8:04 AM
I'm about to be in a car for the next 10 or so hours, so I figure I should send this out now and send the rest later tonight when I am online again.
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2012/06/Information-Technology-Scientists-Twist-Light-To-Send-Data/
Study found that scientists overlook their colleagues' research if it has too many mathematical equations, ignoring theories with too many mathematical details. The researchers found that scientific articles with too many equations on each page are seldom referred to by other scientists, 50% less often than articles with little or no math equations:
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2012/06/General-Science-Scientists-Struggle-With-Mathematical-Details/
Microsoft is buying Yammer for $1.2 bil to try to bring Facebook-like sharing features to Microsoft Office. Yammer creates private social networks so employees within the same company can see what colleagues are working on, similar to have Facebook lets friends and families to track what is happening in each other's personal lives. Yammer has 5 mil registered users at more than 200,000 companies. Once employees set up a free private network within their company, Yammer tries to sell more sophisticated features to the companies. Yammer is estimates to have had about $15 mil to $20 mil of revenue last year, so $1.2 bil is a good price for them to get. The VC invested $142 mil in Yammer, so they will get a nice return on their investment:
http://www.rdmag.com/News/FeedsAP/2012/06/information-tech-microsoft-buying-internet-startup-yammer-for-12b/
Orbitz found that people who use Mac computers spend as much as 30% more a night on hotels, so they are starting to show Mac users different (more $$$) travel options than Windows users see:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304458604577488822667325882.html?mod=djemalertNEWS
This article discusses reasons why lightning hits 4x more men than women:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/25/155719912/80-percent-of-lightning-strike-victims-are-male-but-why?sc=tw&cc=share