Analysis in light of the Pareto Principle

Many businesses who are not getting as much utility out of big data as they would like identify the source of the problem as their inadequate hardware, and inadequate finances. However, in a Smart Data Collective post, Paige Roberts argues that it's not the hardware, but the software that's to blame.

"Investing in better utilization of existing hardware is a far better, more sustainable, and cost-effective solution" for businesses who find their current setups inadequate. Roberts points to the inefficiency built into current "utilization rates of hardware [that] are around 15 percent worldwide." Even the most efficient data centers max out at only 20 percent, meaning that 80 percent is untapped.

Do those numbers ring a bell?

Read more: What's the real problem with the hardware? - FierceBigData

What do Long Island and Arlington, Texas have in common?

The answer is science. This topic was of particular interest to me because I've visited Brookhaven, one of the institutions involved in the partnership, multiple times. It's on Long Island, which, surprising, as that may be, actually has quite a history in connection with science as engineering, including the space program. 

Their goal is to extend the PanDA system for more general applications. Brookhaven and UT Arlington originally developed the workload management system to process the massive quantities of data involved in a component of the research of the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC.

Read more: Project aims to improve big data processing for science and engineering - FierceBigData http://www.fiercebigdata.com/story/project-aims-improve-big-data-processing-science-and-engineering/2012-09-11#ixzz26BQk146W 

The ROI of social media marketing

SumAll’s “vision” is based on “making data beautiful, affordable and accessible.” Its target is small and medium sized companies that have not had the same access to the analytics tools that larger companies have used to “leverage their data to make better decisions and more money” Like Toms and Warby Parker, SumAll declares itself devoted to  “do good by doing right.” To that end, it grants a share of itself to SumAll.org. 10% of its ownership to a non-profit called. 

The company itself is not intended to be nonprofit, planning on charging for premium services in future, though for now at least,  tool is available for free.

Read more: SumAll pins an ROI on social media metrics - FierceBigData http://www.fiercebigdata.com/story/sumall-pins-roi-social-media-metrics/2012-09-06#ixzz25iYqd6Rh 

When Big Data becomes Big Brother

You are being watched. Does that make you feel safe or make you feel exposed? The answer to that question determines whether people applaud or decry New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's latest initiative. Not everyone is ready to surrender their privacy to Big Data even for a system supposedly designed for their own good. 

Read more: When big data becomes big brother: New York City's system for crime prevention - FierceBigData http://www.fiercebigdata.com/story/when-big-data-becomes-big-brother-new-york-citys-system-crime-prevention/2012-08-30#ixzz25iNx32rh
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What's in a name?

Should data scientists be called "data artists?" That is what someone contend, as I discuss in 

What is a 'data scientist'?

Ultimately, working with Big Data effectively calls for using both the creative and methodical parts of the brain. In that way, it is, indeed, a science as Einstein  described it: “The mere formulation of a problem is far more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skills. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle requires creative imagination and marks real advances in science.”

Can algorithms render humans obsolete?

Apparently not altogether. Read my post on the limits of algorithms for people who still clamor for the human touch:  The ascendancy of the algorithm and human resistance - FierceBigData http://www.fiercebigdata.com/story/ascendancy-algorithm-and-human-resistance/2012-09-06#ixzz25iKRGHh8 

Dissing and defending the dashboard

Are BI dashboards truly pathetic? Dissing and defending the dashboard  offers two points of view.

No more survey response for Office Max

I won't be responding to any more survey requests from Office Max. I explain why in my latest post at level343.com: Survey Says: Triple Fail for Office Max Marketing

What to Ask Yourself About Your Content Marketing

My guest post for Level343.com explains what to expect from content marketing and the questions to go through to be sure it is as effective as possible. "Engagement is what we’re all after, particularly when we publish online and hope to get likes, pluses, comments, and shares. When planning what to include in a piece intended to serve as content marketing consider: who, how, what, which, where, when, and why."  Read more at 
 http://level343.com/article_archive/2012/08/30/key-questions-for-content-marketing/

Sensors you swallow

The cliché advice from doctors who don’t want to be bothered after hours by their patients has long been, “Take two pills and call me in the morning.” But soon it might be: "Take a pill, and we’ll call you." Read more at "Take 2 Pills & They'll Call You"

When people are counting on you

Character in both the sense of behavior and literary persona considered in http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2012/08/its-easy-to-be-evil.html

Getting to "just right"

It's not just Goldilocks who tests out what's too hot or too cold or too hard or too soft in the pursuit of what's "just right." RUTH is a robotic arm that does the same for car interiors, checking what is there against the data of what humans prefer. Read more about it here.

The intelligence behind content is not always obvious

I'm a stickler for correctness, and really have to hold myself back from alerting people about mechanical mistakes that appear in their posts and gaining an unwanted reputation as a grammar or spelling Nazi. Really, the only time people may feel thankful is if you catch it before it is published.

As a general rule, the most professional image for a business calls for correctly written content, but in terms of what actually is good for business there are always exceptions to the general rule.

In The Joys of Yinglish, (pp. 60-61) Leo Rosten  includes a story about mistakes appearing in a sign. I've modified it somewhat, but kept the gist:
The sign of a store read: "EVRYTING FOR THE KICHEN" One of the men passing on the street walked in and told the owner, "There are three mistakes in the spelling on your sign." The owner calmly responded, "I know."
 Surprised, the man asked, "If you know, why don't you correct it?"
The owner said, "Why should I? Each day, several people come in to tell me there are mistakes on the sign. Once they're in the store, at least half of them end up buying something."
So you see in this example, spelling errors prove good for business because they achieve a marketing objective: they get people in the store where they can actually make a purchase.