There seems to be a bit of debate on LSI lately. I’m not going to say too much about all the commentary back and forth, because frankly I feel senior Theme Zoomengineer (this guy BUILDS search engines) Kelly Reynolds, said it best when he said,
“Latent Semantic Analysis is an algorithm. An idea. A tool. It has many applications for which it is ideally suited, and some for which it is not. Some of those applications include, but are not limited to (from Wikipedia):
Compare the documents in the concept space (data clustering, document classification)
Find similar documents across languages, after analyzing a base set of translated documents (cross language retrieval)
Find relations between terms (synonymy and polysemy)
Given a query of terms, translate it into the concept space, and find matching documents (information retrieval)
Obviously if you are a search engine, the information retrieval would be most interesting. If you have a huge amount of research abstracts that you are trying to categorize for research purposes, you’d be most interested in document classification. Cross language retrieval would be right up your alley if you are tracking the history and evolution of Indo-European languages using their dated written histories. If you are trying to discover all of the ways that a particular concept is thought of and referenced, you’d focus on synonymy and polysemy.”
I had to smile when I came across Ferny Ceballos’ blog and the LSI: Passive Agressive Attack or Misunderstanding post, both because of the great personal writing style he always uses, and the graphic image of the bull (doing his business) he used, which of course, I promptly swiped to use on my own blog, too. (I know you won’t mind, Ferny).
Adding Google Friend Connect activity to your FriendFeed is not hard to do when you know a few “work around” tricks, and I can show you how to get it done in 10 easy steps! The challenge is that FriendFeed does not allow Google Friend Connect to be added to its’ stream yet and that your Google Friend Connect Feed that goes through Plaxo is not able to be read by FriendFeed, Facebook etc…
I have to say with a little bit of an evil chuckle, that by adding your Google Friend Connect to your FriendFeed, and having the FriendFeed app enabled in Facebook, you can now feed your Google Friend Connect activity straight into Facebook for all your Facebook friends to see… And since Facebook has made it so damn hard to integrate THEIR Friend Connect app on the average users blog, you will likely have some of your jealous Facebook friends climb out of the walled garden to come and play with you in the real world. *wink*
Here is a Handy Little 5 minute video i created that walks you through the feed setup:
Below the Video you will find the text tutorial.
1. To get started go to your Google Friend Connect app on your site and click “settings” you will be taken to your profile page.
2. In your Google Friend Connect Profile, Make sure you have selected Orkut and Plaxo
3. Select the “Show Your Activity on this site to other users and friends” box
4. Go to your Plaxo profile page and you should now see your Google Friend Connect stream showing. You will want to click on the “view all” in the right corner of your Pulse Stream to see your Pulse Stream page.
Here is what your Pulse Stream Page looks like:
5. Firefox users, click on the RSS button up in your URL window to go to the Plaxo Pulse Stream Feed page.
6. Enable Your PulseStream “me” on the Pulse Stream Page and copy the URL to your clipboard.
7. Go to your Feedburner Account, and burn the new Feed URL into a feed:
8. Go to the new Feed page and get the New FeedBurner URL for the Plaxo Feed that has your Google Friend Connect Feed in it and log into your FriendFeed account:
9. In FriendFeed you will want to “Import a Site”, treating the new Feedburner feed like a blog:
10. Add your Feedburner URL to the RSS/Blog entry and once you hit save it should import your Plaxo/Google Friend Connect feed right into your FriendFeed, and anywhere else you have friendfeed enabled to stream! You can also use the feedburner feed to stream into your other lifestreams that you might have in other networks.
I am sure that once you have the hang of this, you will think of creative ways to use your Google Friend Connect and other social feeds across all your networks. Remember that you may not want some feeds to display in some networks, so use your discretion as to what feeds are running where to avoid mixing your business, church, family etc… into one big swimming pool.
I have never gotten up early to shop on Black Friday. The very idea seemed not only slightly offensive but also boring. Why fight thousands of people for a bargain I can likely find online? At least that is what I used to think. What changed my mind? Four dollar tracksuits and hoodies for my kids. I saw the ad last night, my bargain hunting mouth watered, and I decided that if I could outfit 3 kids in winter clothing that cheaply, I had to give it a try. At least once.
Was I in for a suprise! Not only were there MORE people than I expected, but as a “first timer” I was unprepared and ill equipped and fed for the trek. I found out many shoppers were drunk. At first I thought that was strange but as the morning wore on, I understood WHY people drink before Black Friday shopping. I hope they had designated drivers, because the way carts were crashing into my heels, feet, legs and body I feel like the song “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer”, only in my case, the reindeer had a Wal-Mart sign on it.
Just promise not to laugh TOO hard when I spy Starbucks and actually break into a song of joy. It was cold, very cold, and meant to be funny.
ABOVE: Black Friday part 1- I Arrive at Kohls and am SHOCKED!
ABOVE: Black Friday Part 2: Ig et through the line, get into Kohls, and encounter drunken shoppers.
ABOVE: Black Friday Part 4- I think these people are Drunk…. and then I discover WHY people DRINK before shopping on Black Friday. As long as you have a designated driver, it might help to be tipsy.
ABOVE: Black Friday Part 5: Wal-Mart Adventure
~ Erika Social Media and Life News form Technology Goddess
Google has just released a whole set of yummy new enterprise additions to it’s analytics buffet and they are all worth tasting. They include: Advanced Segmentation, Custom Reports, a data export API (private beta), integrated reporting for AdSense publishers (private beta), multi-dimensional data visualizations called “Motion Charts,” and an updated user and administrative interface.
For more insight on the new analytics features you can visit the Google Blog which has a complete rundown of every feature with advanced instructions, and watch the videos I’m including here for you below. As a creative-type geometry geek I am really into the Motion Charts, which give us a multi-dimensional view of our data. That, to me, is like analytics candy!
Many of us in the Tech community tend to have a smug ego-centric assumption that we technically-savvy web 2.0 geeks are smarter. According to a new study from UCLA, our smug assumption is correct. Google search DOES make your smarter, actually it doubles your neural activity in the decision-making and complex reasoning part of the brain. The more experienced searcher you are, the higher your neural activity. The study used live MRI brain scans to monitor brain activity comparing online search engine pages with book pages. Read more
Google has added a new feature on Google Knol articles; audio playback is now available. Clicking on the “listen” link in the upper right corner of the page displays the audio player with decent sound. Read more
Your business might be missing out on the majority of consumers who are expecting to find your company in social media networks and furthermore expecting to interact with you there. A new research study just conducted two weeks ago from Cone reveals that if your company does not have a social media presence online, you are missing out on the 93% of Americans who believe you should, and the 85% of Americans who are expecting to interact with your company through social media.
Companies like Corp. Social Networking are allowing businesses that are savvy enough to realize that having no social media presence is not only passing on a marketing opportunity, but literally leaving the 93% of consumers expecting them to be there disappointed.
The study entitled: 2008 Business in Social Media Study, should shatter any doubts whether corporate social media interaction is necessary, revealing that 60% of Americans are now interacting with companies using social media and one in four are interacting more than once a week.
Customer satisfaction is also now proven to be higher for businesses with a social media presence as the study reveals that 56% of consumers feel a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they interact through social media.
Mike Hollywood, director of new media for Cone commented on the study results. “The news here is that Americans are eager to deepen their brand relationships through social media. It isn’t an intrusion into their lives, but rather a welcome channel for discussion.”
More numbers from the Cone study reveal that Consumers believe:
Companies should use social networks to solve their problems (43%).
Companies should solicit feedback on their products and services (41%) via social media.
Companies should develop new ways for consumers to interact with their brand (37%) through social media.
Companies should market to consumers (25%) using social media.
The Cone study was conducted online September 11-12 2008 and surveyed 1,092 adults.
It also showed that the most lucrative higher-income households are expecting social media interaction with companies they do business with. Households with incomes of $75K+ believe that companies should seek to reach them via social media and two-thirds of the wealthiest households say they feel a stronger connection to brands they can interact with online.
What does this mean for your business?
It means that in the hearts and minds of your consumers, social media has gone beyond being a marketing option, and is now considered a marketing necessity.
They are expecting you to be present in social networking communities, to interact with, listen to and engage them in meaningful conversations, and yes, they are also expecting you to market to them there.
Are you going to say “no” to the 93% of consumers expecting you to join the conversation?
The Technology Goddess Blog was so honored to be a Google Friend Connect Beta tester. Please join the conversation with me!
TED: Webs Secret Stories
Jonathan Harris' software reveals the emotional world of the Web. With deep compassion for the human condition, his projects troll the Internet to find out what we're all feeling and searching for and gives us a glimpse into the Soul of the internet and humanity.
I'm sharing my lifestyle picks, pleasures and general dopamine enhancers in Lifestyle. I'm not your average blond, and no one has ever called me "normal", so be prepared for some hedonic treadmill fun as you browse my brain. When you are ready to jump off the treadmill, Check out NeuroMarketing and find out what's really going on when you drool over those shiny new things!
