Looking at individuals and breaking down their traits, how one inclination affects another habit, and why we choose to do the things we do is often challenging. Causation is difficult to isolate in the individual because there are simply too many factors amongst the things we can see and no about, let alone the plethora of underlying circumstances that remain hidden from us and outside observers, often for our entire lives. When we break the data down into groups and start analyzing it in reference to masses of people rather than individuals, we can often see the forest more clearly than we can see…

The internet allows us to learn in ways that were never possible before. It helps us reach an educational potential in most things that is greater than live training alone. There are, however, exceptions. Certain things just shouldn’t be taught online. Gun safety, for example, should require physical attendance by the learners. It’s a gun. How does one learn everything they need to know about gun safety from their computer? We’re still waiting for that answer from the state of Maryland. They have failed to reply at this point. The infographic below by Mindflash takes a look at some of the most asinine…

We know where to look to see what Johnny had for breakfast, how little Timmy slid into 3rd base, and what’s happening with Lady Gaga. There is no doubt that social media has connected us to our friends, family, and current events in ways that we couldn’t even imagine a decade ago. When it comes to business, that’s where things get a little more gray. Is it really working? Let’s face it – most who have tried to use social media for business purposes have been met with certain levels of disdain and abuse. They get called spammers. They’re get unfriended, unfollowed, blocked, banned, or publicly ridiculed….

The closed-platform style of an intranet (not to be confused with the internet) allows for secure distribution and communication of information within a company or organization. In the good ol’ days (a decade ago) company intranets were extremely useful in transferring data, sharing files, and collaboration. Today, it’s much less useful. The speed in which information is able to travel with today’s technology makes the intranet a much-less valuable part of the business world. Still, it’s not dead, and as more exploits are found to gather data from companies using internet-only protocols,…

There are certain things that are made to be impossible in this world. One of them is breaking into Fort Knox. The security measures are so extreme, they’re almost comical. Nobody other than a large army could get beyond the first measures (and there are several beyond those). From 4-foot thick granite outer walls to 27-inch thick steel and concrete vaults, the fortress could withstand an atomic bomb. Everything has a backup, and most of the backups have a backup. Getting in is simply impossible. This infographic by our friends at CreditSesame shows just how tight the vault is. They also explore…

Many believe that email is dying. Apparently, it isn’t. We’re communicating more through other means such as SMS, social media, and IM, but despite being clunky and having and “old-tech” feel, people still rely on email and read it every day. In fact, it’s estimated that there will be 3.8 billion email users worldwide by 2014. According to information collected by Litmus, the iPad and iPhone account for 13% of all emails opened. That’s not to say that 13% of email users have iDevices — it’s more likely less than 1%. It simply means that Apple device users receive and read more of their emails on their…

The art of the transaction is one of the first things that made us truly human. We started with bartering, often exchanging cattle and other goods for items that we didn’t have. Over the centuries, it evolved into the use of currencies. Today, money is still there, but the way it is tracked and delivered has changed dramatically. As our friends at Flowtown put it, “For decades it has been theorized that one day we would pay for items by swiping our computer chip-implanted hand over a scanner that is directly tied to our back or credit account. Will this ever be a reality? We’ll have to wait to find out.”…

It’s no secret that mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have exploded in popularity over the last 3 years. Apple has sold nearly 30 million tablets in the last year and a half alone. As users get more accustomed to using the devices to make purchases, the promise of a strong mobile commerce system is finally starting to take form. Despite the speed in which it is growing, the industry was supposed to be moving faster. The release of the iPhone and Android phones marked a new venture for companies wanting to cash in on the technology by creating apps that could be universally used. Big dreams…

The promise of the internet that many of us started looking towards a decade or two ago is starting to get realized. When we think back and look at what the potential of the internet held, one of the biggest elements that we imagined was the expansion of communication through direct video chat. Today, there are iPads with Facetime, Skype, Rounds, and other variations of video chat that take our initial dreams and perspectives and enhance them. Our horizons have expanded. This infographic takes a look at 11 of the ways that video chat is being used today to enhance and empower real-world relationships….

You don’t have to be a tech geek to know about apps. Just about anyone with a smartphone or a tablet has downloaded and installed apps onto their devices at one point or another. Some do it nearly every day. Gaming is the biggest category – we love our distractions – but business and productivity apps are starting to make a push and are being used by individuals and companies alike. This infographic by our friends at Intuit breaks down the boom of applications in the small business realm. As people become more accustomed to utilizing applications rather than websites and online resources, we can expect…