data miner
Something that extracts or gathers data from a computer. "Spyware" is a malicious type of data miner. IT is going to use a data miner to get us that information. I bet Ben put a data miner on my computer to spy on me! Your computer's running really slow? You better hope there's no viruses or data miners on there.
data scrubbing
The process of making computer data more uniform or accurate. Aw man, the files we merged are now in two jumbled styles. They're in need of some serious data scrubbing. A: "How's the data scrubbing going?" B: "Hoo boy, it's gonna take longer than I thought—a lot of text from that one source parsed strangely." We can't work with these files as they are, so get someone to do the data scrubbing so we can make sense of them.
if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything
If you manipulate your data, you can make it prove anything you want. I'm suspicious of his research. I mean, if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything! But is any of it accurate and unbiased? A: "You know, if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything." B: "That's exactly what I don't want you to do, OK? We need to find the real source of the discrepancy here." How much do you trust their lead researcher? Because you know as well as I do that, if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything.
scrub the data
To make computer data more uniform or accurate; to clean data up. Aw man, the files we merged are now in two jumbled styles. We'll need to scrub the data to make it usable.
spyware
Malicious software designed to surreptitiously record and transmit a computer user's private information to someone or something. The judge ruled that the tech company was installing spyware by virtue of the fact that users were at no point warned that their information was being collected. I've only ever downloaded a movie illegally once, and I ended up with such nasty spyware as a result that I never did it again.
the plural of anecdote is not data
You cannot use anecdotal evidence in lieu of well researched scientific data. A: "I mean, you can tell just by reading people's experiences on Spacebook that this legislation isn't working." B: "Come on, Spacebook stories are hardly the standard by which this legislation's success or failure should be measured. The plural of anecdote is not data, after all."
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.