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How I Ruined Office Productivity with a Face-Replacing Slack Bot

blog.zikes.me

41–50 of 77 posts

Re: How I Ruined Office Productivity with a Face-Replacing Slack Bot

#41
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're saying social-bonding hacks/disruptions sometimes ruin the fun. What about other situations? Will gatherings be less fun when Alexa becomes the life of the party, cracking jokes and proposing toasts? Will Siri join in the dinner conversation (parent, friend or good-listener mode, with wit, personality and intelligence sliders). Will fans be turned off when self-driving cars start winning the Indy 500? How a…

Yes to all of those questions. If people can't imaginatively project themselves into winning circumstances, then they become despondent because their escapist fantasies (which some people take seriously enough to make into real accomplishments) are now dashed forever. This is something technologists and scientists largely don't get. People are always 'look at how many material comforts and and entertainment options y…

I have to agree that our political contests are often escapist fantasies. We are encouraged, sometimes cynically, sometime idealistically, to project our hopes onto our chosen candidate. We are usually disappointed, particularly in the short term, although I do believe our choices do echo as the norms and values of the future.

That's why I'm voting for Siri over Alexa in 2024.

Re: How I Ruined Office Productivity with a Face-Replacing Slack Bot

#42
post #20
post #18

Side point, but what is going on with the scrolling on that page? Anybody else find it caused performance issues? That aside, great article!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the article. Sorry about the scroll problems, I really hate scrolljacking so I don't have any JS for that on there, but I imagine that fixed background image could be causing some problems. Would you mind sharing your OS/browser info so I can investigate?

I can confirm that it is at least something to do with the fixed background on #main-wrapper as removing it solves the problem here. [1]

[1] http://www.whatsmybrowser.org/b/O5BEERJ

Re: How I Ruined Office Productivity with a Face-Replacing Slack Bot

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it's #1 right now and the ocean one is #18!

Basic formula is that "controversial" posts get a nudge downward in placement. Climate change posts attract trolls that get downvoted and flagged more frequently that normal stories, and AGW deniers downvote the story and downvote/flag many comments. Has the net effect of pushing those stories off the front page quickly. That said, credit where credit isdue: this is a nice hack from the submitter. Facefinder looks fu…

"Denier" is an offensive term that simplifies the arguments. We don't call the other side "agreeers." Science always has more than one viewpoint.

Re: How I Ruined Office Productivity with a Face-Replacing Slack Bot

#44

I have to use Slack at work, and it is fun. But when I'm trying to focus on programming, it is like being in an all day long meeting without an agenda.

Some days, HN is like a Twitter rehash: https://twitter.com/jasonfried/status/700314634939543552?lan...

Re: How I Ruined Office Productivity with a Face-Replacing Slack Bot

#45

I have to use Slack at work, and it is fun. But when I'm trying to focus on programming, it is like being in an all day long meeting without an agenda.

can't you just close/mute it when you're trying to focus? i thought that was the whole point of slack

Re: How I Ruined Office Productivity with a Face-Replacing Slack Bot

#46

All you ruined was the fun of photoshopping his face into things. Let me draw a parallel with a story of my grandfather, whom I never knew: Apparently a great hobby of his used to be to collect sayings from people. Whenever he'd meet anyone, let it be new or already known, he'd ask them if they knew any new sayings. He wrote all of them down in his little book of sayings. My father started picking up the hobby and th…

How could a book possibly capture "all the sayings in existence"? That's a lot of sayings.

Re: How I Ruined Office Productivity with a Face-Replacing Slack Bot

#47
post #34

About 15 years ago, I remember Zikes offering to let me borrow a web development book he had finished reading. I turned down the offer, thinking I had little use for such things. Fast forward 10 years and I end up going back to school for programming and slapping myself for not getting into it back then. Can definitely see the difference that experience makes.

Oh wow, 15 years ago? Did we go to school together?

Re: How I Ruined Office Productivity with a Face-Replacing Slack Bot

#48

All you ruined was the fun of photoshopping his face into things. Let me draw a parallel with a story of my grandfather, whom I never knew: Apparently a great hobby of his used to be to collect sayings from people. Whenever he'd meet anyone, let it be new or already known, he'd ask them if they knew any new sayings. He wrote all of them down in his little book of sayings. My father started picking up the hobby and th…

How could a book possibly capture "all the sayings in existence"? That's a lot of sayings.

so says you!

Re: How I Ruined Office Productivity with a Face-Replacing Slack Bot

#49
post #21
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the article. Sorry about the scroll problems, I really hate scrolljacking so I don't have any JS for that on there, but I imagine that fixed background image could be causing some problems. Would you mind sharing your OS/browser info so I can investigate?

No worries, Windows 10 Professional, Chrome 56, no issues on Edge/Firefox, maybe it's a weird bug with this particular issue Chrome?

Got a nonstandard resolution maybe?

Re: How I Ruined Office Productivity with a Face-Replacing Slack Bot

#50
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes to all of those questions. If people can't imaginatively project themselves into winning circumstances, then they become despondent because their escapist fantasies (which some people take seriously enough to make into real accomplishments) are now dashed forever. This is something technologists and scientists largely don't get. People are always 'look at how many material comforts and and entertainment options y…

pacific rim was a good movie (a stable 7 on a 4 year old movie). from what i can remember, most alien movies are liberal if not apolitical. the PHD, philosopher, or scientist somehow has keen insights on how to stop the alien juggernaut if it weren't for those stupid military people getting in the way. a bit ironic that you choose pacific rim and moved onto the topic of pro-walls, when that movie was very apposed to…

The more formulaic the movie, the more it becomes a vehicle for the novelty of its premise, precisely because the familiarity and shallowness of a formulaic film serve to focus your attention on the symbolism that distinguishes it from other formulaic movies. In this case it's destructive aliens, massive walls (albeit of limited effectiveness), heavy manufacturing, and nuclear apocalypse (for the bad guys). The actual plot of a movie is often a sideshow to the iconography the producers wish to put on display, and reflections of a film's ideological environment are often unintentional.

It's kinda like the way all zombie movies explore a basically similar political question about the relationship between small groups of resourceful individuals vs a hostile unthinking mob that threatens their survival.

Re capitalism, don't you think people have heard that argument already many times and that many of them have decided it's not going to work out that way? It's not lack of awareness that things are materially far better than under the alternatives, it's the disillusionment that sets in at the lack of a credible alternative. You're essentially arguing that people should forget the odds and play the game as if they didn't know them, which is absurd.

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