天山山下牧牛羊

　　今天我們英文課的文章：Data Mining：What's the danger?

　　談的是很多網路公司提供免費的網路空間給大眾用，然後再裝了＂跟蹤器＂，搜集你的資料給廣告公司，賺取大量的廣告費，文章也建議我們把網頁瀏覽器提供的＂do not track＂功能啟用，就不會被跟蹤了,我問了英文班的年輕人如何操作，回家關了它，但我發現我也沒辦法在好友的Pixnet留言，只好又把它打開。真的是：There is no such thing as a free lunch。

Websites often install tracking devices such as "cookies", which allow the site owner to identify you as you move around in cyberspace.

Smartphone apps might also serve as data mining tools that track your online activity, report where you travel to, and even report who's in your contact list.

The main reason companies can afford to offer apps for free is because they can sell your resulting data. 

Internet data mining's primary function is to allow companies to employ targeted advertising.

Ｍany people prefer targeted ads over random ones, but those worried about privacy can enable a "do not track" function that some web browsers provide.

statistics.統計學

guesswork: meteorology, agriclture, 氣象，農業等猜測工作

cyberspace網際空間

targeted ads.目標廣告

tracking devices.跟蹤器

internet data mining網路資料挖掘

gardening園藝

parenting親子

indie rock.獨立搖滾

virtually.事實上

contact list.聯絡人名單