It’s called having business intelligence, savvy, and it doesn’t just mean knowing the ropes or being well versed with the client. It means having an eye to the current, an intuitive ability to respond to the river of data coursing through your company, and if yours is a small business, it probably means knowing where to turn to have that information processed, organized, and returned to you in palatable “intelligence” packets. If you are operating a small business you might be missing serious opportunities if you aren’t paying attention to everything your business is telling you….

No harm, no foul, lesson learned, you’re data is safe. That’s the message that Facebook gave its users with a recent blog post titled “Protecting People On Facebook”. Things ended well. Laptops of employees were attacked when they visited an app developer site with malicious code on it which triggered a zero-day java exploit. Forensic investigation showed that nothing crucial fell into the wrong hands and no user data was compromised. It was the best possible ending for a hacking, particularly of a company that is so entrusted with private user information. The social network requires real…

Over the first few thousand years of our existence (up until 2003), humankind generated 5 billion GB of data. Today, we generate that amount every two days. Think that’s a big jump? Well hold on to your seats, because experts predict that by next year we’ll be generating that amount every 10 minutes! This infographic takes a look at our “digital footprint” – the amount and type of data we consume as a society, from viewing videos to surfing the web to specific device usage, including desktops vs. laptops, e-readers vs tables and Androids vs iPhones. A full 75% of the information in the digital…

On the tail of the release of a report that showed how synthetic DNA could be used to store zettabytes of data in the palm of our hand, it’s important to understand just how much information that really is. The term “big data” is already appearing to be the most overused word of the year in 2013 and it’s only January, so grasping the size of how big it all really is makes for an interesting visualization. Search Engine Journal attacked the topic, and while they’re doing so from a search perspective, the infographic looks at it from many creative perspectives. The fact that the infographic itself is huge…

Never has a internet company had so much information about its users. Facebook knows your friends. They know where you go in real life and online. They know who you hang out with, who you talk to, what interests you, and they have a database of pictures of you that the FBI would die to get a hold of (and probably have already). Companies are built around the data that Facebook shares about you, but that is changing. Facebook is building a moat around their data and only lowering the drawbridge to those who are not a threat and who contribute to the “Facebook cause” by giving back some love through sharing….

Put your tin foil hats on. It’s conspiracy theory time. Since 2010, Google has been tracking and releasing their bi-yearly Transparency Report. In it, they give details about the number of requests various governments make to the search giant for personal information. On the surface, this seems to be an excellent way for Google to maintain their position as a company that is fighting for the privacy of its users by informing them and giving them awareness that they should join the fight to keep the internet, our activities, and the data that we put online as private as possible. What if (stay with…

Recently on Spectrum, Scientists from Harvard University have successfully converted a 53,000 word book into a single strand of DNA. The success of the conversion will allow data to be stored in the guise of a DNA strand; DNA can hold more information per cubic millimeter than certain flash memory technology. Scientists claim that the cycle of conversion, from coding to decoding, would prove to be an expensive process initially but those needing a large quantity of data might find the means to make this technology more affordable in the future. Imagine. Universities around the globe can store…

In a time where everyone is wanting to save a buck, it is unnecessary to pay extra for data overages on your smartphone. So, what exactly causes overages and how do you avoid them? Each data plan is made up with a number of gigabytes that are allowed to be used. One gigabyte is equal to 1024 megabytes which is 1024 kilobytes and that is made up of 1024 bytes. One gigabyte is equal to 29,000 emails, 13.5 albums of music, 150 downloaded apps, and 5,700 pageviews. Like to download movies? An average movie download uses 2 gigabytes while a high-definition movie download uses 4.8 gigabytes. Mobile users in…

  The next Social Media giant is right before our eyes, known as the photo filtering and sharing social mobile app, Instagram. Although its launch date was in October of 2010 it has gained 80 million users in less than two years. It took Facebook nearly 4 years after its initial launch and Twitter 5 years before its user base reached 100 million, so with 20 million more users Instagram will hit the 100 million mark. It will not be surprising if they do prior to their 2 year anniversary since their user base has increased by 166% after opening up on two mobile platforms, iOS and Android as well as the recent…

  If you’re in the Social Media Industry you have heard of the social measuring sites, Klout or Empire Avenue, sure there are other ones that exist and that you should or could be on, but these two seem to have gained more recognition within the Industry, either good or bad. Some may say that either site is merely an ego booster and nothing more, others may think that they serve no true purpose and then there are the rest of us, who see these two particular sites to be what a future boss might see, your current boss is seeing and who to network with within the Industry. Depending on how you see it, even…