infographic

Surprise! Kids don't know what the save icon stands for

Kids these days. They've never had to lock a floppy disk or dial a rotary telephone. It's a different world, and a survey by TeachHub.com and Clever Girls Collective shows just how much times have changed. The survey of 1,000 kindergarten through 5th graders spawned an infographic just in time to celebrate National Library Week.

Among the not-too-surprising findings, only 14 percent of the kids knew what the save icon represents. I'm actually surprised that that many of them recognized a floppy disk. They must have some old-school parents or an out-of-date uncle who is still rocking a Mac Classic.… Read more

Intel reveals what happens in a single Internet minute

The Internet is a busy place. Usually, we're all just puttering along online, watching silly cat videos, checking e-mail, and occasionally getting some work done. If you truly were to comprehend everything happening on the Internet at any given moment, it would drive you mad, much like Bowman in "2001: A Space Odyssey."

"The thing's hollow--it goes on forever--and--oh my God--it's full of Internets!"

Fortunately, Intel has broken down what happens in an Internet minute into an easy-to-digest infographic. First, let's look at the big-daddy number. Every minute, 639,800GB of global IP data is transferred. That's a little hard to really wrap the mind around, so let's get into some of the telling details.

In a single minute of Internet time, 204 million e-mails are sent. Online denizens view 20 million photos on Flickr. Twitter processes 100,000 new tweets and 320 new Twitter accounts are created. That's more than five new Twitter users per second. No wonder it's so hard to keep up with all that tweeting.… Read more

Friday Poll: Which prediction will most likely come true?

I have a bone to pick with predictions. I was supposed to have my own personal jetpack by the year 2000. I'm still waiting. That's why I'm just a little skeptical about this BBC Future infographic that looks ahead a century and a half.

As we reported earlier this week, the infographic is packed with predictions ranging from "most likely" to "least likely" from 2013 until 150 years into the future.

For this year, the BBC is giving us pretty good chances that the Great Firewall of China will fall and that doctors … Read more

Peer 150 years into the future of tech and science

No matter how much you keep up with technology, it's challenging to predict its impact past a few years down the road. There are so many possibilities on the horizon -- especially considering the non-stop advancements in connectivity, nanotechnology, and other expanding fields of next-gen science -- that future generations may think of the early 2000s in the same way we think of the early 1900s: as a time when society stood on the cusp of incredible change.

A new BBC Future infographic takes a shot at what could happen in the realm of science, technology, and society as a whole from now to 2150. The predictions, which come from a cavalcade of sources (IBM, MIT, NASA, news outlets, and many others), indicate that the world we know today could be largely different in just a decade. … Read more

The 404 1,132: Where we're waiting in line for the iPhone Whatever (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Apple lines are party time...for a night or two.

- Everpurse fashionably charges smartphones.

- Google Maps shows how we spent our summer vacations.

- Missouri University correlates social-media success to self-esteem.

Bathroom break video: Remote-control rat pranks New Yorkers.… Read more

Using social media to track public's reaction to iPhone 5

As the good and the bad gets hashed out over blogs and on news sources in the aftermath of Apple's highly-anticipated debut of the iPhone 5 today, it's interesting to take a look and see what was the public's reaction on social media when the device was released.

The start-up Taykey produced this data-rich infographic on iPhone 5 reactions from around the Web today. In gathering the data, Taykey monitored 50,000 user-generated online sources, like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, and blogs. With this data, it analyzed trends and conversations to create the graphic that measures both … Read more

'Star Wars' versus 'Star Trek' technology: Let's settle this

Though I love them both, this is where I confess to being more of a "Star Trek" fan than a "Star Wars" fan. Unfortunately, I'm pretty much outgunned when it comes to technological superiority.

An infographic from the strange source bestonlineengineeringdegree.com tries to settle the great "Star Wars" versus "Star Trek" debate with a head-to-head battle between the two universes' weapons, vehicles, and starships.

This is as close as we'll get to having Captain Picard duke it out in a fistfight with Luke Skywalker (something I would pay big money to watch). … Read more

Facebookers check-in at the world's most social landmarks

People who check-in on Facebook tend to like sports arenas, public parks, and shopping centers, according to data the social network crunched to figure out the world's most social landmarks.

The data follows check-ins made in 25 cities around the globe and found that the most popular places to be during the summer months tend to be outdoors; people like shopping in markets, watching sporting events, and going to music festivals.

Obvious tourist places also seem to be a hit. Users checked-in while gazing at dinosaurs is the American Museum of Natural History in New York, people watching on … Read more

Facebook illustrates the rabbit hole of user reports

Ever wondered what happens when unwanted activity is reported on Facebook, such as explicit photos, hate speech, or hacked accounts?

Facebook is aiming to make it easier for users to understand what it does when user reports are filed by publishing the "Reporting Guide" infographic today (see above).

"With a community of over 901 million people, Facebook maintains a robust reporting infrastructure made up of dedicated teams all over the world and innovative technology systems," the social network writes on the infographic.

Looking to help users who may be contemplating suicide or others who feel like … Read more

Nexius charts seven surprising 4G LTE facts

Nexius, an international wireless consulting firm, created a neat little infographic detailing seven facts about 4G LTE that you might have never known before.

For instance, did you know that the first country to launch an LTE network was Norway? The United States was the fifth to launch one, trailing behind Uzbekistan, which was the third in line.

Another factoid that surprised me was the reported statistic that 49 percent of people don't understand what 4G is, but 71 percent want to purchase a 4G phone within the year anyway.

I wouldn't want to give everything away, since … Read more