Facebook monthly active users

Monthly active users at Facebook

Eric Garland DataLab

Facebook, now implicated in the Russian interference in the 2016 US elections (as well as those of France, the Netherlands, Germany, and others) has achieved such massive power by accruing a base of monthly active users that is the plurality of the human race. Of all grandiose statements, this is not an exaggeration in statistical or metaphorical terms. The tech …

solar PV renewable electricity production trend

Solar PV grew the fastest in adding electricity production to the grid

Eric Garland DataLab

Good news from the International Energy Agency: solar PV and renewables in general grew the most in 2016 in terms of adding to the electrical grid. Boosted by a strong solar PV market, renewables accounted for almost two-thirds of net new power capacity around the world last year, with almost 165 gigawatts (GW) coming online, according to the new report, Renewables …

Brave new world of vocal post-editing has implications for propaganda

Eric Garland DataLab

This video from Adobe introducing its vocal post-editing software allows creators not only the ability to change the order of words in a voiceover – but also to create new words in the voice of the speaker. This video dropped four days before the United States’ 2016 election, which the U.S. intelligence community and its allies assess to have been affected …

immersive reality

360 degree media will be a game changer

Eric Garland DataLab

As flexible screens increase in resolution and drop in price, 360 degree media and its offshoots will change how content creators make immersive environments for entertainment, but also for branding. According to Technavio, “Unit shipment of curved TV is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 20% by 2020, while shipments of curved monitors are forecast to expand at …