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When Personalization Runs Amuck

pamar writes "According to this article from the Wall Street Journal, your TiVo could definitely get the wrong impression about your interests, or even your sexual preferences. And what you need to do to get "a clean slate"? Most of the users who have been "targeted" by TiVo usually try to "correct" the profiling by showing an abnormal interest in something wildly different." Yep, it's a dupe.

12 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Its getting just like TV around here by warmcat · · Score: 5, Funny

    All repeats and no Firefly.

  2. Read The Manual! by stevelup · · Score: 5, Informative

    All you have to do is go into the system setup menu and select "Reset Thumb Data".

    It will forget everything it ever might have thought about you...

    Mind you, expecting journalists to read the instruction manual before making wild statements is of course too much to ask...

  3. First my girlfriend judges me... by Quaoar · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...now my TV is doing the same. At least the TiVo can't leave and take half my stuff! Hah!

    --
    I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
  4. My SlashDot Keeps Recording TiVo Articles by loggia · · Score: 5, Funny

    For some reason, my SlashDot recording preferences are off. It keeps thinking I am really into TiVo articles.

  5. Scary thought by JessLeah · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What if, in the future, companies start requesting the data collected by such "we can guess who and what you are" systems for demographic purposes?

    "Well, according to this data, 25% of our customers are pregnant gay men, and 14% are neo-Nazis with an interest in cooking..."

    But seriously. Something evil tells me that it's only a matter of time before this stuff is taken as the Word of Gord(TM)...

  6. Re:Deja vu by FyRE666 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are the editors out to lunch today? This is a duplicate from a day or two ago.

    You're new here, aren't you?

  7. Re:Slashdot Personalization by Fweeky · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Is there a setting in preferences to filter out duplicates?

    Could do.

    Instead of editors (*cough*) just adding "yeah, it's a dupe" at the end of the article, they could set a "Dupe" flag on the story; you set your prefs to remove them, and you're sorted. Of course, there would be a short period where it would be displayed, but it's either that, some dupe detection on submit, or less incompetence.
  8. Re:Hey guys, i just wanted to let you know.. by JohnG · · Score: 5, Funny

    The worst thing about duplicate stories isn't the fact that we've read them before, it's having to read posts by users complaining about editors not checking for old stories, when they themselves didn't bother to check that hundreds of people before them have already yelled DUPE! Sheesh.

  9. Matrix by GuyMannDude · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is a duplicate from a day or two ago.

    Deja vu is usually a glitch in The Matrix. It happens when they change something in the program. Be on your guard...

    GMD

  10. Slashdot is like TiVO by MrJones · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slashdot thinks that I like TiVO news and keep posting dupes about TiVO news. :-)
    Just kidding

    --
    Get my e-mail after a captcha test in: http://tinymailt
  11. Re:Duplicate story by Dark+Lord+Seth · · Score: 5, Funny

    I secretly hope Taco forgets he is married already and prompty proposes to his now-wife again on slashdot with another nice dupe.

  12. When duplication runs amock by FurryFeet · · Score: 5, Funny

    Posted by Hemos on Thursday November 28, @02:25PM
    from the glitch-in-the-matrix dept.
    someone writes "According to this article from the Slashdot Journal, your Slashdot could definitely get the wrong impression about your interests, or even your need to read a story more than once. And what you need to do to get "a clean slate"? Most of the users who have been "targeted" by Slashdot usually try to "correct" the profiling by posting an abnormal number of flames and ironic remarks. Unfortunately, the only reaction from Slashdot is the remark: "Yep, it's a dupe".
    This story will run again tomorrow, right after the one about the face transplants and before the new Linux kernel patch. Stay tuned