"I just saw something incredibly cool! A big floating ball that lit up with every color in the rainbow, plus some new ones that were so beautiful I fell to my knees and cried."
"Was it out in front of Discount Shoe Outlet?"
"Yeah..."
"They have a college kid wear that to attract customers."
As an aside, having scroll that thread, Reddit is a shambles. There's more deleted comments and related justification comment than actual comments. Make for a jarring experience.
Absolutely- I can't understand why it still has such a loyal base considering how low the quality is- I see more insightful discussion on facebook half the time
I read [Unauthorized Bread (exerpt) by Doctoro](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-...) this year which was pretty approachable read on the topic. Not severely interesting or mind blowing if you're already here hopefully but did make me wonder how I could sneak it into my mums reading list.
I knew using ad blockers is good for your mental health but this is plain creepy and unfair. Especially when advertisers know more and more about you as more and more everyday items are spying on you and serve you ads without any additional core functionality. Appliances don't get better, they are getting creepier to increase the return of investment for the manufacturers. The schizophrenics are just more sensitive to this enshittification of everyday items because they are quick to assume deliberate agency in chaotic events where there is none. But this is changing, for everybody.
The problem is today you can't really tell anymore whether this "Carol" the ad was addressing is the advertiser knowing that it's your name or just a random "clever" reference to a character in the TV show, I mean even after getting the resolution that it's the latter, nobody can be sure if this excludes the former, like the algorithm decided to send Carol an ad about a show with a Carol in it. It's not good to have to make up your mind about it even when you are not suffering from schizophrenia.
It's annoying, it's intrusive, it wastes your time and ruins your day. And it makes you hate your new tech, makes you hate tech in general, because it's a big "fuck you we can do what we want with you now" towards the customers. No wonder Luddites are making a come back, that's just self-defense.
The gut reaction of too many geeks is "I can't believe you'd install a smart fridge in your home". But we need to think about this differently. Imagine if vehicles had no mandatory safety checks. How many people know anything about car safety? You'd get people barrelling down the highway with broken suspension, bald tyres or worse. We are the professionals. It's our responsibility to keep the public safe and stop shit like this happening. The software engineers who implemented this at Samsung should be struck off. Well, we could start by having something to be struck off from. I'm done with assuming individual developers will be scrupulous. We need real consequences to come from higher up. It's way past the point that this is fucking with people's lives.
One thing we should probably do is that make it so that all these disabled people don't spend money by themselves. They should file a form and a government representative can say "No, that fridge is too risky for you. It's for healthy people" or "No, you can't have a smartphone. You won't be able to concentrate on school". Then you should be able to opt out by taking a sufficiently advanced intelligence test. A little calculus, a little verbal reasoning, a quick psychiatric eval. Full agency granted. Don't pass it and you have to ask permission for most things. Maybe even provide a little credit card kind of thing but any time you use it you get a phone call with a few questions to make sure you aren't about to do something stupid.
<edit>I'm rate-limited, but it's not satire. We already have the notion of "accredited investor", "qualified client", "qualified purchaser". We require a little test before options/futures are enabled on a trading account. The only people at risk are oneself in those. For people with car licenses we even require motorcycle licenses (where the danger is primarily to oneself) separately. If you have ADHD you can't fly even out in the middle of nowhere (risking only your own life).
It would be unreasonable to have a "fridge-buying license" but it's reasonable for those who are extensively disabled to just not be placed in situations where they're exploited. We have to care for them. And if they don't have the ability to act like a reasonable human would, then we have to protect them from harm.
</edit>
Unless this is satire, one of the most frightening comments I have read here in a while. Not because of any intended malice, but precisely because of its very absence in advocating something that is the psychological version of eugenics. Much like the Formics in Ender's Game (or the protomolecule in the Expanse), the scariest type of monster is the one that genuinely has no malicious intent, but simply cannot comprehend our individuality, our desire to live and be free, and our fear of pain.
I know that sounds like a horrible violation of individual freedom, but we already treat children and cognitively impaired elderly people that way. Maybe to graduate from childhood to adult-who-can-sign-contracts, have sexual relationships, vote, etc. everyone has to pass a test, and it's retested periodically in case you regress.
We really need some legislation that outlaws this sort of control over devices we buy.
If someone wants to install an advert app on their fridge (I assume in exchange for money) then fair enough.
If I buy a tv I shouldn't just have to accept that, now or in the future, the manufacturer will sell advertising on it.
"I just saw something incredibly cool! A big floating ball that lit up with every color in the rainbow, plus some new ones that were so beautiful I fell to my knees and cried."
"Was it out in front of Discount Shoe Outlet?"
"Yeah..."
"They have a college kid wear that to attract customers."
An edge case of "smart" tech...
As an aside, having scroll that thread, Reddit is a shambles. There's more deleted comments and related justification comment than actual comments. Make for a jarring experience.
Absolutely- I can't understand why it still has such a loyal base considering how low the quality is- I see more insightful discussion on facebook half the time
I read [Unauthorized Bread (exerpt) by Doctoro](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-...) this year which was pretty approachable read on the topic. Not severely interesting or mind blowing if you're already here hopefully but did make me wonder how I could sneak it into my mums reading list.
I borrowed from the library last month. It was thought provoking and I think it's aimed at younger people than myself.
sexy fridges https://store.steampowered.com/app/1035840/Cold_Hearts/
Stallman was right.
I knew using ad blockers is good for your mental health but this is plain creepy and unfair. Especially when advertisers know more and more about you as more and more everyday items are spying on you and serve you ads without any additional core functionality. Appliances don't get better, they are getting creepier to increase the return of investment for the manufacturers. The schizophrenics are just more sensitive to this enshittification of everyday items because they are quick to assume deliberate agency in chaotic events where there is none. But this is changing, for everybody.
The problem is today you can't really tell anymore whether this "Carol" the ad was addressing is the advertiser knowing that it's your name or just a random "clever" reference to a character in the TV show, I mean even after getting the resolution that it's the latter, nobody can be sure if this excludes the former, like the algorithm decided to send Carol an ad about a show with a Carol in it. It's not good to have to make up your mind about it even when you are not suffering from schizophrenia.
It's annoying, it's intrusive, it wastes your time and ruins your day. And it makes you hate your new tech, makes you hate tech in general, because it's a big "fuck you we can do what we want with you now" towards the customers. No wonder Luddites are making a come back, that's just self-defense.
it should read, "Schizophenic correctly diagnoses societies ongoing pschcotic episode through the phenominon of refrigerator advertising"
Careless people
IANAL, but could the ADA [1] or equivalent laws be applied to such a situation?
If it was up to a jury, the creepy ads might not get much sympathy.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Ac...
Given the situation occurred in the UK, I doubt it.
The gut reaction of too many geeks is "I can't believe you'd install a smart fridge in your home". But we need to think about this differently. Imagine if vehicles had no mandatory safety checks. How many people know anything about car safety? You'd get people barrelling down the highway with broken suspension, bald tyres or worse. We are the professionals. It's our responsibility to keep the public safe and stop shit like this happening. The software engineers who implemented this at Samsung should be struck off. Well, we could start by having something to be struck off from. I'm done with assuming individual developers will be scrupulous. We need real consequences to come from higher up. It's way past the point that this is fucking with people's lives.
As someone who dearly loves a schizophrenic, this infuriates me. Fuck advertising. Fuck capitalism.
[dead]
One thing we should probably do is that make it so that all these disabled people don't spend money by themselves. They should file a form and a government representative can say "No, that fridge is too risky for you. It's for healthy people" or "No, you can't have a smartphone. You won't be able to concentrate on school". Then you should be able to opt out by taking a sufficiently advanced intelligence test. A little calculus, a little verbal reasoning, a quick psychiatric eval. Full agency granted. Don't pass it and you have to ask permission for most things. Maybe even provide a little credit card kind of thing but any time you use it you get a phone call with a few questions to make sure you aren't about to do something stupid.
<edit>I'm rate-limited, but it's not satire. We already have the notion of "accredited investor", "qualified client", "qualified purchaser". We require a little test before options/futures are enabled on a trading account. The only people at risk are oneself in those. For people with car licenses we even require motorcycle licenses (where the danger is primarily to oneself) separately. If you have ADHD you can't fly even out in the middle of nowhere (risking only your own life).
It would be unreasonable to have a "fridge-buying license" but it's reasonable for those who are extensively disabled to just not be placed in situations where they're exploited. We have to care for them. And if they don't have the ability to act like a reasonable human would, then we have to protect them from harm. </edit>
Unless this is satire, one of the most frightening comments I have read here in a while. Not because of any intended malice, but precisely because of its very absence in advocating something that is the psychological version of eugenics. Much like the Formics in Ender's Game (or the protomolecule in the Expanse), the scariest type of monster is the one that genuinely has no malicious intent, but simply cannot comprehend our individuality, our desire to live and be free, and our fear of pain.
Are you insane? I'm not sure you'd pass your own test. Haha
I know that sounds like a horrible violation of individual freedom, but we already treat children and cognitively impaired elderly people that way. Maybe to graduate from childhood to adult-who-can-sign-contracts, have sexual relationships, vote, etc. everyone has to pass a test, and it's retested periodically in case you regress.
[delayed]