data
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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!
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.
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?
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. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
spyware
and data miner n. a kind of malicious software that gathers private information from a personal computer and sends it to another computer. I have a little program that roots out spyware from my computer. It found a data miner lurking among my digital images.
data miner
verbSee spyware
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.