And then you subtract from that the burning that has been done with the platform and the oil on the surface with the controlled burn, for example -- the application of dispersants, skimming operations and in situ.

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These data can then be used to improve a firm's service, for example by relieving people of the tedious business of having to fill in a home-loan application.

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As an example, Derek Snyder, a Microsoft senior product manager, demonstrated an in-the-works Windows Phone application for British Airlines that pushes notifications such as flight arrival and departure times right to the app.

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For a more dramatic example, consider the following: An investment in Riverbed Technology (RVBD), a developer of software to accelerate application performance and data transmission speeds on WANs, would have generated a 6x return, versus an investment in Clearwire (CLWR), a provider of portable high-speed wireless broadband services, which would have generated a 0.3x return.

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