Earlier quoted context omitted.
> you just haven't had the practice/opportunity to develop this side of things That is one way of saying that he simply has not allowed trivial concepts like a bunch of boring pictures to affect his mood. Another way of saying this would be "that sounds good, I wish I were not so affected by these things but alas, I am" or "lucky you, maybe I can find a way to avoid these mind traps". There is no strength in weakness…
> there is no virtue in negativity or pessimism if we're oblivous to even the smallest things (boring pictures) that negatively impact us, we hinder ourselves to making the world better. And that's not something we want, everything is shit already. Oh and this whole "Just don't" dissmissal... Check your privilege, man, and develop some damn empathy.
Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does
321–330 of 375 posts
Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does
#322For me this effect is significantly compounded by not being from the US / North America. This has come up on HN before (e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25226805 ) but it still strikes me as so odd that you need quite a bit of USA cultural / vernacular knowledge to navigate the internet anywhere in the world (or at least English speaking sites?). What a strange view into another country to see each day!
Honest question - how can you tell the difference between "English speaking sites" and "American sites"? Since English is currently the common international language, when an American creates a site or service for a domestic audience, anyone around the world can still come visit and read it. But how does one know if a service is meant for a domestic audience? We've all seen services launched by American companies, wi…
First I would say that I don't think I've been, or particularly seen others, be offended by sites that are clearly targeted at a US/North American audience while still being more widely accessible. Usually I am happy that being an English speaker gets me access to a wider set of things on the internet than would otherwise be specifically targeted for where I live. I'd say this is fairly true up until the scale of a company with international presence and operations.
Yes there is going to be some vocal minority who behave in an entitled manner and loudly complain that something didn't meet their personal expectations, but this is a small minority and not representative of the wider English-using-international audience.
If a site is open and upfront about what they are doing then I wouldn't have any issue. Examples might be using geolocation to restrict access or just having some note making clear that 'this service is for X, use it elsewhere at your own risk'.
A good example of this is the range of approaches different sites have taken to GDPR compliance (or that awful cookie law compliance!) following its implementation by the EU and the non-EU countries that have adopted it.
Some non-EU sites (possibly based in the US but also plenty of others elsewhere) have used geolocation to restrict access from the EU, others have implemented those consent banners, others have done nothing. However I don't think it is reasonable to blame a company doing any of these, ultimately we are benefitting from the protections the new law provides - if we don't like the wider implications of that then we need to take that up with our lawmakers, not a foreign company located somewhere with their own set of data protection laws.
The change for me occurs when a company is an international entity. I realise this is a bit of a grey line as to what defines this, but hopefully we'd all agree that FAANG meets this definition. When you're actively engaged with international markets and generating significant revenue in countries around the world I think it is a reasonable expectation that you either: a) make services culturally and linguistically localised; or b) more carefully target a service to some specific regions.
TLDR - at a small scale, if you are open & clear about your intentions I don't think you need to worry about 'insulting the rest of the world' - if you get significant traction in another country you should probably open a dialogue with that user base to understand their views.
Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does
#323Earlier quoted context omitted.
Captcha is served over browsers and browsers and websites can easily detect webcam device and process video recording. The same applies for mic and voice recording. If webcam or mic is not detected and webcam recording or mic recording was given then obviously malicious actor is trying to cheat the captcha and submit fake recording/s. Edit: You would be prompted with something like: "Wave your hand from left to right…
It's easy to make hardware or software virtual mics and cameras that can't be detected as such. Getting that pronunciation task right will be easier for a bot using TTS through a virtual mic than for many non-native English speakers. A bigger problem is that once you've given some random site permission to access your mic or camera, it can use that access for anything it wants.
And speaking of recordings you can always check metadata and see if it is genuine or fake(edited).
Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does
#324Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Most countries don't have mail boxes (only US, Canada, Australia, NZ) They do, they just look different. At least that's how it is in France.
They're not the same as the classic US mailbox (). In the US you can use such a mailbox to send mail as well. In Europe you typically have private letterboxes for incoming mail and big, public post boxes for sending.
Missing link? In NZ, and presumably other countries, personal letterboxes in rural areas can be used to send too, which I'm guessing is the same as what you're referring to.
Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does
#325Earlier quoted context omitted.
Depression isn't the only emotion you feel when you stop being disconnected from the world. You may come out of it with a greater appreciation for nature, art, literature, etc. You may even have more pride in your work as you become capable of developing a design language and incorporating it into what you build.
I am surprised at the downvotes on your comment. It seems so obviously correct that I can only surmise certain things about HNs demographic. Oh well, it’s not like men in tech are famous for our high emotional intelligence.
Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does
#326— God Emperor of Dune
Frank Herbert was a genius.
Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does
#327I've read the whole article, and I see so many comments agreeing or even adding detail to the post. Am I really in the minority if this kind of thing couldn't even cross my mind or feels like written by someone living in a parallel universe? A few poorly shot street photos are "unbearably depressing"? And there's even a detailed explanation breaking it down into points, each one feeling more alien than the last. They…
It's for this very reason I'm so happy to see something like this article on HN, and I'm so happy to see your comment too. I think I know exactly where you're coming from -- I was exactly the same way when I was younger. I was 100% extremely logical, and my emotional awareness was... exceedingly underdeveloped. Long story short, I got into different artistic pursuits where I was forced to develop my emotional awarene…
I don’t think that was emotional intelligence, I think it was bias, rumination, and catastrophizing. Also a lack of perspective. I still feel bad sometimes, but… about things which other people also recognize as serious problems. Which has been a boon for social outcomes too.
Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does
#328Actually - if I was the AI trying to assimilate the humans I would start selling a google glasses type thing that allows you to skip captchas by automatically informing the captcha that a human is watching - watching through the AI's eyes.
Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does
#329Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's easy to make hardware or software virtual mics and cameras that can't be detected as such. Getting that pronunciation task right will be easier for a bot using TTS through a virtual mic than for many non-native English speakers. A bigger problem is that once you've given some random site permission to access your mic or camera, it can use that access for anything it wants.
I really don't know how you can fake webcam device input or mic device input on browsers. If you know how to do it please explain me. And speaking of recordings you can always check metadata and see if it is genuine or fake(edited).
Metadata is trivial to modify, e.g. FFMpeg can do it, and it usually doesn't say anything about genuine-ness anyway. Besides, if you're generating your fake input in software, you'd just generate metadata to go with it.
Sorry, but there are so many holes in your idea that it seems completely unworkable. Even if new developments made it more feasible (new webcams and microphones that cryptographically sign their recordings? Still fakeable by the speakers and screen setup above. Depth-sensing cameras might be trickier.) people would rebel against allowing any and every site to access their webcam and microphone (and hence possibly spy on them).
Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does
#330Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Being 100% computer illiterate I wonder how much of that was due to the impairment itself, and how much was due to people underestimating her or not being willing to work with her to get her online. > I could not reasonably answer that question I can appreciate that it would have been challenging to come up with an explanation on the spot, while trying to talk her through joining the meeting. Having spent several m…
I'd appreciate feedback on possible reasons why my comment got multiple downvotes. Did my attempted explanation of CAPTCHAs come off as condescending? I specifically tried to avoid that. I also wasn't criticizing the parent commenter for not being able to come up with an explanation in the moment. Or was there something else objectionable about what I wrote? Edit: OK, in hindsight, my explanation was incomplete. I sh…