The referendum was held only because, under pressure from the League, Mr Berlusconi rammed the reform through parliament by a simple majority, rather than strike a deal with the opposition to secure a two-thirds majority in each parliamentary chamber.

ECONOMIST: Italy's referendum

The group's inventions include a simple flower that emerges from its flowerpot only when a user's long-distance partner comes online.

FORBES: Magazine Article

But Big Data can also be an enormous waste of time and money if that mountain of raw data consists of only dross, or the only patterns that emerge from all of your analysis are those you could have discovered with a couple hours of simple observation.

FORBES: Do you really want to get aboard the Big Data train?