Information vs. Meaning: Mining the information in public sources

British publisher Infonortics' recently released Stephen E. Arnold opus, Google Version 2.0:  The Calculating Predator, is a shining example how information becomes meaningful when an analytical mind goes about linking individual, discrete items for potential predictive value.  In the thorough and extensive report (see www.arnoldit.com and www.infonortics.com), Stephen points to the content of patents held (under unassuming titles as is common with patents) by Google employees, their technical papers posted on the net, and their prior work history, making the case that Google is "interested" in certain kinds of technology and applications going way beyond search and advertising.  The suggestion is that before long, our lives will be Googlified through and through, Google having a leading role in many of the tools and functions we take for granted in day to day activities.

Stephen invested 2 years of digging and analysis to create the report - which seems quick, given the sheer weight of detail and knowledge he serves up. His pursuit of dots to connect, coupled with his unique expertise in esoteric computational technology, has yielded a fascinating glimpse into the directions Google might go in its next ventures ... amounting to a reminder that appearance can indeed mislead. As Stephen notes, he can't prove that his conclusions are correct - but the evidence he brings is sure compelling that Google is much more than a funky search company.  We shall see, in due course.

The opus would make superb required reading in Business and Competitive Intelligence courses under the topic of mining the gold in public information sources.  (As for the fact that deep expertise may be required to make sense of what is mined ... that is of course another matter!)