Max: Data Mining Done Right

CBC News: Data mining

Using some sophisticated software and hardware they started overlaying crime reports with other data, such as weather, traffic, sports events and paydays for large employers. The data was analyzed three times a day and something interesting emerged: Robberies spiked on paydays near cheque cashing storefronts in specific neighbourhoods. Other clusters also became apparent, and pretty soon police were deploying resources in advance and predicting where crime was most likely to occur.

These cops used their brains and used their tech to figure out how to protect some of the most vulnerable people from violent crime and they got results. Meanwhile, the Shrubsters use their tech to randomly listen in on phone calls and email instead of, say, figuring out where IED's are likely to show up in Iraq.