruz, CA, was recently used in a Los Angeles precinct, and officials were pleased with the results.
The software, according to PredPol, was twice as good as human analysts at predicting where car break-ins and burglaries would occur. When patrol officers focused on the areas identified by the algorithm, those places say a 25 percent reduction in reported burglaries. Reporter David Talbot describes the process:
“The inputs are straightforward: previous crime reports, which include the time and location of a crime. The software is informed by sociological studies of criminal behavior, which include the insight that burglars often ply the same area.
“The system produces, for each patrol shift, printed maps speckled with red boxes, 500 feet on each side, suggesting where property crimes—specifically, burglaries and car break-ins and thefts—are statistically more likely to happen. Patterns detected over a period of several years—as well as recent clusters—figure in the algorithm, and the boxes are recalibrated for each patrol shift based on the timeliest data.”
It is difficult to definitively prove that the application is directly responsible for the reduced crime rate, though the team did all it could to make the case; the results of using the software’s reports compared favorably to those of human analysts’ recommendations and to randomly generated red boxes. At the very least, though, using the software reduces the time officers must spend planning their beats, so they can spend more time on the streets. That’s a good thing.
The fledgling company PredPol seeks to fill an important niche, helping police departments to be more successful even as they must cope with plunging budgets. The software sprang from computer science and anthropological research performed at Santa Clara University and the University of California, Los Angeles. The company is based in Santa Cruz.
Cynthia Murrell, August 15, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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