Thi week Microsoft anounced new Search products that extend Windows Desktop Search (WDS) to the Intranet (Corporate Enterprise Search) to links with its Internet search engine - MSN Search or soon to Windows Live Search. Below are some recent links to Microsofts product anouncments:
Worst Microsoft Product Name Ever (source: http://www.microsoft-watch.com/) On Wednesday, the Microsoft branding department hit a new low. Microsoft has decided to christen the new Windows desktop search application (that can search your desktop/Intranet and Internet), due to go beta later this year, as "Windows Live Search." But there already is a Windows Live Search – the Internet search service that is currently in beta. Are the two products the same? No, the Softies said. Are they related? Nope. We've decided we're going to try using Windows Live Search A (for the desktop app version) and Windows Live Search S for the MSN service. We're not the only ones who think two "Windows Live Search" products are one too many.
New Microsoft Enterprise Search Products in the Pipeline Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Wednesday is hosting 100 or so of the world's top CEOs as part of Microsoft's tenth annual CEO Summit. As part of the event, Gates is taking the wraps off several new Microsoft search offerings under development, including a new desktop search application, a new SharePoint Sever for Search SKU and a Knowledge Network add-on to SharePoint that is designed to harness the internal brain power of customers' "experts." The desktop search app is due to go to beta in the summer or early fall. The new SharePoint Server for Search and Knowledge Network products are slated to ship in fall 2006. -- Enterprise Search Offerings: Microsoft Versus Google http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1963321,00.asp
I've been pre-occupied with other issues lately and have not updated this blog in some time, so today and going forward I'll start updating this more frequently with both personal notes and views as well as technical information on both SQL Server 2000 Full-text Search and SQL Server 2005 FTS!
If there are any topics you want me to write about or provide more details, let me know by posting a comment and I'll reply with a new blog entry on that topic. It helps me to know that others are reading this and getting value out of it. I'm also going to move forward with a new website and blog from there as well, but for now I plan on continuing to blog here!
Google Desktop 2 has upgraded, and has supposedly graduated from being a beta. There is a new mapping plug-in in the side bar, but this in particular seems very beta quality to me. (It's very hard to use - the sidebar does not accept drag and drop, so you must type in where you want to go, and there is no "go" or "Search" button, so you can't simply paste with the mouse, since you must then touch the keyboard to use the enter key).
Yahoo have introduced a new mapping beta. This goes against the grain, and requires Flash, which I think is a backwards step, and also falls in to the same trap as Virtual Earth did of believing that America is the only location that counts.
Yahoo also slightly redeem themselves by offering a new mapping API, which does offer an AJAX based embedded map, and also a REST based geocoding service (again unfortunately only for America). -- via Zmarties blog
The relatively new market for Desktop Search is approx. 1 year old, so these new upgrades at this time is not surprising, but so far no news on upgrades to Microsoft's Windows Desktop Search (WDS). Although, a lot of speculation in the microsoft.public.msn.search newsgroup about a Corporate / Enterprise / Intranet version of WDS...
The Developer Edition of SQL Server 2005 is available for subscribers on MSDN. A few editions of Visual Studio 2005 are also available. I don't have any word on when other editions will be available.
Today, we have released SQL Server 2005 and VisualStudio 2005 and the .Net Framework 2.0 to manufacturing. This means the code is baked, done, shipped,... :-). It will be downloadable from MSDN within the day and available through the other channels in a couple of days. The following is just a teaser for all the cool things SQL Server 2005 will provide. Read the rather impressive list here. via SQL PASS Blog
Multi-platform support: X32, X64 (WoW and native), IA64 Native, Numa Aware
Multi-instance support with 7.0, 2000 and of course 2005
Mobile, Tablet, Express (free), Workgroup, Standard and Enterprise – If we don’t have it, you don’t need it…
Table Partitioning – partition by key easily – drop a partition and add a new one, no need to delete millions of rows
Upgrade Advisor – (scan your existing 7.0 and 2000 servers and SP’s and get ready for an easy upgrade)
SQL Server Management Studio – built in the VS IDE and able to manage all services from one UI
Enhanced Full Text Search – Integrated backup/restore, thesaurus support, 100x faster for index build
ONLINE: index build, page/file restore, concurrent log and db backup, memory add, fast recovery (online during rollback) – all operations on-line…
Column level encryption
Off-by-default – reduced attack space
Code signing
Vastly improved diagnostics – Watson dumps allow us to fix 80%+ of customer issues – NO CUSTOMER REPRO -, Dedicated admin thread, Dynamic Management Views (see current server activity)
Database Snapshots – point-in-time query and reporting
IPV6 support
No more “general network error” – specific error messages for all errors.
Automatic replication of schema changes
Merge replication 2-5x faster
Built-in Oracle to SQL Server replication – the only way to go… :-).
HTTPS synch for mobile users
More to follow relative to SQL Server 2005 Full-Text Search features, functionality, tip & tricks! I'll use the new keyword "SQL2005FTS" with future postings. You heard it here first!
Fellow "former VC who returned to the bright side" Tony Conrad kindly gave me a preview of Sphere, ex-Yodel Search, at the Web 2.0 conference, and re-kindly gave me access to the beta version of this new blog search engine, “that uses an advanced algorithm to discover high-quality, relevant, and timely blog posts”.
Software Only posts a short review of Sphere, the new blog search engine. What interests me most is the screen shot. Each result has a link to a 'profile' of the blog (or blog author). But even more interesting is the little histogram logo on the left of the page - is that a link to a trending mechanism?
Battelle points to Malik about Sphere. It turns out that Sphere based on the original Yodel Inc blog search engine I posted about a while back, but they have taken the two founders of Waypath on board as well.
Yoogli has ways of looking at content on the web that you will have to see to believe. Yoogli is delivering the next generation of search products by producing deep understanding of users and meaning.
Previewseek is a new entry in the alternative search engine wars. Their most unique feature is pinching description fields from Wikipedia and repurposing the wiki links as additional search terms. Quite a creative solution to providing context around what someone is searching for and allowing them to add additional terms to the query.
Building WinFS Solutions Learn more about WinFS, the new relational file system for Windows. As an essential piece of Microsoft’s Integrated Storage strategy, WinFS bridges the gap between file systems and databases and provides a unified, rich programming platform for all data: structured, semi-structured, and unstructured. (intersting as this is what I've blogged about here since Dec. 2004). See also, http://www.winfsdirectory.com/WinFS_articles.htm
Quintura is a new search technology that will be ready for download in October. The company has called their approach to searching “The Way People Search”. The new search software promises to help users find information on the web easier and faster by defining the context or meaning of the search term. Quintura also uses dynamic clusterization that builds or changes clusters on the fly depending on user input.The new search software will also offer visual semantic maps that let you add or subtract keywords and change context with the click of your mouse.
About 10 times a week, I get an email asking if I can add RSS feeds to www.kbalertz.com. What this means is that I've done a REALLY REALLY bad job showing people where the RSS feeds are, since they've been live on the site for over a year. Now all the RSS feeds are listed on a single page, which should make it easier to subscribe and the SQL Server 2000 KB Article RSS Feed.
DEEP WEB SEARCH WHAT IT IS: Technology that boldly goes where no search engine has gone before. WHY IT'S HOT: Google may have already indexed 8 billion webpages, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Many more pages are hidden behind corporate firewalls or in databases waiting to be indexed. By some estimates, this so-called dark Web is 500 times bigger than the World Wide Web as we know it. Unlike the public Internet, however, it can't be retrieved by the usual Web crawlers. Instead, the information must be fed into search engines' mammoth databases using special retrieval techniques.
Before the advent of desktop search, our PCs were part of that invisible Web -- connected to the Internet but not indexed. File-sharing networks already search your PC for MP3s, but there are tricky privacy and security issues to resolve before your hard drive can join the visible Web. There are also millions of digitally transcribed books waiting to be connected. Ultimately, deep Web search could answer a direct question better than hundreds of links, because many of the most authoritative sources have yet to make it online. KEY PLAYERS:Endeca, Glenbrook Networks, Google, IBM, Kozoru, and Yahoo.
Post-Yukon, the next version of SQL Server codename: Katmai Next SQL Server Stop: Katmai By Barbara Darrow CRN (Sep. 13, 2005 ) As in Katmai. That's the internal name for the successor to Yukon--the soon-to-ship SQL Server 2005. In a PDC interview with CRN, none other than Bill Gates said that the WinFS server implementation will come sometime in the "Katmai" wave. At that time the WinFS client and server technology will unify all the various data repositories, he said. Microsoft SQL Server Katmai - Articles (only two as of 10/6/2005)
“…The only way to meet the continuously unpredictable challenges ahead of us is to match them with continuously unpredictable changes of our own. We must transform the Intelligence Community into a community that dynamically reinvents itself by continuously learning and adapting as the national security environment changes.
Recent theoretical developments in the philosophy of science that matured in the 1990's, collectively known as Complexity Theory, suggest changes the community should make to meet this challenge. These changes include allowing our officers more autonomy in the context of improved tradecraft and information sharing. In addition, several new technologies will facilitate this transformation. Two examples are self-organizing knowledge websites, known as Wikis, and information sharing websites known as Blogs.”
Thoughts & quotes on the use of Wiki's for Personalized Search and how Technology can be disruptive / constructive and lead to more interesting possiblities...
Steven Cohen points out that Vanderbilt University’s wiki is now instructing how to add their staff and news feeds to Google’s personalized homepage. Guess the page is getting some serious usage. (via Findory)
"A wiki is a freely-expandable collection of interlinked Web 'pages', a hypertext system for storing and modifying information - a database, where each page is easily editable by any user..."
"Wiki is a ... collaborative space ... because of its total freedom, ease of access, and use, [and] simple and uniform navigational conventions...". "[It] ... is also a way to organize and cross-link knowledge...".
'Wiki wiki' (pronounced ‘wicky’, ‘weekee’ or ‘veekee’) (encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Wiki#Pronunciation) is a Hawaiian term for 'quick' or 'super-fast' (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki).
Wiki Advantages: Incorporates the assistance of experts, peers and other professionals Annotate evolving issues where spare notes, thoughts, and file formats exist Facilitate the exchange of ideas for small group projects A more creative environment and expanding knowledgebase in project management Level the playing field and allow all opinions to be heard More productive than ‘back-and-forth’ emails & IM chats Get everyone on the same page through the writable Web (Web 2.0?) Harness the power of diverse individuals to create collaborative works A forum for improving knowledge and advancing thought processes Improve project management, and provide innovative reference repositories for all aspects of planning, operation, and implementation
"A Disruptive Technology is a new technological innovation, product, or service that eventually overturns the existing dominant technology in the market,despite the fact that the disruptive technology is both radically different than the leading technology and that it often initially performs worse than the leading technology according to existing measures of performance." -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_technology
CNET takes an interesting look at Microsoft's history in the Web era and suggests that MSN may now be a key part of Microsoft's Web 2.0 strategy. They write that MSN is already being used as a platform for Windows software releases:
"The search service in Windows Vista, for example, shipped earlier as MSN Desktop Search. In addition, Internet Explorer features, like tabbed browsing, and protection against phishing techniques [...] shipped first through MSN."
What's more interesting is an old Microsoft memo from May 1995 that CNET dug up again, called "The Web is the Next Platform", and what that tells us about MSN's future. The memo was written by Microsoft engineer Ben Slivka (where is he now, I wonder?). Here's TheRegister's coverage of it from December 1998, around the time of the Microsoft anti-trust trial:
By 27th May 1995 Slivka is on version 5 of the document, so we can presume that if Bill Gates read an earlier version, he didn't understand it. Nor indeed does Slivka seem to understand the implications of what he's saying completely. He leads in with "The Web is an application platform (complete with APIs, data formats, and protocols) that threatens Windows."
Wow - that was an incredibly prescient thing to say in 1995! Swap "Siemens or Matsushita" with Google, and "WebMachine" with WebOS - and that's precisely the competitive threat Microsoft faces today.
In response Microsoft is integrating MSN into its platform product development group, where Windows is developed. It's too early to know how this will play out, but one thing's for sure - the Web is on an equal footing with Windows for Microsoft now. It took them 10 years to fulfill the destiny that one of their smart engineers, Ben Slivka, mapped out for them in May 1995. But will it be enough to stop the WebMachine?
There is a useful tool at http://maps.huge.info/; enter a zip code and you'll get a refreshed page and an outlined map of the zip code for which you're searching. You can zoom in on it a big and still have the outline. Matt Cutts delves deeply into the how to use the Google Maps API, and how you could do something similar - http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/fun-with-zip-codes/.
A great example of the power of employee blogs can be found at Mini-Microsoft right now. The blog does act as a virtual water cooler for hundreds of Microsoft employees, who feel comfortable venting their frustrations without fear of retribution. Note that both he (the anonymous blogger who writes the Mini Microsoft blog) and Balmer were profiled in BusinessWeek this week.
Intelliseek and Edelman just released a new white paper on employee blogging (here - pdf). In this day and age, where more and more goods are being bought based on word of mouth, the paper analyses the reasons and motivations for employee blogging as well as the benefits when done right.
Software upstart Intellext has joined forces with Microsoft. Intellext have developed the automated Watson search tool, which will be available as an add-on for Microsoft’s MSN Desktop Search.
The Watson add-on is available for a free 30-day trial. However, a subscription to Watson costs $9.95 a month or $100 a year. The Watson software also is available at Intellext, though not as an integrated tool.
The Watson add-on for MSN Desktop Search is a sidebar that displays links to information as the user works with Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer.
You don’t have to type a query – Watson analyses your activities in the background and searches a wide array of sources for relevant information. Watson does not extract, store or transmit information any of this information.
CNet’s Elinor Mills reports that Watson 2.0, an AI based “context-sensitive” desktop search tool, is about to launch as an application which will be seen as an alternative to Google’s Desktop Search and Sidebar. Like Google Sidebar, the Watson 2.0 sifts through web history data, feeds from blogs and news sites visited, and desktop documents to serve relevant desktop search and web news information in real time - faster than Google Sidebar.
Below are two links to Microsoft's current list of products that use the same Search technology. While these resources have not been updated in many years, they still do provide basic comparison information. However, they do not reference SQL Server 2005 (Yukon), SharePoint Portal Server 2003, nor MSN Search or Windows Desktop Search (WDS), I'm sad to report...
The Blook has Arrived... hackoff.com Tom Evslin has launched his newest project - hackoff.com. It's a blook (an online book distributed as a blog). I've been watching this evolve and occassionally helping with some of the tech ideas from the sidelines. In addition to being awesome content (this is the book that every entrepreneur from 1997 - 2001 wanted to write), Tom is using (as well as inventing) lots of blog / Web 2.0 publishing technology into the experience. via: Feld Thoughts
Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar Beta The IE Developer Toolbar provides several features for deeply exploring and understanding Web pages. -- Locate and select specific elements on a web page through a variety of techniques. -- Selectively disable Internet Explorer settings. -- View HTML object class names, ID's, and details such as link paths, tab index values, and access keys. -- Validate HTML, CSS, WAI, and RSS web feed links. -- Display image dimensions, file sizes, path information, and alternate (ALT) text. -- Immediately resize the browser window to 800x600 or a custom size. -- Selectively clear the browser cache and saved cookies. -- Link to the Internet Explorer team weblog (blog), and other resources. -- Display a fully featured design ruler to help accurately align objects on your pages.
Attensa - RSS Reader for Microsoft Outlook The first of its kind, a RSS reader for Microsoft Outlook. Attensa for Outlook is the first RSS news reader and news aggregator to provide integration of RSS capability into Microsoft Outlook, that brings up-to-date news and content from website, blogs, and Podcast sites, directly into Microsoft Outlook. via: Coolest-Gagets.com
Microsoft's 'troubling exits' This week's Business Week cover story by Jay Greene is an exhaustive examination of the current state of Microsoft -- looking behind the recent series of employee departures to explore the company's disproportionate reliance on Windows and Office, its sluggish pace of major product releases, its layers of bureaucracy, and calls from inside and outside to institute reform. via: SeattlePI.com Microsoft Blog
This directory is created and the noise word files are installed when you set up SQL Server 2005 together with full-text search support. Note If you used customized noise word files in earlier versions of SQL Server, the customized noise word files will no longer work after you upgrade to SQL Server 2005. To continue to use the customized noise word files, you must follow the steps in the "More Information" section.
SYMPTOMS You add the full-text search service to an existing instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Community Technology Preview (CTP) 16 by using one of the following methods:
• Microsoft Office Maintenance Mode • An upgrade installation of the full-text search service that is taken from an edition of SQL Server 2005 that is not SQL Server 2005 CTP.
When you do this, the full-text search service does not run under the domain account that is specified for SQL Server 2005 CTP.
"Blog Search is Google search technology focused on blogs. Google is a strong believer in the self-publishing phenomenon represented by blogging, and we hope Blog Search will help our users to explore the blogging universe more effectively, and perhaps inspire many to join the revolution themselves." (Google) via InfoDesign
"Google Blog Search works by crawling XML feeds, rather than simply crawling the HTML output of a blog. Because feeds are, at least ideally, better structured than the published HTML of most blogs, it's possible to extract information like authorship of a post in a fairly consistent way. The potential for getting the value of structured data out of feeds is one of the reasons we've created technologies like the Six Apart Update Stream." via SixApart ProNet Blog
The web (and SQL) Developer community will be interested to learn that the MSN Developer Center (Danny provided an overview of last week), is now live. The center contains information, developer toolkits, and links to forums for the following MSN services:
What will be interesting to follow is how many independent developers create new and exciting “mash-up’s” with these new Search API’s as MSN Search is still way behind Google APIs and somewhat behind Yahoo! APIs… Time will tell if MSN will be successful in this area as I too intend to develop some interesting applications that use the above API’s and (of course) SQL Server 2005 Full Text Search!
I recently found this these links & resources for Blog Mining as mining blogs is a form of Text Mining:
Blog Mining Gets Real "Like unstructured content captured on Web forms that never really gets used, blogs' explosive growth is generating raw data sets that your company really can't afford to ignore. At the beginning of the year blogs were considered by many industry watchers one of the top ten trends. It's becoming very clear that blog mining is certainly part of that mix."
Text Mining Encyclopedia of Terms "This page lists the most significant terms for the Text Miningknowledge domain, organized in order of popularity. This list of terms was extracted from a random sample of Internet documents that provide information about this knowledge domain. There is also a taxonomy view, showing the list of terms organized into a hierarchical cluster."
Welcome to the blogsphere, Mark, Gert, and Lubor! I've listened to Mark give a high-end SQL Server presentation at a past MVP conference and he is impressive. Gert's one of the best & most frequent presenters at PASS, PDC and TechEd and Lubor's a long-time SQL PM within the SQL Dev group. All are SQL Server "heavy hitters" and have worked with high-end customers from all over the world...
SQL 2005 Full Text Searc...PhotosProfileFriends
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