As technologies develop to find more precise answers to people’s questions by advancing structured data techniques, queries and knowledge bases, the underlying question of how the retrieved information is catalyzed may still remain unanswered.  The impact of these technologies lies in the value of generating knowledge from the information given in answer to a question.  But certain questions remain: Will the answers generated be precise enough? Is the information presented well enough to create tangible and valuable knowledge to the benefit of the user?

Structured data generators can already create tangible knowledge in a business setting, allowing a company to function more effectively.  An Ontario-based startup, Open Text, provides such enterprise content management technologies to businesses.  Businesses use this and similar technologies to organize and manage their information.  The technologies provided by Open Text help to convert this information to knowledge through tight organization and ease of accessibility. 

C. Lee Giles a professor of information sciences and technology at Pennsylvania State University suggests that search engines may someday be completely individualized. Users will design their own directories based on their own personal needs and interests. “Already, you can download the software to build your own small engine,” Giles highlights.  A more practical solution, at least in the short term, is what Giles calls the niche search engine, designed specifically to meet the needs of a group of people with similar interests: employees of a company or members of a profession, for example. By limiting its crawling to a specific subject area, the niche engine can burrow deeper, providing more consistently useful information.

A prime example is CiteSeer, a tool that Giles and colleague, Steve Lawrence created for the field of computer and information science. CiteSeer crawls the growing body of computer-science literature available on the web and ignores everything else. Because the amount of information it finds relevant is relatively small, it can offer users important features that generic engines can’t. In addition to allowing for keyword search, for example, CiteSeer indexes all its documents by citation. It even provides the context of each citation for easy reference, as well as links to citing documents, authors, and institutions. “It can help users see how important a given article has been within the field, and show the relationships between ideas,” Giles says. CiteSeer also allows users to submit links and content updates, making it more current and accurate than generic engines. It can do all these things automatically, Giles says, because its searches are strictly limited — to one subject area, but also to a single, standardized type of document: the scientific paper. Within its specialized realm, CiteSeer has proved itself tremendously useful. The engine now catalogs some 500,000 papers, and adds 10,000 more every month, Giles says. It receives over 100,000 visits per day. As another measure of its perceived value, a significant portion of the papers it now indexes are not found and retrieved by its crawler but are submitted by its users.

CiteSeer’s success has inspired Giles to build similar tools for other “domains.” Early this year, he unveiled eBizSearch, a niche engine for practitioners and students of e-business, built on the same software platform that powers CiteSeer. “The same thing can be done for biotechnology, or physics, or any other clearly defined subject area.”

Knowledge becomes tangible when it is organized and accessible, which is what these technologies strive to produce.  As the organization of information becomes more detailed, so will precision in the answers to questions.  Some analysts say a narrow focus better satisfies a search term. General search companies could benefit from creating niche- focused engines that search through industry specific databases focused, for example, on health care, travel, or medicine.   By building a brand in different niches, companies could gain a steadily growing, loyal audience that could then be attracted to a more general service.  The key the search market is reliability and accuracy in generated answers and niche search platforms have been demonstrating both. 

By Kiran Sarabu

Labels: Advanced Computing, Web Technologies

Vidyo, Inc. is based in Hackensack, New Jersey and supplies low-cost, high-quality video-conferencing solutions.  Vidyo provides leading price, performance and video quality conferencing based on its intellectual property in Scalable Video Coding.  SVC is a standard of video compression that is an extension of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, or Advanced Video Coding.  According to Market Watch, Vidyo provides “high-quality video and network resiliency at an attractive cost to every desktop, including remote workers.”

Traditional H.264/AVC video coding is susceptible to transmission errors.  Scalable Video Coding, however, relies upon a high-quality bitstream of video that contains subset bitstreams.  These subsets can be decoded individually to H.264/AVC quality.  SVC addresses the problems of transmission degradation and connection quality.  Vidyo’s technology sends packets of information to end users only at the rate the connection can handle.  The technology has applications in streaming, conferencing, surveillance, broadcast, and storage of video.  SVC technology was standardized in July 2007 and Vidyo has been one of the first companies to leverage the recent standard’s approval.

Vidyo has gone through several rounds of VC funding and, according to InformationWeek, has been signing video conferencing service providers; Cisco has licensed Vidyo’s IP for its Unified Communications desktop suite.  Vidyo is especially cost effective through its use of Intel processors instead of more expensive Digital Signal Processor (DSP) chips.  Vidyo operates subscription-based pricing of $30/year per desktop, creating stable cash flow.

Vidyo’s competitors in internet-based or high-definition videoconferencing include Cisco’s WebEx, MegaMeeting.com, ACT Conferencing, and Tandberg.  However, few firms combine the two elements or retain IP in Scalable Video Coding.  Vidyo’s peers are competing in a rapidly growing industry.  A Global IP Solutions white paper found “the global market for videoconferencing endpoints was $1.1 billion in 2007, and will grow to $3.9 billion in 2014."

Vidyo’s low-cost, general IP network videoconferencing technology is easy to bring into locations previously inaccessible by HD-quality videoconferencing.  Vidyo will allow small, disparate offices of large companies to inexpensively communicate with each other through videoconferencing.  In turn, this increase in communications has the possibility of improving the firm’s efficiency and allowing lower level employees from around the world to network through telepresence.  During the XXIX Olympic Games, the Royal Yachting Association of England used Vidyo technology to stay connected with support staff in Qingdao, China.  Additionally, IP videoconferencing has applications in remote locations.  Vidyo has partnered with Attend Anywhere, the industry leader in remote medical services, to supply HD videoconferencing via desktops.

Vidyo also has an experienced leadership team behind it.  Ofer Shapiro is the President, CEO, and co-founder. Before starting Vidyo, Shapiro developed the first IP video conferencing bridge and gatekeeper technology for Radvision. According to Shapiro’s company biography, he “was also a contributor and one of the editors of the H.323 standard” He also has “over fifteen years of experience in bringing disruptive technology to market.”  Vidyo’s co-founder and Chief Scientist, Dr. Alex Eleftheriadis, is an award-winning researcher with “over 17 years of research experience in video compression and communications.”  He has also taught Electrical Engineering at Columbia University. According to Vidyo’s website, “Dr. Eleftheriadis has more than 100 publications, holds 12 patents, has served as the Editor of the MPEG-4 Systems specification, and is currently co-editor of the H.264 SVC Conformance specification.”

Vidyo is well positioned to market desktop HD videoconferencing solutions.  The company has an IP lead and experience in the industry and should be able to create a sustainable market niche.

By Doug Bojack

Labels: Advanced Computing, Web Technologies

As the US Presidential election has come to a close, we thought it would be interesting to briefly examine the use of web 2.0 applications in the campaign and compare them to the technology trends that emerged during previous campaigns.

While pervasive use of web 2.0 applications like Facebook, Flickr, MySpace and Twitter has allowed individuals (especially younger generations) to easily get involved as campaign supporters or pundits from their dorm rooms or workplaces, a more surprising trend emerged later in the campaign period. Web 2.0 portals like Facebook and MySpace allowed individuals to broadcast not only their opinions and preferences, but also to distribute viral video advertisements created by the presidential campaigns and also by individual supporters. 

Viral videos are short video clips that are uploaded to the web for the purpose of stating an opinion, promoting a cause and connecting to the large audience in a cheap, direct and interactive way. Some of the companies that have been on the forefront of viral video include: You Tube, Brightcove, and CnnBCvideo. Candidates leverage these venues by creating online channels to publish announcements and advertisement videos that encourage supporters to organize efficiently, while garnering their attention and support. Soon before last night's election, a viral video made by CnnBCVideos, began circulating on the web. The video encouraged voters to vote because one vote can make a difference, while showing them the resentful reaction of the public when they become the cause of a failed election.

The ease of viral distribution over the internet has been demonstrated in previous presidential campaigns’ strategies, perhaps most notably in Howard Dean’s bid in 2004. Dean relied on the use of blogs and social networking sites like “meetup”, which allows members to find and join common interest groups within their own community, to circulate his political agenda, facilitate group meetings, and organize collection of a large amount of contributions. Subsequently, in 2007, Ron Paul made his first online video interview that took place in a college dorm room, allowing him to discuss “his views on foreign policy, the Constitution, and the impact of the internet on his Presidential campaign”. This paved the way for more web-friendly campaigns that are able to reach out to important demographics of voters, not only in an economical way, but more importantly through a method of social interaction that mimics their normal interpersonal communication channels.   

As individuals (especially in younger generations) continue to adopt newer and more innovative communications technologies to share ideas with one another it will continue to be important for political campaigns at all levels to leverage these same platforms. Engaging the citizenry by involving them in discussions about topics that directly affect them is important, but in order to increase civic engagement it is equally important to allow younger generations to be politically active using the same technology that became part of their daily lives.  Presidential hopeful John Edwards believed in the power of social networks as fertile grounds for mass mobilization but his use of Second Life, a 3-D virtual world created by its residents, came perhaps a few years ahead of its time as Second Life does not yet have the critical mass of users to have a deciding impact on a campaign. As the prominence of virtual reality is increasing rapidly, however, Second Life could become one of the game-changing technologies used in upcoming elections.  

Labels: Web Technologies

Recent months have seen former subscription-only news sites remove the cost of reading articles, including the Wall Street Journal, Economist and the New York Times. It comes as industry leaders have realized that consumers are only willing to pay for content of a specific and intense interest, and that news, video and other mainstream items are expected to be free and widely available. Media outlets are now being forced to turn to an advertising-based business model to sustain revenue lost from offering material without a paid subscribtion.

This kind of shift represents the impact that the Web and those who utilize it are having on the traditional modes of business. Enticing more visitors to the site with free content means that companies can charge more for advertising, and an online model allows for significantly more growth than one with a stiff subscription. Additionally, it adds strength to the world of digital media, one that is not only being affected by Web 2.0, but is slowing overtaking print media as the place to turn for news and events. Now that more mainstream sites are opening their doors to everyone on the Internet, a complete media transformation may be closer than we realize.

Labels: Web Technologies

Much excitement has resulted from Google’s recent announcement of OpenSocial, an initiative to further cooperation between software developers and Web sites in adopting a single set of software standards for the little software pieces that can add a layer of social networking to all Web sites. Such an agreement would liberate users from the frustration of joining multiple sites, enabling them to link up all of their friend networks into one macro-network across the internet. This initiative, which has the support of all the top social networking sites except for Facebook, champions the use of nonproprietary programming languages. The creation of such an interoperable platform for ubiquitous social networking among the top social networking sites has set the stage for a new chapter in web interaction. The announcement came shortly after the generous $15 billion valuation of Facebook resulting from Microsofts investment of $240 million – a transaction which demonstrated the growing influence of social networking sites to command large valuations resulting from their potential ad space. Despite Google’s own investments in social network sites like Orkut, the internet conglomerate’s disclosures of its OpenSocial project underlines the movement to integrate all such sites where Google’s search crawler is currently not allowed to search through. While the innovative OpenSocial project would open doors allowing for a more free sharing of friend networks which are quickly expanding, it also raises concerns about the amount of control over users’ personal information. The vast number of disconnected social networks may be inconvenient for some users seeking a more connected awareness, however the status quo situation does ensure the compartmentalization of sensitive information users may not intend for public consumption outside of their trusted circles. Indeed, while interoperability may result in greater efficiency, it may also alter the dynamic of how openly users share information with their trusted peers.

Labels: Web Technologies

Nokia is becoming the first mobile device vendor to ship smartphones with a default software application that allows its consumer electronics to easily connect to any Wi-Fi network in range. As these network proliferate throughout society with different "hot-spots," consumers are looking to connect with more than just their laptops. And with easy-connect software devices like the one being installed on this Nokia model, doing so is becoming much easier.

Hurdles have exisited for years between consumer electronics and Wi-Fi networks, mostly because of the requirement for a web browser to be able to log-in to the network. With software that handles this step instantly, users can access e-mail and chat with less of a hassle. Wireless carriers like T-Mobile and AT&T, who have already boomed in the hot-spot business, are certainly going to welcome this transition for their customers.

'Auto-Connect' App Links Nokia Users Smoothly to Wi-Fi Hotspots

Labels: Web Technologies, Wireless

Following the arrest of three Austrian individuals accused of making jihadist statements on the Internet in September, authorities are now attributing the facilitation of these postings to the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF). GIMF is group that translates al-Qaida propaganda into German and facilitates communication via message boards and videos between al-Qaida leaders and their Western European counterparts. The Web site allowed followers in countries like Austria and Germany to follow al-Qaida activities live and be in constant contact with al-Qaida leaders.

Officials are referring to this monitoring process as following radicalism in "real-time". By keeping a close eye on email traffic, Internet usage and message board posts, authorities were able to turn the Internet from a powerful jihadist tool into a dangerous trap for those seeking to use it for harm. Additionally, opponents of al-Qaida in the US and in Europe have protested in great numbers to the service providers and publishing engines that host these sites, and as a result many have been blocked or removed.

Technology has been of great assistance to al-Qaida and its followers, but fortunately counterterrorism officials across the world have also been able to use it their advantage to track down those who would take their dangerous rhetoric to the next level by facilitating attacks. This tactic will prove to be instrumental in the future in order to infiltrate the massive web of terrorist activity that easily crosses borders and languages.

Austria's "Jihad by Telecommute"

Labels: Web Technologies

WiMAX has seen a substantial amount of progression in the past few years, with many cities and towns witnessing the emergence of municipal WiMAX. However, many city governments are having trouble integrating business models with different service providers. The city of Chicago recently abandoned its municipal WiMAX efforts, with even the city government itself not willing to participate in the program. This has led many in the industry to sing the praises of Mobile WiMAX as an alternative.

WiMAX's licensed spectrum allows it to have greater indoor coverage at faster speeds, but it still faces challenges. Most laptops produced today are not compliant with WiMAX technology, leaving service providers to come up with pricing strategies for USB dongles and ExpressCards. This could be a crucial moment - with most municipal WiMAX systems on hold, if consumers can find a decent price for a city-wide internet access plan, it could be really attractive for those looking to check their email during a commute on a ferry or on an afternoon coffee break.

WiMAX backers positioning 801.62E as an alternative

Labels: Web Technologies, Wireless

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) technology is merging with open-source components. SOA, in brief, "expresses a perspective of software architecture that defines the use of loosely coupled software services to support the requirements of the business processes and software users. Resources on a network in an SOA environment are made available as independent services that can be accessed without knowledge of their underlying platform implementation. A service-oriented architecture is not tied to a specific technology."

Federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Trade Commission, use SOA technology to more adequately transfer information within their networks. The loosely connected nature of SOA software allows it to be gradually introduced into a system, avoiding a massive overhaul. For any corporation, a singular network overhaul can cause catastrophic delays; but for the government, these delays are simply not an option.

Open Source software refers to programs which permit their source codes to be available to the public, either through licensing or by making it public domain. The availability of source codes allows agents beyond the software developers to make modifications. Open source sanctions collaborative efforts to best enhance existing programs, and to best tailor them to specific needs.

As more companies turn to SOA technology to enhance efficiency and smooth operations, there is a greater need for constant development and adaptation. Rather than depending upon a proprietary standards based upon an individual vendor, open-source software for SOA permits the constant evolution necessary to remain useful. SOA already improves the efficiency of complicated processes, because it requires only superficial understand of the given process. The inclusion of open-source components makes it possible to customize SOA.

Piecemeal SOA
Bringing Open Source to SOA

Labels: Web Technologies

The Web, and subsequent ways to browse it, has become host to new and emergent technologies to improve the user experience. One of the latest, released to public in a free Beta download last month, is a 3-D browsing tool called Space Time.

Space Time allows for 3-D tabbed browsing, as well as 3-D eBay, Yahoo and Google searches. You can also search just for images on Flickr or YouTube for videos, allowing images to breeze by you one-by-one across the screen.

PC World recently reviewed the program, and noted that compared to other 3-D browsing tools, Space Time holds up nicely. The search function is particularly useful, allowing you to see whole Web pages instead of just the small snippets of text that Google or other search engines display. However, the reviewer also notes that functionality still has a ways to go - the browsing capability doesn't allow you to type a URL and directly navigate to one page, and the program also requires a pretty powerful system to function properly.

Space Time

Space Time Review (PC World)

Labels: Web Technologies, Wireless

Charles Simonyi, billionaire and former chief software architect for Microsoft, is attempting to stage a revolution in software. Through his new company, Intentional Software Corporation, he hopes to fix what he calls the "software bottleneck". By this he means that hardware keeps becoming more advanced and capable (Intel founder Gordon Moore predicted that processor speed would double every 1 to 2 years), while software cannot keep up with the trend. Furthermore, huge amounts of resources and talent are devoted (wasted?) to the arduous process of creating and modifying software.

Through his new venture, he hopes to develop tools by which clients can modify their own software to meet their needs. The idea is that companies are going to have the best idea of what they want out of their software, and they will be most successful if they are given the tools to tailor software to their own needs.

Intentional Software
Intentional Software in MIT Technology Review

Labels: Web Technologies

IBM is expanding their information-on-demand strategy. In efforts to improve real-time information sharing, IBM has acquired DataMirror—the producer of real-time data integration software.

IBM Buys DataMirror For Integration Software
IBM Boosts Info On Demand

Labels: Web Technologies