Big Data

Last week in Barcelona, Huffington announced a visionary partnership with Hewlett Packard (HP) called HP Earth Insights. This program will revolutionize the way we monitor, report and understand the health of ecosystems. Environmental scientists across the globe will be able to put their field research findings into mobile HP tablets through communication applications and analyze and share that data in visual, user-friendly dashboards that reveal tropical changes in near real-time. HP Earth Insights will help us link tropical forest data with other data repositories at the Smithsonian Institution and Wildlife Conservation Society, and connect the dots to further populate a measure of tropical forest biodiversity known as the Wildlife Picture Index. Before this program, there was a significant lag between the collection of data and the publication of it where more data is collected. The ability to quickly synthesize the telltale signs of ecosystem decline -- and getting that information into the hands of leaders in time for them to make informed decisions -- has become a priority for CI and its partners. This is why the HP Earth Insights partnership is so ground-breaking.

Tracking

Do you like being tracked online? I am sure that you all have heard all the horror stories about how much money these companies are making off of the information that they have about you and even your family. To be perfectly honest, it is a tad bit annoying when you are online and the ads that you see which can get a bit pushy sometimes are related to what you are searching for. The one thing that you have to remember that there is no way to get around being tracked. It will always happen, whether you are using email or internet fax or just trolling around the web. Third-party tracking is where the questionable practices come in, but even those practices have some upsides. If you are tracked by your preferred retailer, you may start seeing ads for products you may actually be interested in. You may get deals or sales in ads directed toward you. Less spammy and more personalized advertisements may make you despise that drop-down advertisement a little less, especially if it is something you’re inclined to look into further. As good as that sounds, there is no real line that is drawn as to where it stops.

Your Mind On the Internet

We email. We tweet. We facebook. We google. In this incredible age of technology, our computers sometimes seem to have taken control over our everyday lives -- from how we buy groceries to how we find mates. How is all this screen time affecting our brains? Is it getting rewired and changed at the molecular level? MRI research has shown that the brains of Internet users who have trouble controlling their craving to be constantly plugged-in exhibit changes similar to those seen in people addicted to drugs and alcohol. A 2011 study showed that unplugging from technology for one day gave some users, usually gamers, physical and mental withdrawal symptoms. There could also be something called Facebook depression. Do you get down when you see pictures of other vacationing or their achievements? Video conferencing also open a bee nest in itself. On the other hand, there is plenty of research out there that supports the idea that computers might actually boost brain function. Clearly, the internet has not been around long enough yet for any conclusions.

Your Smartphone: A Perfect Target

Your smartphone is almost always on, connected to the Internet, logged into your email and social media, and likely has at least a username stored for your bank account. Your smartphone contains as much sensitive information as your wallet does — more, if you count the contact information for your family and friends. Smartphones can access the Internet, which puts them at risk for a variety of malware and compromising exploits, but malware can come via almost any phone function or phone service. Text messages are easily exploitable, especially since an average text-messaging app takes no security precautions. The take home message here is to make sure that you have the right type of antivirus software and to use some common sense if you see something suspicious.

Give These Up and Be Happy

Happiness is something that we all strive for or at least attempt to. Aristotle said that it happens when we do what is morally right. Others say that it is a choice. Does it sometime seem like an extremely hard choice to make? We complicate our live so much that we would not know what happiness looked like if it came up close enough to examine our tonsils. There are however ways to fight through the fogginess of our daily lives which are bogged down with emails, voicemails, and tons of internet fax. So here are tow reasons for giving up what others think of you: You'll never please everyone and it's none of your business what others think of you. Next, let go of insecurity and stop taking everything so personally. No one really cares or watches you that closely. And the truth is, most people are too consumed with their own life to really consider what you're doing. Lastly, Anger burns a hole in the hand of the person still holding on to it.

How To Use The Internet

If you came across a book with that title, would you read it? In May of 1994, computer-book publisher Ziff-Davis Press released Mark Butler’s How to Use the Internet. Have you ever heard of it or seen it in the stores? This was way before the time of website development and apps. Here are some of the things that you can find in the book. We have certainly come a long way:

Joining mailing lists: “Although it is polite to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to a human, do not include these words in the messages you send to a listserv. They may confuse the machine.”

Newsgroups: “Remember, a news reader is a program that enables you to read your news.”

Online etiquette: “Flaming is generally frowned upon because it generates lots of articles that very few people want to read and wastes Usenet resources.”

“Surfing” the Internet: “Surfing the Internet is a lot like channel surfing on your cable television. You have no idea what is on or even what you want to watch.”

Searching the Internet: “If a particular search yields a null result set, check carefully for typing errors in your search text. The computer will not correct your spelling, and transposed letters can be difficult to spot.”

Apple Store Brawls

How bad do you want that new iPhone? The Los Angeles Times is reporting that arrests have been made after two men began fighting while in line outside an Apple store in Pasadena. Police also told the paper about a second fight breaking out between a man and some people the man had paid to stand in line for him. Those people claimed the man didn’t pay them enough to stand in line for the phones. Would you pay someone to stand in line for you for a phone? The new iPhone was not all it was cracked up to be to be honest. As far as the different phone services go, it was about a big a let down as when the 4S came out. I do have to admit that the operating system is by far one of the best to use but it still comes down to what exactly you are going to use it for. In short, hope that phone was worth the scuffle.