BitTorrent Top Searches in 2010
January 2, 2011
Short honk: I am not into BitTorrent. You may be like the goose. Or, you may not. Regardless of one’s affinity or lack of it, the list of the most searched words and phrases warrants a quick look. Navigate to “BitTorrent Zeitgeist: What People Searched For in 2010.” You can determine your “with it” score. Just tick off the referents you know. My score was a dismal 11 out of 100. Obviously 66 year olds are clueless about the content available on BitTorrent. Those with a more agile life outlook may find the list either thrilling or disheartening. What is a “hot tub time machine.” See what I mean. The phrase is number 100 on the list. Number 1: Inception. Go figure.
Stephen E Arnold, January 2, 2010
Freebie
Salesforce and Chatter
December 20, 2010
I was surprised when Salesforce hired a former journalist to push collaboration and attention to Salesforce staff and clients. I was interested in ZDNet’s alliterative touch in Chatter Free in “With Free Version, Salesforce Chatter Changes Collaboration, Communication Processes for Companies.” Chatter Free premiered at the Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference. It is a free social messaging platform that can be used by any employee within a company. It has features similar to Twitter and Facebook and endeavors to be used in atypical environments. More than 60,000 professional companies use Chatter at the moment.
“What was especially interesting was to hear the customers talk about the significance of Chatter when it comes to collaboration within the organization. Some spoke of launching Chatter as an experimental service and getting immediate feedback from employees who were worried that the experiment would end. Others suggested that an employee without access to Chatter is like having an employee without access to e-mail – unable to communicate and collaborate in real-time.”
Employees have found they are e-mailing less and Chatter has increased work productivity. To many, Chatter is becoming the preferred method of communication in business organizations. However, information sharing in the Intel community may be moving in the opposite direction. Just a reminder that point of view is important. And what’s that old adage, “Loose lips sink ships”? What could leak from an enterprise social cloud service? Nothing.
Whitney Grace, December 20, 2010
Freebie
Arnold Comments about Exalead
December 20, 2010
A couple of times a year, I make a swing through Europe. I visit vendors, get demos, and talk with engineers about the future of search. In Paris on November 30, 2010, I answered questions about my views of Exalead. As you know, Exalead is a unit of Dassault Systems, one of the most sophisticated engineering firms in the world. You can get my view of Exalead by navigating to this link. Here’s an example of the observations I made:
“Exalead delivers applications that fit seamlessly and smoothly into customer workflows,” said Arnold. “When I spoke with Exalead customers I heard only: ‘This system works,’ ‘It’s easy to use,’ ‘It’s stable,’ and ‘I don’t have to chase around.”
In the interview, I point out that Exalead’s engineering makes it possible to embed search and information access in applications. Instead of using key words to unlock the information in a traditional search and retrieval system, Exalead makes the needed information available within existing work flows and applications. Access extends across a full range of content types and devices, including smart phones.
I have tracked Exalead for a number of years, and it continues to distinguish itself in information access by going “Beyond Search.” Here at Beyond Search we use the Exalead platform for our Overflight service.
Stephen E Arnold, December 20, 2010
The Exalead engineering team bought me lunch, a plus in Paris. Too bad about the snow and ice, though.
Google, Multiple Operating Systems, and the Mad Scramble
December 19, 2010
I thought politicians changed their tune. Navigate to “The Cloud OS” and you will see that even wizards and former Math Club members can crawfish with the best of the Washington DC big wheels. Xooglers have, in my opinion, a schizophrenic knife edge. On one hand, Google gave them the moxie to be world beaters. On the other hand, Xooglers are no longer part of the Google.
The point of “The Cloud OS” is, well, it’s okay for Google to be Google. I don’t have any problem with a multi billion dollar company doing what it thinks furthers the shareholders’ interests. I am ambivalent about Google’s multiple operating system approach. I think most users don’t know an operating system from a solid state drive. Computing is on a trajectory to work like toasters. I don’t have a strong opinion about that shift either.
Here’s a passage from the write up that caught my attention:
One way of understanding this new architecture is to view the entire Internet as a single computer. This computer is a massively distributed system with billions of processors, billions of displays, exabytes of storage, and it’s spread across the entire planet. Your phone or laptop is just one part of this global computer, and its primarily purpose is to provide a convenient interface. The actual computation and data storage is distributed in surprisingly complex and dynamic ways, but that complexity is mostly hidden from the end user.
The big question is, “Who decides what does a function and when?” The answer, in my opinion, is the Math Club, Xooglers, and others of that ilk. The operating system is indeed irrelevant to the user. What matters is the control of the information utility.
Forget Google. Forget Gmail. Forget whatever hook one uses to think about a giant company controlling information plumbing. The physics of information work like the good old physics taught in grad school. In systems, strange attractors grab old and structures emerge. The idea for online information is to “own” one of those emergent structures. Other, smaller structures exist, but the physics of information becomes interesting when one of these big, emergent systems snags “energy”. In information one can measure energy in money, clicks, volume of data, or some other situational metric. The idea, however, is that once a big emergent structure becomes manifest, that structure calls the shots.
So the chatter about operating systems is useful but it is like talking about a behavior at a boundary condition. The main event is the emergent system which may contain substructures. Although interesting, the substructures are subordinate to the main idea: control.
What’s this mean to Facebook, Google, and similar companies? A two class world. The builders and the users. Medieval, Dark Ages, paternal? These terms are indeed suggestive. The focus is the system, not the players. The information of physics suggests constant change and when new structures emerge a bit of desperation becomes discernable. Today’s dominant system may be tomorrow’s LTV or Enron because permanence is tough when bytes collide. The mad scramble is a nibble of revisionism, but instructive nevertheless. Just my opinion.
Stephen E Arnold, December 19, 2010
Freebie unlike ads on Facebook and Google
Xoogler Predicts the Future of Chrome
December 14, 2010
Quite a bomb shell in “Gmail Creator Paul Buchheit: Chrome OS Will Perish or Merge with Android.” I don’t know if the prediction will come true, but the notion of two separate operating systems struck me as very expensive and quite confusing. Mr. Buchheit was Mr. Gmail. He then became Mr. Facebook. Now he is Mr. Banker. Xooglers are adaptable. A Xoogler even runs AOL, and that is a fascinating operation to monitor.
But back to the Android Chrome prediction. In my opinion, the key passage in the write up was not the killer tweet; it was:
Google to date has posited that Android and Chrome OS, its two operating systems, address different markets that will remain distinct despite the growing convergence of the devices they run on (netbooks, tablets, smartphones). Google co-founder Sergey Brin, however, has stated in the past that Google will likely “produce a single OS down the road”. Ironically, the key architect of the Chrome OS project, Matthew Papakipos, left Google over the Summer — for a job at Facebook, Paul Buchheit’s most recent former employer.
What will happen? I have learned that predicting Google’s activities to be a difficult challenge for even the most astute prognosticators. I confine my predictions to big fuzzy observations that are never really right or wrong. Quite a goosely skill I might add.
Observations about Android and Chrome are in order:
- Two of anything offers more choice, but it also means that in a Math Club environment one will have a higher score and, therefore, be more relevant. In short, two generates a list. The winner is the item with the most “votes”. No subjectivity involved. Google is not into subjective search results.
- Developers who pick the wrong horse are losers. Now I know the theory that Google code works like a champ on anything Google. Well, yes and no. Chrome is a cloud thing and Android is more of a gizmo thing at this time. I sure wouldn’t want to be the developer who backed the wrong horse. Maybe that unified, locked down Apple approach has some charm.
- Users are not likely to know an Android from a Chrome. The whole Google-is-into-hardware baffles me as well. Apple may end up looking pretty good. Even though the iPad and the iPhone are two different gizmos which means hassles for developers, the look and feel of the iPad and the iPhone is pretty similar. Users probably want consistency and sizzle more than detailed information about the operating system.
In short, Google threw out two “innovations.” Google now has to find a way to deal with the opportunities and downside of moving forward in a way that generates substantive revenue. Meanwhile, little old Apple just keeps cranking out gizmos people want and can use without knowing much, if anything, about the plumbing. User experience maybe?
Stephen E Arnold, December 15, 2010
Freebie
Exclusive Interview with Kapow Software Founder
December 14, 2010
Our sister information service, Search Wizards Speak, published an exclusive interview with Stefan Andreasen, the founder of Kapow Software. You can read the full text of the discussion on the ArnoldIT.com Web site.
Kapow is a fast-growing company. The firm offers tools and services for what is called data integration. Other ways to characterize the firm’s impressive technology include data fusion, mashups, ETL (jargon for extracting, transforming and loading data from one system to another), and file conversion and slicing and dicing. The technology works within a browser and can mobile enable any application, integrated cloud applications, and migrate content from a source to another system.
In the interview, Mr. Andreasen said about the spark for the company:
As soon as we started building the foundational technology at Kapow.net in Denmark, I knew we were on to something special that had broad applicability far beyond that company. For one, the Web was evolving rapidly from an information-hub to a transaction-hub where businesses required the need to consolidate and automate millions of cross-application transactions in a scalable way. Also, Fortune 1000 companies were then and, as you know, even more so today, turning to outsourced consultants and hoards of manual workers to do the work that this innovation could do instantly.
On the subject of car manufacturer Audi’s use of the Kapow technology, he added:
In one user case, Audi, the automobile manufacturer, was able to eliminate dependencies, streamline their engineering process, and minimize the time-to-market on their new A8 model. Audi employs Katalyst to integrate data for their state of the art navigation system, called MMI, which combines Google Earth with real-time data about weather, gas prices, and other travel information, customizing the driver’s real-time experience according to their location and taste preferences. In developing the navigation system, Audi had relied on application providers to write custom real-time APIs compatible with the new Audi system. After months of waiting for the APIs and just two weeks away from the car launch date, Audi sought Kapow’s assistance. Katalyst was able to solve their problem quickly, wrapping their data providers’ current web applications into custom APIs and enabling Audi to meet their target launch date. By employing Kapow, Audi is now able to quickly launch the car in regional markets because Katalyst enables the Audi engineers to easily change and integrate new data sources for each market, in weeks rather than months.
For more information about Kapow, navigate to www.kapowsoftware.com. The full text of the interview is at http://www.arnoldit.com/search-wizards-speak/kapow.html.
Kenneth Toth, December 14, 2010
Freebie
Amazon: About That Uptime
December 13, 2010
Systems fail. Cloud systems are supposed to be redundant. Big companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are supposed to have the dough, the expertise, and the motivation to keep systems online. But systems fail.
I read “Amazon Websites in Europe Suffer Outage” with interest. I assume the statements in the article are accurate. The basic idea is
Amazon.co.uk, amazon.de, amazon.fr and amazon.es were all down for more than 30 minutes until around 2145 GMT when they appeared to work normally again. Amazon.com’s U.S. website was unaffected.
Lucky US. If true, the Big Outfits have some engineering work to do. Whatever the cause, that cloud stuff has to remain online. If not, it’s back to the old, crazy way to manipulate information.
Stephen E Arnold, December 13, 2010
Freebie
Exalead CloudView Joins the US Army
November 22, 2010
In an effort to increase both efficiency and productivity, the U.S. Army’s Combined Arms Center (CAC) has selected Exalead CloudView as the new search engine in concert with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. According to Dassault Systemes: U.S. Army Combined Arms Center Implements Exalead CloudView to Access Critical Military Information,
“This announcement is another illustration of the continuous commitment of Exalead to the government sector, where 100 percent accurate, comprehensive, secure and instant access to huge volume of both structured and non structured information is required.”
Exalead, acquired by Dassault Systemes in June 2010, is the front running search-based application provider to both the public and private sectors. The faceted navigation, improved speed and effectiveness of searches, multiple security controls and integration readiness are just a few of the reasons the CAC has chosen Exalead CloudView as its primary search engine. The CAC provides the US Army with access to thousands of documents, spanning decades. Users often logged hours searching for documents within the SharePoint Server, yet with the addition of the Exalead application these same searches can be executed in seconds.
This earns some decided congratulations for Exalead, who is carving out a niche among both security stringent government applications and Microsoft SharePoint users looking for a boost. Further opportunities with both markets should be inevitable in the future.
Sarah Rogers, November 22, 2010
Freebie
NoSQL Kudzu Could Threaten SQL Server
November 15, 2010
You will have to point your browser thing—social or anti-social—at “Microsoft Coaches NoSQL Options for Azure Cloud.” I think I understand the words in the write up. I just am not sure of the Azure, NoSQL, and SQL Server subtext. Azure is, I thought, SQL Server friendly.
Before you jump into the details of Microsoft’s open source friendly ecosystem, think about Kudzu. Wikipedia says here that kudzu is “a climbing, coiling, and trailing vine.” Some arborists are not to fond of kudzu. Will open source digital kudzu thrive in Azure’s cloud?
The notion of running open source on Azure strikes me as interesting. What happens if the cloud friendly effort nibbles at SQL Server license revenues? My hunch is that today’s good words are going to be triggers for Oracle-like behavior. I still can’t figure out what Oracle’s open source strategy is. I find the Java litigation an interesting tactical move, but the big picture is fuzzy.
Here’s a passage that caught my eye:
Microsoft has also started working with Membase to give Azure an in-memory key-value store component using memcached. The pair are looking for ways to tweak Membase’s supported version of memcached for Microsoft’s cloud.
The more open source data management wraps around Azure, the more interesting the situation will become.
Stephen E Arnold, November 15, 2010
Freebie
SDL Plugs in Online Translation
November 1, 2010
SDL is one of the go-to vendors for language localization. The idea is that a company working in Madrid wants to convert its Spanish documentation into English or another target language. SDL builds systems that handle this chore.
The company has released SDL BeGlobal, a cloud platform for real time automated language translation tool. SDL BeGlobal helps companies to manage and deploy the translation of their content in a seamless manner.
Swamy Viswanathan, SDL’s vice president of products, said that companies generate content to sell and inform. Identifying which content needs to be translated manually and which one has to march down the automation avenue is crucial in this aspect.
For more information, visit www.sdl.com.
Stephen E Arnold, November 1, 2010
Freebie
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
