I would be ok with Alexa like device that is local, does not connect to third party servers for everything, unless I command it do to it, like "google something for me". Something like Siri offline mode, but open source.
Yeah it's pretty cool, and 2023 was when they committed to solidifying voice commands. They post regular updates on their blog https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/ there are some pretty awesome posts detailing each step of the way
I'm not actually a user of Home Assistant, as I live in a poor country and getting the equipment to setup a smart house is very expensive lol but I did look into it at the beginning of the year and their focus on finally getting voice work done was what interested me the most
I didn't realize criss crossing apple sauce was a California thing ... but I guess it's what we decide to call sitting indian style when we've never experienced a bad day of weather in our lives :)
I got rid of my shitty armless chair that was falling apart, have been doing standing work for a few weeks, but still think I need a nice ergonomic chair for extended typing work, don't have the funds for a good standing desk atm
Smart cars. Its not a boolean but I do not want an Internet connected car. The Tesla would be the extreme example. I'd rather drive older cars. In a few years I may have to go to vintage cars and back to the old days of working on my own vehicles more.
It's ok to have Internet connection to a car, but not to the anything that involves handling, like ECU.
I had Android touch screen double din installed on my old 1990s Honda Prelude, which I used for parking camera, listening to music, Waze navigation and connecting to the phone while driving for hands free talking while driving. But it was not connected to other car systems.
No, of course I don't have full control over some Chinese Android device. But it's not connected to anything that can impact handling of the car. Only to the power source, speakers, parking camera (which that car didn't have by default), mic, GPS antenna.
Yes, but with bigger screen (better for Waze) and connected to the audio system of a car (so that when there is police or speed cameras in front, music gets quieter and nice womans voice warns me :) ). And without built-in SIM card and Internet, need to connect phone via Wi-Fi hotspot for that.
It also isn't clear what long term effect they have on the head and face. Every electronic device has a magnetic and electrical field around it which does aggravate cells to some degree. Airpods also have RF to add on that. It probably isn't a good idea to have electronic devices on your head for long periods of time. We will know after a few generations.
Jack Kruse woke me up to this. Now I try not to wear any headphones.
Tech Enthusiasts: Everything in my house is wired to the Internet of Things! I control it all from my smartphone! My smart-house is bluetooth enabled and I can give it voice commands via alexa! I love the future!
Programmers / Engineers: The most recent piece of technology I own is a printer from 2004 and I keep a loaded gun ready to shoot it if it ever makes an unexpected noise.
Smart things are tools just like anything else and a tool is only good if it serves a useful purpose and delivers more good than harm. For MOST "smart" things yes, we agree that they're useless (eg dishwashers, fridges, washing machines etc). But there are a few legitimate exceptions we think such as light bulbs, heating/cooling systems, security cameras, solar systems. Many of those smart enabled products are also terrible too. It's like the 1% of the 1% that are legit.
Connecting something to the internet is not smart. Making an existing device better or fully automated is. Too many manufactures tend to the former without addressing the later.
Cars. Any car. I live in the city. Cars are 4-wheeled spyware requiring KYC insurance, requiring you carry an ID, require you support the fossil fuel industry for the life of the car, require a fiat backend with a bank and debt, require washes, flushes, vacuuming, exhaust compliance, oil changes, brakes, tires, major repairs, attract police interactions, accumulate tickets and violations, require you look for parking, cause stress for break-ins and side-swipes, lose value, and put you in joyless traffic. No freedom to be found with these debt traps. It's about image for 80% of car owners. You lose time, money, health, and freedom. I enjoy the decentralized transportation and freedom of my folding e-bike thank you very much. If I need a car I can push a button on my phone for Uber, or call some sucker friend. Some people never learn.
I resonate with this so, so much. I have a Brompton folding bike (not sure they're a thing in the US, but big in the UK). I take it everywhere and it's without a doubt my most prized possession.
Passwordless login infrastructure being pushed currently by Google, Meta, Github etc. AFAIK, It uses our device's authentication capabilities, to login with services. Keyring is already stored in our devices, so it utilizes that. Although, I found no real downside/ data-breach etc, but still a big NO from my side.
Any given day, I would prefer authenticator apps though.
That is one of the way to secure our accounts. Just installing Alby and seamlessly switching b/w apps is great but only until it's not breached and used for low risk application like SN. Once, nostr reaches to a point like emails (used to verify your identity), I feel still keeping separate passwords is the way to go. 2FA TOTP is an interesting option as a secondary layer too. I might be totally wrong.
I would totally want 2FA if I had stacked sats like k00b or DarthCoin or yourself :P
Just don't lose your wallet keys (wouldn't ever use it with a custodial wallet - this is why the mobile lightning nodes like Blixt, Breez, Phoenix are so cool).
I scrolled all this way to see if anyone had the same aversion.
If I go to a store or bank and somebody ushers me to a machine, it just feels like a little piece of the world has died. Not the end of the world, just unnecessarily mechanistic.
The worst is if I need to get my face scanned. Fortunately have not seen that in the nation I am living in now.
Yeah, my eigenvectors are probably in various aviation databases. As much as that's whack, I can kind of almost let it go based on some ostensible security requirement, because, you know, it's safer for everyone. But my face being tied to my wallet, credit, groceries is just no. I mean, I'm sorry, but anyone that's deluded themselves into 'convenience' above basic human dignity, is just an automaton. It's a mantra that's been pumped into the servile populous, and they don't even care about the world their kids will be living in.
Third party IoT devices. I don't have enough faith in companies to not expose my home network with their crappy little devices. I get the utility and have built several of my own but I will only run open source devices I can manage myself.
Google pay and Samsung pay. I was going to use it, but then I realized it requires a 3rd party middle man to process a purchase other then the bank or credit company.
The rise of deepfake technologies, which can create highly convincing fake videos or audio recordings, raises ethical questions about misinformation and the potential for abuse.
Its pretty wild but I always think back to the past and my reading of history. The masses have always been easily deceived. The root problem is not the tech. Its us. We are not skeptical enough. In the recent past information was completely controlled by a handful of newspapers and radio/TV networks. They lied to the public. The government lied to the public. Those that knew this and wanted to expose it were very limited. Most people had no access to alternative view points. There was little pressure on these elites. At least now we have the ability to research far more information than our ancestors. The problem is the sheer volume of information. So much of it is noise. Misinformation has always been an issue. I don't believe it is worse. It think the elites have less control over. There are more actors now and many of them are only interested in chaos. Its not good but it could be worse. We could be under complete control of an elite psyop machine with no defense against it.
The defense against all this "misinformation" is skepticism and honestly focusing on what is in your control. A larger issue in society is this addiction to the drip of new information. At least 90% of the time when I hear "misinformation" it is from some corporate media type that is angry that someone is contradicting the message they are relaying from their gov/corp overlords.
Yep. This has been a strategy for centuries. Its why I try to find common ground with people when they are clearly good honest people but we disagree politically. There is a clear malicious coalition between both US political parties, corporations and the government machine. If they keep the people divided and fighting about social issues the real deeper issues are ignored and they can continue without public pressure. Its really quite impressive how they do it.
The rise of deepfakes and sophisticated manipulation tools indeed poses a challenge to trust in digital content. Establishing trust in online information may require a multi-faceted approach. One solution is Digital Signature. Implementing digital signatures or watermarking on original content can serve as a form of authentication. If these technologies become widespread and are integrated into content distribution platforms, users may have more confidence in the authenticity of what they're viewing.
I know too little of hardware, but it seems we need to have hardware digitally sign a video stream continuously in a non reversible manner (via lightning transactions?), tied to a public person so it is verifiable from multiple other sources the person was there... Or similar.
How did a man reading the New York Times in the 1920s validate anything he read? Trust? We have always had this problem but recently we have been in a state of being where info was easier to get and confirm. Now technology is returning us to a previous state of uncertainty. They way I handle this is skepticism and prioritizing what I need to know vs. what everyone is talking about. Most AI / Deep fake crap doesn't have an impact on decisions I'm making now. If it did I wouldn't trust it until I could figure out a way to verify it. I have yet to see a deep fake fool people long term. Yet I have seen MANY examples in the last few years of media outlets misquoting people and people repeating it to the point where it is just fact to them. It is trivially easy to check many of these lies but people don't. This isn't new. Media has always lied. Now we can check them but most don't. That is the root issue. I can't solve it for anyone but me. Same goes for you.
The other way I handle this is reputation. Has this person/group lied to me and others in the past. If yes I do not trust them. That doesn't mean all they say is a lie but it means I have to check them. This is why I do not trust any government body to speak truth. They have burned that bridge. I do not trust any news outlet either. They all lie, mislead, and hold back facts to spin a narrative.
The way I would sum it all up is to say we in the west have been naive and we are being forced out it. The handful of people I know that experienced communism do not have this flaw. They aren't naive. Many that I know from the global south are the same. They aren't naive. We apparently have to be burned to learn sadly.
im more interested in the memeability of deepfakes.
Memes crafted using deepfake technology can add a layer of amusement and surprise, often blurring the lines between reality and satire.
I don't really have a use for uber. I drive or my wife drives everywhere we go. We don't drink so never a need to have a ride home. My wife works less than a ten min walk from our home so she walks to work or I drop her off. Even with only one car now (used to have a second vehicle but I sold it with my business) we rarely have overlapping need for the car.