DGraph Labs Startup Aims to Fill Gap in Graph Database Market
May 24, 2016
The article on GlobeNewsWire titled Ex-Googler Startup DGraph Labs Raises US$1.1 Million in Seed Funding Round to Build Industry’s First Open Source, Native and Distributed Graph Database names Bain Capital Ventures and Blackbird Ventures as the main investors in the startup. Manish Jain, founder and CEO of DGraph, worked on Google’s Knowledge Graph Infrastructure for six years. He explains the technology,
“Graph data structures store objects and the relationships between them. In these data structures, the relationship is as important as the object. Graph databases are, therefore, designed to store the relationships as first class citizens… Accessing those connections is an efficient, constant-time operation that allows you to traverse millions of objects quickly. Many companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter, eBay, LinkedIn and Dropbox use graph databases to power their smart search engines and newsfeeds.”
Among the many applications of graph databases, the internet of thing, behavior analysis, medical and DNA research, and AI are included. So what is DGraph going to do with their fresh funds? Jain wants to focus on forging a talented team of engineers and developing the company’s core technology. He notes in the article that this sort of work is hardly the typical obstacle faced by a startup, but rather the focus of major tech companies like Google or Facebook.
Chelsea Kerwin, May 24, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
eBay Struggles with Cluttered, Unstructured Data, Deploys Artificial Intelligence Strategy
May 24, 2016
The article on Forbes titled eBay’s Next Move: Artificial Intelligence To Refine Product Searches predicts a strong future for eBay as the company moves further into machine learning. For roughly six years eBay has been working with Expertmaker, a Swedish AI and analytics company. Forbes believes that eBay may have recently purchased Expertmaker. The article explains the logic behind this logic,
“One of the key turnaround goals of eBay is to encourage sellers to define their products using structured data, making it easier for the marketplace to show relevant search results to buyers. The acquisition of Expertmaker should help the company in this initiative, given its expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data.”
The acquisition of Expertmaker should allow for a more comprehensive integration of eBay’s “noisy data.” Expertmaker’s AI strategy is based in genetics research, and has made great strides in extracting concealed value from data. For eBay, a company with hundreds of millions of listings clogging up the platform, Expertmaker’s approach might be the ticket to achieving a more streamlined, categorized search. If we take anything away from this, it is that eBay search currently does not work very well. At any rate, they are taking steps to improve their platform.
Chelsea Kerwin, May 24, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Google: The Math Club Struggles to Go Steady
May 23, 2016
I read “Google’s Go to Market Gap.” The write up points out that the Alphabet Google thing has a flaw. The disconnect between the vision and the reality was the theme of my monograph “Google: The Digital Gutenberg.” Alas, the report is out of print because the savvy publisher woke up one morning and realized that he was not savvy. Too bad.
The point I noted is:
…social networks and messaging services are not only closed but nearly impossible to compete with.
Google now finds itself on the outside looking in many promising markets. Amazon nuked Google’s on again, off again shopping service from the Google catalogs to today’s Google Shopping. Google is in the game of trying to shift from its PC based search and ad model by playing simultaneous games of:
- Me too. Example: Google’s “answer” to the Echo
- Buy, buy, buy. Examples: Google’s acquisitions which seem to fade or freeze like Blogger.com
- Innovate, innovate, innovate. Example: The new 20 percent time effort to build intrapreneurship
- Dilution. Example: Ads which have minimal relevance to a user’s query.
The write up states:
The problem is that as much as Google may be ahead, the company is also on the clock: every interaction with Siri, every signal sent to Facebook, every command answered by Alexa, is one that is not only not captured by Google but also one that is captured by its competitors. Yes, it is likely Apple, Facebook, and Amazon are all behind Google when it comes to machine learning and artificial intelligence — hugely so, in many cases — but it is not a fair fight. Google’s competitors, by virtue of owning the customer, need only be good enough, and they will get better. Google has a far higher bar to clear — it is asking users and in some cases their networks to not only change their behavior but willingly introduce more friction into their lives — and its technology will have to be special indeed to replicate the company’s original success as a business.
When I was in high school, most of the lads and lasses in George Carlin’s algorithmic love fest did not go to the prom. The Alphabet Google thing, as I have stated many times, is like my high school math club on steroids. Prom is coming? Take an algorithm to the party? Sure, but why not ask IBM Watson? No date yet I hear.
Stephen E Arnold, May 23, 2016
Artificial Intelligence Is a Thing
May 23, 2016
I thought the hyperbole about Big Data was the cherry on the ice cream sundae. I was wrong. Artificial intelligence (what I call smart software) is the champ of marketers. A good example is the write up “This KFC in China Now Uses Robots to Take Customers’ Orders.” [If this link begs for money or a registration, blame not me. Write Jeff Bezos, owner.]
I live in Kentucky where KFC is almost as beloved as bourbon, horse racing, and gambling. When I was in Arles, a person asked me where I was from. I said, “Kentucky.” The statements elicited a blank stare. I said, “Kentucky fried chicken.” Response: Big smile and “oui, oui.”
I learned in the write up:
A KFC restaurant in China is now using two robots to help take customers’ orders. KFC said it enlisted the robots in its concept store in Shanghai to bring a fun and high-tech element to the dining experience.
The Bezos newspaper suggests that the motivation is “fun” and “high tech” cachet. The reality is more mundane. KFC wants to get out of the human staff trap. Some of the outlets I have heard have turnover approaching 50 percent a month. There you go. Big costs for recruitment, training, and annoyed customers who depart because the order taker was fiddling with a smartphone or dealing with drive through customers. Robots mean fewer humans. Fewer humans mean big payoffs once the gizmos are amortized.
Artificial intelligence and robots. Absolutely.
I noted “The AI Business Landscape” from the cheerleaders at O’Reilly. As interest in digital change in the US government wanes, smart software can take up the slack. I learned:
We find that more than 600 companies have jumped into applying deep learning with real budgets. As you can see in the figure below, about 90 companies (level 3), have made strategic investments in deep learning for their businesses. Another 177 companies (level 2) are developing projects using deep learning with dedicated resources in staff. And more than 350 companies (level 1) are experimenting with deep learning in their labs.
Publishing and conference organizing meets the mid tier consulting world. By golly, with some many companies getting on the smart software bandwagon, the revolution is here. It is real. It is – well – the new big thing.
The “real” journalists working at the Daily Mail in England took a different angle of attack. I read “Artificial Intelligence Will Create a ‘Useless Class’ of Humans as Machines Take Over, Historian Warns.” Bummer.
What if you, gentle reader, are a member of the “useless class of humans”? Mortgage, children’s college expenses, vacation in Cuzco? Nope. Zero unless you find a way to become non-useless. I learned:
Rather than being violently wiped out by robotic beings, humankind may become eternally useless’ due to the increasing capabilities of AI…. As humans become functionally ‘useless’ in comparison, we may no longer have value in the eyes of political and economic systems. This could in turn result in humans losing their sense of purpose.
I assume one can ask Siri or run a Google search to seek find out the truth. The easy way may be to believe the hyperbole. Universal income will smooth out the wrinkles in the bedding.
Stephen E Arnold, May 23, 2016
Australian Software Developer Revealed the Panama Papers
May 23, 2016
The Panama Papers have released an entire slew of scandals that sent out ripples we will be dealing with for years to come. It also strikes another notch in the power of software and that nothing is private anymore. But how were the Panama Papers leaked? Reuters reports that a “Small Australian Software Firm Helps Join The Dots On The Panama Papers”.
Nuix Pty Ltd. is a Sydney-based software development company that donated its document analysis program to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) to delve through the data from Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm that leaked the documents. Reporters have searched through the data for some time and discovered within the 2.6 terabytes the names of politicians and public figures with questionable offshore financial accounts.
“By using the software, the Washington-based ICIJ was able to make millions of scanned documents, some decades old, text-searchable and help its network of journalists cross reference Mossack Fonseca’s clients across these documents. The massive leak has prompted global investigations into suspected illegal activities by the world’s wealthy and powerful. Mossack Fonseca, the firm at the center of the leaks, denies any wrongdoing. The use of advanced document and data analysis technology shows the growing importance of technology’s role in helping journalists make better sense of increasingly bigger news discoveries.”
Nuix Pty is a ten-year-old company and their products have been used to conduct data analysis in child pornography rings, people trafficking, and high-end tax evasion. Another selling feature for the company is their dedication to their clients’ privacy. They did not allow themselves to have access to the information within the Panama Papers. That is an interesting fact, considering how some tech companies need to have total access to their clients’ information.
Nuix sounds like the Swiss bank of software companies, guaranteeing high-quality services and products that guarantee results, plus undeniable privacy.
Whitney Grace, May 23, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
A Snapshot of American Innovation Today
May 23, 2016
Who exactly are today’s innovators? The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) performed a survey to find out, and shares a summary of their results in, “The Demographics of Innovation in the United States.” The write-up sets the context before getting into the findings:
“Behind every technological innovation is an individual or a team of individuals responsible for the hard scientific or engineering work. And behind each of them is an education and a set of experiences that impart the requisite knowledge, expertise, and opportunity. These scientists and engineers drive technological progress by creating innovative new products and services that raise incomes and improve quality of life for everyone….
“This study surveys people who are responsible for some of the most important innovations in America. These include people who have won national awards for their inventions, people who have filed for international, triadic patents for their innovative ideas in three technology areas (information technology, life sciences, and materials sciences), and innovators who have filed triadic patents for large advanced-technology companies. In total, 6,418 innovators were contacted for this report, and 923 provided viable responses. This diverse, yet focused sampling approach enables a broad, yet nuanced examination of individuals driving innovation in the United States.”
See the summary for results, including a helpful graphic. Here are some highlights: Unsurprisingly to anyone who has been paying attention, women and U.S.-born minorities are woefully underrepresented. Many of those surveyed are immigrants. The majority of survey-takers have at least one advanced degree (many from MIT), and nearly all majored in STEM subject as undergrads. Large companies contribute more than small businesses do while innovations are clustered in California, the Northeast, and close to sources of public research funding. And take heart, anyone over 30, for despite the popular image of 20-somethings reinventing the world, the median age of those surveyed is 47.
The piece concludes with some recommendations: We should encourage both women and minorities to study STEM subjects from elementary school on, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods. We should also lend more support to talented immigrants who wish to stay in the U.S. after they attend college here. The researchers conclude that, with targeted action from the government on education, funding, technology transfer, and immigration policy, our nation can tap into a much wider pool of innovation.
Cynthia Murrell, May 23, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
A Romp through Google History
May 22, 2016
If you are unsure of Google’s history with the folks who allege the Alphabet Google thing fiddles search results, you will want to read and save “Why Google’s Monopoly Abuse Case in Europe Will Run and Run.” The main point of the write up is that legal processes can drag. I came away from the write up with this thought, “Lawyers involved in the legal issues will have quite a bit of work.”
The challenge the regulators in Europe have is that Google has become the go to solution for many online activities. Like Facebook and Amazon, the behavior of online services seems to operate like a monopoly. Users like the predictability of having a familiar way to perform certain tasks.
As the management of Alphabet Google changes, the drift toward pervasive functions continues. Individuals may not be aware how incremental decisions impact other organizations.
The write up points out:
critics have argued that the corporate rejig and change of leadership potentially gives the search titan plausible deniability: if regulators conclude that Google has harmed competition, then Pichai could say this hadn’t happened on his watch.
Interesting. The problem in my opinion is that the Google has been rolling down the same highway for more than a decade. I am not sure when a rest stop or breakdown will occur. How have Qwant and Quaero fared?
Stephen E Arnold, May 21, 2016
Facebook Biased? Social Media Are Objective, Correct?
May 21, 2016
I am shattered. Imagine. Facebook delivering information services which are subjective. Facebook is social media at its finest. There are humans who “vote” or “like” something. That’s crowdsourcing. A person has built a career on the wisdom of crowds.
My illusionary social world crumbled before the information presented in “The Real Bias Built In at Facebook.” The author is an academic and opinion writer. I am confident that the students of Zeynep Tufekci are able to navigate the reefs and shoals of social media because the truth is that algorithms are set up by humans who are, as some people believe, biased. (Note that you may have to pay money to read the write up by the compensated opinion writer Zeynep Tufekci. There is no bias in this approach to information. Heck, there is no bias at the New York Times, correct?)
What is Facebook doing? Here’s a passage I circled in stunned scarlet:
On Facebook the goal is to maximize your engagement with the site and keep it ad friendly.
This suggests that algorithms are set up to deliver these payoffs to Facebook. It follows that algorithms which do not deliver the required outcome are changed by programmers who:
- Either tune or structure the numerical processes to bring home the bacon
- Engage in on going tinkering until the suite of algorithms pumps out the likes, the clicks, and the revenue.
My thought is that chatter about “algorithms” is a bit trendy, just like the railroad cars stuffed with baloney explaining how artificial intelligence is the now now now big thing. Big Data, it seems, has fallen to second place in the marketing marathon.
I prefer to believe that Facebook, Google, and the other combines are really trying to be objective. When someone suggests that Google results are not in line with my query or that my deceased dog’s Facebook page displays a stream of relevant information, there is no bias.
My world is a happier place. I like searching for a restaurant when I am standing in front of it. When I look for that restaurant on my smartphone, the restaurant does not appear.
That’s objectivity in action. I know I don’t need to know where the restaurant is. I am in front of it. That’s objectivity in action.
Stephen E Arnold, May 21, 2016
Search Sink Hole Identified and Allegedly Paved and Converted to a Data Convenience Store
May 20, 2016
I try to avoid reading more than one write up a day about alleged revolutions in content processing and information analytics. My addled goose brain cannot cope with the endlessly recycled algorithms dressed up in Project Runway finery.
I read “Ryft: Bringing High Performance Analytics to Every Enterprise,” and I was pleased to see a couple of statements which resonated with my dim view of information access systems. There is an accompanying video in the write up. I, as you may know, gentle reader, am not into video. I prefer reading, which is the old fashioned way to suck up useful factoids.
Here’s the first passage I highlighted:
Any search tool can match an exact query to structured data—but only after all of the data is indexed. What happens when there are variations? What if the data is unstructured and there’s no time for indexing? [Emphasis added]
The answer to the question is increasing costs for sales and marketing. The early warning for amped up baloney are the presentations given at conferences and pumped out via public relations firms. (No, Buffy, no, Trent, I am not interested in speaking with the visionary CEO who hired you.)
I also highlighted:
With the power to complete fuzzy search 600X faster at scale, Ryft has opened up tremendous new possibilities for data-driven advances in every industry.”
I circled the 600X. Gentle reader, I struggle to comprehend a 600X increase in content processing. Dear Mother Google has invested to create a new chip to get around the limitations of our friend Von Neumann’s approach to executing instructions. I am not sure Mother Google has this nailed because Mother Google, like IBM, announces innovations without too much real world demonstration of the nifty “new” things.
I noted this statement too:
For the first time, you can conduct the most accurate fuzzy search and matching at the same speed as exact search without spending days or weeks indexing data.
Okay, this strikes me as a capability I would embrace if I could get over or around my skepticism. I was able to take a look at the “solution” which delivers the astounding performance and information access capability. Here’s an image from Ryft’s engineering professionals:
Notice that we have Spark and pre built components. I assume there are myriad other innovations at work.
The hitch in the git along is that in order to deal with certain real world information processing challenges, the inputs come from disparate systems, each generating substantial data flows in real time.
Here’s an example of a real world information access and understanding challenge, which, as far as I know, has not been solved in a cost effective, reliable, or usable manner.
Image source: Plugfest 2016 Unclassified.
This unclassified illustration makes clear that the little things in the sky pump out lots of data into operational theaters. Each stream of data must be normalized and then converted to actionable intelligence.
The assertion about 600X sounds tempting, but my hunch is that the latency in normalizing, transferring, and processing will not meet the need for real time, actionable, accurate outputs when someone is shooting at a person with a hardened laptop in a threat environment.
In short, perhaps the spark will ignite a fire of performance. But I have my doubts. Hey, that’s why I spend my time in rural Kentucky where reasonable people shoot squirrels with high power surplus military equipment.
Stephen E Arnold, May 20, 2016
CBS Jargon Meistering
May 20, 2016
I don’t pay much, if any, attention to the antics of network television giants. I noted this headline “CBS Chief Leslie Moonves Takes Aim at Competitors Dubious Ratings Claims,” and I read the article. Perhaps the CBS top dog was referring to outfits like Yahoo?
I highlighted these words and phrases as “interesting.”
- out-of-context data points
- scatter market
- out-of-the-box swing
- stock-in-trade brand.
I am uncertain of the meaning of these phrases, but I understood this statement:
“We see money coming back to network, not that it ever left.” But when it comes to digital, he added, “The bloom is off the rose.”
Ah, a reference to Robert Burns. That I understood. I also understand bologna.
Stephen E Arnold, May 20, 2016
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