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I always would see Palantir at career fairs, and I always wondered what, exactly, their software looked like. This seems...relatively innocuous? Just a databas

I always would see Palantir at career fairs, and I always wondered what, exactly, their software looked like. This seems...relatively innocuous? Just a database browser with a very okay UX.

greyface- 5y ago
Just like XKEYSCORE!
- warning26 5y ago
  I guess the problem with XKEYSCORE was the data that it was browsing should have been private -- isn't everything we're seeing here pretty normal as far as police data goes? (Arrest records, etc?)
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - actually_a_dog 5y ago
    The objection here has always been that having this amount of data about people, all aggregated in a central location, is what's harmful.
actually_a_dog 5y ago
What more do you need? The value is in the data. All you need to be able to do is to be able to efficiently add to and query the database.
TameAntelope 5y ago
I ran a booth at UMD near theirs back in like... 2014?, and holy shit did they have a huge line. They were giving away so much swag, it was not sane. We had ~5 resumes dropped off, I assume Palantir had ~200. I don't even remember seeing a Google or Apple booth, I assume mostly because this was east coast and on Palantir's "home" turf (for fed contracts at least), among other things.
- dvngnt_ 5y ago
  I went to their event for free pizza
  - regs 5y ago
    That's how they get you! (I used to run recruiting marketing there as a side job and good pizza was part of the playbook).
    - dtgriscom 5y ago
      How? What's in the pizza?
- woodruffw 5y ago
  Hah. If it was 2014, I was probably at that fair. I was ignorant of Palantir at the time, but I wonder now if the lines/excitement were because they were the "cool" (read with dripping sarcasm) defense contractor among the stodgy ones (LM, Raytheon, and all the other beltway bandits). I don't recall an Apple booth, but I do remember a Google one. IIRC, they were off in a corner.
craftinator 5y ago
I've used it before in a military capacity (actually during test deployments of the system). Interface-wise it's basically google earth, complete with ability to turn on layers and filter temporal ranges. The real magic was how data was induced into the system, and how it could be parsed. Basically geographically aware SQL, with a bunch of tools for correlation and inference of different data types. At the time, our head of intelligence was smitten with it, thought it would end our current conflict.

I always would see Palantir at career fairs, and I always wondered what, exactly, their software looked like. This seems...relatively innocuous? Just a database browser with a very okay UX.

greyface- 5y ago

Just like XKEYSCORE!

warning26 5y ago
I guess the problem with XKEYSCORE was the data that it was browsing should have been private -- isn't everything we're seeing here pretty normal as far as police data goes? (Arrest records, etc?)
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- actually_a_dog 5y ago
  The objection here has always been that having this amount of data about people, all aggregated in a central location, is what's harmful.

actually_a_dog 5y ago

What more do you need? The value is in the data. All you need to be able to do is to be able to efficiently add to and query the database.

TameAntelope 5y ago

I ran a booth at UMD near theirs back in like... 2014?, and holy shit did they have a huge line. They were giving away so much swag, it was not sane. We had ~5 resumes dropped off, I assume Palantir had ~200. I don't even remember seeing a Google or Apple booth, I assume mostly because this was east coast and on Palantir's "home" turf (for fed contracts at least), among other things.

dvngnt_ 5y ago
I went to their event for free pizza
- regs 5y ago
  That's how they get you! (I used to run recruiting marketing there as a side job and good pizza was part of the playbook).
  - dtgriscom 5y ago
    How? What's in the pizza?
woodruffw 5y ago
Hah. If it was 2014, I was probably at that fair. I was ignorant of Palantir at the time, but I wonder now if the lines/excitement were because they were the "cool" (read with dripping sarcasm) defense contractor among the stodgy ones (LM, Raytheon, and all the other beltway bandits). I don't recall an Apple booth, but I do remember a Google one. IIRC, they were off in a corner.

craftinator 5y ago

I've used it before in a military capacity (actually during test deployments of the system). Interface-wise it's basically google earth, complete with ability to turn on layers and filter temporal ranges. The real magic was how data was induced into the system, and how it could be parsed. Basically geographically aware SQL, with a bunch of tools for correlation and inference of different data types. At the time, our head of intelligence was smitten with it, thought it would end our current conflict.