Tuesday, June 06, 2017

Very rare report of a hard drive being pulled from the computer.  Indicates to me that the target was the data rather than just the computer.  But then, it should have been easy to steal the data from a computer in a public area – just insert your thumb drive and start copying.  So maybe the theft only wanted a hard drive and didn’t really care what was on it.  But the city must assume the data was the target.  (Look for someone who carries a screwdriver?) 
WDRB reports:
A computer stolen at the Louisville Hall of Justice puts some people at risk of identity theft.
The computer used by two Assistant County Attorneys was taken from a publicly accessible conference room.  Louisville Metro launched an internal investigation, after the theft was reported.  With the help of an outside forensic expert, the city determined there may have been sensitive information on the computer. [It took outside experts to determine what was on the computer?  Bob]
The computer was recovered, but the hard drive had been removed.  Emails of the two attorneys may have been on the hard drive.  Those emails could potentially contain names, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and driver’s license numbers. 
Read more on WDRB.


Perspective.  The world has truly changed when Watson shows up on Sesame Street.
Sesame Workshop and IBM Watson partner on platform to help kids learn
Sesame Workshop and IBM Watson today announced that they are creating a vocabulary app and the Sesame Workshop Intelligent Play and Learning Platform.  The new platform will be used by Sesame Workshop and IBM to create a series of cognitive apps, games, and toys to help kids learn.
This is the first public action announced from the partnership, which was formed more than a year ago.


I don’t get it.  Collect all seven million?
Nutella's New Jars Are Designed by an Algorithm
Ferrero’s famous hazelnut spread Nutella recently got a quick makeover to its original packaging.  And who’s the brains behind the redesign?  An algorithm.
Ferrero partnered with advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather Italia to employ an algorithm to create unique designs for 7 million jars that sold throughout Italy.  The software, which pulled from a database of different colors and patterns, came up with some funky, out-there designs that the company says are like “a piece of art.”
   Unfortunately, you won’t be able to get your hands on one of these limited-edition jars -- they sold out in one month.


Another “I don’t get it”  How does knowing how many cars Uber and Lyft operate “ensure” compliance with traffic laws? 
SF demands data from Uber, Lyft on city trips, driver bonuses
It’s a San Francisco truism: Every other car on the streets these days seems to sport a logo for Uber or Lyft — and many double-park or block traffic as passengers climb in or out.
Now the city wants Uber and Lyft to share details on how many ride-hailing cars are roving the streets and when, so it can ensure that they comply with local laws; assess their impact on traffic congestion, safety, pollution and parking; and ascertain whether they are accessible for disabled and low-income riders.


“Too big to jail.”  What a concept! 
Brandon Garrett and UVA Law Library Expand Online Database to 3,000 Documents
by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jun 5, 2017
UVA news release by Eric Williamson: “A recently expanded database offering the world’s largest collection of legal documents related to corporate crime is launching today at the University of Virginia School of Law.  The database, called the Corporate Prosecution Registry, allows researchers to view more than 3,000 decision documents, many of them previously hard to find or once shielded from the public eye, while also allowing them to better search specific subject matter and look at overall trends.  UVA Law professor Brandon Garrett, an expert in white-collar crime who authored the book “Too Big to Jail: How Prosecutors Compromise with Corporations,” built on his previous online database of corporate criminal dispositions, created in association with the book.  “Prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges, policymakers and researchers who have long used our database can now rapidly pull detailed information about the specific types of corporate cases that they are interested in,” Garrett said.  “Whether it is foreign bribery cases or antitrust or securities fraud or pharma cases, domestic companies or foreign, public companies or private, the information about these cases is available.”  More than 2,500 of the documents are corporate plea agreements, Garrett said, while most of the remainder are deferred or non-prosecution agreements.  Those deals allow corporations to avoid conviction if they follow a plan of financial restitution and corrective action, often more lenient than would be mandated through the court system.  At times, corporations have avoided fines completely…”


Something my student entrepreneurs could do?
   While it’s still early days (we launched this accelerator in early 2016), we believe the accelerator has scored enough successes to prove that the model can work.  In its first year, the accelerator successfully engaged more than 300 clinicians, researchers and administrators — touching more than 25 clinical departments at the hospital.  It has accelerated nine projects and spun three of them out as start-up companies that have secured over $2 million in venture funding.


A supplement to my spreadsheet class.  “It’s not just Excel anymore.” 
Easier Data Interpretation and Visualization in Google Sheets
   Last week Google added a new feature to make data visualization and interpretation easier than ever.  Now when you open the Explore feature in Google Sheets you can simply type in a request for a chart to be displayed based on the data in the sheet.  You can also make a simple request for something like the mean or median value of a column.


Something to share with my programming students.

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