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Author Archives: GilPress
Big Data and Borges
From the May 26 issue of the Economist: “In A short story called ‘On Exactitude in Science’, Jorge Luis Borges described an empire in which cartographers became so obsessive that they produced a map as big as the empire itself.
Posted in Big Data, The InfoStory Quant
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Big Data for Enterprise Decisions
James Taylor: “For all the focus on visualization and ad-hoc queries in Big Data systems, the end result is often going to be automation – a Decision Management system.
Posted in Big Data, Quotes
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Dow Jones Industrial Average Born
Today in 1896, Charles Dow published the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Posted in This day in information
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Facebook Nation
MercuryNews.com: “With 70 percent of its more than 600 million members outside the United States,Facebook is creating its own foreign service, hiring a network of ambassadors from India to Ireland to represent the Palo Alto-based social network with foreign governments and … Continue reading
Posted in Social Networks
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Digital Tipping Point: Kindle Books vs. Print Books
Amazon.com now sells more Kindle books than print books. The press release says: “Since April 1, for every 100 print books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 105 Kindle books. This includes sales of hardcover and paperback books by Amazon … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Digitization, Tipping points
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“What Has God Wrought?”: A Love Story
Today in 1844, Samuel Morse sent the the message “What Has God Wrought” to officially open the first telegraph line, between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, launching an industry and ending a rocky journey that began with the 1837 resolution by … Continue reading
Posted in Telegraph, This day in information
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New York Public Library Opened 100 Years Ago
Today marks the centenary of the official dedication of the New York Public Library. The ceremony was presided over by President William Howard Taft and was attended by Governor John Alden Dix and Mayor William J. Gaynor.
Posted in Libraries, This day in information
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Bob Metcalfe Gives Birth to the Ethernet
Today in 1973, twenty-seven-year-old Bob Metcalfe turned on his IBM Selectric, “pulled out a wad of Ko-Rec-Type, snapped on an Orator ball, and banged out the memo inventing Ethernet,” at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC).
From The Archives: The IBM 701 and Software-as-a-Service
Sixty years ago today, the IBM 701 was formally announced. Its official name was the Defense Calculator, “specifically selected to appeal to the patriotism of the older Watson and to avoid the use of the unacceptable word, computer,” according to … Continue reading
Posted in Computer history, IBM, This day in information
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World Metrology Day
Today is World Metrology Day. The press release says that it “has become an established annual event during which more than eighty states celebrate the impact of measurement on our daily lives, no part of which is untouched by this … Continue reading
Posted in Measurement
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The Story of Information 