"There were doorknobs and doorbells
where one touch had covered another
beforehand.
Suitcases checked and standing side by side.
One night, perhaps, the same dream,
grown hazy by morning."
How fateful?
191–200 of 343 posts
Re: How fateful?
#192Plot Twist: When google's algorithms decided those two individuals should pair, it started showing them ads for the same events in order to increase the probability of them meeting. The goal was achieved by the system in 3 months, exactly as predicted with a 99% probability with a 95% CI. The system's next goal is to subtly nudge the couple to reproduce within the next year in order to help google meet their user acc…
It's a funny "joke" but for a large percentage of people, their college decision and entrance exams were the determining factor in who they married; where you put yourself has a huge effect on whom you meet.
It's funny how predictive that is. There was a woman in the dorm we'd lived in -- we were definitely not friends but knew each other. A few years after graduation we ran into each other at a party on the opposite coast...and ended up together for a few years.
Re: How fateful?
#193And this friends is why "third party" entities collecting your meta data and such is a concern. A lot (read: enough) can be learned about you *and who you associate* without actually listening to your calls, etc. On the surface, this article is cute. After that it's a red flag for all of us.
I'd argue the opposite. People already know what Google can do, this is how you reap some benefits for yourself with the data that's already there.
I've always wondered what the NSA actually thinks of me. Consider it a psychoanalysis paid for by taxes. Extra creepy, but we're already at the party.
Re: How fateful?
#194> It makes me feel very philosophical. Likely we had walked past each other every other week for three years with our heads down, or in the clouds, paying very little notice to the people around us. Past Channon had not the foggiest clue what impact an unnoticed stranger would come to have on her. Since learning this I can’t help but look at the passers-by in my day-to-day life in a different light. And no shame in g…
Legend has it that Adam Smith (the "father of capitalism") and James Watt (pioneering steam-engineer and industrial machinist) shared proximate offices at Glasgow University and drank in the same nearby pubs. Apparently, no significant record of their connection exists.
Babbage and Brunel almost ran into each others in trains - Brunel coming back from a night out and Babbage running experiments:
https://moorsidepublications.com/2015/07/01/babbage-gets-inv...
Re: How fateful?
#195Plot Twist: When google's algorithms decided those two individuals should pair, it started showing them ads for the same events in order to increase the probability of them meeting. The goal was achieved by the system in 3 months, exactly as predicted with a 99% probability with a 95% CI. The system's next goal is to subtly nudge the couple to reproduce within the next year in order to help google meet their user acc…
Quoted post unavailable.
Ohh my poor Cassandra. Prophecy and foresight are so cheap. Everyone
already knows where we are heading, even those in the deepest
denial. The Gods only stipulated that nobody would believe you. For
what is to be done, belief is maybe not so important.
Re: How fateful?
#196> It makes me feel very philosophical. Likely we had walked past each other every other week for three years with our heads down, or in the clouds, paying very little notice to the people around us. Past Channon had not the foggiest clue what impact an unnoticed stranger would come to have on her. Since learning this I can’t help but look at the passers-by in my day-to-day life in a different light. And no shame in g…
When I and my wife met for the first time we were both tourists, we both had never been to that country before (and none of us had ever been to a place the other had been), and we had exactly one day of overlap at this place and just happened to have decided to go to a particular spot at the same time in the early morning. And it's extremely likely that there would never have been another opportunity at any time late…
There would have been another opportunity with someone else that you would have fancied as much or even more.
Re: How fateful?
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
I took the pragmatic approach and said to myself "look, if Google really wants to know where I am the only way to avoid it is to go into the woods without my phone, so why not?" Then one day the Toronto Transit Commission police thought I was re-using someone elses streetcar fare because of how old it was. I just prefer the streetcar to subways, so I took a longer route. As soon as I pulled out my phone with my locat…
I think it was Isaac Asimov who wrote an article once speculating on a future utopia where there would be total information freedom and transparency - everyone would know everything about everyone's movements. You could see why it would be appealing - how could there be crime if you knew where everyone was at all times? No body could cheat on their spouse, no child would ever go missing. Seems hopelessly naive now of…
Which world would you prefer? A world where not a single crime would go unpunshied, and hence serious crime would probably disappear forever, but with the risk of the Government or criminals (would they still exist??) abusing the data for their own advantage? Or a world as we have today where a lot of crime happens everywhere and where a criminal just needs to be smart enough to never get caught? I am not sure the answer is as straightforward as everyone seems to think here. I think I would be willing to at least run an experiment about this (perhaps China is already doing it).
Re: How fateful?
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
Legend has it that Adam Smith (the "father of capitalism") and James Watt (pioneering steam-engineer and industrial machinist) shared proximate offices at Glasgow University and drank in the same nearby pubs. Apparently, no significant record of their connection exists.
Babbage and Brunel almost ran into each others in trains - Brunel coming back from a night out and Babbage running experiments: https://moorsidepublications.com/2015/07/01/babbage-gets-inv...
Oh, literally ran into each other.
"They were on a collision course and both would have been travelling at 40 miles an hour."
What an amazing story. Thanks.
Re: How fateful?
#199Plot Twist: When google's algorithms decided those two individuals should pair, it started showing them ads for the same events in order to increase the probability of them meeting. The goal was achieved by the system in 3 months, exactly as predicted with a 99% probability with a 95% CI. The system's next goal is to subtly nudge the couple to reproduce within the next year in order to help google meet their user acc…
That's some Black Mirror level dystopia there, and totally within the realm of possibility, if it isn't already happening. Sync that up with Apple Watch 8's ability to estimate ovulation, and poof, declining birth rate problem solved! I'm scared.
This is like maybe the least dystopic use of advertising data Google could go for! It just has the vibe of dystopia, but ultimately if you hit it off with someone Google didn't influence you, they just made a correct prediction. Compared to advertising to influence you to spend money it's nothing.
Re: How fateful?
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
The point is, any / all data collection is - or should be - suspect. Today's benevolent actor is tomorrow's victim of a hack, or simply changes their spots. Furthermore, even data that is positioned as harmless (i.e., phone call metadata) can tell stories. Finally, per "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism" (and others) these minor privacy infringements add up and is used against us. There's no such thing as no threat.
I've concluded that the benefits significantly outweigh the, imo, fairly remote risks. It's that simple.
Read the book. Once you come to realize the collecting of your data isn't "passive" and that ultimately, it's being done to be used against you - and your free will - your perceived benefits are insignificant.
Put another way, being complacent and complicit not only sells-out your own privacy, it compromises the privacy of all those round you, your (future) offspring, etc.
For what? Convenience?