VINTlabs Big Data Bookmarks: @ThomasvanManen

As researchers we do a lot of reading. Every week one of the researchers shares the most valuable articles he has read. Consider these posts as a curated reading experience. This week: Thomas van Manen A Very Short History of Big Data In this article a big data ‘archeology’ is presented deconstructing it’s history back to 1944. This article provides a detailed rearview mirror perspective on some of the major milestones in the history of sizing data volumes plus other observations pertaining to the evolution of the idea of “big data”. http://whatsthebigdata.com/2012/06/06/a-very-short-history-of-big-data/ Big Ethics for Big Data Besides the opportunities that big data bring along, I am also interested in the other side of the story. Big Data and notions such as social (media) analytics are raising issues about privacy and ownership of information. In this interview two researchers from O’Reilly Media talk about their upcoming report on the ethics for big data. http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/06/ethics-big-data-business-decisions.html How companies learn your secrets This article by the New York Times shows what happens when big data mining crosses the  ‘freaky line’. How is a company like Target able to tell if a woman is pregnant before she knows for herself? http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html