Slashdot Mirror
New Keyboard Accessory Shocks Users When They Try To Go On Facebook
cartechboy writes "Two Ph.D. students from MIT have created a keyboard accessory, the Pavlov Poke, that shocks you every time you go onto Facebook. The project comes as a result of the students finding the waste over 50 hours a week combined on the social network (instead of working on their dissertations) So the pair created an Arduino-based keyboard hand-rest that shocks computer users who spend too much time checking the social network. The hack is 'intended to generate discussion' — not actually turn into a business." Inventor Robert Morris describes it as "something of a joke," but I'm sure there's a market out there.
The real market is for sado-masochists that are addicted to farmville (or is that redundant). If you just want to stop wasting your life, give up or moderate your FB (and slashdot) usage.
And I need a second one for my sister!
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
the rivalry continues! so harvard, how do you respond?!
Seriously, I only see this sort of thing being useful for a) folks who want to discipline themselves or b) sadistic overlords who think users need to not just be blocked, but punished for succumbing to their weaknesses.
In short, the target market is your average Megachurch.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
WE ARE NOT AMUSED!
I'll just ignore the fact that everyone has smartphones and tablets, which all have FB on them, shall I?
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Thank Heavens this is for Facebook. I'd hate to see the burn marks on my hands from my Slashdot habit.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
This could be extended to sites like Slashdot. And be used as a sort of aversion therapy for people who read posts by timo....[Ouch!]
Have gnu, will travel.
Last I heard Facebook was only open to Harvard students.
...penis stuck to electrocuting device.
Silence is a state of mime.
...EVER!
I realised I was wasting far too much time on Facebook a couple of years ago, along with other forums, and found it hard not to browse there - often, I found that I was just typing the URL without thinking about it, and loading the site without giving it any thought. A friend recommended BlockSite to me, and, whilst I felt a bit stupid at needing this crutch, I took it, and managed to get things back under control.
Just add in the URLs of the site in question, and it blocks access to the pages (and elements at those URLs from loading as part of other pages). Editing a hosts file is probably just as suitable, but this worked for me...
It shocks me whenever I waste time on Slashdaaarrrrgh
Tumbler, twitter, slashdot, reddit, 4chan, etc.
Facebook is only one.
Let them fail in school. If they can't control their addictions to Facebook, what kind of focus will they have once they hit the job market. Like a friend of mine said the other day: "Darwinism is dead". If they are too dumb to realize what they are doing, let them fail. Self elimination.
I wonder how good it is at improving spelling, grammar and sentence construction? I'd be willing try it out for a laugh.
Of course the real money is always in sleaze so I can see women buying this keyboard to keep their husbands, and sons, off porn.
When they graduate they might have learned enough to use the hosts file instead.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
EVEN BETTER, it can submit a task to Amazon's Mechanical Turk to have random people call you up on the phone and chastise you!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I've used this before, and it's been pretty helpful: http://selfcontrolapp.com/
It blocks off certain sites for a specified limit of time, and there's no way around it other than to wait for the timer to finish. Free, and much less painful.
Why can't this type of technology be adapted in to a car's steering wheel? After all, falling asleep while driving is still a problem.
Agrisea Tsunami - Epyc Servers... https://agrisea.net/products
What about my updates to the Facebook Electroshock S&M site?
The students discovered an unintended side effect of the keyboard, manifesting as a significant increase in the volume of emails from their thesis advisors asking them why they haven't made any progress on their dissertation. So they set out to create a modified version of their keyboard that shocks thesis advisors who spend too much time emailing their Ph.D. students.
A while back I realized that the most social sites are actually Pavlovian driven drool buckets where you get a "treat" for every like, or comment or whatever.. so this little device is somewhat like putting a humidifier and a dehumidifier in the same room and letting them fight it out..
Socializing via Facebook is probably a lot faster and more efficient than socializing in the numerous ways that past graduate students used. So I'm not sure that this actually achieves what aims to achieve.
Just not go on facebook? It seems like there is an entire generation which has developed the inability to focus an anything for more than.... Oh look! shiny...
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
is BLOCK the url. How hard is that?
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Take that, Yale!
I seem to recall a (probably unethical by today's standards) animal psychiatric study where they subjected animals to mild electric shocks to try to discourage them from forming particular familial bonds, and discovered that not only were the shocks ineffective at discouraging those bonds, but they actually *enhanced* the bond so that it became abnormally stronger than was typical.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
I'd say they should make one for Slashdot....
And just like the other Robert Morris' great joke, you just know that everyone will get it, have a good laugh, and then carry on with their lives.
50 hours combined! So If I understand this correctly, between the two, they each spend about 25 hours on facebook per week. This would average out to just over 3.5 hours per day. Now I use facebook, sparingly, but I usually spend no more than 15-20 minutes when I check it. and that is about 4 or 5 times per week.
That's the exact thought I had while reading GP.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
What's missing is remote control of the timing and strength of the shocks, and access to the computer's camera to see the user's faces.
Then, any sadistic netadmin can reproduce the Milgram Experiment for amusement and profit (forget about the danger... think of the fun) .
Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
Also, you obviously need an Arduino to control a relay from a computer. A more direct connection just wouldn't be hipstery enough.
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
What next? "New Keyboard Accessory Shocks Users When They Try To Go On Pornhub" ?
So two PhD students, realizing they're wasting their time on Facebook, decide to fix their problem by... wasting their time inventing a gizmo to keep them from wasting their time on facebook.
As a fellow PhD student, seems legit!
Hopefully they consulted the handy infographic "Is It Worth the Time?" by Randall Munroe before undertaking the project: http://xkcd.com/1205/
Send it to all NSA operatives; will give them an electric shock when they look at someone's Internet data for whom they do not have a relevant court order.
thats just shocking
Needs to be across the chest. Use plenty of conductive goo.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Should come standard with every computer.
With a slight modification: Shock people every time they try to type up a spam (or marketing) e-mail message
and
Shock people every time they are about to forward a chain letter or post something stupid on a mailing list or online forum
Seeing as 78% of FB users are mobile ( http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/13/facebook-mobile-user-count/ ), this seems to have a limited market.
In fact, many people (myself included) would be "forced" to use FB mobile, since it is blocked by the corporate firewall.
Maybe someone could write an Android version, which activates the phone's buzzer until the browser is closed.
The Google Plus one just makes you feel lonely. So... very... lonely...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Great keyboard
Like!
Said nobody ever.
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
We need to talk about your flair.
It gripped her hand gently. 'Regret is for humans,' it said.