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I work in a classified vault where no electronic devices are allowed, so there's no chance in you-know-where that we'd ever have a Voice-Activated Assistant around.
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If the first sign of madness is talking to yourself, surely the second is talking to the whole world via a tin can.
Reading 1984 as a kid, I found the scariest idea in there was that of the television watching you whilst you were watching it. Now people are actually opting into that in return for not having to telephone for pizza. Go figure ...
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. - Mark Twain
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It is funny that we had this discussion in the office kitchen just an hour ago. (And they don't read codeproject) Two of us felt it was a total nono and that it might be an age thing. But this Indian girl said that in India everyone rushes [uncritically] to new things, and that her grandma was into stuff like this.
"If we don't change direction, we'll end up where we're going"
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It is certainly not just India. I think it is at least as intense in the far east Asia.
And the style they seem to embrace: The 'cuteness level' is unbeliveable, including naming, like the Korean "LG" brand - "Lucky Goldstar". That is a typical name for a company, or for a product series.
I guess Western company names ad product label traditions are just as curious to them as their traditions are to us.
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megaadam wrote: in India everyone rushes [uncritically] to new things
Not true. I use none of that. Most people I know don't use either.
"It is easy to decipher extraterrestrial signals after deciphering Javascript and VB6 themselves.", ISanti[ ^]
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Sorry.. I have trust issues..
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Programmers are generally distrustful of the motivations/management of devices like this.
I think if the general public was more educated and aware, they'd cast a wary eye as well.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010 ----- You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010 ----- When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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Most of us know how secure these apps can be and anyone who has worked in more than a couple of organisations know how trustful management are so I'm only surprised that ANY programmer uses one of these things.
But then some of our lives would be so boring to others it would destroy the AI listening.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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It's not a matter of trusting the device. The real question is: do I trust the people behind it?
The answer to that is "hell, no!"
I would use a VAA if and only if nothing it listened to left my home, and I could be 100% positive of that. Which certainly means I won't have one.
There will be an implosion when one of these devices is subverted and something ugly happens as a result. Human nature guarantees it will happen ....
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I trust most of these folks but they all have to obey the laws of goverments and market economy.
Press F1 for help or google it.
Greetings from Germany
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KarstenK wrote: I trust most of these folks but they all have to obey the laws of goverments and market economy.
You lost me at "most". I require 100% trust, and we already know we cannot trust any large corporation. Or small ones, for that matter.
Also keep in mind that if some government figure gets a warrant, that means they can subpoena your records and/or directly listen in on your home life. Besides, any employee with access to the systems can eavesdrop without a warrant.
I'm gonna pass on letting unknown people into my home without my knowledge ...
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KarstenK wrote: I trust most of these folks
On the personal level, I trust many (most?) of the programers / salesmen / etc. would never eavesdrop on private conversations. In the aggregate, and when serious money is involved? Don't make me laugh!
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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In the words of Bill Burr 'I don't know why anyone would voluntarily bug their own house. Do you REALLY think you are the only one listening'? He also says that sending your saliva to Ancestry.com is akin to helping the Illuminati finish your robot replacement. Note to Self: watch more Bill Burr clips.
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I am trying to reduce the amount of electronic trails I leave behind me: I am not into social media where I have to identify myself uniquely to get an account. I mostly avoid all sorts of login sites. (CP is one of a handful of exceptions.) I pay in cash for most of my stuff I buy, when possible. I do not use club membership cards to get a 1% discount on my milk and bread. I haven't made myself dependent on my mobile phone. I buy books, music and movies for my own bookshelf so that I can read / listen / watch without anyone keeping track of when, for how long and how may times I go to that streaming site and take note of what I read.
But it is getting increasingly difficult. The books, music and movies that I care to buy are hard to find in physical shops, so I buy some of that in webstores. That resulted in Amazon classfying me as a homosexual (which certainly is not a big issue in Norway, but e.g. in parts of the US you wouldn't want that), proposing a long series of "You will certainly like this movie..." from the gay movies catalog.
No, it was not in my style, and I had no idea about why Amazon thought so. Then, maybe half a year after I had bought a pile of DVDs did I get around to play the last one - an Italian "artsy" B&W movie from the early 1960s, based on some old mythological tale. And it happened in that in the movie, some of the demigods were rather scantily clad. Not fully naked, but you could certainly enjoy the view their bodies, if that happens to be your style. I was sort of happy to see where Amazon got their ideas about my preferences.
Homosexuality is "more or less" fully accepted here, so if Amazon's ideas had leaked out here, it would not hurt me (as opposed to if it had happened in parts of the US). If someone were looking over my shoulder when I was searching Amazon, noting all those movies Amazon thought I would like, they might be curious about it, though, considering that I had a wife and a daughter, and I might have to explain this about the Italian art movie. This is several years ago, and Amazon no longer proposes those movies to me any more.
I guess that things like that will pop up anew: There is no way to make yourself completly untracable. In 2011, a Norwegian right-wing terrorist attacked a Labor party youth camp with a machine gun and killed 77 youth, after blowing down the Government building with a box car filled with explosives outside the building. This fellow had not been very active on the Internet. Nevertheless, police dug up more than ten thousand distinct pieces of evidence that they condsidered could be of interest for the court - from his childhood background to receipts from stores where he was living.
Today, I am certain that if police for one reason or the other goes after me, they could dig up much more information about me than they did for this Anders Behring Breivik fellow - I have been much more active in the digital world than he has. And I am not sure that it would benefit my case. If anyone else does the same, I am quite sure that it would not be of any benefit to me. I'd rather be without the "benefits" of exposing myself even more than I do. Even if it could give me an extra 1% discount on my milk and bread.
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Trivial stuff like weather, flight info and so on? Yes. Order toilet paper? Yes.
Banking, credit card accounts, phone calls? No.
I only have a signature in order to let @DalekDave follow my posts.
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I don't want one in my bedroom; I don't want it listening to me doing things like snoring.
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Is that what you call it when the kids refer to the sounds?
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I have an Amazon Echo, and it sits by a window adjacent to a noisy street. As it is, I usually have to yell for the device to understand me. If Amazon is recording this, they're recording a lot of road noise.
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I keep the water running so my Google Home can't hear me.
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Mrs. Wife got a credit card form our bank. After spending US$500 we got US$300 "cash back" and both an Amazon Dot and Echo. Got rid of both, still shrink-wrapped. (the Dot was donated, made into the prize for a drawing, and made US$150 for charity - best thing it will ever do as it lacks a self-destruct button).
An aside:
Once - in a home with an Alexa, I exclaimed "Alexa, Please Die" - try it. Frequently.
Ravings en masse^ |
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"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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We are so boring though we put the mother ship to sleep.
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Ah, I knew I couldn't be the only one with this response
(For the record, I didn't buy - it was a gift from my brother.)
Cheers,
विक्रम
"We have already been through this, I am not going to repeat myself." - fat_boy, in a global warming thread
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Most people, I believe, already have their phones listening all the time.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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... so I can not dictate the answer to this question, sorry.
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