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Baby Meets Big Brother For Science

dylanduck writes "A baby is to be monitored by a network of microphones and video cameras for 14 hours a day, 365 days a year, in an effort to unravel the seemingly miraculous process by which children acquire language. I guess that's what happens when your pop works at MIT's Media Lab. Thankfully his parents can switch off the surveillance for 'private' moments and delete short scenes. All the footage is being classified by algorithms."

15 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. The mom... by crazyjeremy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Meanwhile, the baby's mother (a hot Brazillian model) is not told about the cameras. The baby's father (the rich MIT geek) is clueless why his buddies picked HIS house to do the experiment.

    1. Re:The mom... by linguae · · Score: 2, Funny
      Meanwhile, the baby's mother (a hot Brazillian model) is not told about the cameras. The baby's father (the rich MIT geek) is clueless why his buddies picked HIS house to do the experiment.

      There is one problem with that joke. Since when did hot models marry (or even date) us geeks, rich or not? Disprove my conjecture, please.

  2. Wait this sounds familiar by nizo · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wonder if the baby's name is Truman?

    1. Re:Wait this sounds familiar by AltGrendel · · Score: 2, Funny

      Next time, if it's a girl they could name it Jenni.

      --
      The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination

      - Douglas Adams

  3. Baby's first words by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 4, Funny

    Suprisingly, the Baby's first words mimick the sounds made by the recording equipment:

    "beep"
    "zzzzZZZZZZzzz"
    "click click click click"

    --
    "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
  4. Footage Classifications by El_Smack · · Score: 5, Funny


    4% Pooping
    26% Fussiness
    8% Crying
    18% Eating
    21% Drooling
    22% Peek a Boo
    1% Language Acquisition

    --


    There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
    1. Re:Footage Classifications by Pastis · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's spelled

      22% Pick a Boob

    2. Re:Footage Classifications by dr_dank · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hey, you plagiarized my job description!

      --
      Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
  5. Re:Will parents delete first swear word? by Snarfangel · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just wait until some pranksters teach the kid to say "Caltech."

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    This tagline is copyrighted material. Please send $10 for an affordable replacement.
  6. Well... by nosredna · · Score: 2, Funny

    It worked out well for Ender

  7. Proud first words by khendron · · Score: 4, Funny

    I hope the kid's first words are something to be proud of.

    I once saw a Mother eating some take-out fast food with her gurgling offspring. The kid was very vocal but couldn't say anything more than "goo" and "ga ga." The mother was doing the traditional "say Mommy, say Mommmmeeeee" thing when the kid pointed at the logo on the paper cup and said, very clearly, "McDonalds."

    The mother did not look pleased.

    --
    Life is like a web application. Sometime you need cookies just to get by.
  8. Obligatory by GrouchoMarx · · Score: 3, Funny

    Think of the children!

    (Someone had to say it...)

    --

    --GrouchoMarx
    Card-carrying member of the EFF, FSF, and ACLU. Are you?

    1. Re:Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      --GrouchoMarx
      Card-carrying member of the EFF, FSF, and ACLU. Are you?

      I wouldn't want to belong to any club that accepts you as a member ;)

  9. Re:This has been done before. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "Redundant moderation is the price which Nature exacts for pursuing the low hanging fruit of Internet discussion."

    -Lao Tze, c. 500 BC

  10. Segfaults? by 19061969 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Quoth the article: "All the footage is being classified by algorithms."

    Ha! Just imagine what an algorithm would say when it fills its nappy: "Core dump - segfault at location @r$e."

    --
    bang goes my karma... again...