Author: Ajay Ohri

http://about.me/ajayohri

Google Custom Search

Here is a revised version of the Custom Search Engine that I first talked of last year- this year it now includes Business Intelligence Sites.

Try it out and let me know of you want to help create a customized Data Mining Engine- Note it already has 800 plus analytics and Business Intelligence Sites.

I got much better results than Google when searching for R, but thats to be expected 🙂

Ubuntu Analytics for Beginners (like me)


So I finally gave in, said Goodbye to my Windows with it’s virus warnings, viruses, anti viruses and security updates and got an Ubuntu.

It is like learning to speak a new language at the age of >30.

Here are some tips for configuring Internet on Ubuntu and Configuring R on Ubuntu
Using R from Ubuntu

Finding All packages

Go to Applications -Accessories-Terminal

Type the following

$apt-cache search r-cran-

To install any package simply

Type

sudo apt-get install r-cran-rcmdr r-cran-xml

After this to get other packages not listed here, invoke R by typing R at the prompt

Load installed packages by Command

>library(packagename)
Configuring Internet (specific to Indian Broadband)  on an Ubuntu Laptop

Connect the Internet Wire and Switch on the ADSL modem

Go to Applications -Accesories-Terminal

Type the following at Terminal ( Note the $ sign represents Terminal- so type only ifconfig in following command)

$ ifconfig

Check the IP address from this value ( among a big dump of stuff you get by typing ifconfig)

inet addr:XXX.XX.XX.XX

Go to System- Administration- Network

Click Wired Connection- Unlock ( Use the admin password given to you- same as your machine login password)

Select Wired Connection -Properties

Configuration to Automatic Configuration (DHCP)

Go to Host

Select username-laptop Properties

Change Ip address to one gotten above

Close

(To be continued)

For Enthusiastic Beginners in Ubuntu – Note I use the Ubuntu Long Term version 8.10. The latest version is 9.04 but it is not a Long Term Version Yet. Also recommended is the Cannonical Shop for Ubuntu Merchandise (see a free screenshot in the post)

https://shop.canonical.com/

Spreading Content using Social Media

The concept of social media is different for different people- some view it as a revolution enabling people to communicate world wide, others view it as a new marketing media, while some of us wonder what the big fuss is all about.

Here are some ways to spread content/marketing communication using Social Media-

1) RSS – Really Simple Syndication has effectively proven a challenge to content creators as well as search engines.Using it effectively can make it a very nice and user friendly way to spread the words you write.

  • Newsletters- I use both Feedblitz ( for historical reasons) and my default feed is Google Feedburner. Google feedburner is useful especially for content leaching and security. I also like to track how people read the newsletter and Feedblitz is very good in that, but if the RSS feed is used by a RSS reader then Feedburner does a better job of tracking IMO.Note Linkedin now has a good feature for Announcements that does the same thing.
  • Linkedin News – In the Linkedin Group created for your Blog ( if not, do it.now) There is an option for News – add your RSS feed there for people/visitors to read it.
  • Facebook- Use the Facebook application called Facebook Notes for spreading your content to all your connections every time you write a post.
  • Linkedin WordPress Application- This updates your Linkedin profile for latest posts. Very useful for link seekers like me who have 8000+ Linkedin connections ( Note I have got 4 contracts and multiple knowledge opportunities through the links there- In a hyper Linked world every one needs as many links they can get)

2) Thid Party Sites- Create a Page to Drop Links or Create a Community to Exchange Comments/Views

  • Create a Facebook Page for your site  and also add similar pages for Favourites- Like a FB analogy for Blogroll( Example –

Join ours at http://www.facebook.com/pages/DecisionStats/191421035186

  • Create a Linkedin Group ( if not done so already)

Join Decisionstats at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=54257

3) Twitter- Use the RSS in Step 1 ( Preferably use Feedburner than the raw xml feed to help you track) and add it to www.twitterfeed.com for automated posting of your content.

4) Use Customized Widgets- I recommend the one at Add to Any WordPress Plugin to help your readers share it on – and you CAN tweak the colors here –

http://www.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save/menu_style/wordpress

5) WordPress- The latest version of WordPress is available at both Simple Scripts ( for Self Hosted) and at www.wordpress.org

Use it for a better looking website/blog. Using custom themes and Akismet with Bad Behaviour plugins guarantees security. For more tips on WordPress security see www.dullest.com

6) Use it or Lose it-

  • Using Facebook has helped me maintain contacts with SCHOOL Friends
  • Linkedin has helped me like n Online Rolodex
  • Twitter – I am still trying to figure it out but it is fun.

Hope that helps. Have a great Memorial Day weekend in the US- those vets have helped the world stay free in Europe, Africa and Asia as well

Creating Online Communities

Sometime back I had asked the question- How much do you think would it be to have the top 100 bloggers on SAS language on the same page, in a manner that the RSS feeds get updated on their own. The answer is here-

Wordframe. I had covered this software before in comparison to Ning.com and they proved favorable.

This is a small startup, East Europe and US based since more than a decade and very hard working. They allegedly wanted to become open source and had plans to create third party applications when I checked with them in January but this may be on hold for a new product launch.

Would sas.com pay for 1000$ set up fee and 200$ monthly fee for getting the top 100 SAS bloggers on their sascommunity.org website.

Would oracle pay for 1000$ set up fee and 200$ monthly fee for getting the top 100 Oracle bloggers on a website sponsored by them.

How much would Aster Data pay for say 100 bloggers about Hadoop ( ahem- assuming there are 100 people who CAN blog about Hadoop- a bit like Einstein’s 5 people in the world can understand his theory of relativity).

Check this site out.

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