Slashdot Mirror
Sensor To Monitor TV Watchers Demoed At Cable Labs
An anonymous reader writes "Cable operators at the semi-annual CableLab's Innovation Showcase have informally voted as best new product a gizmo that can determine how many people are watching a TV. Developed by Israeli company PrimeSense, the product lets digital devices see a 3-D view of the world (the images look like something from thermal imaging). In other words, that cable set-top box will know whether three people are sitting on the sofa watching TV and how many are adults vs. children. Do we really need cable and/or video service operators knowing this? It all happens via a chip that resides in a camera that plugs into the set-top box."
I can see some obvious uses here that I hope never happen, like, "Sorry, but you only purchased one ticket to your pay-per-view movie, and three people are watching! Purchase additional tickets or ask some of the viewers to leave."
Of course, even if it gets that bad, I suspect it'd be defeated with something like duct tape. So, while it's kind of evil that someone might want to do this, I'm not all that worried that it would actually work.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
Nothing that can't be fixed with a piece of electrical tape. Or an ice-pick.
Is it weird in here, or is it just me?
Oh, the inner exhibitionist in me is tingling.
"Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad." [Ecclesiastes 7:3]
If you're:
It appears that you are trying to toast more than one piece of bread at a time. Consider buying another toaster, investing in a commercial model, or signing up for our maintenance plan which provides a live-in political officer to toast your bread for you.
the NPG electrode was replaced with carbon blac
Somewhere, Orwell is slowly shaking his head...
Generally, bash is superior to python in those environments where python is not installed.
I bet it can't tell the difference between me, sitting at the kitchen table watching the Football and my wife sitting at the breakfast table with her back turned.
I bet it can't tell that I am reading, not watching.
How does it distinguish a large dog from a small child?
If it uses infra red it can at least distinguish a human from a cardboard cut-out of the Duke of Edinburgh! I have seen award ceremonies have trouble with that one, so I guess that makes it smarter than some humans.
Squirrel!
...it gets cold in the winter.
Does the device send this information to anyone? The article says no such thing, so the whole "Do we really need cable and/or video service operators knowing this?" line in the summary appears to be FUD. Does anyone have a source with more relevant information about this product?
TAPE
I hope this caused some synapses to fire.
Came for this, left satisfied.
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
So don't plug it in. Toss the damned thing in the trash.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
The telescreen is only 25 years late.
. . . Runners who are trying to evade their Death Panel appointments. You can tell which ones are sick and due for termination by their elevated IR output.
Perhaps these are going to go in next generation Nielsen boxes so that Nielsen can give a more accurate count of viewers instead of just assuming 1 box = 1 viewer.
plethysmograph? How will the know what porn we like?
Belief is the currency of delusion.
Of course, even if it gets that bad, I suspect it'd be defeated with something like duct tape. .
And then the box detects its 'blind' and refuses to run your movie, or worse, calls the MPAA for a violation of terms, and perhaps some 'circumvention prevention law' they will have bought by then, bringing down the black van onto your home..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Looks like Max Headroom was once again ahead of its time. Bring on the Blipverts.
.. tell if I get a hard-on watching Jessica Biel?
TOP DSLR Cameras Reviews of the top DSLRs
The TV Networks will finally recognize your inflatable doll for the companion she really is!
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
A midget is getting annoyed that the TV won't let him watch Real Sex 10.
QamuIs Heg qaq law' lorvIs yInqaq puS
Need I say more? Not their damned business, would NEVER give permission for such a thing in my home.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Who watches the watchers?
Primesense... Isn't that the company MS bought for the Natal tech?
Slashdot is turning into Fark. I have seen more and more 'this' and similar Fark-like posts in the past few months.
Television watches YOU.
I've always hated these post but it seems appropriate here.
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
"How would you like us to shave a dollar off your monthly cable bill?"
Some *AA exec is wetting his pants, but the public WILL NOT put up with this.
This kind of intrusion is a revolution just waiting to happen, sheeple or not.
I wish i had the confidence in the American public that you do. Im afraid most will just accept it and bend over.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Yet another reason not to subscribe to cable. Get an antenna and get the new digital channels over the air and use the internet/netflix for supplemental programming. Time to move out of the stone age and let these people play big brother by themselves.
Don't you mean:
In soviet Russia, you watch TV.
oh, wait...
Sigs are for the weak.
that each owner has the ability to OPT-IN. The real issue is when they say that they will do regardless, then it will be time to switch away, OR bury the box elsewhere and simply use my remote control remoter.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
"It all happens via a chip that resides in a camera that plugs into the set-top box."
It all stops happening via a Craftsman five pound ball peen camera removal tool that resides in a box that sits on top the work bench.
This reeks of leftover dot com fever outrageous idea development looking for thrown-cash funding regardless of viability. Though crippled beyond recuperation that mind set refuses to die along with some of its other goofy projects, such as the Nukem Dukem 3D of extraneous peripherals, the eternally vaporous Smell-O-Vision-like "products". If it weren't for the fact that the marketoids attending the conference are undoubtedly drooling over their imagined implications for advertising revenue, it would have all the impact and lifespan of all the items taken from patents and idea articles and sputtered across the What's New pages of Popular Science.
But then I could be wrong. Cable operators could "require" these and tie the incoming signal to its continued operation. In which case it would behoove the prudent to invest heavily into manufacturers of big rubber asses with clamps designed to attach to the front of cable set-top boxes.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that.
A few weeks ago I unplugged my cable box as an experiment. You know, just to get an idea of what that would actually do to my life.
I did notice a difference. The difference was that I spent more of my time doing things that were actually rewarding, like reading the book I'd wanted to get to, learning to play a few pieces of music I'd been wanting to work on, and writing down my thoughts on life the universe and everything. In short, it's a lot better for me, for my eyes, for my health, and my sleep schedule.
So with the use of cable boxes to spy on me, it's time for me to get on the phone, get through arguing with the poor call center rep, and get rid of the problem for good.
I am officially gone from
Friedrich Nietzsche once said that if you stare into the abyss long enough the abyss stares back at you. Now staring at the TV can have the same effect.
cable need better guide software not this crap i-Guide is a joke and why does it look so bad on a hd tv. Direct tv guide and menus are 4:3 but they still look good in HD vs cable.
And whats up with ad's on each page of the comcast on screen guide?
>It all happens via a chip that resides in a camera that plugs into the set-top box.
That's where I habitually set my large mug of very hot coffee.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
...probably :)
In Soviet Russia, TV watches you!
i read your email
& the best part is you get to pay for the boxes lol
did you forget to take your meds?
Soviet Television carries you (after counting though)!
"Cable tv customers at the semi-annual Digital Media Customer's Innovation Showcase have informally voted as best new product a gizmo that works as a supplement of an other gizmo that can determine how many people are watching a TV. Developed by a start-up company UpInYours, the product lets customers control digital devices which see a 3-D view of the world (the images look like something from thermal imaging). In other words, that cable set-top box was supposed to know whether three people are sitting on the sofa watching TV and how many are adults vs. children, but with the additional gizmo outraged customers can directly send an animated middle finger right back to the cable companies, which to tried get their customers not only milk, but bend over for them."
And you should too. Stone cold seriously. Because if the cableco don't know what you're watching, then you have no Goddamn influence over them.
That great new SF show that just rocked your socks off? If you're not in a Neilsen household, then they don't even know that you watched it, and buying the DVD box set 2 years later won't save it. The fat welfare whore next door with the Neilson box and the seven kids who watch re-runs of America's Fattiest Fatty 24/7? They're the people driving the content provision.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
My roommate and I decided to try a no TV policy in our dorm room at the start of my second year of college.
That was 7 years ago, and I never went back to watching TV.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
that if you could get the internal memos on this, it would turn out that the idea is to be able to charge a per-viewer fee. In the same way that ASCAP is threatening lawsuits if you don't have a public performance license for the ringtone on your cell phone.
Have you ever considered watching it online? It's free AND the companies get real viewership numbers. I haven't had cable/satellite TV in over a decade, and I still watch all of my TV shows.
I don't respond to AC's.
While this certainly has the potential to let TV programmers know that we do actually loose interest when a commercial is aired, and some programs that seem to get canceled are actually watched, there are far too many potential abuses for this technology. I don't want to suddenly become part of a reality tv show that is aired in some other country, and that I have no idea I am a part of.
- James
'Smith!' screamed the shrewish voice from the telescreen. '6079 Smith W.! Yes, you! Bend lower, please! You can do better than that. You're not trying. Lower, please! That's better, comrade. Now stand at ease, the whole squad, and watch me.'
A sudden hot sweat had broken out all over Winston's body. His face remained completely inscrutable. Never show dismay! Never show resentment! A single flicker of the eyes could give you away. He stood watching while the instructress raised her arms above her head and -- one could not say gracefully, but with remarkable neatness and efficiency -- bent over and tucked the first joint of her fingers under her toes.
'There, comrades! That's how I want to see you doing it. Watch me again. I'm thirty-nine and I've had four children. Now look.' She bent over again. 'You see my knees aren't bent. You can all do it if you want to,' she added as she straightened herself up. 'Anyone under forty-five is perfectly capable of touching his toes. We don't all have the privilege of fighting in the front line, but at least we can all keep fit. Remember our boys on the Malabar front! And the sailors in the Floating Fortresses! Just think what they have to put up with. Now try again. That's better, comrade, that's much better,' she added encouragingly as Winston, with a violent lunge, succeeded in touching his toes with knees unbent, for the first time in several years.
-George Orwell 1984
"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
In Comcast America, TV watches you!
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
This reminds me of Max Headroom, where the TV networks knew instantaneously exactly how many people were watching a show.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_(TV_series)/
Yeah... the camera actually transmits normal picture and there is a built-in microphone as well. Marketing firms will get the "blurred 3D-like image. Other potential customers, like producers of broadcasters can pay for the real live feed and use it to create more reality tv shows. Other monetization opportunities will be individual subscriptions for highest bidders, with full discretion. Companies could run background check on potential employees, partners for example.
IIRC I read this in one of Lawrence Lessig's books.
Movie studio executives, of course, hated the idea of home video. Their business model was tied to getting paid for each showing, payment per showing, and also per viewer; the rents charged to movie theatres were set on a sliding scale based on the seating capacity of the house).
RCA thought they had a breakthrough, when they showed Disney executives a cassette they had developed. It was designed for rental and could only be played once. A mechanical locking arrangement was engaged when the cassette had finished playing. The consumer would then have to return it to the rental store, which had the special tool needed to unlock and rewind it.
They demonstrated it proudly to Disney execs who said, dismissively, "This is no good to us. We have absolutely no way of knowing how many people are in the room."
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Kent Brockman: "Of course, there's no way to see into the Simpson home without some kind of infrared heat-sensitive camera. So, let's turn it on."
I barely got cable after my last move. I get all the movie channels so I'm not a lightweight customer with basic cable but I was sick of all the problems. Well I went with a new provider and my problems have been ten fold. The service is at best crappy and over the first two weeks they cut me off five times. Add that into the mix and I'll live without. Cameras in my living room no matter how blurry is so far past my point of saying no fucking way it isn't funny.
Simple, just obstruct the camera eye with one of those reusable ice packs. That'll fix 'em
Nielsen has been trying to get this handled for quite some time; and I am sure this development is for them (in part). They had made prior attempts, but could not discern pets.
This is really all about taking more accurate TV ratings--no more need to keep logs or journals. Instead, just watch what people really watch, how they flip the channels, etc. Yes, in some Orwellian nightmare, a cable company could try to require these things to be installed. However, in a competitive environment, I can't imagine any company getting away with this. In a non-competitive (monopolistic or duopolistic) environment, like the one that is present in a lot of modern American towns, I've got to imagine that any sane regulator would put the kibosh on this pretty quickly. This may be a little optimistic, but we have to give the government *some* credit.
They're all sitting down watching like zombies at a Hypnotoad exhibition. What's to monitor?
I can hear Time-Warner now: The bastards bricked my spy camera! How can I jail-break it?
I found that I watched no live TV. Everything was timeshifted. My DVR has an IR dongle to control the STB (STB, STD?, whatever), so the STB is hidden behind some cabinetry, with a cardboard shield to prevent accidental channel switching.
If they outlaw (TOS, whatever) that, then the service gets canceled.
.....For McCain!!!
Seriously though, who will buy this? This is honestly the best news for OTA fans that I can imagine. No one, tech enthusiast or not, is going to be OK with cable companies monitoring them. All this will do is push more and more individuals to Netflix, Hulu, HTPC. Cable companies are on the way out. Dumb-Pipe, here we come.
"Im Sorry dave you can't watch that" Seriously, it will be connected to a network correct? How easy you think it will be to infiltrate said network and use these for general spying of the populace?
next version will tell sex. Then weight. Then health and precise age. Lip reading (if not a mic)... at which point it will probably also be able to indentify each individual. and link it to (Google's, the government's, your credit bureau's, your HMO's...) databases...
Then they'll find out there's money to be made not only by counting how many people watch TV, and precisely who, but also by peeking a bit about in that room: what else you do, what stuff you have around ...
I'd like to think I forgot to put my tinfoil hat. But this doesn't seem so far-fetched.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
I haven't watched an actual TV in 9 years, who still watches TV's?
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
will take care of that just fine.
Remember how the NFL has been going after places that have TV's showing thier matches? Saying they need to buy a broadcaster license to show it on larger than a certain number of inches, or more than certain number of people watching, etc.
Well if this becomes reality, now they will be able to go after anyone they thing is violating that kinda thing.
Folks, it would be ILLEGAL for them watch inside your home, even with something so primitive, without your explicit permission. IANAL, but this is one that has been very clear for a long time: it is illegal for anybody to use electronic means to determine what is going on inside your home, without your prior permission!
Hell, some cops in New York were caught just recently using thermal imaging devices to try to determine who was growing pot. It is quite clearly ILLEGAL for them to do so without a warrant. I haven't heard the results of that yet, but you can bet that the NYC Police Department is embarrassed as hell.
(That was ex- Texas State Trooper Barry Cooper, by the way, and his gang of "Kop Busters" who exposed the police who were doing that.)
How funny,
Someone above states emphatically that *no one* will accept this invasion of their privacy and is modded to +5 and here you are at +4 stating emphatically that everyone should *want* to have the very cornerstone of 1984 in our homes.
And if the "fat welfare whore" is worth more than the "anti-social venomous single white middle class maxed out credit card internet nerd" to the cable companies that they'll listen to her and not you via Nielson boxes why would that change if they put cameras into your TV? They have already told you clearly that you're not worth anything to them by not allowing you to get a Neilson box.
Perhaps you should get the message rather than chasing after them like a puppy who keeps getting booted in the ribs?
Not to mention it's pretty pathetic..."Oh if I let them stick cameras in my home then they might put on more SCI FI!"...perhaps you should get out more?
Dvd players with this same capability so you may finally be charged correctly for the number of people viewing their fine films.
We want to spy on you so you don't steal our shit. Yeah, that sounds like a good way to get people to go legit. Or are they seriously going to try and pass something like this off as a legitimate end user device that improves the experience? (ironically as most DRM is advertised through its supporters)
"They confiscated everything, even the stuff we didn't steal!"
Black Electrical Tape
This is actually an important step forward in terms of recommendations for television, as it opens up the following kinds of scenarios:
1. You are watching a television show that your girlfriend hates and she enters the room. You know that you have to change the channel, but you don't have a good idea of what to change it to, so you hit the recommendations button (or gesture) and since it knows that she is also in the room, it looks for shows that you will both like.
2. You are watching cartoons for some reason, and it gets to a commercial break. The average age of a person watching this cartoon is 8, but it knows that you're the one watching it and not your kids, and it also knows that you watch major league baseball and action movies. So instead of showing commercials for the latest barbie or whatever, it shows a commercial for a truck, or beer.
3. You are done watching cartoons and want to watch something else. Because it's just you, it recommends an action movie and not another cartoon (though it notes that you do in fact like cartoons from time to time and might recommend them to you at some point in the future)...
Of course, there are some thorny issues related to these scenarios, and you absolutely positively have to be able to turn it off. And really, it should give you a choice when you first set install the set top box of whether you want to turn it on at all, what people you want it to keep track of if any, if there are any kinds of things you don't want it to recommend, the length of the history, etc. And of course, this all must be disclosed in the privacy policy, as google or amazon or netflix do.
Correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know much about how the set-top cable boxes work, but I'm pretty sure that (it being a computer, in the end) the cable company alreay knows that the subscriber at address IP so and so is currently watching the PBS channel, since 18.5 minutes now. By extension, assuming that there are in average, 1.2, let's say, viewers per tv/box, one can extract superb statistical and demographical data... Am I wrong ? (Maybe it's not feasible yet, I don't really know, but I assume it is).
Does anyone have a source with more relevant information about this product?
One would have to assume it's similar to this story from early last year. I'm surprised it's not listed as a "Related Story" in the summary.
In other words I could rig it to report realistic demographics and raise my demographic score on shows I like to watch?
This is very creepy. I wonder if you could use something like Project Natal to do it as well. We've gotta be a bit wary about internet-hooked up cameras in our homes.
The EULA.explicitly grants permission to use the output of the "sensor" for third party partners such as reality TV and amateur porn.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
I heard about this years ago!
Not only that but they were playing with microphones and I was told many boxes already have mics built into them and are out there today listening to who knows what!
I also heard that they were trying to figure out how to make it usable because full video was too much to deal with-- the camera and box most likely get a full video signal and process it down into something simple and from there a simple stat to upload to the company. IR-like support wouldn't be difficult to do by removing the IR filter on the lens of the CCD and just picking up a little IR from the cam (no IR LEDs required or special CCD.)
What sorts of things can the system do? well... if they didn't have the ideas at the time I talked with him... he may have given them my ideas. Such as-- detecting the TEMP of people in the room; could be used for marketing data once some stats can be found on body temp. (obviously you could do useless stuff like men getting turned on by something on PPV.) You could detect kids and censor stuff. Loud sounds in the room could wake up the box when its "off." Tech support could use it with the box instead of a phone. Firmware updates could allow for expression detection or estimates on where the viewer is looking at the screen (well these are beyond the current hardware most likely... although you only need to pre-process to compress data down and then the uploaded data can be further processed by a server.) IT staff could spy on people for fun. Marketing could spy on people for marketing purposes (this call may be recorded for training purposes...) On-Demand advertising; especially useful if you can guess WHO in the house is watching-- when somebody walks away you could trigger stuff to get them back.. Detect CRIMES... Photograph everybody watching channel X at a point in the show. Attach the viewing habits ALREADY NOT private to individuals, making that data far more useful (not sure they want to admit to anybody that stuff...)
Now for the truely odd ideas-- try to mess with the signal based on a feedback loop from observing the viewer. change frame rate timings slightly, audio slightly (both easily possible on current hardware; well, observing the viewer being is difficult part.) could insert subliminal messages (well, thats illegal in the usa; although there are legal techniques still possible...) Its known that 24fps and 30fps actually subconsciously impact the viewer differently...
that time I canceled my WoW account. Then I got back on. What outside world?
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
What if you have a heater in the room?
Or you could sign up for a Neilson box yourself...
You just put a candle in front of the damn receiver box and be done with it.
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
It's "funny" that people can have different opinions? I find your ignorance of Neilsen scoring pretty amusing, but that's probably special interest humor.
What's funnier is that if I get one of these, while you huddle under your tin foil hat, I'll get to control what you get to see. How do you like them apples?
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
... and lose your signal. Moreover, I might sue you for breaking your EULA.
You watch. I get to watch... you. Puts a new twist on adult PPV
Still, people will no doubt line up for this "service". I'm... confused.
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
1. I just copied what he wrote. I think they're a US thing, I haven't heard of them here.
2. Surely these would just replace the Neilen boxes, making the whole point redundant.
How will the sensor be able to distinguish between young people and little people?
Please, people, think of the midgets!
Always going forward, 'cause we can't find reverse.
"You are not allowed to watch this event because The Eye is blocked. Please remove the block first."
(After all we already have software which refuses to run if certain programs are installed)
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
L. Ron Hubbard's team would like to have a word with you. Just don't ask them about their Base-11 math.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_Earth_(novel)
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
That great new SF show that just rocked your socks off? If you're not in a Neilsen household, then they don't even know that you watched it, and buying the DVD box set 2 years later won't save it. The fat welfare whore next door with the Neilson box and the seven kids who watch re-runs of America's Fattiest Fatty 24/7? They're the people driving the content provision.
It does not work like that. Audience measurement panels (what Neilson runs in the US) are balanced. That means they select a set of demographic factors that describe the population (age, sex, social-class being only three of them), and try to recruit a panel of households that cover those demographics in the about the same proportions as the full population. Next, they apply a weighting step; rather than computing the ratings by simply multiplying by the ratio of population to panelists, they include a weight for each household (ideally, close to 1.0), which reflects how close the panel is to an ideally balanced panel. So, if many more geeks were panelists, all that would happen is that the weight of each geek panelist would be reduced.
Ne mæg werig mod wyrde wiðstondan, ne se hreo hyge helpe gefremman.
...together with electronics developers, have built a system to make his job of watching you... well, do what you do when you are alone and randy... much less difficult! Way to go Ceiling Cat!
Thanks to the RIAA/MPAA and their ilk, I now find myself listening to a lot more, much higher quality music than I used to. That's happened thanks to a bit of research, indy artists and the Interweb. Recently I've found much higher quality and much more informative news content on the 'tubes than has ever been doled out by the likes of Fox, CNN or MSNBC. My TV gets used mostly for DVDs and a handful of shows these days. Shit like this is just going to drive me to once again find alternatives elsewhere, which so far have proven to be less expensive, higher quality and so forth. You want to see who's sitting on my couch so you can charge extra/arrange your marketing spam, whatever? Go fuck yourself. There is NO good argument for why I should allow that level of invasiveness into my home by a bunch of gredy slimebags. Yet another collection of overlords who think they control everything and can therefore dictate unreasonable terms. To the sheeple perhaps. GoodLuckWithThat. Not to me or mine. Go get stuffed. P.S.: Thanks for all the fish.
And now for another edition of the latest reality show craze: "Watching People Watching TV!" Today's randomly chosen family are the Orwells from Wisconsin. Let's watch as they tune in to America's Funniest Home Videos! There they are sitting on their sofa. Mrs. Orwell is knitting a scarf while Mr. Orwell... Oooh, looks like Mr. Orwell is picking his nose! Riveting television, folks. Simply riveting. That's why we're the #1 rated reality show of people watching TV in our timeslot!
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
This technology is the 1984 Orwellian concept of the Telescreen. I'm sadly dismayed and stunned no one has so far mentioned it on this page?! ... How long before they will be able to use this kind of technology to see who is and isn't watching Party Political Broadcasts (and other political programs including anti-government documentaries) to workout who is and isn't against them?
(By the way, web based TV could in theory be used for this now. After all, knowledge is power and the Internet is a vast source of knowledge so its no wonder people who seek political power would very likely be thinking along these lines to monitor and profile what people do. Political power is the power to influence and control people so they will use whatever technology they can to increase their power).
There are 10 kinds of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.
Unfortunately, this sort of thing - "Proles! Welcome Big Brother into your home! Allow our cameras/microphones/tracking devices into your lives! We will give you shiny things!" - is becoming ever more common.
Where I am (Central KS) the radio stations are running an ad, trying to drum up "volunteers" to for "an exciting study of a potential new way to fund the highway system". Guess what: they want people to voluntarily submit to putting a GPS logger on their car, to track where they drive, for the purpose of "usage-based taxation". The very idea of which "makes me ill and angry" to quote The Outer Limits! But the idea that people, rather than rising up with metaphorical pitchforks and torches, are VOLUNTEERING to have this ... Folks, we are on the downhill slide - get used to it.
Or rather, DON'T get used to it! Fight it at every step!
www.eFax.com are spammers
In Soviet Russia TV watches you.
Did the poster actually think this is a good thing, or are they just ignorant of what this portends?
There are so many problems with this.... 1. 10 people watching a moving = COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT 2. Someone is always monitoring your activities?!?!?! 3. Someone is always monitoring your activities?!?!?! 4. Someone is always monitoring your activities?!?!?! 5. Really? Seriously? Giving up your free rights to be observed so your programming is more towards your liking? 6. Someone is always monitoring your activities?!?!?! 7. Comcast and others already overcharge, hold their customer's hostage, charge for the month when the month isn't even over, cut off service for no reason whatsoever, limit your data usage or attempt to charge additional for "unlimited plans," treat their customers poorly, limit bandwidth, etc. Do we really want them knowing what we are doing all of the time? 8. Someone is always monitoring your activities?!?!?! Cable is the worst industry there is. I worked for the best of them at one point, and they sucked. Cable and cell phone companies take complete advantage of their customers, with little to no protection from government agencies because of the "non-essential" nature of their business. Electric, water, gas...regulated. In this day and age, internet and cell service is quickly becoming an "essential" service, and these companies should start to be regulated like electric, water and gas companies. The government is 5 years behind in tech advancement. It's about time someone reigns in these abusers of the "free" market.
get with the program people
we are losing control of are selfs and are country
its so sad people are stupid you know what will happen is that half of the masses will have no clue
and it will just happen
the other bunch will just not care and they will go along with it
look at that chick from what was it espn that got taped
what if you walk around your house naked
also dont think that for even one minute that the NSA CIA FBI DHS
or any other 3 or more letter uber gov sector will be be dieing to get that sorta stuff in to your house
dont think that for one minute they wont try to get even more smarter
look hey let put a mic in there too and call it voice command when it really just listen and snooping on every thing that you say
point in case this us just a bad idea
if these cable companys want to really provide a service why dont they do what they use to do in the 80 provide tv service
now adays all that you get is ads more ads
and them fuckers tryting to think of more ways to show you more ads
show one should start a new cable company accross the usa and shit if you gotta pay then it should be all comical free
rant rant im done
enjoy your privacy well you can
Would the device be smart enough to determine if there were really two "watching" tv, or think it is just one with two backs?
Haven't you ever heard of "With great power comes great responsibility", it's true, we are still not *that* bad but we are the ones with the technology to really bring 1984 here, and we are already overexposed, if the government got too corrupt overnight we would have no recourse.
Alternatively, you could say that it is precisely our western obsession with freedom and privacy what makes our live much better than other countries.
In any case nothing good comes out of silently taking shit, your post is moot.
But... the future refused to change.
As soon as they start to determine if you are a child or an adult they can lock out certain channels from the children watching alone. Then your friend the little person get's locked out from watching Debbie Does Dallas. Good work.
"So, your family watches presidential addresses but never watches FOX News. What are you, socialists?"
The fat welfare whore next door with the Neilson box and the seven kids who watch re-runs of America's Fattiest Fatty 24/7? They're the people driving the content provision.
And prejudiced, shit-eating sons of bitches like you are the people driving bigotry in America.
Fuck you in the heart, you cock-gobbling, syphilitic scab on the dickhead of humanity.