November 2007

The Internet provides the technical environment for businesses who manufacture new technologies. New technology innovation occurs with any increase in the efficiency (Moore’s Law) and utility (Metcalf’s Law) of the telecommunication mechanism. This premise can be seen in the explosive growth of the Internet itself.

The Internet was born in the 1960s with the idea of allowing computers to share information on scientific and military research and development. It evolved out of the theory of packet switching, which formed the basis of Internet connections. The Internet was first known as ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) and basically connected four computers at four universities. The Internet at this time was a very complex system and required extensive knowledge of the system. It certainly wasn’t the user-friendly system it is today.

The Internet matured during the 1970s. Email was introduced to ARPANET allowing users to message each other. The new telnet protocol allowed remote login to computers residing in another physical location and the file transfer protocol (FTP) enabled file transfers between Internet sites. The Ethernet protocol was introduced, but was initially rejected. Probably the most significant development during this period was the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) architecture that provided the basis for transmitting and routing data packets on the Internet. The Department of Defense adopted TCP/IP in 1980 replacing the former Network Control Protocol. TCP/IP was universally adopted in 1983 and remains today.

The World Wide Web was established with the introduction of the hypertext transfer protocol (http) in 1991 and the introduction of the Mosaic graphical browser in 1993. These two developments allowed Internet access without the complex coding/computer knowledge previously required. The opening of the Internet to commercial activity in 1992 literally caused the Internet to explode with activity.

As one can see, each new innovation, Email –> TCP/IP –> HTTP –> Mosaic improved the ability to and ease of transmitting data, hence a greater efficiency. As the efficiency of the transmission mechanism improved, usage increased. This increased utility, allowed the government to stop funding the Internet, which is now solely supported by commercial sponsorship. So where are we now?

The first years of the 21st century saw Internet access develop from desperately slow dial-up connections to lightening fast cable connections in personal residences. Now wireless connections allow people to access the Internet from home, at work or in the local coffee shop. People no longer need a computer to access the Internet; cell phones, PDAs and other portable devices have greatly enhanced connectivity of the population. Businesses and consumers buy, sell and trade globally. The latest news and information is available with a keystroke 24 hours a day. The Internet is used more and more for entertainment with downloadable digital music and movies, and online gaming is gaining popularity.

Therefore, based on the laws of efficiency and utility, in the coming years, expect the Internet to continue to move toward universal wireless access, where almost everywhere is a “hot spot.” Metropolitan and citywide access with wiMAX, which offers much broader ranges than today’s wi-fi, will become the “norm.” The Internet remains the business environment for technology development and execution. The advantages of each new development are increased efficiency and utility.

San Francisco based company Radar Networks has developed a web-based tool that changes the way people organize their information. The tool is called “Twine” and is a website were people can store important information, collect visited web sites, send and receive emails, etc. Although it sounds like just another data storage solution, it’s what Twine does with the information it possesses that establishes the tool as an emerging web pull technology.

When Twine receives information from a user it begins to analyze it, sorting the information into various categories, including the people involved, concepts discussed, and places, organizations and companies mentioned. This provides the user with quick access to their information and anything related to it. Twine also incorporates social networking elements into the sorting process to give the user access to information collected by others. So, how does Twine work?

Twine is the offspring of a concept known as the “Semantic Web.” The Semantic Web, also known as the “Defined” Web, utilizes XML-tagged data conforming to the Resource Description Framework (RDF) developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The RDF is a standard for defining data structures that identify interrelationships between web-based data. The goal of the Semantic Web is to make Internet searches more productive. Twine’s software was written with Semantic Web standards. This makes Twine compatible with other Semantic Web applications, and its information can also be shared across applications. Is there anything else?

In addition to its distinction as a Semantic Web application, Twine utilizes advanced machine learning and natural-language processing algorithms. This gives the tool capabilities superior to anything that relies on manual tagging. The tool’s algorithms allow the extraction of key concepts from information text, and can even determine the subject of a text in the absence of a specific keyword. This intuitiveness is achieved through statistical machine learning that compares the text with information sources like Wikipedia. According to Nova Spivack, CEO and founder of Radar Networks, “we can determine the when a document is about a subject even if the subject isn’t mentioned in the document.”

The Twine system brings web-pull technology to the next level through the integration of RDF standards and social networking tools. The system brings the Semantic Web into mainstream computing, enabling a sort of collective intelligence that becomes smarter as information is deposited by users. Twine has the potential to help users and organizations achieve significant increases in productivity and efficiency; it also lays the groundwork for future learning information delivery systems.

After several months of haggling, more than 40 nations have finally arrived in Maryland to talk Mideast peace. Judging from the behavior of the players in attendance, I’m afraid that’s all it’s going to be is “talk.”

Saudi Arabia is one of the nations in attendance, but when asked if he would shake hands with Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi Foreign Minister gave a curt, “no.” His explanation was

“We are here for the serious business of making peace,” … “It is not a sporting contest where you shake hands and let the best man win.”

Isn’t a handshake symbolic of making peace?

Oh, and the Syrians are there, too, but only to discuss regaining the Golan Heights which Israel has occupied since 1967.

And if that’s not bad enough, the focal point for the talks, the forging of an agreement between Israel and Palestine, appears untenable. Presently the two sides can’t even agree on the content of a negotiating document, a starting point for negotiations. Issues in dispute are the location of final borders, sovereignty over Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees who lost homes in the war that followed Israel’s establishment in 1948. Essentially, the same old song and dance.

Actually, any agreement between Israel and Palestine is moot because Hamas leaders have labeled Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas a traitor for simply attending the meeting. They’ve also vowed to reject any decisions that come from the meeting.

The Israelis see the futility of this effort as several thousand Jews, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, met at the Western Wall to protest the meeting.

So, it’s no big surprise that Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the meeting “has already failed,” and when considering the resistance from the Islamic states, he’s absolutely right. As always, the failure to achieve peace in the Middle East is a foregone conclusion. Not because the Israelis don’t want peace, but because Muslims will never choose to live in peace with the Jews.

I can’t believe I’ve been away so long; it’s been almost a month since my last post. So much has happened this month, so much I’ve wanted to comment on. I’ve certainly got some catching up to do!

My absence was the result of the course load for my master’s program. I’ve spent the last month with my nose buried in books and my fingers typing feverishly on the keypad. Thankfully, I’m now able to take a break. I’ll be starting up again in January and should be completely finished about this time next year!

My wife and I just enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with all the kids (and grandkid)–this was the first time we’d all been together in five years! After a great meal and lots of laughs everyone returned to their lives. That left a couple days for my wife and I to dig out the Christmas decorations and fix up the house for the Holiday. In just a couple of weeks my wife and I will be taking a trip to Prague! We’ll be back in town for Christmas, though…and another visit from some of the kids.

Anyway, more about that later.

I’ve loaded a new theme for the blog: It’s called Copyblogger and it was designed by Chris Pearson. Nice!

And with that, I’m back in business…

Two researchers at the University of Cincinnati have developed a
software program that recognizes jokes. The developers, Julia Taylor and Larry Mazlack, introduced the “bot” at the American Association for Artificial Intelligence conference in Vancouver. At first glance, this may not sound like a significant achievement, but it actually represents a giant step forward in computers obtaining the capabilities of the human mind.

The bot is a product of Taylor’s research in humor in robot’s. Mazlack describes this as a work of “sociable computing.” He explains that “computers are often difficult to communicate with” and have difficulty understanding problems that are “informally stated.” Probably the most important aspect of achieving sociable computing is the ability to communicate the nuances of the human language with computers. A computer with a fundamental understanding of humor could effectively dialogue with human beings. So how does it work?

Taylor explains that the underlying idea is the computers recognition of jokes based on the “phonological similarity of words.” This bot can indeed recognize jokes, but only after the required background and word knowledge are programmed into it. Training the bot consisted of providing it with information relative to a child’s understanding of American English. In doing this, Taylor and Mazlack developed an extensive list of knock-knock jokes, as well as introducing several homonyms. How does the bot use this information?

First, the bot looks to see if the message is consistent with what would make sense given the context. If it isn’t, the bot searches its “memory” for words with similar sounds to a word that would fit. If it finds such a word, the bot identifies the massage as humor. The bot’s ability to distinguish between a logical command and a joke, which is an illogical command, is a significant achievement in sociable computing.

The obvious potential benefit of this technology would be in engineering robot’s that could be used as companions for human beings. Another potential for this technology would be the integration of voice recognition and command attributes into computer programs. This would allow the issuance of commands through normal conversation, rather than the user having to learn one- or two-word static commands as in current voice recognition systems. A computer with the ability to understand human behavior will open doors previously seen only in science fiction. H.A.L. may not be too far away.