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Leaked Palantir Doc Reveals Uses, Specific Functions and Key Clients

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Re: Leaked Palantir Doc Reveals Uses, Specific Functions and Key Clients

#61

Post by gkoberger »

capkutay wrote: post #52
fishcakes wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On one hand, it is true they deploy people to implement the software. On the other hand, the customer has results after 6-8 weeks. How much software can really be built in that sort of time frame? Not much... In my opinion Palantir is a product company, but the product is deeply integrated in to an enterprise. And doing that takes time and people.

I would debate that...if your 'product' takes a team of stanford engineers to actually deploy at an enterprise, then it's probably closer to a dev framework.

Well, they need a way to get up-to-date data into the system from whatever it's coming from. That alone requires someone to write code. They probably also do some customizing of what data is displayed; maybe via a GUI or maybe via code. But that's just the last mile (on each end) that needs customization.

I don't see how you can simplify that into calling it a "dev framework".

Re: Leaked Palantir Doc Reveals Uses, Specific Functions and Key Clients

#62

Post by jpttsn »

jsprogrammer wrote: post #57
newaccountfool wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may be intrusive and it may end up being used for the wrong reasons, but as a technology community we've got to give it to them. It's very impresive.

It's impressive, but without meaningful and effective restraints on its use it's potentially dangerous. There is a large focus on secrecy seemingly within the organization itself (Palantir) and the organizations it works with (NSA, CIA, FBI, etc.). One important question is, why is Palantir arming secretive organizations with very powerful technology? If the analysis capabilities are so great (and they appear to at l…

> why is Palantir arming secretive organizations with very powerful technology?

They get paid handsomely.

> more good that can be achieved by opening up the code to the software so that anyone can use it to tackle local and global problems around the planet

This attitude bothers me. Palantir is not a charity. Why are you holding them to these standards?

Re: Leaked Palantir Doc Reveals Uses, Specific Functions and Key Clients

#63

Post by [deleted] »

fishcakes wrote: post #36
capkutay wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Every new contract requires dozen extra people." I've heard this as well. They essentially hire customer-facing engineers to go out and scope specific contracts and literally implement custom solutions with small generic software frameworks they developed in house.

On one hand, it is true they deploy people to implement the software. On the other hand, the customer has results after 6-8 weeks. How much software can really be built in that sort of time frame? Not much... In my opinion Palantir is a product company, but the product is deeply integrated in to an enterprise. And doing that takes time and people.

[deleted]

Re: Leaked Palantir Doc Reveals Uses, Specific Functions and Key Clients

#64

Post by mootothemax »

lawl wrote: post #27

Copy paste of Joe_Doe's comment. Which seems dead but sais "[noobtor]" instead of [dead]. Never seen that before?! However should he have registered via tor to leak a bit of insider info I don't want to let this die because of tor flagging. ---------- Palantir is trying to raise another ~400mm to finance their operations. And I honestly think this just another PR stunt to attract investors. The 'secretive' attitude i…

They are deceiving investors into believing that the company has a real product.

To be fair, this description makes it sound like an ETL tool, just like Ab Initio, Datastage or Teradata, where the companies involved all make serious amounts of money from consulting (and the server licenses don't come cheap either!).

These tools can be pretty powerful if set up and programmed correctly; it's definitely not as simple as pointing them at a bunch of data sources and expecting magic to happen.

If Palantir haven't found a magic way to integrate data sources without any configuration, it does sound rather deceptive.

That said, if they manage to get systems up and running without 30-stories-high stacks of never-to-be-read paper, that'd be a revolution in itself.

Re: Leaked Palantir Doc Reveals Uses, Specific Functions and Key Clients

#65

Post by cabinpark »

Bahamut wrote: post #42

I'm kind of surprised that TechCrunch acts like Palantir's role was never out in the open - if anyone ever browsed a job opening there for engineering, they have you check out a tool that steps through using the product to uncover the 9/11 attackers in a mock but plausible scenario. It is very obvious what their role is for intelligence analysis.

I've attended Palantir tech talks before and they try to "hide it". Everyone in the room knew and the person giving the talk kept talking about the other uses of Palantir beyond government things. However all the examples they use were based on war scenarios in Iraq.

Re: Leaked Palantir Doc Reveals Uses, Specific Functions and Key Clients

#66

Post by [deleted] »

abat wrote: post #45
lawl wrote: post #27

Copy paste of Joe_Doe's comment. Which seems dead but sais "[noobtor]" instead of [dead]. Never seen that before?! However should he have registered via tor to leak a bit of insider info I don't want to let this die because of tor flagging. ---------- Palantir is trying to raise another ~400mm to finance their operations. And I honestly think this just another PR stunt to attract investors. The 'secretive' attitude i…

Honestly, it sounds like traditional enterprise software and should be valued similarly. Software like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Electronic Health Record (EHR) always require very expensive integration/training/support. The contracts take forever to negotiate but are very lucrative with a huge lock in and expensive support contracts.

[deleted]

Re: Leaked Palantir Doc Reveals Uses, Specific Functions and Key Clients

#67

Post by oAlbe »

jsprogrammer wrote: post #56
rdtsc wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't be surprised if this is an idealisticly minded young employer. I have seen them agressively interviewing on campuses, conferences. Perhaps in light of Snowden's releases and other leaks, maybe some of them were a bit dissapointed in what they saw there and decided to do something about it...

Palantir works for NSA and is a CIA startup.

Source?
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