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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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SDL Real Time Automated Translation
October 27, 2010
UK-based SDL has moved real time, automated translation to the cloud. The translation system complements the firms publishing system. According to “SDL Unveils Cloud Platform for Real-Time Automated Translation,” Through an easy-to-use web-based portal, SDL BeGlobal instantly enables users to manage global, trusted communications with customers in real-time, through one central interface for multiple types of content, communication and social media. SDL BeGlobal is an intuitive cloud platform that can turn any business user into a multilingual publisher, delivering content faster than ever before.” SDL asserts that it…
is the leader in Global Information Management solutions. SDL’s solutions increase business agility to enterprises by accelerating the delivery of high-quality multilingual content to global markets. The company’s integrated Web Content Management, eCommerce, Structured Content and Language Technologies, combined with its Language Services drive down the cost of content creation, management, translation and publishing. SDL solutions increase conversion ratios and customer satisfaction through targeted information that reaches multiple audiences around the world through different channels.
Our view is that there is a growing interest in on-the-fly translation. With the shift to mobile computing, making seamless, near real time translation available for text and spoken content is a hot area. We keep thinking about Google’s “free” translation service. Specialists will have to content with Google if the company gets serious about moving translation to the world once described in science fiction novels. For more information about SDL, navigate to the firm’s Web site at www.sdl.com.
Stephen E Arnold, October 27, 2010
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EasyAsk Embraces the NetSuite Cloud Platform
October 7, 2010
EasyAsk is looking to cloud computing to expand services to their clients according to RedOrbit. “EasyAsk Integrates EasyAsk Business Edition With NetSuite’s Cloud Computing Platform” reports that EasyAsk is combing its EasyAsk Business Edition with the NetSuite cloud computing platform. EasyAsk Business Edition can be thought of as a search engine for the corporate world. This program allows users to search and explore corporate data on a user friendly Google like interface. EasyAsk Business Edition changes business questions into back-end queries, retrieves the data and then delivers answers to the user. The application also employs semantic intelligence which allows it to analyze user searches and provide helpful inquiries and suggestions in order to guide users. NetSuite’s SuiteCloud offers a variety of products, development tools and other services to help companies be more productive while also taking advantage of economical benefits. “EasyAsk Business Edition for NetSuite features rapid implementation and a superior user experience.” The dynamic duo EasyAsk Business Edition and NetSuite’s SuiteCloud development platform gives corporate users access to valuable information that can provide additional information to help them serve customers better and increase overall productivity.
April Holmes, October 7, 2010
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Tweets with Pickles: DataSift and Its Real Time Recipe
September 25, 2010
We have used Tweetmeme.com to see what Twitter users are doing right now. The buzz word real time has usurped “right now” but that’s the magic of folks born between 1968 and 1978.
DataSift combines some nifty plumbing with an original scripting language for filtering 800 tweets a second. The system can ingest and filter other types of content, but as a Twitter partner, DataSift is in the Twitterspace at the moment.
Listio describes the service this way:
DataSift gives developers the ability to leverage cloud computing to build very precise streams of data from the millions and millions of tweets sent everyday. Tune tweets through a graphical interface or through its bespoke programming language. Streams consumable through our API and real-time HTTP. Comment upon and rank streams created by the community. Extend one or more existing streams to create super streams.
The idea is that a user will be able to create a filter that plucks content, patterns like Social Security Numbers, and metadata like the handle, geographic data, and the like. With these items, the system generates a tweet stream that matches the parameters of the filter. The language is called “Filtered Stream Definition Language” and you can see an example of its lingo below:
RULE “33e3891a3aebad56f962bb5e7ae4dc94” AND twitter.user.followers_count > 1000
A full explanation of the syntax appears in the story “FSDL”.
You can find an example on the DataSift blog which is more accessible than the videos and third party write ups about a service that is still mostly under wraps.
The wordsmiths never rest. Since I learned about DataSift, the service has morphed into “cloud event processing.” As an phrase for Google indexing, this one is top notch. In terms of obfuscating the filter, storage, and analysis aspect of DataSift, I don’t really like cloud event processing or the acronym CEP. Once again, I am in the minority.
The system’s storage component is called “pickles.” The filters can cope with irrelevant hash tags and deal with such Twitter variables as name, language, location, profiles, and followers, among others. There are geospatial tricks so one can specify a radius around a location or string together multiple locations and get tweets from people close to bankrupt Blockbuster stores in Los Angeles.
The system is what I call a next generation content processing service. Perched in the cloud, DataSift deals with the content flowing through the system. To build an archive, the filtered outputs have to be written to a storage service like Pickles. Once stored, clever users can slice and dice the data to squeeze gems from the tweet stream.
The service seems on track to become available in October or November 2010. A graphical interface is on tap, a step that most next generation content processing systems have to make. No one wants to deal with an end user who can set up his own outputs and make fine decisions based on a statistically-challenged view of his or her handiwork.
For more information point your browser at www.datasift.net.
Stephen E Arnold, September 25, 2010
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