4 ms·

Oh. I'm European and I always wondered why in practically every American criminal-spy-scifi-investigative-themed TV show or movie there are people sitting at ma

Oh. I'm European and I always wondered why in practically every American criminal-spy-scifi-investigative-themed TV show or movie there are people sitting at magical, proprietary computers able to find strange pieces of (personal) information in no time (but obviously always complex to use, because other characters don't know how). I didn't know about the "Bloomberg Terminal" before, but now that makes a lot more sense where that idea comes from.

FabHK 10y ago
Bloomberg delivers financial information, not information on every individual.
- return0 10y ago
  That's facebook's job
  - cm2012 10y ago
    I know it's a joke, but as a high spend Facebook advertiser, I can tell you that Facebook only sells audience information in aggregate, not on an individual basis.
    - sreenadh 10y ago
      ...P R I S M...
      - cm2012 10y ago
        That's not sold, so not comparable to BB.
        reitanqild 10y ago
        Evil mode: That's not sold No, given freely away for "protection". Evil mode off: I have less problems with western TLAs as they exist today but find it very scary to think about what might happen once we see a really big data leak from FB. Or Facebook folds and is bought by someone who's set on making money from the assets.
        jwatte 10y ago
        Facebook is in the business of making money off the assets. The thing that keeps them off the worst edge is that they want to stay in business long term.
        __jal 10y ago
        This is why I've started using the phrase "intelligence-entertainment complex".
    - randomdata 10y ago
      Not yet.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - return0 10y ago
      They could use their ai to match you with advertised products. You wouldnt need individual data in this case.
      - cm2012 10y ago
        Still, the AI matches you into an "audience" which is targetable. It doesn't tell the advertiser that they're advertising to John, Jane, and Joaquin, specifically.
        jacobush 10y ago
        Unless you make gender a datapoint, and advertise to a group of 20, where only one is male. Oldest trick in the (face-) book.
- wastedhours 10y ago
  That isn't the point of the OP though? Think the point being that the inspiration for a proprietary system that does that is the Bloomberg Terminal. Although they're used all around the world, seems that their use and functionality is perhaps more in the American zeitgeist.
  - FabHK 10y ago
    Yes, now that you mention it, probably ("where that idea comes from"). Nevertheless, strikes me as a totally absurd comparison - I'd never associate a bog standard Bloomberg Terminal (used in NY, HK, London, Frankfurt, ...) with some fictitious device from US movies.
    - floatingatoll 10y ago
      It's a really strong analogy to how people think of command-line hackers, though. You type what seems like a bunch of gibberish with lots of slashes and hyphens at a hundred words a minute and then the computer turns into a rainbow-barfing unicorn. It doesn't seem that way to the hacker, because it's just another language. Why does 'tac' mean "reverse abcd to dcba, line-by-line, on the input stream? Human brevity and wit. and then look at the Bloomberg Terminal and ask "Why does 'OTFN'* mean "empty oil tanks departing ports with a cost modifier proportional to the time left in port and risk of loading delays vs. departure cutoffs?", it's for the same human reasons: someone wanted to type as few letters as possible to get something done, and came up with something that seemed good at the time, and it stuck. Hacking shows always show us people typing three commands and ending up at the [fictional agency of choice] here. Bloomberg can work magic beyond belief with three commands, and even more amazingly dedicated the HELP button on every keyboard to "press it repeatedly and HELP opens the chat to you", which is maybe the best approach I've ever seen. * OTFN "Oil The Fuck Now" may or may not exist in Bloomberg Terminal, I sadly do not have access :(
- blincoln 10y ago
  Lexis-Nexis is probably the equivalent for individuals.
- whichkingangmar 10y ago
  There are other companies that specialize in collecting information on every individual. For example: https://youtu.be/f86VKjFSMJE?t=23m45s https://youtu.be/f86VKjFSMJE?t=23m45s
- trelliscoded 10y ago
  That would be LexisNexis.

FabHK 10y ago

Bloomberg delivers financial information, not information on every individual.

return0 10y ago
That's facebook's job
- cm2012 10y ago
  I know it's a joke, but as a high spend Facebook advertiser, I can tell you that Facebook only sells audience information in aggregate, not on an individual basis.
  - sreenadh 10y ago
    ...P R I S M...
    - cm2012 10y ago
      That's not sold, so not comparable to BB.
      - reitanqild 10y ago
        Evil mode: That's not sold No, given freely away for "protection". Evil mode off: I have less problems with western TLAs as they exist today but find it very scary to think about what might happen once we see a really big data leak from FB. Or Facebook folds and is bought by someone who's set on making money from the assets.
        jwatte 10y ago
        Facebook is in the business of making money off the assets. The thing that keeps them off the worst edge is that they want to stay in business long term.
        __jal 10y ago
        This is why I've started using the phrase "intelligence-entertainment complex".
  - randomdata 10y ago
    Not yet.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - return0 10y ago
    They could use their ai to match you with advertised products. You wouldnt need individual data in this case.
    - cm2012 10y ago
      Still, the AI matches you into an "audience" which is targetable. It doesn't tell the advertiser that they're advertising to John, Jane, and Joaquin, specifically.
      - jacobush 10y ago
        Unless you make gender a datapoint, and advertise to a group of 20, where only one is male. Oldest trick in the (face-) book.
wastedhours 10y ago
That isn't the point of the OP though? Think the point being that the inspiration for a proprietary system that does that is the Bloomberg Terminal. Although they're used all around the world, seems that their use and functionality is perhaps more in the American zeitgeist.
- FabHK 10y ago
  Yes, now that you mention it, probably ("where that idea comes from"). Nevertheless, strikes me as a totally absurd comparison - I'd never associate a bog standard Bloomberg Terminal (used in NY, HK, London, Frankfurt, ...) with some fictitious device from US movies.
  - floatingatoll 10y ago
    It's a really strong analogy to how people think of command-line hackers, though. You type what seems like a bunch of gibberish with lots of slashes and hyphens at a hundred words a minute and then the computer turns into a rainbow-barfing unicorn. It doesn't seem that way to the hacker, because it's just another language. Why does 'tac' mean "reverse abcd to dcba, line-by-line, on the input stream? Human brevity and wit. and then look at the Bloomberg Terminal and ask "Why does 'OTFN'* mean "empty oil tanks departing ports with a cost modifier proportional to the time left in port and risk of loading delays vs. departure cutoffs?", it's for the same human reasons: someone wanted to type as few letters as possible to get something done, and came up with something that seemed good at the time, and it stuck. Hacking shows always show us people typing three commands and ending up at the [fictional agency of choice] here. Bloomberg can work magic beyond belief with three commands, and even more amazingly dedicated the HELP button on every keyboard to "press it repeatedly and HELP opens the chat to you", which is maybe the best approach I've ever seen. * OTFN "Oil The Fuck Now" may or may not exist in Bloomberg Terminal, I sadly do not have access :(
blincoln 10y ago
Lexis-Nexis is probably the equivalent for individuals.
whichkingangmar 10y ago
There are other companies that specialize in collecting information on every individual. For example: https://youtu.be/f86VKjFSMJE?t=23m45s https://youtu.be/f86VKjFSMJE?t=23m45s
trelliscoded 10y ago
That would be LexisNexis.