Thinking Analytically » Brilliant

Real-Time Shoe Gazing – Analytics Mashup

John — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:07:19 +0000

This is interesting. Zappos let’s you watch shoe purchases pop up on a US map as they happen. Take a look. Kind of mesmerizing. See a live map here.

This screen shot was taken at 8 a.m. ET. No surprise the rest of the country is still sleeping. What are your impressions? Just fun stuff or meaningful information? Could it create impulse purchases?

Hat tip to Freakonomics.

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Microsoft’s View of the Future

John — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:59:57 +0000

I stumbled upon this video and related files will doing some research in emerging technologies. Good stuff! The embedded video is a five minute montage of technologies currently in the works at Microsoft Office Labs. Stephen Elop, President, Microsoft Business Division gave a keynote at Wharton a few weeks ago. I was so fascinated by the montage, I was able to track down a video of the entire keynote, text of that presentation and the PowerPoint slides he used. (Note – if the keynote video doesn’t work, visit the text of the presentation page and try to access that one.) According to Elop,

Watch carefully because in every frame there’s something new and advancing in terms of how technology will enable the improvement of productivity for businesses and individuals.

In the keynote video, he actually demonstrates several of the technologies. Keep your eyes open for the following:

Digital newspaper
Coffee cup with embedded thermometer
“Dual sided” wall for cross-world collaboration
Automatic translation
School kids write on wall in own language – auto translation on other side
Digital wallet
o Touch virtual computer to transfer medical records
o Flick to find appropriate “card”
VR helmet
Plant scanner that recognizes plant species
Key chain that acts as a PDA
Medical data entry pads
Wall displays for project collaboration
Ability to transfer data from wall display to personal device by taking a “snap shot”
Dynamic pricing displays at Target
Auto sorting of shopping list based on location in store
Location aware “presence”
“X-ray glasses” type panel that can ID objects inside cabinets
Sticky sorter affinity diagramming tool on a wall

Which do you feel are most probable? Which could have the greatest impact on your work? Fill up the comments.

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Lighter Side of Charting

John — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 02:40:08 +0000

I bumped into GraphJam.com the other day and had to chuckle. Like many folks, I’ve spent many a minute trying to perfect a chart or graph in order to relay just the right message. Well, graphjam.com reminds us not to take our graphs too seriously. At this site, users upload their favorite graphical representations of, well, just about anything…song lyrics, puns, political outcomes. Here are a couple of favorites:

Hotel California:

The wall

Billy Joel

Need some humor in creating your own charts? Try the book for Dummies:

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Give One Laptop – Get One

John — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 04:38:45 +0000

Here’s a great opportunity to help others less fortunate than yourself. If you are reading this, it is probably safe to assume that you have access to a decent computer. I have several computers laying around the house (tough to toss when I upgrade) and I guess I take the opportunity for granted. That’s not the case in many parts of the world. The Give One – Get One program allows you to buy two revolutionary XO laptop computers for $400 for the pair. One is shipped to you and the other to a child in a developing nation. Plus, a $200 tax contribution is sent your way. From what I’ve read, the computer is very unique and is designed to work in adverse conditions. It is spill proof, runs six hours on battery, runs Linux and automatically networks with other similar computers. This laptop is not designed to run Photoshop, or World of Warcraft. Instead, the focus is to provide educational opportunities in developing nations.

Thanks to Tushar Mehta for bringing this to my attention in the Daily Dose of Excel blog. In his post he referenced an excellent article in the NY Times which includes a realistic review of the laptop. Be sure to read it before buying one. Offer ends November 26, 2007.

Cross posted at Random Thoughts.

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Google Game Creates Free Meta Data

John — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 01:04:47 +0000

This is brilliant! If you’ve ever used Google Images, you know searching is less than perfect. That’s because many images found on the net lack good meta data or are on pages that are only partially relevant to the image. So how can Google enlist the help of the masses to improve the relavancy of search results? Offer a simple “game”, award some points and pair partners up from across the word. Check out the Google ImageLabeler app. In a nutshell, partners are presented an image and each type in their own list of words related to the image. Partner’s can’t see the other person’s list until the two minute time limit is reached. The object is to eventually match on a word. When that happens, the team is awarded some points. The more you play, the more points you earn and the more relevant meta data Google has for the images. And like “Who’s line is it anyway?”, the points are pretty much meaningless…no prizes, just the satisfaction that you’ve burned the better part of the day providing free labor to Google. Simply brilliant.

Try it out and let me know what you think.

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