Should Google Be Forced To Filter Search Results? Semantic Search techniques revisited

By Chris Crum · November 7, 2013 webpronews.com
Extract:

"One man is currently trying to get his damaging content out of Google, and not just removed, but filtered as it’s created. A French court has sided with him, and ordered Google to comply. 

... Interestingly enough, this comes after Google adjusted its algorithm on its own to prevent mug shot sites’ content from ranking in search results, which could help protect the reputations of some people.
In another case in June, a European court said Google didn’t have to remove search results when a Spanish man sought for it to remove reputation-damaging materials." continue reading

 On the same shelf:

•  The Filter Bubble: How the New Personalized Web Is Changing What We Read and How We Think Eli Pariser
•   Google Script: Enterprise Application Essentials: Adding Functionality to Your Google Apps James Ferreira
• How to Find Out Anything: From Extreme Google Searches to Scouring Government Documents, a Guide to Uncovering Anything About Everyone and Everything Don MacLeod
• Programming Collective Intelligence: Building Smart Web 2.0 Applications Toby Segaran  
• Nexus 5: A True Google Experience [Review]
• 5 Ways To Unlock The Benefits Of Semantic Search, Search Engine Land-by Barbara Starr-

• Harnessing Collective Intelligence

• MIT Center for Collective Intelligence

• "collective intelligence" and collaborative filtering? - O'Reilly

'Determining competitors’ capabilities' in Business Plans For Canadians For Dummies

Here are some of my comments about the book and extracts from the book, Business Plans For Canadians For Dummies 

by 

Nada Wagner, 

Paul Tiffany,  

Steven D. Peterson.

 

Overview of the book:Build a winning business plan with expert tips and strategies

• Creating a great business plan is the first and most vital step to business success. Packed with Canadian resources and anecdotes, this friendly guide takes you through the planning process. From scoping out the competition to planning for growth, this book is your ultimate reference for determining and meeting your business goals.
• Business essentials — from creating your company's mission statement to setting goals and objectives
• Competitive analysis — from analyzing your industry to tracking your competitors' actions
• Market research — from identifying your market to meeting your customers' needs
• Financial information — from reading income statements to understanding balance sheets

You must read the full book to get a real feel of the do's and do it now type of 

competitive intelligence, esp., Chapter 8: Checking Out Your Competition.

This book is very good for the Canadian business planners. Its content is excellent reading and refreshing, with many ideas / resources that are so really informing and Canadian, eh!!! This is the strength. And, hence reading the following extracts (although generic and good for a business anywhere), gives an opportunity to feel the depth and breadth of the book.

Sample from the book from the section 'Determining competitors’ capabilities' in Chapter Eight (pp. 134-135):

"You need to ask the same kinds of questions about your competitors that you ask yourself when you complete a company checkup... ""The capabilities that you're most interested in tell you something about your competitors' ability to react when your industry changes.""To determine your competitors' capabilities, start with this list of important business functions and areas..." 

"The following questions should get you going...:

• Management: What do you know about the background and experience of the company's chief bigwigs...
• Organization: How structured and centralized is the company's organization?...
• Customer base: What's the company's share of the market?...
• Research and development: Is the company known for innovation technology and its intellectual property?...
• Operations: How modern are the company's facilities and business processes?...
• Marketing and sales: How strong are the company's  products?
• Distribution and delivery: How many distribution channels does the company sell through?
• Financial condition: Is the company's revenue growing?... " (pp. 134-135)

The last question, about finances (read also as: revenues) of the competitors, is one major area that is difficult to dig. So also the portion on essential/required research about customer (pp. 90-94) and market (pp. 104-105) are very insufficient for gathering the competitive intelligence. Whereas a value added book, at least for the information professionals is: Bates, Mary Ellen. Building & running a successful research business: a guide for the independent information professional:

From my desk:

•  Mary Ellen Bates. Building & running a successful research business: a guide for the independent information professional.Edited by Reva Basch. CyberAge Books, 2003 -- (new edition:Building & running a successful research business: a guide for the independent information professional, 2010) Information Resources Management Journal 
• Market Research Resources via Libraries 

Knowledge management sources - How to find @ McGill Library

 McGill Library, Liaison Librarian: Maya Kucij

• Sources for Background Information
• Dictionaries, Encyclopedias
• Core Databases 
• Selected Internet Sites 
• Other Resources, Related subject guides: Library and Information Studies
• Searching the Library Catalogue:

Use the basic word(s) anywhere or advanced keyword search in the library catalogue. You can search using words like - information, reference, librar?, etc.

Search tips

Truncation symbol:	?	e.g. librar? will retrieve catalogue records containing the words library, libraries, librarian, etc.
Phrase searching:	"___"	e.g. "knowledge management" will retrieve catalogue records containing the phrase (both words side by side in the order entered) knowledge management
Boolean operators:	(), AND, OR, NOT default: AND	e.g. management AND (Canada OR "United States") will retrieve catalogue records containing the word management AND either Canada OR the phraseUnited States

Top Seven SharePoint document scanning best practices

By Nalaka Withanage, http://idm.net.au
Extract:

1. Define a metadata extraction Strategy
2. Define content search criteria first and work backwards.
3. Get your SharePoint content type design right
4. Centralise the routing and business rules
5. Configure the SharePoint Site collection as DRM site
6. Do your capacity planning and container design right
7.  Select a OCR scanning software solution that has seamless integration with SharePoint

Privacy Commissioner of Canada to investigate Bell's data collecting - Media reports

• Bell's move to track customers' web history, TV viewing sparks probe by privacy  regulator Financial Post
• Privacy commissioner to investigate Bell's data collecting, CBC via Yahoo! Canada News
• Bell goes Big Brother, will track customers' web history, viewing, calls, mobile  usage. Hamilton Spectator
• Bell to collect customer personal information for marketing, targeted ads,  Toronto Star 
• Further updates: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
• See also All News releases: BCE Bell Canada Enterprises: Canada's Top Communication ...

Technology Can Expose Government Sins, But You Need Humans to Fix Them

Written by Lorelei Kelly, 

01 Oct 2013 CityWatch 

This article appeared first in the New America Foundation’s Weekly Wonk and ZocaloPublicSquare.org … connecting people and ideas.) 

EXTRACT:ZOCALO PUBLIC SQUARE-The National Security Agency, in its surveillance, is unaccountable. But we don’t know what to do about it. Why?
At a recent meeting on Capitol Hill, a young Congressional staffer offered the answer. He said:
People think that tweeting or commenting online about the surveillance is actually doing something to hold the surveillance accountable. In other words, we’re confused about the connection between transparency and accountability. We haven’t defined the difference between using this era’s technological tools to shine a light on how government works and using this era’s technological tools to hold the government accountable. 
... According to calculations by the Sunlight Foundation, today’s Congress is operating with about 40 percent less staff than in 1979. According to the Congressional Management Foundation, it’s also contending with at least 800 percent more incoming communications. Yet, instead of helping Congress gain insight in new ways, instead of helping it sort and filter, curate and authenticate, technology has mostly created disorganized information overload. And the information Congress receives is often sentiment, not substance. Elected leaders should pay attention to both, but need the latter for policymaking.
Continue reading CityWatch