CEdO540 Week 5

This week we looked at Google Trends, which I found to be very interesting. I like the fact that you can search for comparable topics and get a graphical display of search trends since January 2004. The tool also suggests articles related to the items in the trend comparison, which I found to be quite useful. During my investigation of Google Trends I checked out the Hot Topics, which is a list of the top 20 topics searched most recently. At first I wasn't sure the relevance of the topics listed; why people would be searching the topics listed? I found by digging a little deeper, I became more informed of events occurring that have captured the interest of a large population. I could see both Trends and Hot Topics used (with supervision) in the classroom to discuss current events and to look at trends in many different subject areas.

CEdO540 Week 4

We've had a couple of weeks off and I'm feeling a little lost as far as computing z-scores and what all of the statistical data actually means. Hopefully class on Tuesday will help me regroup and get back on track!

We read articles and watched a youtube video of dataminer Bill Tancer. I found his innovative approach to market research interesting and disconcerting at the same time. I think it is pretty amazing what one can learn by analyzing online traffic patterns--what concerns me is the ability of a person or entity being able to tag certain users and follow their habits indefinitely. While I believe people like Bill Tancer are using this information for the right reasons, it is a little frightening to know that someone out there is possibly tracking my online shopping and social networking habits!