I was sent an ad from Amazon for their new product Halo.

I don't do Siri, Alexa, or any other voice operated devices, so why they thought I would be interested, makes me question their algorithms. 

Quote: Amazon is bringing out its first fitness tracker, a wristband called the Halo, which will eavesdrop on its owner to assess if they are happy or sad based on their tone of voice. A pair of always-on microphones will listen to users, trying to assess their mood and stress levels.Aug 28, 2020.  
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2...-your-mood

Well ease dropping isn't how it is being marketed.

Quote:AmazonAmazon is getting into the health gadget market with a new fitness band and subscription service called Halo. Unlike the Apple Watch or even most basic Fitbits, the Amazon Halo Band doesn’t have a screen. The app that goes along with it comes with the usual set of fitness tracking features along with two innovative — and potentially troubling — ideas: using your camera to create 3D scans for body fat and listening for the emotion in your voice.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/27/21402...vity-sleep

For me, it is a big Hell No! to Halo.

This is getting beyond ridiculous! 

I'm afraid to buy a new appliance, light bulbs, or just about anything these days due to all the eavesdropping gadgets they install into them.  Now, they want to know what kind of mood I'm in.  WTH?!

(09-25-2020, 05:54 PM)Mystic Wanderer Wrote: This is getting beyond ridiculous! 

I'm afraid to buy a new appliance, light bulbs, or just about anything these days due to all the eavesdropping gadgets they install into them.  Now, they want to know what kind of mood I'm in.  WTH?!

Say that again, you were a little Garbled,,,, I didn't hear the whole sentence,,,,,

This thing would be fun to mess around with.  Curse non-stop in a bitter voice for 10 minutes and then suddenly let it hear nothing but Gregorian Chants.

Or, repeat nothing but Q-isms like "Nobody walks away from this", "Justice for all", "Trust Kansas"

Cheers

I don't understand the pull of all these gadgets,

I use rock mostly.

I have a weather rock outside my kitchen window. If I look out and it's wet, I know it's raining. if I look out and it's white, I know it's snowing.

Likewise, I have a fitness rock about 100 yards up the mountain. If I can get to it, I know I'm fit. If I can't, I know I'm not.

Do folks seriously need all these gadgets to figure out the world within arm's reach?

.

@"Ninurta" 

I remember discussing the mirrored-sunglasses fad of the 1980s with friends.

People were already disconnecting and hiding; they just didn't have all of the electronic gadgetry yet.

Cheers

(09-25-2020, 07:09 PM)Ninurta Wrote: I don't understand the pull of all these gadgets,

I use rock mostly.

I have a weather rock outside my kitchen window. If I look out and it's wet, I know it's raining. if I look out and it's white, I know it's snowing.

Likewise, I have a fitness rock about 100 yards up the mountain. If I can get to it, I know I'm fit. If I can't, I know I'm not.

Do folks seriously need all these gadgets to figure out the world within arm's reach?

.

"Need"? No.

And they don't understand just how dangerous integrating our lives with AI, has the potential to be.

The biggest problem I have with the devices is that we don't use the devices to adapt to our needs, we change our behaviors to adapt to the devices. 

As parents we are supposed to provide our children with the tools for survival. How will our children fare if all we have taught them, leaves them relying on devices that will fail them when they need them the most, or a world where their survival depends on those that will assess their value by whether they are deemed useless but easily made useable, or expendable?

Oh like you said, hell no! Eeeeeewww, that just sounds totally creepy. Like I want some damn electronic thingamajig spying on me and my many many moods. Hard pass on that shit. 

I think I would short the damn thing out. Today, I laughed really hard, sobbed for like 20 minutes, snot coming out of my nose, the whole deal, got really pissed off and talked to myself about how fucked up everything is in this country, and was dead calm for a few hours before getting pissed off again. 

I don’t want anyone spying on me. I’m too volatile in my moods lately to even trust myself as to how I feel.

(09-25-2020, 07:09 PM)Ninurta Wrote: I don't understand the pull of all these gadgets,

I use rock mostly.

I have a weather rock outside my kitchen window. If I look out and it's wet, I know it's raining. if I look out and it's white, I know it's snowing.

Likewise, I have a fitness rock about 100 yards up the mountain. If I can get to it, I know I'm fit. If I can't, I know I'm not.

Do folks seriously need all these gadgets to figure out the world within arm's reach?

.

@"Ninurta",  I think Millennials do.   Seriously!  

(09-26-2020, 01:11 AM)Mystic Wanderer Wrote:

(09-25-2020, 07:09 PM)Ninurta Wrote: I don't understand the pull of all these gadgets,

I use rock mostly.

I have a weather rock outside my kitchen window. If I look out and it's wet, I know it's raining. if I look out and it's white, I know it's snowing.

Likewise, I have a fitness rock about 100 yards up the mountain. If I can get to it, I know I'm fit. If I can't, I know I'm not.

Do folks seriously need all these gadgets to figure out the world within arm's reach?

.

@"Ninurta",  I think Millennials do.   Seriously!  

Wildest thing I've seen lately is a solar charger for your bugout bag so you can charge your phone if there is no electricity. Now, I might be missing something here, so check me on this, but if you can't even get electricity to charge your phone, how do you expect to get a signal to make calls or texts on it?

.

@"Ninurta" 

Mmm, the telephone could have non-comm applications like stored maps or a compass function.  Personally, I would much rather rely on the traditional form of those products, though.  The telephone will like fail long before a paper map or a rugged compass.

Cheers

Way back when, when I was a teen, eons ago, a girl friend of mine had this mood ring that changed colors depending on her mood. Everytime I tried it, it would turn black. Told her it was the color of my soul

Nowadays, listening bracelets? Not enough that our tvs, cell phones already spy on us. The masses are going to LOVE this new one.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh........

(09-26-2020, 12:25 PM)Sol Wrote: Way back when, when I was a teen, eons ago, a girl friend of mine had this mood ring that changed colors depending on her mood. Everytime I tried it, it would turn black. Told her it was the color of my soul  

Nowadays, listening bracelets? Not enough that our tvs, cell phones already spy on us. The masses are going to LOVE this new one.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh........

Another device that is designed to condition your behavior. Since we are always escalating things, how long before it is attached to your social credit scores?

Too many minutes in a negative mood will drop you down a few notches. Communicating and projecting feelings that trigger others, may get you a total ban for a day or two. Reminds me of the Black Mirror Episode, "Nose Dive".

Another example of life imitating art. Or is it the other way around?

Awesome! A brand new gadget! Gimme gimme gimme!

Now i don't even have to bother anymore to contemplate if i am sad or happy! There is a machine for it!

Technological advancements like this will eventually liberate humankind from the burden of being human!  

*Goes back to watch CNN while waiting for this sweetie gadget to arrive in the mail*

(09-26-2020, 02:09 PM)Finspiracy Wrote: Awesome! A brand new gadget! Gimme gimme gimme!

Now i don't even have to bother anymore to contemplate if i am sad or happy! There is a machine for it!

Technological advancements like this will eventually liberate humankind from the burden of being human!  

*Goes back to watch CNN while waiting for this sweetie gadget to arrive in the mail.

They have mastered controlling what we see, think, and feel. This is just the next step in the evolution of the process. 

Why waste money, time, and effort, in just the media and the internet, to get the job done?

We have already been programmed to feel and respond as directed. This little device will ring the bell every time they want you to salivate.

Great for individual and more precise behavior control. And we pay for it, in more ways than none.