Foundation of Semantic Web Technologies

I had a very good conversation today with Prof Pascal Hitzler. Author of the books: Semantic Web - Grundlagen and Foundations of Semantic Web Technologies. He is now a professor at Wright State University in nearby Dayton, Ohio.

Very instructive interaction, looking forward to reading his books. Will report on them here. Also check into his research on a number of AI topics at his site above. On Semantic Webs.

Procter and Gamble Franchises

An overview of P&G's activities in the world of franchising. Including Mr. Clean car washes and Tide Dry Cleaning.

Observational Models Fed to my Phone

There are some things that terrestrial observers can learn from astrophysics. Even if you are mostly interested in commercial applications. Its an example of how to observe data and use it for models. Most recently NASA has established a stereo observation platform around the sun. " ... STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) is the third mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program (STP). This two-year mission, launched October 2006, will provide a unique and revolutionary view of the Sun-Earth System. The two nearly identical observatories - one ahead of Earth in its orbit, the other trailing behind - will trace the flow of energy and matter from the Sun to Earth. They will reveal the 3D structure of coronal mass ejections; violent eruptions of matter from the sun that can disrupt satellites and power grids, and help us understand why they happen...." .

I now have their system on my IPhone and their data is fed to me. A metaphorical example, at the very least, of how to feed very complex data to analysts and ultimately to management. Add some predictive analytical methods and you have a full real-time platform for understanding a system. Like the sun, or a supply chain, a manufacturing facility or a retail system.

Predictive Analytics as a Game-Changer

In Forbes, a short article about how a number of companies are using predictive analytics to change the game. I again do not consider this to be very new, we did it for many years, but new software and massive amounts of readily available data make it easier to do now.

Stain Brain App Updated

I see that Procter & Gamble's Stain Brain IPhone application has been updated. Recall I described here how this is an application that has evolved over a dozen years in a number of formats. It was actively delivered to consumers well before smart phones.

It's a history of recent company consumer communications. The new version, the update states, pays more attention to user contributions for stain solutions. In other words it is going more social. So will it recommmend a home stain remedy rather than Tide? Is this a new direction by CPG away from direct profits from more sales and more engagment with the shopper? Worth a look as I will.
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1913 Tax Form

Have seen this many times, but it is worth repeating, often. Mark Perry posts the US 1913 tax form, and comments: ' ... There were only four pages total including all forms and instructions, view it here. In contrast, just the current 1040 instructions, without any forms, runs 175 pages. Individual income tax rates started at 1% in 1913, and the maximum marginal income tax rate was only 6% on incomes above $500,000 ($11 million in today's dollars).... ' . See his links at original post. Note, it is about to get much worse, in complexity and amount.

Collapse of Complex Business Models

I agree they should be as simple as possible, but are often patched up affairs to match the expectations of those that believe in them. Clay Shirky does make some good points along the way. Have now seen several fail miserably that were simple but just oversold.

Bayesian Information Retrieval

In the Noisy Channel: Information Retrieval using a Bayesian Model of Learning and Generalization. Well written, good piece with many instructional background links. Have long been interested in the methods of Bayesian reasoning and simulation. We experimented with several uses. It has many potential applications, and this one is particularly intriguing.

Grand Unified Theory of AI

In MIT News, quite intriguing, though I don't quite understand how it can be applied immediately to real problems I am acquainted with. ' .. A new approach unites two prevailing but often opposed strains in the history of artificial-intelligence research ... '

Best of TDWI: Business Intelligence

Best of a number of good articles on Business Intelligence from TDWI. I have mentioned a few of these before, here they all in one piece. The download does require registration.

Videotaping the Shipment

In StorefrontBackTalk: Discussion of an Amazon patent that videotapes a shipment box as it is filled and sealed. Then attaching a link to that video clip to the shipment. Aiming to reduce unwarranted product returns. See the full discussion. Overall an interesting concept with broader application.

Simulated Car Racing

From the University of Wurzburg, simulated car demolition derby using artificial intelligence controllers. Still a believer that there is value in using gaming interactions to better understand what intelligence really is and how to effectively simulate it. Here is a good example

Twitter Predicting Movie Box Office

Good overview of social media prediction opportunities, based on the HP social computing lab paper: Predicting the Future with Social Media. Of course a Twitter stream could be manipulated.

Watching You Read

In the NYT: Theory of Mind and brain scanning, applied to fiction. Literary scholars turn to science.
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Magnets and Minds

From a friend. I agree this is scary. it is inevitable that as we know more about the functionality of the brain this kind of manipulation will have to be closely watched.

' ... A new study by neuroscientist Liane Young and colleagues at Harvard University does exactly that: the researchers used magnetic signals applied to subjects’ craniums to alter their judgements of moral culpability. The magnetic stimulus made people less likely to condemn others for attempting but failing to inflict harm, they report in PNAS... '

See also Transcranial Neural Stimulation (TNS). It is unclear to me if this is a technique in the same realm as described above.
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Mastering Argument is Discovery

In CIOInsight, a good piece on mastering the art of argument. '... Disagreements happen, but respecting all opinions and engaging in argument can lead to innovation and progress, writes Kris Girrell, who offers three suggestions for fostering constructive arguments. "There is no real creativity in agreeing," Girrell writes. "... [I]n healthy, robust disagreement, there is newness and discovery ... ' .

Robotic Presentations

Richard James points me to the blog Phil Presents, by Phil Waknell (ex-P&G, ex-HP). Which covers a number of topics, including robotic presentations. He now runs a company called Ideas on Stage.

RFID Journal News Roundup

We followed the technology of RFID for a number of years as it applied to retail on shelf and inventory applications. We tested many related ideas in the innovation centers. I still follow this technology and find that the RFID Journal and its news alerts are a good source. Here is their latest news roundup.

Meaning Driven Brands

A look at the meaning of brands in Design Mind.
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Wolfram Alpha Mobile Site Drops Price, Seeks to be Data Engine

It is reported in ReadWriteWeb:

' ... Once upon a time, Wolfram Alpha tried to charge $50 for its iPhone app while, at the same time, offering a free iPhone-optimized mobile site. Then, the company shut down the mobile site of its "computational knowledge engine" altogether. Now, however, Wolfram is reversing this strategy and is not just bringing back a new and improved version of its mobile site, but the company also just announced that it will reduce the price of its iPhone app to $1.99 on Saturday and will issue a refund to every customer who bought the app at the full price ... ' .

I will be likely to try this more often in a mobile format. It would be further useful to connect the mobile app to sensor data in the IPhone. Related to that: Wolfram Alpha Wants to be a Google Maps for Data. Nice idea.
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