Author Archive: Monica

Google Buzz or Bust?

February 15th, 2010 — Monica

Google Buzz: Not quite there yet
Google Buzz has arrived, but is this new Facebook-esque social stream going to win Google’s place in the social web?
Not yet.
In fact, all the buzz about Google buzz has been decidedly negative, and I’m inclined to agree.  After a few days of using the Buzz I’m already “blanking” the little [...]

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Google Sidewiki: Turning the Web into Its Own Social Network

November 10th, 2009 — Monica

Last September, Google announced “Sidewiki”, a feature of Firefox and IE that allows anyone to contribute “helpful” information next to any webpage. The latest buzz around Sidewiki concerns Reframe It, a start-up company which recently claimed that Sidewiki emulates Reframe It’s own web annotation software, right down to the icons.
Although it’s unlikely that Reframe [...]

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Claude Levi-Strauss, Father of Anthropology, Dies at 100

November 5th, 2009 — Monica

French anthropologist Claude Levi Strauss died last week at age 100. Mr. Levi-Strauss, a central figure in the structuralist school of thought, changed the way we understand civilization.
Until the 20th century, people generally believed that there were “savage” people and there were “civilized” people and the two societies were essentially distinct. Mr. Levi-Strauss [...]

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Uncovering Connections in the Political Twittersphere

October 12th, 2009 — Monica

Twitter is emerging as a power political tool. Sysomos, a social media analytics company, recently took a deeper look at the political Twittersphere and identified the 168 most active political voices in the U.S, the U.K. and Canada. Coming out on top were

@schwarzenegger
@nansen
@gstephanopoulos
@markwarner
@latimestot

It’s an interesting list which hints at who the political influencers [...]

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Social Network Analysis: From Obscurity to Englightenment

September 29th, 2009 — Monica

Good news for data mining geeks: social network analysis is fast approaching widespread adoption, at least according to Gartner’s Hype Cycle Special Report for 2009.
Gartner’s annual report evaluates the maturity of 1,650 technologies and trends in 79 technology, topic and industry areas. Their hype cycle graphic provides a snapshot of these 79 areas, [...]

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