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Alasdair Allan
Alasdair Allan is the author of Learning iPhone Programming and Programming iPhone Sensors published by O'Reilly Media. He is a senior research fellow in Astronomy at the University of Exeter. As part of his work there he is building a distributed peer-to-peer network of telescopes which, acting autonomously, will reactively schedule observations of time-critical events. Notable successes include contributing to the detection of the most distant object yet discovered, a gamma-ray burster at a redshift of 8.2. Alasdair also runs a small technology consulting business writing bespoke software, building open hardware and providing training. He sporadically writes blog posts about things that interest him, or more frequently provides commentary about them in 140 characters or less. 
Tertiary data: Big data's hidden layerThoughts on the hidden data that's generated about us, rather than by us.
Big data isn't limited to multi-terabyte datasets or data markets. It also includes the hidden data you carry with you all the time and the growing data on your movements, contacts and social interactions.
Fighting the next mobile warRecent moves by Apple and Google could ignite the external accessories space.
While you'll likely interact with your smartphone tomorrow in much the same way you interacted with it today, it's quite possible that your smartphone will interact with the world in a very different way. The next mobile war has already begun.
Apple and a web-free cloudApple's approach to the cloud is business as usual, and that's what makes it interesting.
From custom chips, to the data centers backing its new iCloud effort, Apple is committed to controlling the end-user experience. The web has no place in their vision.
The next, next big thingThe web had its day. Mobile is already peaking. So what's next?
Those evangelizing the revolutionary qualities of "the next big thing" (whatever it may be) would do well to revisit past "big things." Truth is, computing goes in cycles.
The secret is to bang the rocks togetherArduino is a building block for the world to come.
Every so often a piece of technology can become a lever that lets people move the world, just a little bit. The Arduino is one of those levers.
Got an iPhone or 3G iPad? Apple is recording your movesA hidden file in iOS 4 is regularly recording the position of devices.
Pete Warden and Alasdair Allan have discovered that iPhones and 3G iPads running iOS 4 are regularly recording the location of devices into a hidden file.
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