From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

Big data in your life now and in the future.

Hello again, I'm Orman Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most. Netflix used big data to determine that 27 million subscribers would like a series

called House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey. Yahoo used big data to require employees to come

into the office rather than working from home. Google is using big data to develop self-driving

cars. But what is big data?

Is it more than a powerful tool? Could it change the way people think? We'll hear how Netflix

developed House of Cards and look at the risks as well as the benefits of a constantly

expanding avalanche of information about us. On Reporter's Notebook later on, elite sports cars are going hyper-hybrid. First, here's the news.

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Program Fund. Hello again, Waron-Nalny, back with To the Point. By analyzing masses of

information collected online, Netflix, Amazon, Google, and others can figure out what you want and how much you'll pay. But what's called Big Data has many other uses as well, and there are risks, including invasions of privacy. Will Big Data stifle creativity and opportunity for innovation? We'll ask those questions and others today.

On reporter's notebook, forget about hybrid fuel savers being drab, clunky, and slow. Porsche and Ferrari

are in on the environmental action with sports cars that are hyper-hybrid. First, this news update.

The economy gained more jobs than expected last month, and the unemployment rate is now

7.7 percent. That's the lowest since December of 2008. But job vacancies are staying unfilled

much longer than they used to. That's according to Catherine Rampel of the New York Times. Good to have

you back on our program. Good to be here. First, the drop in the unemployment rate, this was unexpected.

Yes, I mean, economists were expecting somewhere around 160,000, which is basically what we had

...