In what could represent a gold mine for brand marketers, an MIT professor claims to have cracked Twitter’s code with an algorithm, which he says can predict specific trending patterns. Associate professor Devavrat Shah and his student, Stanislav Nikolov, developed the new algorithm as a way to improve upon traditional machine learning, Boston.com reports. “What makes Shah and Nikolov’s algorithm different,” it reports, “is that it’s nonparametric, meaning that the model structure is determined from the data, not by humans in advance.” 

Mobile analytics and ad company Flurry Just raised an additional $25 million in funding, and, according to TechCrunch, is hinting at an IPO. Launched as an app developer in 2007, Flurry later got into analytics, and, ultimately, app promotion and advertising. That last pivot is largely responsible for what TechCrunch says $80 to $100 million in annual revenue. To date, the company has now raised over $51.6 million. 

Facebook is reportedly testing a new service that lets local businesses offer customers free Wi-Fi after checking in on the social network. “For this small test, Facebook is supplying the router but businesses are providing the Internet access,” Insider Facebook reports. “When visitors check into a location on Facebook, they are redirected to the business’ Facebook page and can continue to browse the Web for free.” 

Internally, Federal Trade Commission staff are reportedly recommending that the agency sue Google for trying to block competitors’ access to key smartphone-technology patents. What’s more, “a majority of the agency’s five commissioners are inclined to sue,” Bloomberg reports, citing sources. A final decision on the recent staff recommendation isn’t likely until after the presidential election. 

Among other benefits, so-called big data is essential to creating better consumer services, including voice search. That’s according to a new research paper from Google, “More data helps train smarter models, which can then better predict what someone say next -- letting you keep your eyes on the road,” as GigaOm explains. For inquiring minds, the research also goes into detail about the science behind Google’s speech recognition applications, such as voice search and adding captions or tags to YouTube videos. 

Ross Levinsohn -- the guy who wasn’t chosen to write Yahoo’s next chapter -- says it’s going to take Marissa Mayer -- the gal who was -- years to turn around the old Web portal. “You have to give Marissa and the team that’s there the time to finish the job,” Levinsohn told Bloomberg, this week. “You can’t turn that company or any company of size around in six months or a year.” 

What are the implications of Apple firing Scott Forstall, the leader of its mobile software development team? For one, consumers can expect fewer nods to real-world experiences in their Apple gadgets --  like wooden shelves for organizing newspapers and the page-flipping motion of a book. “The management shake-up that Apple announced on Monday is likely to mean that Apple will shift away from such visual tricks,” The New York Times reports.