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Post by ironhold on Feb 15, 2018 18:02:06 GMT
www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/15/google-adblocker-chrome-browser?CMP=share_btn_fbStarting today, Chrome will be making use of its own internal ad-blocking program. Rather than seek to block 100% of ads, however, its goal is to target the 9 most intrusive types of ads and shut them down. Reportedly, a number of websites that relied heavily on these types of ads, or that had what was regarded as an egregious use of ads, had been warned about the change ahead of time so that they could redesign their sites accordingly.
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Post by GTCGreg on Feb 15, 2018 18:18:37 GMT
www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/15/google-adblocker-chrome-browser?CMP=share_btn_fbStarting today, Chrome will be making use of its own internal ad-blocking program. Rather than seek to block 100% of ads, however, its goal is to target the 9 most intrusive types of ads and shut them down. Reportedly, a number of websites that relied heavily on these types of ads, or that had what was regarded as an egregious use of ads, had been warned about the change ahead of time so that they could redesign their sites accordingly. Well you can be sure Chrome isn't going to block any Google generated ads.
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Post by the light works on Feb 15, 2018 19:35:37 GMT
www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/15/google-adblocker-chrome-browser?CMP=share_btn_fbStarting today, Chrome will be making use of its own internal ad-blocking program. Rather than seek to block 100% of ads, however, its goal is to target the 9 most intrusive types of ads and shut them down. Reportedly, a number of websites that relied heavily on these types of ads, or that had what was regarded as an egregious use of ads, had been warned about the change ahead of time so that they could redesign their sites accordingly. Well you can be sure Chrome isn't going to block any Google generated ads. that would be the 10th most intrusive type of ad.
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Post by wvengineer on Feb 16, 2018 6:28:05 GMT
I'm actually surprised they are letting any 3rd part ads. I would think their goal would be to block all ads except their own. That way they make sure they get all the add revenue and don't loose out to anyone else.
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Post by silverdragon on Feb 16, 2018 7:52:10 GMT
Whilst we are on the subject of "Intrusive", Huawei phones, Edit..]and ZTE phones as well, [/edit..] I am getting twitches from the internets that they may be a danger. This is rather a classic quote from one need-not-be-named source, !U.S. intelligence officials imply that Huawei, ZTE devices aren't safe for consumers, but don't explain why. So we asked some experts.", but then didnt have any article following that headline... [heck, hit this link to see what I mean.] The FBI and "other intelligence services" around the world have echo'd the warning, but as yet, I aint seen anything credible to explain why. So... what yer going to do with that info?. Firstly its a heads up that something may be wrong, secondly its an invitation to reply with what you can find if you can find anything worth mentioning?. Roundup of the Chinese whispers I got so far... The main concern is that they come from China. There have been some rather concerning reports recently that the build quality of Chinese electrical goods is not all that it should be, but is that the case here. There have been rumours that they contain hard-wired apps that may contain spyware, as some of them utilise a "special" OEM version of Android. There has been suspicion down to the CT Nut level that these firms are harvesting owners personal details from Warranties for reasons of spam. And on the CT nut theory, there is suspicion "right back at you" thats against the man, that the FBI have been unable to break encryption on those devices, and cant spy on you themselves, so thats why they are trying to stop people buying them, but heck, its just Android isnt it?. how hard can it be?.. thats busted. This following quote has some credible sound-bites but.... source... www.cnet.com/news/huawei-zte-fbi-chris-wray-nsa/So is it just the "They are commies and spying on you" type of hype or is there something else?. BTW, "Doesnt share our values", someone get Snowden on the blower and ask him about FBI "Values"?..
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Post by the light works on Feb 16, 2018 15:14:20 GMT
so, looking at some of the other headlines on the article, it's looking like it's not so much a matter of national security as it is of dodgy business practices, but it looks like I'm not at risk of accidentally buying one.
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Post by GTCGreg on Feb 16, 2018 17:12:54 GMT
I think the FBI is just "deeply concerned" that a Chinese company is going to do to Americans what Apple and Google are already doing.
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Post by ironhold on Mar 7, 2018 22:29:00 GMT
www.bbc.com/news/technology-43325230Amazon Alexa users have lodged complaint after complaint due to Alexa units - even units that are asleep - spontaneously emitting "creepy" laughter. Some of these affected units will also ignore commands. Amazon is looking into the problem now, but until then we're due for a rush of videos showing off the malfunctioning units.
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Post by GTCGreg on Mar 8, 2018 3:35:46 GMT
www.bbc.com/news/technology-43325230Amazon Alexa users have lodged complaint after complaint due to Alexa units - even units that are asleep - spontaneously emitting "creepy" laughter. Some of these affected units will also ignore commands. Amazon is looking into the problem now, but until then we're due for a rush of videos showing off the malfunctioning units. My Alexa will occasionally take off on some rant about something or other. By the time I realize that she's talking, I miss what she said. One day she wasn't responding to my commands so I asked if she was feeling OK. She went on about how she had dinosaurs on her mind all day and how she wondered what they would ask her. Then she said; "I know. They would ask me what that big red thing was streaking across the sky." Usually when I issue a command, such as "turn on the theater lights", She will turn on the lights and then say, "OK." One day, she would do the commands but would never said OK. I asked her if her voice was still working. She replied, "Ribit, Ribit... Other than a little frog in my throat, my voice is just fine." I have to say, someone at Amazon has a sense of humor. I think that's what all the laughing may be about.
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Post by the light works on Mar 8, 2018 5:06:40 GMT
www.bbc.com/news/technology-43325230Amazon Alexa users have lodged complaint after complaint due to Alexa units - even units that are asleep - spontaneously emitting "creepy" laughter. Some of these affected units will also ignore commands. Amazon is looking into the problem now, but until then we're due for a rush of videos showing off the malfunctioning units. My Alexa will occasionally take off on some rant about something or other. By the time I realize that she's talking, I miss what she said. One day she wasn't responding to my commands so I asked if she was feeling OK. She went on about how she had dinosaurs on her mind all day and how she wondered what they would ask her. Then she said; "I know. They would ask me what that big red thing was streaking across the sky." Usually when I issue a command, such as "turn on the theater lights", She will turn on the lights and then say, "OK." One day, she would do the commands but would never said OK. I asked her if her voice was still working. She replied, "Ribit, Ribit... Other than a little frog in my throat, my voice is just fine." I have to say, someone at Amazon has a sense of humor. I think that's what all the laughing may be about. I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.
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Post by GTCGreg on Mar 8, 2018 6:05:55 GMT
My Alexa will occasionally take off on some rant about something or other. By the time I realize that she's talking, I miss what she said. One day she wasn't responding to my commands so I asked if she was feeling OK. She went on about how she had dinosaurs on her mind all day and how she wondered what they would ask her. Then she said; "I know. They would ask me what that big red thing was streaking across the sky." Usually when I issue a command, such as "turn on the theater lights", She will turn on the lights and then say, "OK." One day, she would do the commands but would never said OK. I asked her if her voice was still working. She replied, "Ribit, Ribit... Other than a little frog in my throat, my voice is just fine." I have to say, someone at Amazon has a sense of humor. I think that's what all the laughing may be about. I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords. I'm not so sure that I do. When you set up Alexa for the first time, you do it via a personal account web page. The web page is password protected so only you can access it, but it's out on some Amazon server someplace. I found that every command or question you ask Alexa is stored on that web site with a date and time stamp. It's actually an audio recording of the person giving the command or asking the question. I not so sure I like everything I say to Alexa being recorded and stored on some cloud server somewhere. There's a privacy switch on Alexa that turns off the mic but that pretty much makes it useless for anything except maybe per-programmed wake up calls.
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Post by Lokifan on Mar 8, 2018 8:19:42 GMT
Our sense of privacy is evolving.
I've been pretty successful of leaving a low social media profile, but I also know that quite a lot of information on me is available if you know where to look.
Every now and then I even google my real name. It's amazing what shows up. Lately, that's usually not much, yet tonight there was a picture of my wife and I, with our real names, from a fancy party last year on the first page of the image search...and I have no idea how it got there. I remember the party, but not posing for a picture. Knowing how the linking algorithm is supposed to work, it's odd that it showed up at all. I'm simply not in any way famous or important enough to rate a picture.
Yet, although it was a surprise, what does the picture say about me? I went to one party. I wore a suit and tie. My wife got dressed up. Big deal.
I could freak out and contact the website and request they take it down--but why? I think it's more reasonable to let it go--it will be lost in the petabytes of data out there, and it's pretty trivial.
Likewise, what could recordings of my Alexa requests (or, for that matter, anything I say in range of an Alexa) tell people about me? My taste in music? Yup. My schedule? Already on Google. I've shut off the purchase function, so it's pretty safe.
But, most importantly, even allowing that every word I say is recorded and transcribed by computer into a database, who is going to take the trouble to read it, and for what? I have no illusions--I lead a pretty boring life. No hidden crimes; no fiddling with anyone not my wife; no plans to do anything more radical than have a bottle of white wine with pizza. About the only crime I have committed is against music--singing in the shower.
Now, if they want to data mine those transcripts to determine how many times I say the word "Coke" vs. "Pepsi", or "Ford" vs. "Honda", well...enjoy. Having Alexa around has made our lives easier, and if giving them market research is the price I have to pay, well--I can live with that.
Trying to live off the data "grid" is possible, but it's a lot of work, approaching the level of a dangerous obsession, given the realities of today. We've got to build up a thick skin to public scrutiny and criticism.
Recently, I've been working with a contractor friend, installing more surveillance systems. For less than $250, I can get you a system that records a month full of video from 4 cameras--all accessible from the web. As cloud storage and automated video processing improves, you'll soon have systems that, if someone could access them, could track your every move.
There's no way to stop them. They're all independently owned, so there's no central control. They're pretty unobtrusive, so you probably won't know when you're being watched.
So, do you spend your life trying to dodge the cameras? Or simply ignore them unless there's a genuine crime--in other words, treat them as if they're going to do what they are sold to do.
I'll keep other folk's cameras off my property, as I have the right to. Beyond that, if it's a public place, I just have to accept I'm fair game.
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Post by silverdragon on Mar 8, 2018 9:32:37 GMT
Getting "tagged" in a photograph by the person who uploads it is not that uncommon. There exist none that I have been aware of of me, because I keep out of the photo's lens. But I am aware that someone did try to put me in the web by demanding I pose... not my permission, not by choice, I refuse, and now "Its all my fault" for not wanting to be on the web. So?. I also do not drive any phrench cars, thats also my choice, but I know some people may demand to know why that is. Despite it being MY bloody choice, I have to "defend"?> I dont, I now attack back, because thats just as fun for me, and anyway, I drive a Toyota, why dont you? They are more reliable you know. And as for being tagged on the web, what is this?. Some silly game of kiss chase?.
Last time I googled myself, I was an ambassador to some foreign country, which just goes to prove my name is not that unique. Its not exactly John Smith common, but not as unique as say Charles Hamilton Winchester the third unique ....
There are some photo's of me in existence on the web, but I am not named, or I am part of the distance crowd, there even exists Video of me driving, and an accident happening just behind the wagon I was in, I had a lucky escape and didnt stop, because it was "that far" behind me. But I am not named. It will probably not last, but, people know I have a low presence on the internet, because I was born before the internet was invented, and its just a new toy for me. My "Sock puppet" identity of the racing Dragon avatar I use now and again is far more famous than I am, but thats just a game, I just happen to be good at it, that doesnt mean people need to know what supermarket I shop at does it?. They dont need to know I am a real life driver, or that I have done some track time, or that I also play many other games under a different name. I get bored on days I cant do much because of disability, I am therefore a Gamer.
But I was "In shot" when some famous person was getting photo-bombed one time, I had reporters requesting "Just for the records" who I was, I gave the name Nope Mallard, you know, same as that Doc on NCIS?.. I dont think they caught on with that. But they didnt go as far as demanding identity, so maybe they have heard all that before....
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Post by the light works on Mar 8, 2018 15:30:17 GMT
as I've said before, the best defense against big brother surveillance is to be boring as (expletive)
as for alexa recording everything you say, I would guess it has a lot to do with "but I never asked for that"
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Post by silverdragon on Mar 9, 2018 6:56:53 GMT
as I've said before, the best defense against big brother surveillance is to be boring as (expletive) as for alexa recording everything you say, I would guess it has a lot to do with "but I never asked for that" Actually, they use the data to better fettle their algorithms for better understanding human speech and all of its dialects, accents, and strange words, and learning "new" words, as in eg. it didnt come pre=programmed with the word "lol" as a word, it had to learn that in the wild kind of thing?. Some scallies in the wild think that that is a real word they should use in conversations?.. I dunno... kids today eh?. "Like Lol total amaze-balls like u dint kno that m8 wot is U like old?."--quote from twit-er on something like having a email addy for a printer. Yes they do keep a record of "I didnt say that" for some legal reasons, "Alexa buy me a dolls house" kind of things, but mostly its for learning abilities. I have used an Echo Dot, one of my kids keeps one as a pet, as in the one at Uni doing programming is trying to work on 3rd part apps for it as part of his course, I found it annoying, no I wont be getting one myself. In that I could just rip the existing code and put it in my Raspberry Pi, but I aint doing that either.
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Post by GTCGreg on Mar 9, 2018 19:21:14 GMT
as I've said before, the best defense against big brother surveillance is to be boring as (expletive) as for alexa recording everything you say, I would guess it has a lot to do with "but I never asked for that" Actually, they use the data to better fettle their algorithms for better understanding human speech and all of its dialects, accents, and strange words, and learning "new" words, as in eg. it didnt come pre=programmed with the word "lol" as a word, it had to learn that in the wild kind of thing?. Some scallies in the wild think that that is a real word they should use in conversations?.. I dunno... kids today eh?. "Like Lol total amaze-balls like u dint kno that m8 wot is U like old?."--quote from twit-er on something like having a email addy for a printer. Yes they do keep a record of "I didnt say that" for some legal reasons, "Alexa buy me a dolls house" kind of things, but mostly its for learning abilities. I have used an Echo Dot, one of my kids keeps one as a pet, as in the one at Uni doing programming is trying to work on 3rd part apps for it as part of his course, I found it annoying, no I wont be getting one myself. In that I could just rip the existing code and put it in my Raspberry Pi, but I aint doing that either. Another reason they do it is for voice recognition. Alexa can tell who in the house is asking her to do something so she can personalize her response. For example, if you say; "Alexa, read my text messages." She knows by your voice who's text messages she is supposed to read. As for interfacing to a Pi, there is already a ton of open source software available to do that. In fact, if you develop a useful skillset for Alexa, Amazon will pay you for making it available in their store even though they don't charge anything for it.
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Post by Lokifan on Mar 9, 2018 21:55:32 GMT
Google Home can do voice ID. Alexa cannot, unless it's just added that recently.
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Post by GTCGreg on Mar 10, 2018 1:52:32 GMT
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Post by Lokifan on Mar 10, 2018 4:22:53 GMT
Just today I got an email from Amazon telling me about it. Synchronicity is weird.
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Post by GTCGreg on Mar 10, 2018 4:57:30 GMT
Just today I got an email from Amazon telling me about it. Synchronicity is weird. Or someone's listening
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