On this episode we discuss data mining, using computational techniques to comb through large volumes of information and look for patterns. Many online companies use the results of data mining to target their advertising to you as a consumer. We look at how you can find out what information is available about you online as well as discuss how much information you should be submitting when making online inquires.
Guests
John Riedl
John Riedl
John is a professor at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He's also one of the lead professors for GroupLens, a project doing research in the areas of information filtering, collaborative filtering, and recommender systems. See his faculty page for more information.
Justin Steen
Justin Steen
Justin is a Web programmer in the University of Minnesota's Office of Information Technology. He also develops and teaches computer short courses and provides technical support to the University community.
Links
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a nonprofit group working to protect your digital rights. You can find them at EFF.org.
To find out what other folks think of an online business go to epinions.com.
Other links mentioned in the show:
Data Mining
Data mining is a set of techniques for analyzing data and extracting hidden information from the data for a variety of purposes.
Crawler
A crawler is a program or automated script which browses the Internet in a methodical, automated manner.
Mashup
A mashup is a Web site or application that combines content from more than one source into an integrated experience.