Google semantic search -- Visualizing Searchability and Findability: from You to U

One needs to be clear about the terms semantic Web, and semantic search (see the distinction pulished in 2013 Search Engine Journal). In the context of semantic search, a question is worth asking: Is Google as a search engine running out of innovation, visualized through a very slow development of the search techniques (two news stories from the years 2009 and 2013 are below) and what is also seen below as the discussions on the subject? Is this then leading to other competitors, such as TechScour For Internet Publishers, to help search and find what you need when you need???? The answer is awaited.

2013: Google overhauls dictionary as part of project to revolutionise search, Wired UK

2009: "You may have heard that Google is joining the race for the semantic search engine. Semantic search is the capability for a computer to understand what you're searching for based on the meaning behind your words instead of just pulling out keyword-based results. Google is up against a wide range of competitors for the semantic crown including newcomers Kumo, Microsoft's upcoming redesign of Live Search, and Wolfram Alpha-a search engine making some outlandish and unverifiable claims. ... Google is still the same old Google and an excellent first stop for finding information. However, Google is flying the semantic search flag without really delivering a noticeably different experience. If semantic is the future of search, then Google has a long way to go." Google's New Semantic Search: A Test, PCWorld 

 

• What is the term for neglectful spelling of words such as "you" as "u"?  English Language & Usage Stack Exchange "is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required."        
• Google: “how can u” vs. “how can an individual” is not really about grammar @ Jerz's Literacy Weblog   -- "A Googler who chooses to search for “an individual” rather than “u” or “you” or even “a person” is probably thinking of a word that contrasts with “society,” and that will affect the nature if the results being returned." 
• Google boosting search to the speed of sound - Worldnews.com
• Ai Research - Creating a new form of life - Alan logs   
• (“Google Standard”?!) English? - OUseful.Info, the blog... 
• Can "toast" (as in browned bread) ever be countable ...
• ACRL 2013: Visual Literacy In Action by Greg Hatch on Prezi 
• An Introduction to Inertial and Visual Sensing 
• U & You turns student life into visual memoirs | The Daily Utah  
• The U and You - Salt Lake City, UT - Education | Facebook 
• The “U and You” Project: Longitudinal Storytelling Capturing ...
• MySpace comments - Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group 
• This Time It's Different: Treasures and Traps in the Next Gen Transition  
• Download me—Saying “yes” to the Web’s most dangerous search terms by Conor Myhrvold
• Social Media Netiquette  
• “Texting complaints come from stereotypes” printed ... - linguistic pulse 
• Spelling Thee, U and I: English & Globish - Optimized Linguistic ...  
• Useful Tips on Improving Your English Using Google

Facebook 'Graphic App' Privacy Warning Hoax @ Hoax-Slayer

Extract:

Outline Circulating Facebook message warns that, due to the new "Graphic App", material posted on Facebook is no longer private and can be seen by anyone. The message includes instructions for overcoming this supposed problem.


Brief Analysis
The claims in the message are total nonsense. There is no such thing as a "graphic app". This is apparently a misguided reference to Facebook's new Graph Search functionality. Graph Search does not change existing privacy settings.

continue reading: Facebook 'Graphic App' Privacy Warning Hoax

Visual clues boost kids’ vocabulary, University of Chicago

Extract:

Giving children non-verbal clues about words boosts vocabularies, By William Harms June 24, 2013, UChicago News

The clues that parents give toddlers about words can make a big difference in how deep their vocabularies are when they enter school, new research at the University of Chicago shows.

By using words to reference objects in the visual environment, parents can help young children learn new words, according to the research. It also explores the difficult-to-measure quality of non-verbal clues to word meaning during interactions between parents and children learning to speak. For example, saying, “There goes the zebra” while visiting the zoo helps a child learn the word “zebra” faster than saying, “Let’s go to see the zebra.” - Read more at: UChicago News

Walls don’t lie -- About the mural as an art form

Walls don’t lie @ Livemint

K.G. Subramanyan’s new mural is remarkable in scale and vision—and for what it says about the mural as an art form. By Sanjukta Sharma

Extract:

"In K.G. Subramanyan’s spectacular new mural, War of the Relics, the invader faces the invaded and the victorious face the defeated in a deadpan dialectic. The 9ft-high, 36ft-wide work spread across the gallery’s walls, consisting of 16 panels divided into eight diptychs, is the master’s meditation on the futility of violence. Despite its panoptic arc—at one end is a scene of rhapsodic horsemen from the Crusades, and at the extreme other end are battle tanks that could well be from 2002’s Afghanistan—Subramanyan’s figures, painted in black acrylic and oil on a white background, are undramatic. They represent war in a quiet, non-fussy way..."

"Among world cities, the mural thrives as public art in Los Angeles and Philadelphia in the US. In 1987, the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA) was set up to preserve the city’s numerous mural walls—all commissioned and painted between the 1950s and 1970s. Many were lost to real estate development. The MCLA’s role now is just to preserve what exists. 

In Philadelphia, in 1984, then mayor Jane Golden initiated what came to be known as the “anti-graffiti” initiative. She invited the city’s graffiti artists, who were working without any patronage, for commissioned works in the city’s public sphere. It led to around 2,000 murals. 

The difference between graffiti and a mural is in its sanction and ownership. Graffiti, the more democratic art, is not commissioned and its purpose is not spelled out. Murals, in that sense, belong to the owner of the space in which it is created, and to the commissioning authority or person..." continue reading

On the same shelf:

Visualization of the the workplace: The insider and the outsider

• Diff Displays computer system knows when you are distracted (although you are in the office, anyways), in other words: Big Brother computer system knows when you're zoning out @ now.msn.com -- or here (via: www.dailymail.co.uk)
• Would that tweet get you fired? Just ask FireMe!
• Workplace Infographics
• Boss Infographics
• Creating Workplace Relationship Harmony | visualizationworks.com
• The Workplace Insider: The Bad Boss Diaries | Visual.ly
• Visualization of the Week: Identify your insiders, outsiders and gateways, WolframAlpha's updated Facebook tool visualizes your network (and makes outliers obvious).
• Behind the Boss: A Peek at Company Leaders' Personal Style

Merchandising the Circ Desk: the importance of visual cues

By Brian Mathews

Extract:

wanted to share an interesting observation. I hosted an exercise reviewing a wide variety of service spaces—banks, hotels, trade shows, retail, etc— and we considered the visual cues of those different environments.

What’s the visual cue here?

One of the slides featured a jewelry store. What’s the visual cue here? Browsing! Maybe you know what you want and can point right to it. Or maybe you’re not sure and prefer to try several options. The point is that the items are in full view. This is a perfect solution for a growing development at our circulation desk.  We’ve recently started lending a handful of adaptors to accommodate SCALE-UP, media:scape, and other technology needs. Instead of keeping them locked away in a backroom it seems we could emulate the jewelry store experience by showcasing them. The expert user can point right to the item she needs, while the novice can try on different adaptors to find the right fit. It’s good for users, but also helpful for library staff may not understand the complexity of all the hardware and related accessories. Continue reading