data dynamite

New Weight Watchers formula: data in action

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

The current issue of Wired has a great feature on the value of data that’s particularly timely as TV is flooded with ads for weight loss programs in the wake of holiday over-indulgence: how Weight Watchers dared to tamper with the success of its Points system.
It substituted Points Plus, which factored in some of the […]

Feel-good data story for the holidays

Monday, December 26th, 2011

As you’re probably aware, necessity is making Africa the go-to region for cheap, innovative uses of cell phones and wireless devices.
Catching up on my reading, I came across an article in CIO  about MIT’s Africa 2.0 forum, which included a presentation by Nathan Eagle of Jana, which uses the incentive of free mobile airtime to […]

UP bracelet: great Quantified Self device

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

Jawbone has introduced the UP bracelet, a good-looking product that makes it simple to monitor your daily exercise activity and even your sleep.
It should be a hit with those of us who are into the Quantified Self movement, which involves recording and analyzing your daily fitness routine, diet, sleep patterns and general sense of well-being.
If […]

Hmm. Could Iceland be ideal test for “Democratizing Data” concepts?

Sunday, July 10th, 2011

I just got back from a delightful 17-day European vacation (marred only by the theft of my brand-new iPad from a hypothetically “locked” compartment on the overnight Paris-Venice train, while we were sleeping in it [how creepy is that?]. According to the Venice cops, this happens EVERY night: so why don’t they crack down on […]

I’m back (sort of

Sunday, June 19th, 2011

It’s been more than three years since I wandered off full-time into Twitterdom, and this blog fell dormant. Let me tell you, after disciplining myself to write nothing but 140-character summaries, writing a 200+ page book was tough.
But write it I did, and now I’m back, because my book, Data Dynamite: how liberating information will […]