A recent study suggests that today's data overload could be helped by changing the way that data is presented. In short, presenting data visually is the key to reducing 'cognitive overload'. Here are some of the findings from the Mindjet report: Individuals working with visual mapping techniques used on average 19% less cognitive resources They were 17% more productive and 4.5% better able to recall details than when using the equivalent traditional software They were 8% more productive and recalled 6.5% more data when using ...

Soon there's going to have to be another name for 'Big Data'. If you divide Big Data by all the people talking about it, you get 'average data'. Still, the growth of data storage is impressive, "In 15 of the US economy’s 17 sectors, for example, companies with upward of 1,000 employees store, on average, more information than the Library of Congress does." See the Mckinsey Quarterly article for the low-down.  

Entertaining and insightful Ted Talk from Erez Lieberman Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel about measuring how "extremely awesome" big data analysis can be, as a window into humanity and the progression of culture. All measured through the medium of books. They call it "Culturomics". Click here to see the full talk.  

Gartner recently added 'Big Data' to its hype cycle for emerging technologies. Here's how the hype cycle works. "When new technologies make bold promises, how do you discern the hype from what’s commercially viable? And when will such claims pay off, if at all? Gartner Hype Cycles provide a graphic representation of the maturity and adoption of technologies and applications, and how they are potentially relevant to solving real business problems and exploiting new opportunities." Here you can find out more ...

Here's a beautiful interactive timeline showing the evolution of the web. "The web today is a growing universe of interlinked web pages and web apps, teeming with videos, photos, and interactive content. What the average user doesn't see is the interplay of web technologies and browsers that makes all this possible." It's easy to see how HTML5 is being taken up by the various browsers. I like the way you can jump out and read resources linked to the call outs. Can't say ...

Thanks to Kate Ray, here's a fantastic video on the 'Semantic Web'. Web 3.0, aka Semantic Web technologies It poses a key question about how we create meaning. "Does the world make sense or do we make sense of the world?" I have to agree with Clay Shirky, we can't unambiguously describe the world in a way that all observers would agree upon. And this dives right into the heart of whether ontologies are the way forward as a method for structuring where ...

Another great TED talk, this time form Kevin Slavin. He explains how we are increasingly living in a world controlled by algorithms, and some of the consequences of sending processing animals out into the wild. They aren't always what we intend.  

Ex-Apple designer Bret Victor has a mission. The Kill Maths Project. The key insight behind all this is that traditional 'maths as we know it' uses symbols and abstractions that break the user friendly interface rules for a lot of us. They're hard to learn and hard to use. And it doesn't need to be that way. Check out his prototype ipad interface on the predator prey problem (differential equations in maths talk). In Bret's words "Every variable is ...

Thanks to Ben Fry's visualisation you can see how Darwin's theory of evolution played out over 16 years of writing the Origin of the Species, across 6 editions. Like a huge 'track changes' overview. "The first English edition was approximately 150,000 words and the sixth is a much larger 190,000 words. In the changes are refinements and shifts in ideas — whether increasing the weight of a statement, adding details, or even a change in the idea itself." Thanks also ...

Here's a beautiful video by Cristóbal Vila detailing some of the mathematical relationships discoverable in nature. It's a mesmerising voyage including Fibonacci sequences, the golden ratio and others. You don't have to understand the maths to see the beauty and to be impressed by nature's blueprint approach to building.