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Wed. Feb. 01, 2012 MIT Sloan course to tackle ‘Big Data’ Companies are now so overwhelmed by information overload that the MIT Sloan School of Management said it is gearing up to teach a two-day course that aims to help executives cope with massive data dumps and extract meaningful insights from real-time digital data. Set for March 27 and March 28, the course is titled, “Big Data: Making Complex Things Simpler.” According to MIT Sloan, companies adept at using “Big Data” are “around 5 percent more productive and profitable than their competitors.”	Advertisement
Super Bowl advertisers go after ‘second screens’ Call it the “second-screen” Super Bowl. About two-thirds of smartphone and tablet owners use their gadgets to do things like text or post on Twitter while watching TV, according to research firm Nielsen. So, for Sunday’s game, companies from Coke to Chevy are trying to reach fans on all the “second screens” they have. Chevrolet rolled out the first Super Bowl smartphone app that allows Big Game watchers to enter a contest to win everything from pizza to a new Camero.
Thermo Fisher Scientific posts strong 4Q, full-year results Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., a maker of laboratory instruments with about 39,000 employees, said its adjusted earnings per share in the fourth quarter grew 23 percent to a record $1.18 as the Waltham-based company’s overall performance for the fourth quarter and for all of 2011 was helped by strong showings in China, India, and Brazil. Fourth-quarters revenues increased 15 percent to a record $3.13 billion. The company also reported strong numbers for all of 2011.
State officials say they want to find ways to better market local fish Massachusetts officials are examining ways to better promote local seafood and combat perceptions that stocks are depleted. Those initiatives were discussed during the first full meeting today of the Seafood Marketing Commission, a group comprised of lawmakers, state officials, restaurant leaders, and commercial fishermen. “Part of what we’re doing here is playing defense against perceptions that we are abusing the ocean and will catch anything,” said state Senator Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican.
Romney paid just 10.7 percent in 2010 taxes, Boston tax lawyer estimates Depending on how you measure it, Mitt Romney’s tax rate may be even lower than it looked at first blush. Mitt Romney paid just 10.7 percent of his total gross income in federal income taxes in 2010 -- less than the 13.9 percent tax rate reported last week, according to a Boston tax lawyer who analyzed Romney’s returns.
Curt Schilling to release first video game Former Red Sox pitching ace Curt Schilling is about to make the biggest pitch of his life, as his video game company 38 Studios prepares for next Tuesday’s launch of its first game.
Boston developer Arthur Winn fined $100,000 for making illegal campaign contributions Developer Arthur Winn was fined $100,000, but avoided prison time at his sentencing today in US District Court for illegally funneling thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to politicians to help get support for his ultimately failed Columbus Center development. The sentence was far less severe than what prosecutors wanted: A $200,000 fine and six months in prison. US Magistrate Judith G. Dein said Winn’s illegal contributions were serious crimes, but didn’t warrant jail time because Winn only pleaded guilty to misdemeanors.
Home values in Boston area fell in November, according to Case-Shiller price index Home values in the Boston area dropped 1.6 percent in November compared with October, according to new data released by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, an index that tracks national real estate data. It marks the third consecutive month of declining home values and brings the region’s home prices to about the level they were at in April 2003, according to the index, which is considered an especially accurate measure of the housing market.
Vermont Yankee nuke plant seeks OK to operate longer The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is asking the state Public Service Board for permission to continue operating beyond its original March 21 closure date. The move follows a Jan. 19 ruling by a federal court judge who found that the state didn’t have the authority to close the plant as it had wished. But the decision said the plant needed to seek a certificate of public good from the utility-regulating Public Service Board.
TJX promotes Goldenberg to CFO position TJX Cos., which runs off-price stores like Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, and HomeGoods, is promoting Scott Goldenberg to chief financial officer. In his new role, Goldenberg will oversee TJX’s corporate finance operations.
Vertex’s Kalydeco drug approved for rare form of cystic fibrosis In a big win for Cambridge-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the US Food and Drug Administration today approved the company’s drug Kalydeco (ivacaftor) to treat a rare form of cystic fibrosis. The drug is approved for patients ages 6 and over who carry the G551D gene mutation, and the news follows the approval last year of Vertex’s hepatitis C drug Incivek.
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