The most important people on Wikipedia might be Carl Linnaeus, Jesus, Michael Jackson, and Hitler

If you use two approaches to ranking web pages — PageRank (Google-developed) and 2D Rank (which measures how many external sources cited) — and you apply those ranking systems to Wikipedia, here’s what you learn about the “most important people… Continue Reading

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Here are the various YouTubes you need to remember June 17, 1994, O.J. Simpson, and the Bronco chase

Let’s get it going. “I’ll give you me. I’ll give you my whole body.” Bob Costas = conflicted. Kenny “The Jet” talking about Game 5 during the O.J. chase. Here’s 53 minutes of the chase: Here’s the “suicide note” from… Continue Reading

Brief thought exercise: where would the O.J. Simpson white Ford Bronco chase have ranked as a Twitter event?

Think about this: if 20 years ago tomorrow was, instead, tomorrow — the Internet might break in half. You’d be in the middle of the World Cup — already poised to be the most-tweeted event in history — and you’d… Continue Reading

Gregg Popovich and the lesson of sticking with someone (or sticking with it)

For better or worse, we live in an instant gratification society right now. This is evident in a few walks of life, from the emergence of social media (cited by everyone) to business (focus on quarter-by-quarter results, which ultimately tell you… Continue Reading

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Can humans trust robots? No … how about we ask whether robots can trust humans, eh?

hitchBOT is going to try and cross Canada this summer as a hitchhiker. Why that’s novel: it’s ostensibly a robot made out of a bucket. “This is both an artwork and social robotics experiment,” Zeller and Harris told me in… Continue Reading

If you’re super popular at 13, you probably won’t be at 22

A new study, suitably summarized by NPR: if you’re in the cool crowd earlier, that’ll fade and you’ll likely have drinking, drug, or relational problems as you exit college. Lesson: the kids that tormented you in middle school ultimately get theirs.… Continue Reading

Google Trends Newsroom is here for the World Cup; could that model essentially become the future of journalism?

Check this out: Google Trends Newsroom, with 20 or so employees, keeping track of search trends around World Cup games and really helping you tap into the mood and spirit of different countries (and/or the world). If you go there… Continue Reading

46% of the 736 World Cup 2014 players play in England, Italy, Germany or Spain during the year

Got World Cup fever yet? I bet — even if you are an American. (“That first game is a must-win,” you’re now breathlessly telling all your friends.) Chances are you’ll watch at least a couple of games during this World Cup, see… Continue Reading