Monthly Archives: February 2012

Highlights of ComScore’s Summary of 2011 in Information

Posted on February 9, 2012 by GilPress

From comScore’s just-released  2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus Social: Social Networking accounted for 16.6 percent of all online minutes at the end of 2011 and is on track to surpass Portals as the most engaging online activity in 2012. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic Impact, Mobile, Social Networks, The InfoStory Quant, The Year in Information, Video | Leave a comment

Steve Jobs’ Legacy: The App Economy

Posted on February 9, 2012 by GilPress

“[The] App Economy now is responsible for roughly 466,000 jobs in the United States, up from zero in 2007 when the iPhone was introduced. This total includes jobs at ‘pure’ app firms such as Zynga, a San Francisco-based maker of Facebook game apps that went … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple, Economic Impact | Leave a comment

First Internet Protest

Posted on February 8, 2012 by GilPress

Today in 1996, “24 Hours in Cyberspace” was the largest one-day online event up to that date. Time Magazine: “Rick Smolan’s 24 Hours In Cyberspace was supposed to be a round-the-clock, planet-spanning online party, a feel-good cyberfest celebrating the paradigm-shifting possibilities … Continue reading →

Posted in Censorship, Law, Social Impact, This day in information | Leave a comment

Information Addiction

Posted on February 7, 2012 by GilPress

“Tweeting or checking emails may be harder to resist than cigarettes and alcohol, according to researchers who tried to measure how well people could resist their desires. They even claim that while sleep and sex may be stronger urges, people are more … Continue reading →

Posted in Social Impact | Leave a comment

First Integrated Circuit Patent Application

Posted on February 6, 2012 by GilPress

Today in 1959, Jack Kilby filed a patent application for the Integrated Circuit, titled: “Method of making miniaturized electronic circuit.” Harold Evans in They Made America: “The University of Illinois gave him only average grades in electrical engineering, a disappointment … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer history, This day in information | 1 Comment

Too Much Information

Posted on February 6, 2012 by GilPress

Too much information running through my brain Too much information driving me insane –The Police  

Posted in Information Overload, Quotes | Leave a comment

First U.S. “Calculating Machine”

Posted on February 5, 2012 by GilPress

Today in 1850, the first US patent for a push-key operated adding machine is issued to Dubois D. Parmelee of New Paltz, New York (US No. 7,074). The first commercially successful calculator will be invented forty years later by William … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer history, This day in information | Leave a comment

Facebook Launched (and Re-Launched?)

Posted on February 4, 2012 by GilPress

Today in 2004, Harvard Sophomore Mark Zuckerberg launched “Thefacebook” from his dorm room. Membership was initially restricted to students of Harvard College, and within the first month, more than half the undergraduate population at Harvard was registered on the service. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook, This day in information | Leave a comment

Information, Matter, and Energy

Posted on February 3, 2012 by GilPress

“A basic idea in communication theory is that information can be treated very much like a physical quantity such as mass or energy” – Claude Shannon “Information is information, not matter or energy” – Norbert Wiener   “Without matter, there … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotes | Leave a comment

Binary World

Posted on February 2, 2012 by GilPress

“If the base 2 is used [for measuring information] the resulting units may be called binary digits, or more briefly bits, a word suggested by J. W. Tukey. A device with two stable positions, such as a relay or a … Continue reading →

Posted in Digitization, Quotes | Leave a comment