Stop Hyping Big Data and Start Paying Attention to 'Long Data'

Revolutionary "Superman" Memory Crystals Can Store Data Virtually Forever Quartz Crystal photo from Shutterstock While most of us are just getting used to the idea of 3D printing, scientists are already working on technological marvels that operate two dimensions deeper. Researchers at the University of Southampton have succeeded in recording and retrieving five dimensional digital data using a quartz crystal. The ‘Superman’ memory crystal is a futuristic storage technique with unprecedented features – including a 360 terabyte per disc data capacity, thermal stability up to 1000°C and a practically unlimited lifetime. We’ve all seen those sci-fi movies where a gorgeous alien shoves a pointy crystal into some mega computer and the world is saved. So how does it work? “The self-assembled nanostructures change the way light travels through glass, modifying polarization of light that can then be read by combination of optical microscope and a polarizer, similar to that found in Polaroid sunglasses,” states the release. Via Eureakalert and DVice

Oh, those crazy Frenchies: Facebook faces family photo tax in France High performance access to file storage Facebook should pay the French government for hosting the holiday photos and status updates of the French people, a new report commissioned by the French government has suggested. The new 200-page report* on taxing the digital economy - commissioned by four French Cabinet Ministers - proposes that France should tax data collection. The touted idea would see new tax bills from the French government landing on Google, Facebook, Amazon and any other web companies that store data about their French users. The report was commissioned in July by Fleur Pellerin, France's Minister for Small and Medium Enterprise, Innovation and the Digital Economy, backed by three colleagues amid government frustration about the low tax American web giants were paying in France. Web companies pay under 1 per cent of what a standard French company would pay in tax, according to figures from Le Monde. French wonks: Let's tax data like we tax pollution

20 Game-Changing Technology Trends That Will Create Both Disruption and Opportunity on a Global Level | Flash Foresights from Daniel Burrus No matter what industry you’re in, your company can’t survive without technology. And these days, even non-technical employees know that technology goes way beyond desktop computers and networks. From smart phones and tablet computers to mobile apps and cloud-based technology, there’s a plethora of technological advancements to not only keep track of, but also to profit from. Over the next five short years the following game-changing technologies will transform how we sell, market, communicate, collaborate, educate, train, innovate, and much more. Rapid Growth of Big Data. Spot Your Own Hard TrendsAre these the only game-changing technology-driven trends to be aware of? Visit www.Burrus.com for more information.

Harper Reed, Obama’s Data Guru, Gets Voters to Engage—and Provide Their Info Along the Way | 80beats What do custom-designed T-shirts and presidential campaigns have in common? Harper Reed, chief technology officer for the Obama campaign, rose to prominence because he knew the answer: They both can benefit from websites that engage users and encourage community participation—and, in the process, gather valuable data. In a profile at Mother Jones, Tim Murphy describes how such potentially powerful and jealously guarded tech strategies—Obama’s go by codenames like “Narwhal” and “Dreamcatcher”—work. Reed got his start at Threadless, a website that sells quirky T-shirts to hipsters. But as Murphy details, the site didn’t just make shirts and expect people to buy them; it was a social forum that asked for their input every step of the way: Threadless wasn’t the first company to market arty apparel to the Wicker Park set, but its genius lay in its model. Now chief technology officer of the Obama campaign, Reed has now created a grassroots organizing website called Dashboard.

Data Centers Support the Cloud—But Waste 90 Percent of Their Energy in the Process | 80beats Once I’ve typed in a message, shared a video, or uploaded a photo to a social media website like Facebook or Twitter, I tend to forget about it. I assume that if I check back days or even weeks later, the status update or tweet will still be there, safely stored…somewhere. That “somewhere” is in one of tens of thousands of data centers, each filled with many, many servers that physically preserve the vast quantity of information flowing over the internet every day. But while it’s easy to forget about data centers, they are having a huge impact on our energy grid—and our environment. The New York Times has kicked off a series of articles about the physical constructions on which “the cloud” is built with a piece by James Glanz. Worldwide, the digital warehouses use about 30 billion watts of electricity, roughly equivalent to the output of 30 nuclear power plants, according to estimates industry experts compiled for The Times. Image courtesy of Route79 / flickr