Archive for June, 2010
Hadoop + Hive + Endeca, Spotted in the Wild
by Pete Bell
In his post MapReduce just semi-good for semi-structured data, Adam Ferrari answered one of his FAQs about the relationship between Endeca and MapReduce, the popular big data cruncher. Now here’s one example of them complementing each other.
The question Adam answered was, if MapReduce is so powerful for processing big data, then what role does [...]
Bring Back the Dead Ends
by Pete Bell
There’s still so much room for innovation on faceted search user experiences. Here’s a great improvement that’s still rarely seen in the wild: graying out dead ends instead of removing them. “Gray ends” are just for certain cases, but in those conditions, they make a big difference. Moreover, they exemplify one of the great Edward [...]
Faceted Search, Without Electricity
by Pete Bell
Yesterday, Paul Sonderegger blogged great examples of reporting and filing systems from before the days of computers, including DuPont’s “chart room” and the 19th century invention of the vertical file. Beyond their appeal to fans of oak cabinetry, those early systems remind us that the design of a system can be independent of its implementation, [...]
MBAs As Data Designers
by Paul Sonderegger
The Haas business school at University of California Berkeley is reinventing itself for an information-rich world. Mixed in with the usual themes of leadership, culture, innovation is a new one – experimenting with information. And this is changing the way some of the classics are taught. According to The Economist, “the focus of [...]
It Listens More Than It Speaks
by Pete Bell
“If men do not pour new wine into old bottles, they do something almost as bad — they invest old words with new meanings.” That’s Herb Simon’s warning at the beginning of his landmark speech, “Designing Organizations for an Information Rich World.”
Last time out, I willfully ignored him, making the claim that Simon, father of [...]
