You might not think it but vendors in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar have been using big data for decades. Photograph: Jorg Greuel/Getty Images
Elvis Costello Named Honorary Doctor of Music [ Adv3nturTrav3l ]
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Singer tells New England Conservatory audience that he wrote new songs with Bacharach, may release McCartney demos
As if he hadn’t already proved it countless times with his surgically precise songwriting and the healing power of his gift for melody, Elvis Costello can now call himself a doctor of music. On Friday, the ever-restless musician was on hand in Boston to receive an honorary degree from the New England Conservatory, joining a small, illustrious group – Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin and Quincy Jones – of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers who have been honored by the country’s oldest independent school of music.
15 Rock & Roll Rebels
After accepting his diploma, Costello joked that it was appropriate coming from the New England Conservatory: the old England has tried to kick him out from time to time.
Relaxed and witty as ever, the singer sat onstage for a 90-minute retrospective of his career at the college’s historic, acoustically pristine Jordan Hall, backdropped by the venue’s huge pipe organ. Listening to a snippet of “God Give Me Strength,” his elegant 1996 collaboration with Burt Bacharach, he told the audience that he recently wrote 12 new songs “on a little upright piano” with the 85-year-old pop composer.
He also told his interviewer, Boston Globe critic Sarah Rodman, that he expects to someday release all the demos from his periodic collaborations with Paul McCartney. Asked if he ever stopped to marvel at the fact that he was writing songs with a Beatle, Costello noted that he joined the Beatles’ fan club when he was 11 and joked, “Yeah – what are you, crazy?”
The discussion ranged from his youthful nagging of mentor Nick Lowe to his work with the Brodsky Quartet (with whom he plans a performance to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1993 album The Juliet Letters) and his latest album, with the Roots, Wise Up Ghost. Reminded that his bittersweet lost-love song “Alison” is sometimes played at weddings, he said, “It does seem like an odd choice, doesn’t it?” (One well-known actress once told him she thought of his deeply psychotic dirge “I Want You” as the most romantic song in the world, he said.)
Acknowledging McCartney’s insatiable curiosity and his own, he said he believes that’s the proper way to approach music: “Have all the experiences, not just one.”
“Not everything you write is supposed to be on American Bandstand,” said the singer, who wore a denim jacket, a vest and his trademark porkpie hat for the occasion. At one point, he held up an iPod and commented on the pros and cons of new technology. You can carry around the complete works of Ralph Vaughan Williams in your pocket, he noted; in the old days, “imagine how big your trousers had to be to do that.”
Costello also spoke at length about being a third-generation musician. His father, Ross MacManus, was a singer for hire who sang the popular songs of the day. By the Sixties, Costello said, he’d gone “a little paisley around the edges.”
What if Costello’s father had been, say, a milkman rather than a musician? Rodman asked. “My mother would have some explaining to do,” he joked in reply. He also revealed how he learned only recently that his mother, Lilian, was involved in “a minor smuggling ring.” With recordings scarce in England after World War II, she arranged for merchant mariners to bring back jazz records from the U.S. for her clients.
After taking a few questions from the audience, Costello headed to the airport to fly to San Francisco, where he will appear with his wife, Diana Krall, this weekend at Neil Young’s annual Bridge School concert. On Monday, Costello will be on The Tonight Show to help celebrate the release of longtime keyboardist Steve Nieve’s new duets album, ToGetHer.
“The longer it goes on,” he said about Nieve, “the more incredible it becomes to me the adventures we’ve had together.”
Bahrain defends use of teargas following criticism [ Adv3nturTrav3l ]
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By Mahmoud Habboush
DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrain has defended its use of teargas after rights groups criticized the Gulf kingdom’s reported plans to buy 1.6 million canisters of the material.
Local and international rights groups have accused the authorities of using teargas excessively and of firing canisters directly at protesters or into cars and houses where they can cause serious injuries.
“Teargas is non-lethal and it is used appropriately by the police, in compliance with the law and in full adherence with the internationally accepted standards contained in the Bahrain police code of conduct,” the government spokesman’s office said in an email to Reuters.
The tiny island state has been in political upheaval since February 2011, when mass protests led by the mostly Shi’ite Muslim opposition were crushed by the Sunni monarchy.
The government statement was made in response to a Reuters query about a leaked document published by Bahrain Watch, an advocacy group, which appeared to be a tender to supply the Interior Ministry with teargas canisters and stun grenades.
The U.S. government has banned the export of teargas to Bahrain.
“Bahrain’s police forces are using less force than is legally permitted,” the statement said.
It did not specifically address the issue of the reported teargas tender, but did say that protesters’ practices of setting fire to car tires and throwing petrol bombs were more dangerous than the authorities’ use of teargas.
It said more than 2,300 police personnel had been injured and nine killed since the protests began 2-1/2 years ago.
An international inquiry in November 2011 found that 35 people had died during Bahrain’s uprising, most of whom were protesters but also including five security personnel. The opposition puts the death toll at more than 80.
The U.S.-based Human Rights First (HRF) advocacy group earlier this month urged Washington to speak out against the planned teargas shipment.
According to Bahrain Watch, the leaked document came in the form of a tender issued by the Interior Ministry’s Purchasing Directorate. It invited arms manufacturers to supply the ministry with “teargas cartridges and sound grenades.”
In March 2012, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the use of teargas had led to a number of deaths of protesters and bystanders in Bahrain.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a U.S.-based group that campaigns for medical staff working in crisis zones, said in August 2012 that the Bahraini government used teargas indiscriminately, causing severe injuries to some civilians.
Bahrain has denied that charge.
(Writing by Mahmoud Habboush; editing by Mike Collett-White)
- Politics & Government
- Unrest, Conflicts & War
- Bahrain
Halloween Candy is NO for Canines! [ Adv3nturTrav3l ]
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Here's what our sweet pooches should keep their paws away from!
No matter how cute they are when they beg – NO Candy!
Chocolate: Code red! Dogs and cats should avoid chocolate like the plague! Chocolate contains Theobromine, which can cause heart, nerve and circulatory problems in our furry pals.
Candy Corn: It may be the quintessential Halloween candy, but it can make for a very bumpy – and messy – ride if your pet gets a hold of some. Candy corn will not kill your pup, but all that sugar and corn syrup will cause a great deal of discomfort. Your canine companion will most likely have a very bad belly ache, start vomiting or have diarrhea. Let your pet rest and make sure he or she has fresh water.
Hard candy: Things like lollipops and other hard candies are no-no's for dogs. They can break their teeth, hurt their jaws or choke on those little suckers. As if that were not enough, all the sugar can cause high blood pressure and heart problems in pets. Notice a pattern?
Nuts: Most types of nuts can be toxic for dogs, especially Walnuts and Macadamia nuts. The effects can lead to hyperthermia, paralysis or even death. Mixed with chocolate, nuts can be even worse, so try to resist the Goobers and Almond Joy this Halloween.
Peanut Butter: Peanut butter, believe it or not, is actually fairly safe for your dog. Hooray! Since it technically does not come from a nut (peanuts are legumes), peanut butter can be a little treat that your pet can enjoy without the risks. However, some dogs may be allergic, so consult your vet before feeding your dog any PB. And as always, know your limits. Since it is high in fat, dogs can eat a little bit of peanut butter as long as it is a once in awhile treat.
Keep your pooch away from the ultimate enemy – sugar. If you want to treat man and woman's best friend , pick up some animal-friendly treats at your local pet store!
For the Best that Pet Lifestyle and Animal Welfare has to offer follow Wendy Diamond on Facebook, Twitter, and right here at AnimalFair.com!
Bark about it!
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jQuery(".gmframe").load(function (){jQuery(this).remove();});After tough week, White House buys time for Obamacare website fix [ Adv3nturTrav3l ]
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By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama promised on Saturday that his troubled healthcare website was just weeks away from a cure as he struggled to convince Americans he is on top of what has become a self-inflicted wound to his signature first-term achievement.
His administration unveiled a plan on Friday to make Obamacare insurance marketplaces on healthcare.gov – a website riddled with error messages, long delays and bugs – work better by the end of November.
It was the end to an embarrassing week where Obama discovered he had overshot on an Oct 1. promise of a website that would make shopping for health insurance as easy as buying “a plane ticket on Kayak or a TV on Amazon.”
“As you may have heard, the site isn’t working the way it’s supposed to yet,” Obama said in his weekly Saturday address – an understatement after days of reports of people being shut out of the system.
“In the coming weeks, we are going to get it working as smoothly as it’s supposed to,” he added.
Obama had stood firm against Republican attempts to defund or delay the healthcare law, known popularly as Obamacare – efforts that led to a 16-day government shutdown this month.
He and his top officials had warned publicly before October 1 that there could be “glitches,” but the White House has been scrambling to control the damage from a rollout that was far worse than expected.
The depth of the design flaws has raised questions about why the Obama administration was so insistent on starting the enrollments on October 1 when the system was clearly not ready – and laid bare the president’s mistake in raising expectations about how good the website was going to be.
“Either they made assumptions that were too optimistic and were caught off guard, or they knew that the difficulties would be greater than the public understood, but chose not to say so,” said Bill Galston, a Brookings Institution expert who was a domestic policy adviser to Democratic President Bill Clinton.
“It may be some of both.”
CRISIS MANAGEMENT 101
Obama adviser Jeffrey Zients, appointed on Tuesday to figure out how to manage the complicated fixes for the website, was an unannounced participant on a conference call with health reporters on Friday afternoon.
Zients gave a deadline, although he cautioned there was a lot of work to do. “By the end of November, healthcare.gov will work smoothly for the vast majority of users,” he said.
Borrowing from the lexicon of homebuilders, Zients said he had hired a “general contractor” to manage the many contractors on the project, and developed a “punch list” of dozens of problems to address.
The message followed classic corporate crisis management strategy, said Peter LaMotte, a senior vice president at Levick, a firm that devises communications strategies for large corporations and organizations.
“State the facts, be clear, be transparent, and then shut up,” LaMotte said. “That is what we often recommend to our clients.”
That deadline buys the administration and tech experts time to iron out the bugs in the website before millions of Americans give up trying to use it, LaMotte said.
But he added, “People are going to hold you to that date.”
Norm Ornstein, a political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, said the date was “comforting” because it came from Zients, who is known for being a “straight shooter” with private-sector management expertise.
“He’s not making it up. It does not serve his interests to pick a date without a clue as to whether you can make it,” Ornstein said, noting Zients would become Obama’s top economic adviser at the White House on January 1.
“His credibility is at stake here,” Ornstein said.
POLITICAL BREATHING ROOM
Republicans are using the problems to push for a delay to the requirement that Americans buy insurance by March 31.
“Despite hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars invested, the website still does not work for most,” Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in the Republican reply to Obama’s Saturday address.
Upton’s panel will grill Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at a hearing next week.
Zients’ Friday announcement will take some pressure off Sebelius in the hearing, said John Ullyot, who works on crisis communications as a managing director at High Lantern Group.
But Ullyot, a former Senate Republican aide, said the plan would have had more punch had it been presented earlier in the week by the “much louder megaphone” of either Sebelius or Obama.
“They had a full week of drip, drip, drip in the media, and you never want to have that,” he said.
Once the website is fixed, officials will face another communications challenge. They will need to concentrate on luring back to the site those people who gave up trying to access it in the initial phases, said a former Obama administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“I think that people are going to like the site and sign up for it. The problem is once a user has a bad experience at a website, they’re not usually going to want to go back to it,” the official said.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Steve Holland; Editing by Peter Cooney)
- Politics & Government
- Government
- Barack Obama
- Jeffrey Zients
- Obamacare
- Obama administration
E! Online (DE) – Trends [ Adv3nturTrav3l ]
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http://de.eonline.com/uberblog/trends/index.html
Fashion, Beauty, Livingde-de10Wed, 23 Oct 2013 17:57:11 GMTWed, 23 Oct 2013 17:57:11 GMT12060http://de.eonline.com/uberblog/trends/index.html
http://images.eonline.com/static/uberblog/images/feeds_logo.gif© 2013 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All rights reserved., http://de.eonline.com/about/copyright/index.jsp<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013923//rs_300x300-131023080941-600.Kate-Middleton-Prince-george.jl.102313_copy.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Prince George, Prince William, Kate Middleton" align="left" hspace="5″ />Obwohl wir uns sicher sind, dass sie das nicht beabsichtigt hatte, gelang es Kate Middleton mal wieder alle Aufmerksamkeit auf sich zu lenken (Sorry Prinz George!).
Während der…<br clear="all" /> Wed, 23 Oct 2013 17:57:11 GMTb473352<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013922//rs_300x300-131022090346-600.Heidi-Klum-Bangs-jmd-102213.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Heidi Klum" align="left" hspace="5″ />Mit Heidi Klum ist nur schwer Schritt zu halten. Doch zum Glück bekommen Fans der vielbeschäftigten vierfachen Mom via Instagram einen kleinen Einblick in ihr hektisches Leben und ihrem…<br clear="all" />Wed, 23 Oct 2013 09:59:00 GMTb472931<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013819//rs_300x300-130919123821-600.pattinsonhouse.cm.91913.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Home, House" align="left" hspace="5″ />Robert Pattinsons Liebesnest, das er einst mit Kristen Stewart bewohnte, könnte schon bald einen neuen Besitzer haben.
Der Schauspieler will die 6,7 Millionen-Villa in Los…<br clear="all" /> Wed, 23 Oct 2013 08:14:00 GMTb472702<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013914//rs_300x300-131014121513-600.hats-trend.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Hats, Katie Holmes, Kourtney Kardashian, Kristin Cavallari" align="left" hspace="5″ />Diesen Herbst sind Hüte angesagt!
In den letzten Wochen haben wir bereits einige Prominente mit breitkrempigen Kopfbedeckungen gesehen. Vom klassischen schwarzen zu bunten…<br clear="all" /> Tue, 22 Oct 2013 09:23:00 GMTb470830<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013915//rs_300x300-131015102239-600.marant.cm.101513.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Isabel Marant x H&M Lookbook" align="left" hspace="5″ />Wenn ihr euch auch schon auf die neue Kollektion von Isabel Marant für H&M freut, die am 14. November in die Läden kommt, dann haben wir hier ein interessantes Video…<br clear="all" />Thu, 17 Oct 2013 10:49:00 GMTb470667<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013911//rs_300x300-131011130706-600.Heidi-Klum-Ankle-Bootie.jl.101113.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Heidi Klum" align="left" hspace="5″ />Heidi Klum hat sich offensichtlich in ein ganzes bestimmtes Paar Booties verliebt!
Das Multitalent trug die samtigen kurzen Booties von Sarah Flint schon bei verschiedenen…<br clear="all" /> Wed, 16 Oct 2013 09:23:00 GMTb469546<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013914//rs_300x300-131014162531-600.barrys.cm.101413.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Barry's Bootcamp" align="left" hspace="5″ />Kim Kardashian und Kanye West gingen gemeinsam zum Workout.
Das Paar war beim beliebten Barry's Bootcamp für eine Session.
Auch optisch waren sie auf…<br clear="all" /> Tue, 15 Oct 2013 17:53:20 GMTb470179<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013810//rs_300x300-130910134015-600.Kardashian-Humphries-Ring.ms.091013.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Kim Kardashian, Kris Humphries, Wedding, Ring" align="left" hspace="5″ />Nun ist es offiziell, Kris Humphries versteigert den massiven Verlobungsring, den er seinerzeit Kim Kardashian an den Finger steckte.
Vor einem Monat gab es bereits Gerüchte,…<br clear="all" /> Mon, 14 Oct 2013 19:30:59 GMTb469561<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013911//rs_300x300-131011102934-600.rosie-reese.cm.101113.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Leather Skirt Trend" align="left" hspace="5″ />Neben dem Punk-Look und den stets beliebten Jeans sind Lederröcke diesen Herbst ein absolutes Muss!
Im Gegensatz zum Vorjahr sind jedoch nicht Bleistiftröcke, sondern…<br clear="all" /> Mon, 14 Oct 2013 08:02:00 GMTb469453<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013910//rs_300x300-131010121522-600.bullock.cm.101013.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Sandra Bullock" align="left" hspace="5″ />Es ist an der Zeit, Sandra Bullocks fantastischen Auftritte auf den roten Teppichen dieser Welt zu huldigen.
Wir sind natürlich schon lange ein Fan von ihr, aber das…<br clear="all" /> Fri, 11 Oct 2013 18:39:29 GMTb469138<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/201399//rs_300x300-131009145417-600.Miley-No-Pants.jl.100913.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Miley Cyrus" align="left" hspace="5″ />Gleich drei junge Starlets ließen sich in letzter Zeit unten ohne in der Öffentlichkeit blicken.
Miley Cyrus erschien am Dienstagabend wie so oft in letzter Zeit in einem…<br clear="all" /> Fri, 11 Oct 2013 08:34:00 GMTb468893<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013722//rs_300x300-130822152926-600.punk.ls.82213.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Punk Grunge Trend" align="left" hspace="5″ />Seid ihr bereit für den coolsten Trend der Herbst-Saison?
Zu den wohl angesagtesten Trends gehört der Punk-Look, der uns zurzeit überall begegnet, angefangen von…<br clear="all" /> Thu, 10 Oct 2013 12:21:00 GMTb467869<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/201398//rs_300x300-131008093914-300-10813-scarlettjohansson-matthewmcconaughey.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Scarlett Johansson, Matthew McConaughey" align="left" hspace="5″ />Sechs Monate, nachdem Scarlett Johansson und Matthew McConaughey bei einem Fotoshooting für die Kampagne in Malibu gesehen wurden, ist die Anzeige nun endlich zu…<br clear="all" />Thu, 10 Oct 2013 11:43:00 GMTb468148<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/201398//rs_300x300-131008120106-600.kruger.cm.10813.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="C Magazine, Diane Kruger" align="left" hspace="5″ />Joshua Jackson kann sich wirklich sehr glücklich schätzen!
In einer Fotostrecke im C-Magazin trägt sie einen seitlich geflochtenen Zopf und gleich mehrere…<br clear="all" /> Thu, 10 Oct 2013 09:09:00 GMTb468139<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/201394//rs_300x300-131004104030-600.best-dressed.mh.100413.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Best Dressed of the Week" align="left" hspace="5″ />Die bestgekleideten Fashionistas beeindruckten uns diese Woche in très chic Ensembles auf der Pariser Fashion Week und anderen Red-Carpet-Events.
Olivia Palermo war total…<br clear="all" /> Mon, 07 Oct 2013 07:17:00 GMTb467069<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/201391//rs_300x300-131001101528-600.Pink-Coats-jmd-100113.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Eva Mendez, Kim Kardashian, Lea Michele" align="left" hspace="5″ />Die modischen Aussichten dieses Herbsts sind für die Promis ganz eindeutig rosig!
Rosa scheint die Mantel-Farbe der Saison zu sein. In den vergangenen Wochen wurden immer mehr…<br clear="all" /> Thu, 03 Oct 2013 07:03:00 GMTb465917<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013827//rs_300x300-130927093625-600.Paris-Fashion-Week-Topless-Protest.jl.092713.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Model Punches Protestor, Nina Ricci, Femen " align="left" hspace="5″ />Die Dinge sind etwas aus der Reihe geraten, während einer Nina-Ricci-Modenschau auf der Pariser Fashion Week. Das Model Hollie-May Saker behauptet nämlich, eine barbusige Aktivistin die…<br clear="all" />Sat, 28 Sep 2013 08:07:00 GMTb464326<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013823//rs_300x300-130923184702-600.Diane-Kruger-MetOpera.jmd.092313.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Diane Kruger " align="left" hspace="5″ />Während sich die Fernsehstars in Hollywood von den Emmy-Awards und dazugehörigen Partys erholten, bereiteten sich die Promis an der amerikanischen Ostküste auf ein anderes…<br clear="all" />Wed, 25 Sep 2013 07:49:00 GMTb462607<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013823//rs_300x300-130923145130-600-kim-kardashian-pure-honey.ls.92313.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Kim Kardashian, Pure Honey" align="left" hspace="5″ />Kim Kardashian hat sich seit der Geburt von Baby North West zwar aus der Öffentlichkeit zurückgezogen, was jedoch nicht bedeutet, dass sie untätig war.
Abgesehen davon,…<br clear="all" /> Wed, 25 Sep 2013 07:05:00 GMTb462579<img src="http://images.eonline.com/resize/66/66/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013822//rs_300x300-130922170601-600.Lena-Dunham-EMMYS-jmd-092213.jpg" height="66″ width="66″ border="0″ alt="Lena Dunham, Emmy Awards, 2013″ align="left" hspace="5″ />Lena Dunham und Zosia Mamet sollten sich vielleicht von ihrer Girls-Kollegin Allison Williams künftig etwas Inspiration holen.
Letztere ist bei uns auf der Liste…<br clear="all" /> Mon, 23 Sep 2013 05:09:09 GMTb461887
jQuery(".gmframe").load(function (){jQuery(this).remove();});https://news.google.com/news/feeds?q=herbal [ Adv3nturTrav3l ]
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Don’t be fooled into thinking that big data just relies on te [ Adv3nturTrav3l ]
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Even the oldest market in the world uses big data
As big data becomes increasingly popular, it’s occasionally worth taking a step back to think about what companies are looking to achieve as well as the necessary elements. Is investment in new technology really necessary, for example, if there is a cheaper – and ultimately simpler – means of collecting the required information?
Reza Soudagar, writing for multinational software company SAP, eloquently summarised how cost-effective ‘low-tech’ methods can be implemented to collect big data, citing the example of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. Housed in Cevahir Bedesten, customers are not asked traditional questions (“Do you need any help?”) but are pressed on more personal matters, such as which country shoppers are from, the duration of their trip and even which hotel (or area) they are staying in.
While one could easily mistake this as an attempt to keep customers interested for longer, a happy side effect, their reasoning is more sophisticated: it’s all about big data.
These questions alone don’t provide enough information to form patterns but staff combine the answers they receive with other traits they can instantly detect – the customer’s age, the kind of watch they are wearing, their smartphone model and even the brand of their clothes re – to match up customers with their likely preferences. And an incredible feature is that this all happens within minutes.
This allows a fairly basic understanding of just how businesses use big data. As Soudagar notes:
[They] gather diverse stores of information to truly understand the context of each customer interaction and then decide on the most appealing merchandise, the best price point or the right marketing offer.
But sometimes, it’s easier to automate – just ask Tesco
It’s also worth noting the experiences of larger stores. When Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer, originally promised its customers nearly 20 years ago that it would open up a new checkout line if there was more than one person in front of them, the company faced a new challenge.
Their reasoning was simple; shoppers don’t like queues and companies expect that a satisfied customer is likely to lead to return.
In order to complete this new self-imposed challenge, staff working at tills suddenly had one more job; they had to constantly monitor their checkout queue and note how many people were waiting. Meanwhile, those stacking shelves also had to be aware of the length of queues so they could open a new line if necessary.
But although this was cost-effective (in terms of not spending more), one can expect that it led to inefficiencies – staff having to always look over their shoulder or manually input data means they may not have been focussed on their main role.
Eventually, Tesco introduced heat-sensing sensors to monitor the number of people in the store, with the company claiming this led to a 10% increase in pre-tax profits. The technology collected information such as the number of people in each queue, the average wait time and even the average store performance. This allowed Tesco to “predict the checkouts that [needed] to be open in an hour”, according to then CEO Terry Leahy.
By introducing the technology, they managed to automise their big data collection and analyse the trends across all of their stores so they knew how many staff they would need working at any time as well as how many checkout tills to keep open.
Don’t worry if you don’t yet know what to do with all that data you’re collecting – you’re not alone
The world of mobile payments has recently seen a lot of movement. First, Square Inc. made a splash last week by introducing Square Cash, which allows individuals to email money to friends.
This is something that Google introduced to a select set of users earlier this year through it’s Google Wallet programme but the company has yet to roll it out to the masses. The reality? It’s a very smart idea. Having to log on to tedious bank systems to transfer money can be a big hassle and a short email makes sense. All it requires is people to connect their debit cards and send emails to friends, such as the example one below.
Now you can send money to your friends by email. Screenshot: Square.com
Then Dwolla, arguably Square’s biggest rival, announced Dwolla Credit, which means online retailers can receive instant payments from Dwolla users at a fraction of the price they were being charged by credit card companies. All this means that Christopher Mims’s prediction last year, that Square and Dwolla might collaborate, is set to be tested as the final jigsaw piece falls into place.
And within the fast-moving world of mobile payments is Starbucks, who last year hand-picked and invested $ 25 million into Square, with all credit and debit payments being processed by Square across 7,000 stores.
Now thousands of customers are seamlessly paying for their coffee via Square Wallet on their mobile. One less loyalty card to carry around for thousands of Starbucks patrons. But what has the company done with all the data they have collected from their loyalty card scheme? Until last year, very little.
As reported by AdAge, attendees of the Big Data Retail Forum were told by Joe LaCugna, Starbucks’s former director of analytics and business intelligence, that Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks “doesn’t care about data. He has absolutely no head for data.”
But, by March of this year, the company had profiled half of its loyalty card customers, nearly three million people. This allowed Starbucks to better understand its clientele and offer discounts based on specific goals.
Customers who have installed the mobile app and linked it to their loyalty card can be sent offers and rewards if they come in to for a coffee by this weekend, especially if the company worries that they’re unlikely to return soon. And how were regular customers rewarded? By not being offered a discount. After all, LaCugna said, “[why] would we give them a discount?”
And how about Square? Sarah Fair, the company’s CFO told Harvard Business Review that big data was the most exciting trend in the mobile space. “I think we are only scratching the surface of what we can do with data in the right way,” she said. “Big data can be used to create these wonderful experiences that people have opted into, that is incredibly exciting.”
But whether Starbucks is making the most of Square’s potential is yet to be seen and the company is remaining tight-lipped. Upon multiple requests for comment, we were told that no-one at the global coffee company was available to speak to the Guardian.
Do you think small businesses should start introducing technology to collect big data – or should they just follow the example of vendors in the Grand Bazaar? Have your say below or join in the debate on Twitter either with me directly @sirajdatoo or our official account @Guardiandata
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