If we were focusing just on the EUR, then the market should be expecting the trend of firmer data in Europe to continue this week, both in the core and in the periphery.

FORBES: As EU Data Improves, Will The EUR Follow Suit?

We sat down with Rick to talk about the new project and the implications of the big data trend on the average citizens of the planet.

FORBES: The Human Face Of Big Data: An Interview With Rick Smolan

If you take a look at the Big Data tab of CrunchAnalytics, you can see that VC investments in big data followed the same downward trend, with the peak of venture capital funds raised by big data startups occurring in 2010.

FORBES: CrunchBase Crunching: SiSense and the Big Data Group on the State of the VC Industry