a thread about tech, media, ai and surveillance

ameraal

la loi de murphy
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Jun 24, 2004
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i'm fascinated and terrified in equal measure by the rise of tech and ai, media dynamics and the future of big data. let's have a thread about all of the wacky stuff that's going on!

like fb in the us being totally dominated by right-wing propaganda:



or amazon's new affordable mailbox surveillance and indoor drone:

Ring Mailbox Sensor: Amazon will alert you if someone steals your mail
The $30 Mailbox Sensor snuck in with Ring's other news on an under-the-radar announcement page.

In addition to the Ring Always Home Cam, a $250 flying drone/security camera, the Amazon company also quietly introduced a $30 Mailbox Sensor last week via a low-key announcement page. Similar to the Ring Motion Sensor accessory for Ring lighting products, the new Mailbox Sensor is a little sensor that relies on Amazon's Sidewalk technology to extend the range of your Wi-Fi network.

"It's something that many of our customers have asked for," Ring President Leila Rouhi told me over the phone.

Ring sells a variety of smart home devices, from doorbells to security cameras and beyond. Thursday's announcements add to the company's smart home lineup, but Ring also introduced three connected car products at its hardware event -- proof it has plans to expand beyond the home.

The Ring Mailbox Sensor is designed to send an alert to your phone when the door is opened and is supposed to work with other Ring products, such as using Ring doorbells and outdoor cameras to record footage when the mailbox is opened.

You can preorder the Mailbox Sensor starting Oct. 8 for $30.
 
i really enjoyed this aldous huxley interview (from 1958!) in which he talks about the misuse of technology always seems to overtake its potential for good and progress.



i'd recommend it right from the beginning, some of the parallels with today are quite on point.
 
The biggest surveillance is social media. I deleted everything bar twitter a few years ago and never looked back. If you aren't paying for something you are the product.

Watch the doc on Netflix: The Social Dilemma. To me it is genuinely alarming stuff. A lot of ex employee's of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat etc have all came out and denounced the model and methods of how these companies work.
 
one thing is social media - I myself partake in a selection of platforms and have been using them cautiously but obviously still serving private data on a platter to the reptilians - but what scares me is how willing people are to install all kinds of surveilling technology in their homes. I am glad I got the old Sonos instead of the new one, there is no way I am installing something with a microphone that might, might not activate at random. is it really necessary to be able to voice-control the strength and colour of your lights at home? :confused:

Mr M is a diligent user of Siri and it scares me how often it just self-activates, meaning that it's been listening in... SHUT UP YA CUNT
 
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it's a very small comfort but I just installed an add-on to Safari called ghostery that blocks trackers and whatnot. oh and also ads on youtube :disco:
 
I truly think that my phone READS MY MIND.

I have noticed that ads have been popping up about things that I’ve only been thinking about - not searching or saying out loud. This freaks me out.
 
I found The Social Dilemma quite disappointing, after all the reviews it got calling it eye-opening or powerful.

Social Media platforms keep track of all your activity so as to serve you the most appropriate ads, and then try to keep you online for as long as possible so that you see more - not exactly a huge revelation.

And then some of the closing thoughts they gave - "if you see an article, check it's from a reputable news source" - gee, thanks guys!
 
I found The Social Dilemma quite disappointing, after all the reviews it got calling it eye-opening or powerful.

Social Media platforms keep track of all your activity so as to serve you the most appropriate ads, and then try to keep you online for as long as possible so that you see more - not exactly a huge revelation.

And then some of the closing thoughts they gave - "if you see an article, check it's from a reputable news source" - gee, thanks guys!
For the generation that have grew up with social media already here I think it’s a big revelation. Not so much older folk.
 
they're going after hunter biden (again) and twitter (and fb?) has decided to block people from sharing an article in (the gross) new york post.



there's a lot of talk about censorship happening around this. people have taken to posting screenshots of the article and apparently, the trump campaign is sharing the whole text in separate tweets.
 
Anyway back to the OT.

It's not something that hugely worries me on a personal level as such, I don't think many companies set out to deliberately infringe on our personal rights. In fact, of all the tech giants, Apple is the most strict and stringent with privacy and I'd go as far to say as I trust them with my data. They also have really ambitious climate targets which I admire, but that's another topic. (I'm such a fan boy)

What does concern me more is the companies that aren't so strict, opening their platforms up for abuse. I deleted the FB app long ago. I have my own system of which emails/passwords I use when signing up for stuff based on my level of perceived risk. We have an echo dot, but it's unplugged when not in use. (What's interesting about that is its Ron Jr's echo dot, and he straight away started unplugging it before bed saying 'he didn't want Alexa listening to him' - love that small human)

Still, most people aren't that savvy, and data is being blatantly and openly exploited to manipulate society. It can't and won't last, but I'd say that it will persist for a while until we find a way to tackle it, and we'll look back on this era like the cold war. It's a macro problem as opposed to a personal one for me, but I'm not sure what I can do other than go off grid completely, which ain't happening, yet.
 
It really captures his essence.
 
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I would actually love the return of this aesthetic for the VR headsets:
virtuality-1000-cs.jpg

Make everything bigger and heavier rather than smaller and easier to use :disco:
 

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