Current Events – Page 23

Analysis, Business, Culture, Current Events, Economy, Entertainment, facebook, Historical Perspectives

Cyber Monday piggybacks on social media to become top online shopping day

November 27, 2011

When the term Cyber Monday was coined in 2005, the Monday after Thanksgiving was the 12th biggest online shopping day of the year. That year, Facebook had 5.5 million users and Twitter didn’t exist. In 2010, Cyber Monday was the #1 biggest online shopping day of the year, with sales topping $1 billion. I believe the growth of social media and the importance of Cyber Monday are correlated because peer -to-peer sharing of deals and owned marketing channels like Facebook Pages and Twitter accounts are bringing promotions directly to where users spend their time online.

The red line is where Cyber Monday ranked among the top online shopping days (from comScore press releases) for that year. Aside from 2008, which is an outlier due the recession, there is a trend in Cyber Monday popularity growing along with Facebook users…

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Analysis, Art, Award Winner, Breakthrough Thinking, Current Events, Education, Entertainment, Latest News, New Discoveries, New Inventions, People Making a Difference

Syneseizure, Isodrag Typeface, and other amazing results from Science Hack Day SF 2011

November 23, 2011

Syneseizure, the hack that won the “People’s Choice” award

Earlier this month, Science Hack Day SF brought together 150+ scientists, designers, developers, and makers to collaborate on science-related projects. Along with US hackers, the event included participants from Brazil, Canada, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, and South Africa thanks to a grant from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation toInstitute for the Future. My IFTF colleague Ariel Waldman, the lead on Science Hack Day SF and the grant, posted about the insanely creative and wonderful projects that emerged from the 48 hours of science hacking: a DNA-based cocktail, a globe where the location of the International Space Station is tracked using a laser pointer, the Isodrag Typeface that rescales letters based on their aerodynamic drag, and many others…

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Analysis, Business, Current Events, Globalism, Historical Perspectives

FCC Chief puts the kibosh on AT&T/T-Mobile merger

November 23, 2011

AT&T will have less of a monopoly now.

FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski, issued a draft statement yesterday lashing out against AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, calling its concentration of the wireless market contrary to the public interest. He’s also requested an administrative hearing, placing the onus on AT&T to prove the deal benign to wireless consumers…

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Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, government, Historical Perspectives, Latest News

Pakistan bans “Monkey Crotch” and other offensive words in text messages

November 20, 2011

Pakistan takes a stand on offending texts.

Texting is safe again: gone are offending words like “monkey crotch,” “love pistol,” and “flatulence” from ever invading your text messages, at least in Pakistan.

The guardians of linguistic purity there have issued a list of more than 1,000 words and phrases to be banned…

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Analysis, Crazy Stuff, Current Events, Education, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, New Discoveries

Faster than light neutrinos recorded again in latest CERN experiment

November 19, 2011

CERN produces a breakthrough.

In September, physicists were scratching their heads at CERN when neutrinos were recorded as traveling faster than the speed of light. That shouldn’t happen unless Einstein turns out to be wrong.

The experiment is part of the Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus (OPERA) project, and saw neutrinos fired 732km from CERN to the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy. The issue was, some of those neutrinos arrived early by billionths of a second, and therefore faster than light speed. This obviously caused some concern that either something new had been discovered, or more likely, an error had been made with the measurements…

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Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Current Events, Great New Product, New Inventions

This metal is almost as light as air

March 4, 2013

A breakthrough with amazing potential.

Ultra-lightweight materials are an incredibly cool area of materials science, bringing us crazy substances like aerogel. And now, for the first time, scientists have produced a metal that’s so light it can balance on the fluff of a dandelion. Here’s why this material is revolutionary — and how it’s made…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Current Events, Education, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries

Breakthrough in the future of superconducting

November 17, 2011

Is it possible for a gas to act like a metal?

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, but it’s not all that useful as a gas. Two scientists say they’ve coaxed it to become a metal, which could be used in ways that would radically change our lives.

Two scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Germany say they applied intense pressure and manipulated a few other conditions to transformed hydrogen into a metal. If their results, which they published in Nature Materials, can be reproduced it could lead to amazing things like super-efficient transportation systems, powerful medical devices, and major advances in computing…

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Analysis, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, Economy, Education, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, Latest Trend, New Discoveries

US college grads’ salaries in steep decline

November 13, 2011

This trend doesn’t paint a pretty picture.

According to analysis from economist Michael Mandel, the average wages of US college grads have experienced sharp declines in the last decade. On the other hand, college keeps getting more expensive, and the collection of student loans has become much more aggressive. Sounds like a recipe for disaster…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Culture, Current Events, DIY, Education, Historical Perspectives, Money Talk, New Discoveries

Civilisedmoney: A crowd-funded, ethical alternative to mainstream banks?

November 6, 2011

Crowdfunding is a great way to pry control away from big money.

Whether it’s local investing in everybody eats restaurants, the microfinancing of entrepreneurs through Kiva, or citizen-funded clean energy through eco-bonds, we’ve featured plenty of ways to get passed the big banks and put your money to work.

Peer2Peer Finance Goes Mainstream
In the UK there are already a number of peer2peer lending sites, like ZOPA, that are offering rates of return far better than your traditional bank. A new venture called civilisedmoney is aiming to take this model even further, offering a fully transparent, crowd-funded alternative to every service offered by mainstream banks…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Business, Current Events, Education, Entertainment, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries, People Making a Difference

Four days with the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs

October 31, 2011

What’s on the minds of the new minds?

The world’s most successful entrepreneurs play hard, but they work even harder. That much was made clear after the dust settled on f.ounders, an event that has quickly become one of technology’s premiere conferences.

There aren’t many events where you meet two heads of state, eat dinner with Bono, and party with 150 of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. But that’s exactly what happened at the f.ounders conference in Dublin, Ireland last week. The conference brought together the founders of Skype, YouTube, Netflix, Rovio, GroupMe, StumbleUpon, 4chan and more for four days of intensive networking, extravagant dinners and Irish hospitality — you couldn’t walk five steps without somebody offering you a Guinness…

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Current Events, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

Something has exploded in a spectacular fashion on Uranus

October 30, 2011

Massive change on a distant planet.

Quite snickering! Something on Uranus has erupted and now scientists are all in a tizzy about what and why it might be.

The news is exciting for a number of reasons. The simplest being we know very little about Uranus, mostly due to its incredible distance form Earth and because it’s, well, frankly one of the more “boring” planets out there…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Current Events, Food, Globalism, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, New Discoveries, Plant Life

Magnetic Resonance used to artificially taste and improve canned tomatoes

October 29, 2011

Improving the taste of tomatoes in an unlikely way.

What makes something taste ‘good’ is a complex psychological and physiological human process that has made creating artificial tasters, or accurate scientific models, very difficult. But researchers at the University of Copenhagen have come up with what’s described as a “magnetic tongue” that could allow factories to monitor and improve the flavor of tinned tomatoes during the canning process…

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