Boxes and Arrows: Comments by Putcha V. Narasimham

Putcha V. Narasimham — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 15:35:34 GMT

I have studied Image Processing and used filtering conceptually. It is inspiring to see practical application of such significance explained so clearly.

The explanation of “M and P Pathways”, the use of the “Box Plots” the reasoning, and conclusion are all exemplary—of presenting the complex subject lucidly and also of the method to do so for any complex subject.

Putcha V. Narasimham — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:53:41 GMT

The article uses terms or phrases like “Information”, “Information Architecture”, “Knowledge”, “Wisdom”, “Semantics” “Semantic Infrastructure” etc. When we look up the definitions of these terms in the publications of computer science or information technology or Wikipedia we come across many definitions which are not consistent.

It would be helpful for readers if the authors declare what definitions they are relying on. If they have their own definitions of the key terms or phrases, they should be kind enough to define and support them. Over time, the community of authors and readers should be able to arrive at most comprehensive and widely accepted definitions and use them for building more complex concepts and systems.

Putcha V. Narasimham — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:20:41 GMT

The problem, examples and solutions have been well described but readers have found that the distinctions in the modes of seeking information are not crisp enough. Actually the problem is complex. It calls for rigor and precision in 1 Classification and 2 Organization of the body of knowledge of a subject, 3 Query formulation, 4 Processing of query and finally, 5 Presentation of the results.

Any attempt to improve Information Seeking which relates directly to 3, cannot bring precision to 5 without 1 and 2 being defined with the expected precision and 4 capable of processing the query. Dynamic Taxonomy (more appropriately Ontology) with metadata takes care of 1 and 2. Different modes of seeking information determine how the query is formed (number of fields selected, values of metadata selected, conditions set etc). If that metadata are properly processed (4), then, 5 results will have the required precision.

Resource Description Framework, Semantic Web and OWL Ontology Language have conceptually addressed the requirement. We can hope to see some practical solutions. The experts in knowledge / content management may be in a position to report on the exact progress.

Putcha V. Narasimham — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:43:25 GMT

Matrix methods are effective in providing a comprehensive view of multiple factors involved and allowing drilling down to details (with a provision to get back). Although the details of Content Matrix are not known, it appears that it would be helpful.

I am reminded of “Customer Satisfaction Matrix” that is used to correlate “Features that customers value—F” and “The Means to Meet them—M”. By organizing F’s in decreasing order of value to customer and M’s in decreasing order of cost, most cost effective means can be selected and later incorporated. This is a simple tool of Total Quality Management, that has high pay off.

Putcha V. Narasimham (putchavn@yahoo.com)

Putcha V. Narasimham — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 06:14:40 GMT

Nonobject stirred my interest instantly. I am an Information Technology professional working on Object Oriented Methodologies using UML 2. I find that excessive focus on “Objects” interferes with conceptualization and abstraction of “Notional Things” that cannot have shape and mass (or attributes and operations) but are very potent and essential for designing software (and other things too).

“Non” is a prefix I have been using privately. I would like to acknowledge the original author of “Nonobject” in my documents where I use “nonobjec for objects which have dispersed indefinite attributes and operations”, “non-use-case for use cases which prevent users from doing anything objectionable / undesirable (in contrast to use-cases that enable valid users or actors to do something specific)” “nonuser or mis-user for any unauthorized user or a hacker who may misuse or subvert the software”.