Written in the meta-data

Is it possible to identify an individual’s romantic partner on the basis of his/her social networks alone? That’s the question Jon Kleinberg, a computer scientist at Cornell University and Eric Bakstrom, a senior engineer from Facebook, teamed up to answer. After analyzing millions of Facebook data points, they came up with an affirmative response in Romantic Partnerships and the Dispersion of Social Ties: A Network Analysis of Relationship Status on Facebook -- they assert the answer is yes with a 60% probability. 

Read more in Your Romantic Attachments as Predicted by Metadata

Students on camera -- not for security

We have technology that can use cCameras in Class: Insight vs. Privacy

ameras in the classroom for analysis of lessons. What do you think? Learn more about the concept of  EngageSense in

the use of @ and # before Twitter

Grawlixes, AKA obscenicons are the short strings of symbols that take the place of profanity. It seems positively quaint in today's world when just about everything is considered fit for print, though you may still see it on rare occasion. I was reminded of the device recently when I read The Pigman. (I checked it out of the library after seeing it among the books on display at the New York Public Library's The ABC of It: Why Children's Books Matter). 
The 1968 novel has two narrators, and the teen boy says that to abstain from using curse words, he will type  “@#$%” or“3@#$%.”  I'm not certain I've ever seen the use of grawlixes in books before, though I have seen the oblique reference, something along the lines of "He called her something I cannot repeat," that you can find in a book lie The Forsyte Sage  or the dashes following a letter like "d___ " that you can find in books by the Brontes.

I have the impression that language in print really loosened up in the 1990s, and this fits with what I found in a 2000 article about the shifting standard for newspapers: "He spent 10 years at the San Antonio Express-News, where he watched 'damn' go from being bleeped out to containing dashes to being fully spelled out. "
BTW If you want to hear grawlixes in a song, there is one here:

Related post http://writewaypro.blogspot.com/2013/08/blame-ship-logs-for-this-word.html

Hashtags and Haute Couture: Effective Branding on Instagram

Businesses have a long tradition of serving as patron of the arts. Often they are only acknowledged discreetly with logos on the sign for the exhibit they support. Some get more credit with the free admission times named for them like the “Target Free” days at many museums. For even brand greater exposure, though, it’s necessary to tap into internet sharing, and that is something that  Instagram makes possible

Read about Lexus' getting the most out of sponsoring The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, with Instagram in 

Lexus Steers Branding Program via Instagram

Data privacy protection subject to law in Europe

Years before the NSA data spying scandal broke in the US, the European Commission turned its attention to the problem posed by data collection, though it took until October 21, 2013, for it to win the vote on the proposal. Read more in

Privacy Rights Progress in Europe

The best of both the online and bricks-and-mortar worlds

With the all-important holiday shopping season around the corner, retailers are doing whatever it takes to win customers in the United Kingdom. eBay is betting on a combination of online ordering and in-person pick-up with a six-month trial of “click and collect,” where the online auction house provides delivery to Argos stores for a number of its sellers.

The partnership gives customers the best of both the online and bricks-and-mortar worlds. Read more in 

eBay Bets on In-Person Pick-Up Partnership

the MoMA goes mobile

Handheld devices put a wealth of information at your fingertips, and now museums are using them to enhance visitors’ experiences and enable people to relive their experiences afterwards. One thing to remember: that flow of data is a two-way street. 

This past summer, when I visited the Museum of Modern Art in New York, instead of audio guides outfitted with buttons that I had come to expect upon entry, I was given a sleek iPod to use. Like the audio guides, it provided access to recorded information about particular works of art on display, but it also provided a lot more options

Read more about the MoMA's mobile innovation here