discoursedrome:

ms-demeanor:

autpunq:

libertarirynn:

kidlazer:

libertarirynn:

So my friend was telling me yesterday that she got a new Samsung smart TV for her living room. One afternoon she was sitting on the couch across on the TV, which was turned off, talking to her friend about social anxiety.

The next day her Samsung phone, Facebook account, and her son’s Instagram account (which is linked to her phone number) were blown up with ads for social anxiety medications.

She called Samsung up like “WTF“ and they admitted that it was a “feature“ on the smart TV for it to record conversations even when turned off in order to provide customized ads. You could turn off the setting but of course you probably wouldn’t even know about it unless something like this happened because it’s not like they readily advertise “this thing will record your conversations even when it’s turned off“.

this ain’t alright with me … bitch what the fuck 

https://www.cnet.com/news/samsungs-warning-our-smart-tvs-record-your-living-room-chatter/

This is so much worse than Mark Zuckerberg. This is literally some 1984 shit. This will make it so easy to spot people who don’t, umm, agree with the government, and in a fascist state that would be a great surveillance method. Since America is nearing that with Trump as president,

TURN OFF THIS FEATURE ON YOUR SMART TVS Y’ALL

Hey, more than that stop buying smart devices, the internet of things is hideously insecure and basically all of it is tacit approval for manufacturers to track your behavior. They don’t need to see inside your fridge, they don’t need to see who is coming to your front door, they don’t need a map of the layout of your house, they don’t need to track your home phone calls or the projects you’re doing around the house.

It seems like it’s
increasingly
difficult to find non-smart versions of things outside of bottom-barrel junk, so I worry for the future of trustworthy fridges. When my parents were looking to upgrade to a flatscreen TV they literally could not find one in a store that was a decent size and not “smart”, and it seems like this is starting to infect other appliances as well. Which is ironic because what I really want from a high-end appliance is longevity, but highly computerized shit lasts about a quarter as long as regular shit, even notwithstanding the privacy issues.

IMO, Stallman should spearhead a line of home appliances for anti-surveillance bunker-crouchers. You can actually sell open-source stuff when it’s hardware, and there are enough paranoid tech people to justify boutique pricing.

heteroiero:

we went in the darkroom today and  looked around and i was like “wow this is brighter than my future” and my photography teacher laughed so hard he almost cracked his head on the enlarger 

ghislainem70:

astronbookfilms:

deadlylittlekate:

elfstaranymore:

feministess:

elfstaranymore:

also re: teens sitting around with their tablets and smartphones

like, if a kid can access the internet (with some privacy still) while also sitting in the same room as their parents, honestly that’s better and more social than what I did as a teenager, which was hole up in my room at my desktop computer that I couldn’t move anywhere else in the house

mostly what I see from the teens in my family is they will sit and scroll through their phone, but if something interesting starts happening, or a new person enters the room, or they see something cool they want to share, they look up and interact again, because they’re sitting right there with everyone else.

that is waaaay more social than 2002 me, hunched over my desktop for hours and only seeing my mom in passing when I went to microwave a burrito at 1am. way, way more social.

My whole family does this now. We’re all in the same room, but each on a phone, tablet, or laptop. Certain poop heads will shake their heads at how technology is dividing us.

But

Like

What do they think families have done for since ever? Talk constantly while playing educational board games every evening? No.

They’d each be reading, or sewing, or writing letters or some shit, and mostly sat quietly near each other but not bothering each other.

yes this

It reminds me of the whole “omg people on trains used to TALK to each other” argument. No, they didn’t. They read the newspaper or stared straight ahead avoiding eye contact.

People have been finding reasons not to talk to each other for centuries.

I hear it all the time about public transit. Apparently, some people are under the impression that people used to always have conversations with strangers. Even if you are too young to have been on public transit at that time- and the vast majority of the people holding this fantasy are more than old enough to remember that time- movies, TV shows, and books from that time will show people reading newspapers or books, listening to music on headphones, and doing everything possible not to interact with strangers.

I’m so completely tired of the continual barrage of criticism that I get from other family members about my teenage daughter and her iPhone or laptop.  Otherwise she would have a very hard time being with her friends who live in various distant places since she goes to a private school; they do study groups in chat, all of the school posts homework on an iOS app, she creates school projects on her laptop and watches a lot of shows on it as well, and honestly it’s not their business.  It’s really a pervasive kind of aggression against teens today by people who really don’t understand and don’t want to.

wecanalldobetter:

incredibly-cold:

mens-rights-activia:

sustainable-farming:

mens-rights-activia:

For today’s discourse hour™

Do you think your country should lower the legal voting age? Why or why not? What age do you think it should be?

(As always, please reply or comment on this post to participate in the conversation. No asks will be addressed, sorry)

I think we should absolutely lower the legal voting age. I think the legal voting age should be the same age as the legal working age. If someone can legally work, then they should legally be able to decide what happens to their taxes and such. As far as what age? I think 16. I think 16 is a good minimum age for both voting and working.

I think the legal voting age should be abolished tbh, everybody should get a say in matters that affect them directly, Children are no exception to this.

Consider this: young children being used by their parents as political tools

Yeah the kid has to be old enough to think for themselves. I regurgitated my parents bulls hit political views until I was about 14, and even then it took a while to form my own opinions. I agree that people who have jobs should get a vote, and 16 is about the lowest you could go and have people mature enough to make informed decisions

If you are legally allowed to earn wages or pilot a 4 ton machine on public roads, then you should be allowed to vote