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Can We Prove That a Large System is Self-Organizing?

In my 2014 article about large systems I wrote that "what makes a system large is our inability...

How Consumer Computational Search is Changing the Internet

I don't like using the term "consumer" because it implies an economic function of the searcher...

Resonating Euler Spirals and Prolate Spheroids

You might call it a two-tone football.  If you're a real mathematician you may be able to...

Spinning Objects: A Process for Controlling Self-modifying Systems

I used to work with a programming language called Business Basic.  It was descended through...

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Michael MartinezRSS Feed of this column.

Michael Martinez has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, an Associate of Science degree in Data Processing Technology, and a few certifications in long-forgotten 2nd millennium technologies... Read More »

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How Webometrics Become A Liability In Webometry

How Webometrics Become A Liability In Webometry

Aug 23 2011 | comment(s)

Webometrics faces many challenges, not the least of which is a dearth of tools capable of measuring the Web with any degree of accuracy.  Most academic and professional Webometrics analysts alike have had to rely on a mix of search engine downloads and query operators.  Yet even analysts from organizations with their own crawlers are challenged by the limitations of methodologies and technologies.
Seeking Shape and Cardinality in the 0-Dimensional Web

Seeking Shape and Cardinality in the 0-Dimensional Web

Aug 16 2011 | comment(s)

What is the shape of a Website?  How does one determine "shape" from a collection of links and electronic files?  Web designers, search engineers, and marketing consultants use geometric shapes like circles, rectangles, pyramids, and network diagrams to visually depict Website shapes but such illustrations fall short of representing the nature of Websites.
Reflections of the Realized Imagination

Reflections of the Realized Imagination

Aug 10 2011 | comment(s)

Imagine you are living within a bubble.  Your bubble stretches in any direction but you are always contained within it.  Your bubble is adrift in a sea that has no bottom, only a surface.  The surface surrounds your bubble, so the sea itself is only a bubble.  Beyond the surface lies darkness.

This is the virtual universe we live in every day.  We call it the Internet.  The bubble around you is the collection of Websites you read and comment on.  The sea through which your bubble drifts is the Searchable Web.  The darkness beyond the Searchable Web is everything else -- everything that you cannot get to, or which has no meaning to you.