When a watchful mentor emailed me a link to
Attensity over the
weekend, I was encouraged, finding, from a quick glance at their web site, that
some of the same data-mining they market, as their hallmark, matches up with a few
of the configurations defining a project I have underway. 
Attensity claims to process data and analyze that which is otherwise difficult
to discern.  Their software churns away like some kind of high-powered
heuristic meaning-cruncher–a processor of mass quantities of text into readable
metadata. 

NORA (non-obvious relationship awareness) for large-scale discourse. 

So I sent them an email inquiring about the whole plot,
all-the-while-recalling that the only other text parser I looked up asked $2k
per year for software licensing.  Did I mention I’m a grad student?

Well, I did mention that in the email to Attensity, the email inquiring about
their project.  And I heard back today–a polite note, something about
serving the US Intelligence community and a starting fee of $50,000. And
something about wishing me the best in my quest.  Thanks.  But no
thank-you. 

The

proliferation of textual analysis apps self-identifying as the devices built
to root out terrorism piques my interest.  Perhaps because of the sheer
volume of text to be analyzed for particular patterns (suspicious patterns!
watch the parentheticals, Attensity!), mass-discourse text parsers are up and
coming.  And so unbelievably over-priced that they’re no use whatsoever to
the project I’m working on.