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Burger King TV Ad Asks, Hoping Google Home Devices Answer

nytimes.com

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Re: Burger King TV Ad Asks, Hoping Google Home Devices Answer

#171

Post by TeMPOraL »

sundvor wrote: post #131
bherms wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A (very awesome) band called Vulfpeck actually ran an experiment where they released an album called "Sleepify" that contained then 30 second silent tracks and asked all of their supporters to stream the album on repeat nightly. Their idea was to do this long enough to be able to fund a free tour. If I remember correctly, they ended up netting like $35,000 or something from this before Spotify removed the album.

Now imagine if they'd just put a tiny bit of soft white noise-ish ambience on low volume, and they might have had have a real, persistent hit on their hands. (I have started using an air purifier next to the bed to mask noise in the house and it really helps my sleep).

> soft white noise-ish ambience

Pink noise, if anyone's looking. White noise sounds very sharp to me, and I get annoyed by it in few seconds. Pink noise, on the other hand, sounds a bit like sea waves on a beach to me, and I can listen to it indefinitely. A lifesaver at work, when I really need to concentrate.

Re: Burger King TV Ad Asks, Hoping Google Home Devices Answer

#172

Post by TeMPOraL »

unethical_ban wrote: post #135
victorhooi wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, being childish/petty != being fun. I get some people have their pet causes/conspiracy theories - but is doing this at your friend's place really the place to be getting on your soapbox? If you want to make a change - go run for office, or campaign for something. Don't just be a armchair jerk. I know plenty of people like this that have their pet causes (usually government surveillance, or the industrial-corpor…

I agree with everything you say! Except that making a joke at Alexa's expense is childish and immature.

Making a joke at Alexa's expense is fun. Making it at your friend's (possibly huge) expense? Not fun.

I mean, what would 'nepthar do if for some reason the police actually showed up? Or if he/she found out later that their neighbour was denied boarding because TSA pulled some logs from somewhere? I mean, besides having a story to leak to papers, how would 'nepthar feel about getting their friend in life-threatening trouble?

As minuscule as the possibility is, the joke seems funny mostly because this possibility exists (or at least is perceived to exist). This all is akin to doing pranks to scare the shit out of random people. It all sounds funny until you realize that some of those people may have heart conditions and could get seriously harmed by such a pranks.

Re: Burger King TV Ad Asks, Hoping Google Home Devices Answer

#173

Post by TeMPOraL »

rl3 wrote: post #155
victorhooi wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your friend bought it, maybe they don't consider is a "poorly-designed voice assistant"? Maybe they think you're just trying to misuse their device, and being a bit silly? It's the equivalent of going to somebody's unlocked laptop and typing in "XXX bum photos" or "how to kill the president. Or yelling "Fire! Fire!" to scare somebody. Yes, it's probably quite funny when you're young (and you shouldn't leave unlock…

> If your friend bought it, maybe they don't consider is a "poorly-designed voice assistant"? Maybe they think you're just trying to misuse their device, and being a bit silly? I'd like to think people are the best judges of how their own friends will react, but maybe that's naïve. > It's the equivalent of going to somebody's unlocked laptop and typing in "XXX bum photos" or "how to kill the president. Or yelling "Fi…

> Those examples aren't even comparable to each other, let alone to a bunch of orders made via voice assistant that probably end up instantly canceled.

We started with thermite ingredients and plane to Syria, something clearly made to potentially trigger USGOV anti-terrorism surveillance. It won't be fun for anyone if somehow it actually works. It's a joke at someone else's low-probability but life-threatening expense.

It's like doing pranks to scare random strangers. All fun and games until you meet the one with a heart condition that gets triggered by your joke.

Re: Burger King TV Ad Asks, Hoping Google Home Devices Answer

#174

Post by minikomi »

_ao789 wrote: post #142
0xdada wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Found it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmINGWsyWX0

That could quite possibly be the weirdest thing I've ever watched.

Another perennial youtube favorite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-7mQhSZRgM

Dueling Talking Carls

Re: Burger King TV Ad Asks, Hoping Google Home Devices Answer

#176

Post by rl3 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #173
rl3 wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If your friend bought it, maybe they don't consider is a "poorly-designed voice assistant"? Maybe they think you're just trying to misuse their device, and being a bit silly? I'd like to think people are the best judges of how their own friends will react, but maybe that's naïve. > It's the equivalent of going to somebody's unlocked laptop and typing in "XXX bum photos" or "how to kill the president. Or yelling "Fi…

> Those examples aren't even comparable to each other, let alone to a bunch of orders made via voice assistant that probably end up instantly canceled. We started with thermite ingredients and plane to Syria, something clearly made to potentially trigger USGOV anti-terrorism surveillance. It won't be fun for anyone if somehow it actually works. It's a joke at someone else's low-probability but life-threatening expens…

The probability it actually triggers anything is virtually zero. You say as much in your other comment.

Driving a friend to a surprise party would be far more dangerous on multiple levels. Life is full of risk, and if you minimize it to the maximum extent possible it's quite boring.

Obviously there's some things you don't joke about, such as presidential security, inciting panic in public places, joking about terrorism in an airport, unsafe pranks on strangers, et cetera. That's all common sense.

Adding a bunch of suspicious crap to the cart and looking up a flight on your friend's unsecured voice assistant is more akin to two people making a campy NSA joke during a private chat session. The latter happens all the time, no one cares.

Granted, if your friend is a Syrian national living in the U.S. on a temporary visa then I might agree with you. :)

Re: Burger King TV Ad Asks, Hoping Google Home Devices Answer

#177

Post by rl3 »

dwaltrip wrote: post #167
rl3 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ... but is doing this at your friend's place really the place to be getting on your soapbox? Who said it's a soapbox? Personally I'd find it hilarious watching a friend scramble to unplug their poorly-designed voice assistant—assuming they even cared, which they probably wouldn't. > ... proselytising and ranting to your friends is one thing ... What about to people on the internet, telling them they're childish, im…

Do you also spend time visiting suspicious websites on your friend's laptop?

Yes. Want to be my friend?

Re: Burger King TV Ad Asks, Hoping Google Home Devices Answer

#178

Post by rl3 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #172
unethical_ban wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with everything you say! Except that making a joke at Alexa's expense is childish and immature.

Making a joke at Alexa's expense is fun. Making it at your friend's (possibly huge ) expense? Not fun. I mean, what would 'nepthar do if for some reason the police actually showed up ? Or if he/she found out later that their neighbour was denied boarding because TSA pulled some logs from somewhere? I mean, besides having a story to leak to papers, how would 'nepthar feel about getting their friend in life-threatening…

Maybe nepthar was making a joke because nepthar has a sense of humor. Maybe that joke was highlighting the absurdity of having an unsecured, always-on listening device in your home that may be used against you.

Instead, Hacker News tries to rip him apart for not observing the chilling effect said device creates, despite the complete legality of it. Ironic.

Re: Burger King TV Ad Asks, Hoping Google Home Devices Answer

#179

Post by jamiethompson »

Genuine question as I don't own any of these devices. Is there no setting for locking the device activation to one or more specific voices? This is surely a technical possibility and from a security point of view it is surely the sensible default behaviour for a device that can literally buy stuff using your money with nothing but a voice command.

Re: Burger King TV Ad Asks, Hoping Google Home Devices Answer

#180

Post by gambiting »

jamiethompson wrote: post #179

Genuine question as I don't own any of these devices. Is there no setting for locking the device activation to one or more specific voices? This is surely a technical possibility and from a security point of view it is surely the sensible default behaviour for a device that can literally buy stuff using your money with nothing but a voice command.

The voice recognition is poor enough that it only works 80% of the time anyway and having certain accents defeats it completely. I think it's very very far away from being able to reliably tell voices of different people apart.
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