Comments on: The best advertising database in the world http://terrychay.com/blog/article/the-best-advertising-database-in-the-world.shtml You tell that other boy, not to touch the woodwork... Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:22:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7-hemorrhage hourly 1 By: tychay http://terrychay.com/blog/article/the-best-advertising-database-in-the-world.shtml#comment-3045 tychay Fri, 26 May 2006 22:07:26 +0000 http://terrychay.com/blog/article/the-best-advertising-database-in-the-world.shtml#comment-3045 Senator Obama was one of the few senators to vote against Hayden’s nomination: <a href="http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_cr/obama052506.html" title="Statement of Sen. Obama on the General Michael Hayden nomination" rel="nofollow">here is his statement</a>. Senator Obama was one of the few senators to vote against Hayden’s nomination: here is his statement.

]]> By: tychay http://terrychay.com/blog/article/the-best-advertising-database-in-the-world.shtml#comment-2188 tychay Tue, 16 May 2006 23:51:42 +0000 http://terrychay.com/blog/article/the-best-advertising-database-in-the-world.shtml#comment-2188 A New York Times Op-Ed shows the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/opinion/16farley.html?ex=1305432000&en=64f96c12ae69c068&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss" title="The N.S.A.'s Math Problem—New York Times" rel="nofollow">weakness of using social network theory to hunt terrorists</a>. The interesting point is that trying to graph a terrorist network from a graph is particularly hard to do: there are not enough data points to nail down as terrorists and their modus operandi isn't amenable for using graphs as a way of discovery. A New York Times Op-Ed shows the weakness of using social network theory to hunt terrorists.

The interesting point is that trying to graph a terrorist network from a graph is particularly hard to do: there are not enough data points to nail down as terrorists and their modus operandi isn’t amenable for using graphs as a way of discovery.

]]> By: Jon K. http://terrychay.com/blog/article/the-best-advertising-database-in-the-world.shtml#comment-2100 Jon K. Fri, 12 May 2006 02:53:54 +0000 http://terrychay.com/blog/article/the-best-advertising-database-in-the-world.shtml#comment-2100 The phone call records could be useful for blackmail. On the bright side, I guess they won't need any more deals like Iran-Contra to raise revenue. The phone call records could be useful for blackmail. On the bright side, I guess they won’t need any more deals like Iran-Contra to raise revenue.

]]> By: tychay http://terrychay.com/blog/article/the-best-advertising-database-in-the-world.shtml#comment-2099 tychay Fri, 12 May 2006 02:47:01 +0000 http://terrychay.com/blog/article/the-best-advertising-database-in-the-world.shtml#comment-2099 There was some discussion the Balloon Juice article I linked on whether this was “the largest database.” Here is my response: <blockquote> I think it may be the biggest database, not in terms of number of records, but in terms of the likelihood that a person’s social network can be mined from it. Given that it is the combined call records of nearly every phone in the country. It is highly unlikely that there is a person working in America who doesn’t make some statistical contribution to that database. I don’t think even Walmart’s vaunted data warehouse can claim that. Plus, you can’t mine the connection information (who knows who) from B&N or Walmart’s database. That’s where the rubber meets the road with this database. This is why, even though Total Information Awareness is actually an interesting academic idea, it was destroyed by both sides of the aisle and ended it for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Poindexter" title="John Poindexter—Wikipedia" rel="nofollow">John Poindexter</a>—something even the Iran-Contra wasn’t able to do. Take a look at what happened with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_information_awareness" title="Information Awareness Office—Wikipedia" rel="nofollow">TIA</a> and you can see why this issue has political legs.</blockquote> There was some discussion the Balloon Juice article I linked on whether this was “the largest database.” Here is my response:

I think it may be the biggest database, not in terms of number of records, but in terms of the likelihood that a person’s social network can be mined from it. Given that it is the combined call records of nearly every phone in the country. It is highly unlikely that there is a person working in America who doesn’t make some statistical contribution to that database. I don’t think even Walmart’s vaunted data warehouse can claim that.

Plus, you can’t mine the connection information (who knows who) from B&N or Walmart’s database. That’s where the rubber meets the road with this database.

This is why, even though Total Information Awareness is actually an interesting academic idea, it was destroyed by both sides of the aisle and ended it for John Poindexter—something even the Iran-Contra wasn’t able to do.

Take a look at what happened with TIA and you can see why this issue has political legs.

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