L'invisible omniprésence de l'analyse de données

25 Great Thinkers Every College Student Should Read By Donna Scott College is for expanding one’s intellectual horizons. Unfortunately, drinking and having fun, can distract from learning about history’s great thinkers. From Mark Twain to Confucius, an educated individual should posses some knowledge of certain philosophers, artists and thinkers. Here are 25 great thinkers every college student should read, even if professors don’t assign them. Western Philosophers Western universities understandably tend to focus on Western philosophers and thinkers. Ralph Waldo Emerson: Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Emerson was an influential figure in the first recognized American school of philosophical thought. Eastern Thinkers Eastern philosophies have proven influential on figures throughout history from Marco Polo to the Beatles. Statesman Polls show few people trust politicians. Winston Churchill: In his nation’s darkest hour, Winston Churchill served as a beacon of inspiration and support. Writers and Artists

REFLECTIONS ON A CRISIS Daniel Kahneman & Nassim Taleb, Mo FOCUS ONLINE January 28, 2009 ARE BANKERS CHARLATANS? Sind Banker Scharlatane? (German Original) At blame for the financial crisis is the nature of man, say two renowned scientists: Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman and bestselling author Nassim Taleb ( "The Black Swan"). By Ansgar Siemens, FOCUS online editor Two men sitting on the stage. Kahneman explains why there are bubbles in the financial markets, even though everyone knows that they eventually burst. "Those responsible must go--today and not tomorrow" Taleb speaks out sharply against the bankers. It is nonsense to think that we can assess risks and thus protect against a crash. The early warning "Taleb had an early warning before the crisis. In autumn last year, the U.S. government instituted A dramatic bailout. Taleb calls for rigorous changes: nationalize banks--and abolish financial models.

Guest Blog: A Year of Non-Fiction? by Emily « Nadia Lee :: Romance Writer - Blog I have been utterly and completely turned off reading fiction. I'm not sure why, but I just don't wanna. I've been to the library a couple of times since I got back home -- and god, I love the public libraries here in Singapore! -- and I always walk away empty-handed from the fiction section. I go to bookstores, and wander out again, not having spent a single, precious penny. Which means I'm spending a ridiculous amount of cash on needlework stash and I really don't need any more -- FYI, my TBR pile is usually about 10 books and I have already achieved what we stitchers call SABLE: Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy. Do you know what amount of monstrous effort that would normally require of me? I'm someone who usually reads upwards of 200 novels each year. Now I can't remember the last time I read a novel. It's depressing, is what it is. I watch some TV. So I'm thinking. An enforced year of reading only non-fiction. It might kill me. Do you think you could do it?

Opinion Way - Fondation Copernic L’entreprise de sondages en ligne Opinion Way remplace TNS-Sofres comme partenaire de TF1 pour les élections européennes de juin 2008. Au-delà de l’événement commercial, c’est un tournant dans l’histoire des sondages politiques. Opinion Way réalise en effet des sondages en ligne et non par téléphone ou en face-à-face comme les anciens instituts. Dans son rapport sur l’élection présidentielle de 2007, la commission des sondages avait exclu ce type de sondages de son contrôle. Malgré une visite d’explication de la méthodologie effectuée par les responsables de l’entreprise. Ce dénouement était prévisible pour une raison économique de coûts : les sondages en ligne sont moins coûteux et l’on sait que les enquêteurs téléphoniques ont de plus en plus de mal à trouver des sondés. La reconnaissance par la commission des sondages, organe officiel de contrôle composé de hauts fonctionnaires, est autrement problématique. Comment Opinion Way truque un sondage A suivre…

George Orwell - The Orwell Prize The 8 Elements of Contagious Ideas In the research I’ve been doing over the past few years into why ideas spread, I’ve found a few common characteristics of contagious ideas across mediums and centuries. The list below contains those characteristics, and while its still an evolving set, the vast majority of successful memes I’ve studied have had some (or all) of them present. I’ve also tried to include takeaways, tactics you, as a marketer can use to apply these concepts to your viral campaigns. If you like this post, or any of my work, please, nominate me for a Shorty Award. Seeding The first group of people exposed to your meme are your seeds. Its easy and obvious to say that you should work to build your reach–your Twitter followers, your blog subscribers–but its harder to do than to prescribe. Especially in less early adopter categories, find those users who are using the bleeding edge social media technologies in that space and seed your ideas to them. Novelty Intuitiveness Relevance Utility Social Cascades Proselytism

I Love You Christopher Hitchens, You Irritating Bastard Christopher Hitchens, along with Robert Hughes and Spy magazine's Michèle Bennett, first started me imagining that I would like someday to be a journalist and critic. These jaundiced observers of the follies of the late 1980s and early 1990s had in common an elegant style of attack, and a positive relish in the peppering, roasting, carving and dishing up of sacred cows. Hughes, by far the most scholarly of the three, went on to produce magnificent books and documentaries (and to survive the terrible injuries he sustained in a super-hairy car crash in 1999); Bennett's true identity has never been revealed, but I hope he or she is thriving, and writing still. I like to imagine I've been enjoying the Bennett oeuvre all along, under some other august byline. But Christopher Hitchens! Ach, Christopher Hitchens. In this VF piece Hitchens recounted with unmistakable delight the media rumpus occasioned by Hell's Angel. I was very suddenly and very overwhelmingly actuated by pity. Really!

The World’s Top 20 Public Intellectuals Rankings are an inherently dangerous business. Whether offering a hierarchy of countries, cities, or colleges, any such list -- at least any such list worth compiling -- is likely to generate a fair amount of debate. In the last issue, when we asked readers to vote for their picks of the world’s top public intellectuals, we imagined many people would want to make their opinions known. But no one expected the avalanche of voters who came forward. Such an outpouring reveals something unique about the power of the men and women we chose to rank. No one spread the word as effectively as the man who tops the list. 1. An Islamic scholar with a global network of millions of followers, Gülen is both revered and reviled in his native Turkey. 2. More than 30 years ago, Yunus loaned several dozen poor entrepreneurs in his native Bangladesh a total of $27. 3. 4. Part political pundit, part literary celebrity, Pamuk is the foremost chronicler of Turkey’s difficult dance between East and West. 5.