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Five big data predictions for 2012 – O’Reilly Radar
FINALLY! –> Streaming data processing: “Over the next few years we’ll see the adoption of scalable frameworks and platforms for handling streaming, or near real-time, analysis and processing. In the same way that Hadoop has been borne out of large-scale web applications, these platforms will be driven by the needs of large-scale location-aware mobile, social and sensor use.
For some applications, there just isn’t enough storage in the world to store every piece of data your business might receive: at some point you need to make a decision to throw things away. Having streaming computation abilities enables you to analyze data or make decisions about discarding it without having to go through the store-compute loop of map/reduce.
Emerging contenders in the real-time framework category include Storm, from Twitter, and S4, from Yahoo.”
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“They work very hard to stay very small. Even top-tier talent is turned aside or denied. The emphasis has shifted from “how do we successfully scale the team?” to “how do we successfully scale the team’s influence and deliverables?” Instead of seeing an explosion of virtual teams, what’s emerged are teams cleverly using digital and social media to extend their reach both inside the enterprise and out. Key suppliers and channels are contacted on an “as needed” basis”
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Clive Thompson on Why Kids Can’t Search | Magazine
“Today the question is, why can’t Johnny search?
Who’s to blame? Not the students. If they’re naive at Googling, it’s because the ability to judge information is almost never taught in school. Under 2001’s No Child Left Behind Act, elementary and high schools focus on prepping their pupils for reading and math exams. And by the time kids get to college, professors assume they already have this skill. The buck stops nowhere. This situation is surpassingly ironic, because not only is intelligent search a key to everyday problem-solving, it also offers a golden opportunity to train kids in critical thinking.”
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Don’t Let What You Know Limit What You Imagine – Bill Taylor – Harvard Business Review
“Many organizations, she argues, struggle with a “paradox of expertise” in which deep knowledge of what exists in a marketplace or a product category makes it harder to consider what-if strategies that challenge long-held assumptions. “When it comes to innovation,” she writes, “the same hard-won experience, best practice, and processes that are the cornerstones of an organization’s success may be more like millstones that threaten to sink it.” “
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Scott Aaronson – Quantum Computing Promises New Insights – NYTimes.com
The goal in quantum computing is to choreograph a computation so that the amplitudes leading to wrong answers cancel each other out, while the amplitudes leading to right answers reinforce.
Archives for December 2011
Active Information: Big Data from left field; Big Data Rx
My latest posts on the HPIO Active Information blog:
Ready or not, here comes Big Data
Sometimes though, a trend is so compelling (e-commerce, mobility), in-your-face (social media) or simple to comprehend (cloud), that it leaps into mainstream media and takes on a life of its own. Instead of playing the role of serial advocate, corporate IT leaders and architects are suddenly in a game of catch-up.
Rx for AstraZeneca: Real-world evidence
Rethinking their prelaunch process, and data needs, AstraZeneca proposed a data collaboration with customers.
And one of my favorites:
Why do we still have titled CIOs, yet no clear candidate C-level executive to manage the organization’s information agenda?
Link Collection — December 11, 2011
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The Technologies in I.B.M.’s Watson Used for Drug Research – NYTimes.com
“I.B.M.’s Strategic Intellectual Property Insight Platform. Clearly, the Watson branding team didn’t work on this name.
But then again, this isn’t for television, where Watson performed. It is for major corporate customers, seeking competitive advantage. The technology, sold as a cloud-based service, is the result of several years of joint development between IBM Research and four companies — AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, DuPont and Pfizer.
The insight platform uses data mining, natural-language processing and analytics to pore through millions of patent filings and biomedical journals to look for chemical compounds used in drug discovery.”
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Gapingvoid: Flowers vs Elephants
So true… Click to see cartoon
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Bre Pettis | I Make Things – Bre Pettis Blog – The Cult of Done Manifesto
Good one—> “#13 Done is the engine of more.”
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Monitor: More than just digital quilting | The Economist
“The maker movement is both a response to and an outgrowth of digital culture, made possible by the convergence of several trends. New tools and electronic components let people integrate the physical and digital worlds simply and cheaply. Online services and design software make it easy to develop and share digital blueprints. And many people who spend all day manipulating bits on computer screens are rediscovering the pleasure of making physical objects and interacting with other enthusiasts in person, rather than online. Currently the preserve of hobbyists, the maker movement’s impact may be felt much farther afield.”
Link Collection — December 4, 2011
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What Would Ben Franklin Do? Influences of America’s First Environmentalist | ThinkProgress
“Everywhere Franklin went, his feisty personality preceded him, and it was this reputation in Europe that played a key role in securing the foreign aid the revolutionaries needed to triumph over the British. Many consider the celebrated polymath to be the first “American” in numerous regards—in entrepreneurialism, in political discourse, and, of course, in partying. As it turns out, Franklin was also the first American environmentalist, and his inventions influenced the scientific community for decades.”
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How To Be More Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps) – Forbes
Words for us geek types to live by:
“4. Embrace your innate weirdness. No one is normal. Everyone has quirks and insights unique to themselves. Don’t hide these things—they are what make you interesting.”
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Cloud Computing – Bessemer Venture Partners Cloudscape
Infographic on players in Cloud Space, broken out in standard manner: SaaS, PaaS, & IaaS
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Fresh Copy: How Ursula Burns Reinvented Xerox | Fast Company
Interesting article on Ursula Burns and the ups, downs and strategic changes for Xerox. Plus, she told President Obama “that he owed her $3 billion.”
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Martin Scorsese On Vision In Hollywood | Fast Company
I just enjoyed this article. Scorsese’s creative influences, rules to live by; as well as parallels of the film creation process with software development — takes, composition, and editing.
We should do more editing in software development.
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Let them eat data | FT Tech Hub | FTtechhub – Industry analysis – FT.com
Open data and #snark from the FT. What could be better?
“Whether this measure spawns many new enterprises like PLACR remains to be seen, but it’s the perfect austerity plan. If there isn’t the money to improve the rail infrastructure, get some apps developed instead that will tell people just how long their train is likely to be delayed.”
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Napster: Lessons for The Enemies of Shadow IT – tecosystems
“Given that developers have an increasing portfolio of accessible open source software and cloud services available to them, it’s unlikely that an enterprise crackdown on so-called shadow IT will be materially more effective. And then there’s question of whether throttling the constituency within your business that wants to move fastest is generally a good idea.
Why not enable them, then? Instead of firewalling the services Shadow IT wants, provide them centrally. Turn the tools that you are wasting your time fighting into an enticement to come out of the shadows. You’ll have better, if still imperfect, visibility into consumption and usage patterns as well as shorter development cycles. What’s not to like?”
