Barbie Gets a Brain

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Posted by timothy on Sunday September 20, 2015 @03:35AM from the ken-his-usual-lunkish-self dept.

minstrelmike writes: Mattel is coming out with a Talking Barbie designed by a huge team and pre-scripted with thousands of responses controlled by an AI, with designs to be your best friend. The design team remembers the "Math is hard" debacle of the 1990s and if a girl asks if she's pretty, Barbie will respond, "Yes. And you're smart, too." If she asks if Barbie believes in God, she says a person's beliefs are personal. And suggests talking to grownups about some problems. The linked New York Times' article ("Barbie Wants to Get to Know Your Child") even discusses trying to avoid edited vids on YouTube by scripting out words such as "cockroach."

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Where did they get it? by jfdavis668 · 2015-09-20 03:38 · Score: 5, Funny

From Abby Normal?
1. Re:Where did they get it? by LifesABeach · 2015-09-20 03:56 · Score: 1
  
  But does, "undress me everywhere," still apply? Apologies to Aqua.
2. Re:Where did they get it? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:37 · Score: 0
  
  "Don't ask me, I'm just a girl."
3. Re:Where did they get it? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:55 · Score: 1
  
  Now lets forget our troubles with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream!
4. Re:Where did they get it? by davester666 · 2015-09-20 07:22 · Score: 1
  
  How long before someone gets her to say “Math class is tough!” Or has Mattel explicitly hardcoded her to not ever saw that?
  
  --
  Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
5. Re:Where did they get it? by arglebargle_xiv · 2015-09-20 16:31 · Score: 1
  
  Forget about math nonsense, what about getting her to say "yes, they're plastic, but they're still pretty spectacular" or "oh Ken, you're so big, if only I was anatomically correct".
6. Re:Where did they get it? by gzuckier · 2015-09-21 12:19 · Score: 1
  
  "One of the Planned Parenthood videos shows "a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says, 'We have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.' " — Carly Fiorina
  
  --
  Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
Unfortunately by koan · 2015-09-20 03:41 · Score: 5, Insightful

Humans still don't have a brain, who would give this to their child?

Each time, whatever someone said to Barbie would be recorded and transmitted via Wi-Fi to the computer servers of ToyTalk. Speech-recognition software would then convert the audio signal into a text file, which would be analyzed. The correct response would be chosen from thousands of lines scripted by ToyTalk and Mattel writers and pushed to Hello Barbie for playback

your childâ(TM)s voice sample and the start of a new "user profile" for a corporation.

--
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
1. Re:Unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 03:54 · Score: 0
  
  Sounds like Barbie's brain will be sitting in a jar at ToyTalk. Traumatize kids: "No, Barbie can't talk to you right now, the internet connection to her brain is down."
2. Re:Unfortunately by rwa2 · 2015-09-20 04:16 · Score: 1
  
  Well, what would be an improvement upon this? It's probably still better than talking to the kids' parents.
  Maybe if instead of an AI, it went to a mechanical turk made of actual unemployed teacher/prostitutes, like the ractives in Diamond Age. Sounds like we need to hack that server.
  Or better yet, maybe it goes to a cabbage patch doll that the parents have, and an AI just mediates and filters the parent-child conversation so they don't say anything stupid to each other.
3. Re:Unfortunately by Calydor · 2015-09-20 04:48 · Score: 1
  
  How is that any different from the problems with Siri and X-Box One amongst others, constantly listening for and parsing everything that is said in the vicinity of, in this case, your child's toys?
  
  --
  -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
4. Re:Unfortunately by TWX · 2015-09-20 04:56 · Score: 1
  
  How about putting the speech processing and response circuit right into the toy, so it works locally irrespective of the Internet?
  
  The first time I used speech recognition was on a Macintosh LC, a 68020 machine at 16MHz with 4MB RAM. I also used it on a 486DX. There's no excuse to offload speech recognition over the Internet when the device that is doing the initial listening doesn't use the Internet for anything.
  
  I'm not exactly a fan of it being used this way for smartphones either, but at least there's usually an intent to use the input for Internet-connected purposes in that particular case.
  
  --
  Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
5. Re: Unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:09 · Score: 0
  
  You have 1 inch by 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch to fit it in the chest cavity. Show me the voice recognition and DSP hardware that can fit in that volume.
  Seriously people, think about what you are saying before you type. It's like you barely understand that technology is not magic.
6. Re: Unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:29 · Score: 0
  
  Well as they say, any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
7. Re: Unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:41 · Score: 0
  
  Pretty much any SoC would. They have some that are as small as a dime.
8. Re:Unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:43 · Score: 0
  
  Who cares what Siri and Xbone do? We're talking about Barbie, stop trying to change the subject.
9. Re: Unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 06:55 · Score: 0
  
  You have 1 inch by 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch to fit it in the chest cavity. Show me the voice recognition and DSP hardware that can fit in that volume.
  Seriously people, think about what you are saying before you type. It's like you barely understand that technology is not magic.
  OP mentioned "68020 machine at 16MHz with 4MB RAM".
  You get similar performance from a 10 x 10 x 1mm chip today, with audio AD/DA built in.
  The reason to use a Wi-Fi based solution instead is because it is cheaper.
10. Re:Unfortunately by koan · 2015-09-20 07:24 · Score: 2
  
  It's different in that you're giving it to a small child.
  
  --
  "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
11. Re:Unfortunately by Calydor · 2015-09-20 07:34 · Score: 1
  
  So is it less or more creepy?
  
  --
  -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
12. Re: Unfortunately by drinkypoo · 2015-09-20 07:47 · Score: 1
  
  Even if you were right, and you aren't (that's not as little space as you think, by modern standards) the counterargument is that it could be a (bluetooth?) peripheral for your computer, and the software could run on your PC locally instead of on Mattel's rented cloud capacity, or whatever.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
13. Re: Unfortunately by bugs2squash · 2015-09-20 08:33 · Score: 1
  
  The reason it is wifi linked back to central servers is that when barbie inevitably says something so very stupid that it must never be uttered again all that has to change is the server. No recall, no downloaded updates...
  
  --
  Nullius in verba
14. Re: Unfortunately by jarfil · 2015-09-20 17:55 · Score: 1
  
  Open up your smartphone, locate the main SoC. There you go.
  Main problem would be the battery, not the processor/DSP/etc.
15. Re: Unfortunately by silentcoder · 2015-09-20 21:38 · Score: 1
  
  You're both right but the better answer would have been to make the software available so you run it on your home PC and barbie just needs local wifi access.
  
  --
  Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
16. Re:Unfortunately by Dog-Cow · 2015-09-21 00:03 · Score: 1
  
  Yes.
17. Re: Unfortunately by TWX · 2015-09-21 04:38 · Score: 1
  
  That's not a good solution at all. Kids often take their favorite toys with them wherever they go. Daycare, school, road trips, grandma's house, their friends' houses, out on the back lawn, etc. Requiring the toy to link to a home computer through the home WIFI is not the right solution.
  
  --
  Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
18. Re: Unfortunately by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-22 01:05 · Score: 0
  
  A couple of NiMH AAA batteries in the legs of the doll could easily power a modern SoC.
19. Re:Unfortunately by beastofburdon · 2015-09-22 03:22 · Score: 1
  
  There's a reason I do not have an Xbox One, Apple product, or Window's 10. The child's toy is even more fucked up though. They would be able to use the doll to promote their other toys directly to the child without the parents even knowing it, or manipulate the child to have a certain ideology if they wished. All they would have to do is program it to only do those things when an adult voice has not been heard for a certain period of time.
20. Re:Unfortunately by Calydor · 2015-09-22 03:42 · Score: 1
  
  I hadn't even considered that.
  Child: "I miss my best friend." (Best friend is away on vacation or something like that)
  Barbie: "I miss my friend, too." (I don't know much about Barbie, but surely she has some canonical friend-dolls?) "If you invite her over (buy her) she can be your friend, too!"
  That's gotta be marketing's wet dream.
  
  --
  -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
And make believe occurs when? by turning+in+circles · 2015-09-20 03:43 · Score: 5, Insightful

It saddens me. This takes away a child's ability to put words in Barbie's mouth. It also helps parents abdicate the responsibility of answering the child's questions themselves. Why should a child turn to talking Barbie? Because, like the ipad, it keeps the parent free to ignore parenting a little bit more. Inevitable, I guess, but sad.

--
Might as well face it I'm addicted to data.
1. Re:And make believe occurs when? by ShanghaiBill · 2015-09-20 04:22 · Score: 2
  
  Because, like the ipad, it keeps the parent free to ignore parenting a little bit more. Inevitable, I guess, but sad.
  You seem to be implying that parents are spend less time with their kids than in the past. There is plenty of evidence that you are wrong. Parents, and especially dads, spend more time than ever with their kids. Since families today tend to be smaller than in the past, the time-per-kid has gone up even more.
  iPads don't replace parents. They replace TVs. Since they are more interactive, that is likely a good thing.
2. Re: And make believe occurs when? by jarfil · 2015-09-20 04:32 · Score: 1
  
  Compared to TVs, which are a truly horrible thing, even a blank wall is a good thing.
3. Re:And make believe occurs when? by arth1 · 2015-09-20 05:02 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  This takes away a child's ability to put words in Barbie's mouth.
  The way that kids use their fantasy less and less worries me too. We're turning them into consumers from an early age, not creators. And they don't figure out things anymore, they look them up.
  They're trusting Friend Computer, and that worries me.
4. Re: And make believe occurs when? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:27 · Score: 0
  
  But can a blank wall explain why kids love the taste of cinnamon toast crunch?
5. Re:And make believe occurs when? by Ol+Olsoc · 2015-09-20 05:49 · Score: 1
  
  It saddens me. This takes away a child's ability to put words in Barbie's mouth. It also helps parents abdicate the responsibility of answering the child's questions themselves. Why should a child turn to talking Barbie? Because, like the ipad, it keeps the parent free to ignore parenting a little bit more. Inevitable, I guess, but sad.
  And there we have it. Parents were all attentive, and interacted with their children al the time - until the iPad was invented. Jesus on a jackrabbit, that's lame.
  
  --
  The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
6. Re:And make believe occurs when? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:53 · Score: 0
  
  Quantity of time is unimportant, quality of time is. The new generation of parents are irresponsible and entitled.
7. Re: And make believe occurs when? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 06:09 · Score: 0
  
  Only with the most clever and schizophrenia inducing marketing campaign this season. It is all that Teddy wants.
8. Re:And make believe occurs when? by ShanghaiBill · 2015-09-20 06:14 · Score: 1
  
  The new generation of parents are irresponsible and entitled.
  All the actual evidence is to the contrary. Parents are spending more time with their kids, and you provided no evidence that this time is "low quality", and there is no reason to believe it is.
9. Re:And make believe occurs when? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 06:30 · Score: 0
  
  That fact that more and more kids are fat, under educated and committing crimes speaks for itself.
10. Re:And make believe occurs when? by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · 2015-09-20 06:38 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, childhood obesity is starting to drop. Crime rates are still going down, as they have been since the late 90s.
  
  --
  Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
11. Re:And make believe occurs when? by Boronx · 2015-09-20 07:03 · Score: 1
  
  Your logic is infallible.
  
  --
  Play Command HQ online
12. Re:And make believe occurs when? by penguinoid · 2015-09-20 07:31 · Score: 1
  
  Before, a piece of wood could be a car, and airplane, or a boat, with whatever colors or other specifics the child wanted. This is much harder to do when you have a plastic toy that looks like an extremely specific object. I'm not sure how the old ways would interact with their friends having the new plastic toys. However every once in a while kids will remind you of such things when they ignore the shiny expensive thing you got them and play with the box instead.
  Then again, in the old days you couldn't get your kid robotic legos nor a 3D printer.
  
  --
  Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
13. Re:And make believe occurs when? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 08:10 · Score: 0
  
  Yes, it is.
14. Re:And make believe occurs when? by penguinoid · 2015-09-20 09:15 · Score: 1
  
  It saddens me. This takes away a child's ability to put words in Barbie's mouth.
  Not if she knows how to edit her router's hosts file!
  
  --
  Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
15. Re:And make believe occurs when? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 09:29 · Score: 0
  
  This takes away a child's ability to put words in Barbie's mouth
  I thought you meant this another way. Put a USB cord on the back of Barbie and have an Arduino inside. Release a "barbie speech synthesis" GUI for 5-12 year olds and let them go nuts.
16. Re:And make believe occurs when? by tomhath · 2015-09-20 10:52 · Score: 1
  
  GP's point that quality time is important is a good. The study you pointed to only shows in increase in hours of "Child Care", there's nothing to indicate that the parent was actually interacting with the child. Being in the house while the kid is plopped in front of the TV or a game console counts as child care.
17. Re:And make believe occurs when? by paiute · 2015-09-21 01:36 · Score: 1
  
  They're trusting Friend Computer, and that worries me.
  Before Friend Computer, they had to trust Friend Grownup With an Agenda, Prejudices, and an Incomplete Grasp of the Facts.
  
  --
  If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
18. Re:And make believe occurs when? by arth1 · 2015-09-21 01:54 · Score: 1
  
  Before Friend Computer, they had to trust Friend Grownup With an Agenda, Prejudices, and an Incomplete Grasp of the Facts.
  Only to a certain extent. They also experimented, made things up, and tested their own theories. They used their creativity and learned things that no-one thought of telling them.
  Listening to and trusting parents is a survival trait when young enough, but after a while it becomes counter-productive. Smart kids start question things and trying to find things out for themselves. As well they should. Passive kids accept it all, and become excellent at transforming oxygen to carbon dioxide.
19. Re:And make believe occurs when? by uninformedLuddite · 2015-09-21 12:21 · Score: 1
  
  You had to say that word didn't you. The dark one will be here soon.
  
  --
  The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
20. Re:And make believe occurs when? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-21 13:44 · Score: 0
  
  You had to say that word didn't you. The dark one will be here soon.
  I prefer to call him the Lord of Hosts.
Can't wait for the outrage by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 03:45 · Score: 0

I can't wait for the perpetually outraged to find something to get their panties in a twist over. They will find something to brew up a shitstorm. It's their job. You cannot win. This is going to be fun.
1. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by PPH · 2015-09-20 04:17 · Score: 0
  
  The rage is indeed simmering. Militant womens lib has come and gone. We've had Title 9 for decades. And there are still conservative groups that go into a rage about women going to college.
  I'm associated with a couple of scholarship funds for women. And one needs a thick skin to deal with all the shit the moral midgets fling my way.
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
2. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by mwvdlee · 2015-09-20 04:26 · Score: 1
  
  Well, for one, it discriminates against dumb girls, implying to them they're ugly too, by means of sarcastic replies on their lack of intelligence.
  
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  Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
3. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by phantomfive · 2015-09-20 04:29 · Score: 1
  
  The feminist complaint isn't that Barbie says the wrong things.......it's that Barbie exists at all. It's stuff like this.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
4. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 04:32 · Score: 1
  
  Considering a higher percentage of women go to college then men, I think you are outdated. A dinosaur. Why do scholarship funds for women still exist? It is sexist and unnecessary.
5. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by Moridineas · 2015-09-20 04:33 · Score: 1
  
  And there are still conservative groups that go into a rage about women going to college.
  Citation needed?
6. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by alvinrod · 2015-09-20 04:50 · Score: 1
  
  Here's one such example.
  
  There's probably some religious whack-job group in the U.S. that's similar, but I don't think they have much more of an effect than writing angry letters and indoctrinating their own children.
7. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by PopeRatzo · 2015-09-20 04:55 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  Citation needed?
  Yes sir.
  http://jezebel.com/creepy-cath...
  http://www.fixthefamily.com/bl...
  http://www.timesofisrael.com/s...
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
8. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by Ol+Olsoc · 2015-09-20 05:52 · Score: 2
  
  The rage is indeed simmering. Militant womens lib has come and gone. We've had Title 9 for decades. And there are still conservative groups that go into a rage about women going to college.
  I'm associated with a couple of scholarship funds for women. And one needs a thick skin to deal with all the shit the moral midgets fling my way.
  Have you considered hiring Chanty Binx? She'll straighten those neanderthals out.
  
  --
  The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
9. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:57 · Score: 0
  
  There's probably some religious whack-job group in the U.S. that's similar
  ie. Mormons and the Amish.
10. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by Ol+Olsoc · 2015-09-20 05:58 · Score: 1
  
  Citation needed?
  Yes sir.
  Holy crap. Note the common thread - The Abrahmic desert god cult is indeed a cancer upon the human spirit and mind.
  I also have an old bible beater book called "Genesis and Evolution" where all education is considered at best, very dangerous.
  
  --
  The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
11. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by Ol+Olsoc · 2015-09-20 06:06 · Score: 2
  
  The feminist complaint isn't that Barbie says the wrong things.......it's that Barbie exists at all.
  One of the oddest, most counterproductive situations in the world, is that some women are jealous of a little plastic doll.
  Which of course leds to this:
  http://www.memecenter.com/fun/...
  Seriously, if Barbie destroys young women's self esteem, I guess that playing with Cabbage Patch dolls makes for incredibly self confident women who have the most positive self image in the world.
  Cuz dem liddle Cabbage Patch fukas iz sure be Fugly. No if you are jealous of Barbie, you have a problem that goes way deep, and that little doll didn't cause it.
  Ya got 99 problems, and Barbie ain't one of 'em.
  
  --
  The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
12. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by PPH · 2015-09-20 07:39 · Score: 0
  
  Considering a higher percentage of women go to college then men,
  So they need more financial support.
  Women tend to be a better investment, educationally speaking. It's just not worth financing a 6 year bachelor's degree if the major is in frat party.
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
13. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by drinkypoo · 2015-09-20 07:49 · Score: 1
  
  I also have an old bible beater book called "Genesis and Evolution" where all education is considered at best, very dangerous.
  They're right. Education is very dangerous to brainwashing, and thus to a church.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
14. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by serviscope_minor · 2015-09-20 08:14 · Score: 1
  
  I'd like to add some things to the table:
  Average woman skin composition: collagen, microfibrills, elastin, actin, water, and other stuff
  Barbie: 99.54% Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
  Conclusion: No, Barbie is not a real reflection of human females.
  And don't get me started on the middle. They're not stuffed with meat[*], they're hollow!
  [*] I have an idea for a new product. I wonder if I can license the IP.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
15. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 08:20 · Score: 1
  
  Speak from someone who currently has about 1/8 of their department out on pregnancy, you can't be serious.
  Figure half of them won't be returning to the workforce soon, if at all, if they can get their life partners to support them.
  That type of attrition rate is just a complete waste of resources.
16. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 09:28 · Score: 0
  
  Because He-Man dolls and male superheroes have such realistic proportions?
  This strikes me as yet another example of an issue in which men suffer more than women, but the press decries the suffering only of women anyway.
17. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 12:21 · Score: 1
  
  Actually... https://www.lds.org/ensign/1975/03/insights/women-and-education?lang=eng
  I could find you others and some more recent ones, but meh. You may disagree with the emphasis on motherhood but the reality is the Mormon church values education pretty highly, for both genders.
18. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 20:21 · Score: 0
  
  jezebel is not a citable source anymore than the KKK is.
19. Re: Can't wait for the outrage by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-21 00:09 · Score: 0
  
  Now this is the very definition of sexism...
20. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-21 04:58 · Score: 0
  
  Men don't suffer more from this issue, because they aren't so fixated on their appearance that they become jealous of a plastic doll. People who have a problem with Barbie because she is unrealistically pretty, are out of their damn mind.
21. Re:Can't wait for the outrage by david_thornley · 2015-09-21 09:18 · Score: 1
  
  The common thread here seems to be that they're nuts. There are nutjobs in all religions. Since we tend to be mostly exposed to Christians and Muslims and Jews, most of the religious nutjobs we see around here are going to be in those religions.
  
  --
  "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Goals by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 03:48 · Score: 0

The next Barbie book will be about a Barbie, the English/CS double-major that wants to write lines for a creepy data mining doll based on her own appearance.
She'll take what she makes on the doll, start a tech company with her own competing doll, outsource all the jobs, and run for the Presidency.
1. Re:Goals by PPH · 2015-09-20 04:12 · Score: 1
  
  Carly, plz go.
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
2. Re:Goals by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:44 · Score: 0
  
  Don't dis Barbie. She works at McDonalds and can still afford a brand-new pink Corvette!
"a person's beliefs are personal." by Nutria · 2015-09-20 03:48 · Score: 1

Sylogism, much?
(And you wonder why the US is in an idiocracy death spiral?)

--
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
1. Re: "a person's beliefs are personal." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 03:51 · Score: 0
  
  Tautology
2. Re:"a person's beliefs are personal." by CRCulver · 2015-09-20 03:55 · Score: 1
  
  No, not a syllogism, and if you know a term of logic like that, then you should probably also already be aware that argument from etymology is a fallacy. While the word "personal" is historically derived from the word "person", it has developed a new set of connotations, such as "something to be kept to oneself or disclosed only to confidants".
3. Re: "a person's beliefs are personal." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 03:57 · Score: 0
  
  Don't take it personally.
4. Re:"a person's beliefs are personal." by PPH · 2015-09-20 04:03 · Score: 1
  
  "something to be kept to oneself or disclosed only to confidants".
  This.
  And that's why Barbie is suddenly smarter than a good portion of the American public.
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
5. Re: "a person's beliefs are personal." by Nutria · 2015-09-20 04:08 · Score: 2
  
  Never comment in /. before drinking coffee.
  
  --
  "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
6. Re:"a person's beliefs are personal." by mwvdlee · 2015-09-20 04:27 · Score: 1
  
  I hardly think believes based on thousands year old books are "personal".
  
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  Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
7. Re: "a person's beliefs are personal." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 04:37 · Score: 0
  
  Personally, I don't.
8. Re:"a person's beliefs are personal." by TheRealHocusLocus · 2015-09-20 06:30 · Score: 1
  
  sez nutria!!!
  Sylogism, much?
  (And you wonder why the US is in an idiocracy death spiral?)
  Toinks koindly for silly jism and pretty spiral I see is nutria here! been
  looking so long on Slashdot for help with nutria recipe for feed peckish family
  starts some years plus ago when found 404's on net only.
  See here just look for nutria recipe Slashdot talk 404 hteml not nutria!!!!
  then happy user say nutria bounty is like xristmas in may!
  then i find internet wonderful nutria recipe goldmine site!!!
  so happy now i find nutria!! is life complete!!
  is nutria on net or nutria eater like me ?
  sorry if is nutria promise i not eat
  barbie get new brain is good! we all need new shiny brain
  is improve warp and woof of human existenz.
  
  --
  <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
9. Re:"a person's beliefs are personal." by narcc · 2015-09-20 06:36 · Score: 1
  
  That's foolish. Not all, or even a majority of, religious beliefs based on sacred texts. Of those that are, there is rarely broad agreement. Further still, individuals vary rarely understand the tenets of their own professes faith. Very often, they fold other beliefs, from cultural sources or their own misunderstandings, in to their understanding of their faith.
  Rather than uniform agreement, as you imply, it would be astonishing to find two individuals who held identical religious beliefs. How, then, can those be anything but personal?
  Alternately, how would you suggest Barbie respond to the religious inquiries of a 6-year-old? Would that cause more or less conflict than the current reply?
  
  --
  Required reading for internet skeptics
10. Re:"a person's beliefs are personal." by CRCulver · 2015-09-20 06:37 · Score: 1
  
  You know, even if you oppose religion (or, conversely, atheism), considering it appropriate that people hide their particular beliefs when they are expressly asked about them seems to me a denial of the entire Western tradition. You cannot use the Socratic method to encourage critical thinking if you cannot draw out people's suppositions and then reveal weaknesses in them.
11. Re:"a person's beliefs are personal." by PPH · 2015-09-20 07:52 · Score: 1
  
  expressly asked about them
  It depends on the agenda. If I'm applying for a job or competing for a contract, my personal beliefs are not an issue. And I don't have time to argue with people who think that their Holy Book is some sort of tautology.
  
  Western tradition
  Has changed a lot since the Inquisition. But it still has quite a ways to go. Let's start a new tradition.
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
12. Re: "a person's beliefs are personal." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 08:30 · Score: 0
  
  Oh BOO HOO!
13. Re:"a person's beliefs are personal." by david_thornley · 2015-09-21 09:21 · Score: 1
  
  Unfortunately, putting AI into a Barbie doll so little girls can go all Socratic on her ass is not currently practical. Barbie apparently considers her religious beliefs personal. So do I.
  
  --
  "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Get 'em young by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 03:49 · Score: 0

Has Mattel received an offer from Facebook yet?
FINALLY! by Slugster · 2015-09-20 03:49 · Score: 1

Now I can get more brain chips for all these Cherry 2000 robots I have lying around.
And I was like, OMG by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 03:53 · Score: 0

Get OUT of here!
"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Nutria · 2015-09-20 03:53 · Score: 4, Interesting

What if the girl is actually stupid? (Not that the concept that most girls are average or below average is even thinkable is 2015...)

--
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
1. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by SirSlud · 2015-09-20 04:12 · Score: 1
  
  Take that, little girls! Nutria thinks most girls are average or below average of something-or-other!
  
  --
  "Old man yells at systemd"
2. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 04:14 · Score: 0
  
  "You're a dumb, ugly whore" - Bitch Barbie
3. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by guises · 2015-09-20 04:16 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  What if she also isn't pretty? Then Barbie has lied to her twice. Clearly Barbie's answer to any question should be: "I am an inanimate doll and can only repeat an assortment of facts selected from the 2011 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (TM). Would you like to know when horses were first domesticated? Yes / No?"
  
  "Research suggests that domestication took place by approximately 6,000 years ago. In prehistoric times the wild horse was probably first hunted for food."
4. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Nutria · 2015-09-20 04:20 · Score: 1
  
  "In prehistoric times the wild horse was probably first hunted for food."
  I'm sure that Little Suzy would *love* to hear that...
  
  --
  "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
5. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2015-09-20 04:31 · Score: 1
  
  Obviously, the overriding concern here is Mattel's desire to inaugurate an exciting new 'feature' without stirring up any bad PR, justified or otherwise. Focus-grouped banality and the occasional tactful evasion are to be expected.
  
  More generally, my impression is that people are working on the strategy dictated by the fact that "you can't fix stupid; but you can discourage smart". Outside of some truly exceptional talents who are effectively impossible to discourage, you have a lot of competent-to-genuinely-talented people whose achievements will require sustained effort and application, which they are only likely to put in(especially if some other path of lesser resistance is available) under the belief that they can, in fact, do it.
  
  Discouraging such people means wasting a lot of capability. Encouraging people who really aren't up to it, by contrast, may lead to some disappointment in weeder classes; but isn't particularly harmful unless they make it into management.
  
  You would find me notably unsympathetic to the assorted nonsense about every person being a unique special flower; and nobody being dumb, just 'differently able'; but it is good if we can encourage people to fail at the actual limits of their ability, and avoid having them stagnate below those limits. If the price of that is feeding a few platitudes to people who will learn that we didn't really mean them, so it goes.
6. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 04:33 · Score: 0
  
  whoosh...
7. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 04:35 · Score: 0
  
  Quick! Report him to the cyber police!
8. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by WalksOnDirt · 2015-09-20 04:39 · Score: 0
  
  What if the girl is actually stupid?
  Then she'd be a boy! :-)
  
  --
  a,e,i,o,u and sometimes w and y (at be if of up cwm by)
9. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Nutria · 2015-09-20 04:43 · Score: 1
  
  Or... it's just more delusional feeding of self-esteem (thereby increasing the amount of people who suffer the Dunning-Kruger effect), which has a documented serious downside to society.
  Platitudes like "work hard and be all you can be" have the benefit of actually being true.
  
  --
  "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
10. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by fche · 2015-09-20 04:46 · Score: 1
  
  "most [...] are average or below average"
  Assuming a normal distribution, that is entirely correct. There are more (average or below-average) than (above-average).
11. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by CanadianMacFan · 2015-09-20 04:58 · Score: 1
  
  Then she's probably going to believe the doll.
12. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by peragrin · 2015-09-20 04:59 · Score: 1
  
  I forgot who but my favorite quote
  Whenever you are amazed by the stupidity of man just remember the average person is barely above being an idiot and half the population is below that level.
  
  --
  i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
13. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by willworkforbeer · 2015-09-20 05:00 · Score: 1
  
  First words: "OMG, math is really hard.... but objectification of women is like so easy!"
  
  --
  Pretending this is my office full of bitter coworkers..
14. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:07 · Score: 1
  
  Ah, but objectifying a girl for her brains is somehow different than objectifying her for her beauty, nevermind the double-think of criticizing Barbie for her unrealistic proportions while wanting her to espouse feminist rhetoric- give it another 100 years and we'll have dumb-shaming as a counterpart to fat-shaming, and some divorced from reality definition of intelligence to go along with it. I mean intelligence is just a social construct like beauty anyways, but regardless girls need to be cheerleaded into believing that the are both, while criticizing manifestations of either in popular culture as oppressive standards.
  As it is, we have a meme of women being incredible communicators and readers of social context, yet unable to extend that to the other half of the human race.
  Just wait until the talking Ken comes out (unless heterosexuality is deemed an oppressive standard, 'cause Barbie don't need no man).
15. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by drinkypoo · 2015-09-20 05:14 · Score: 1
  
  Platitudes like "work hard and be all you can be" have the benefit of actually being true.
  Nonsense. Your social status is far more relevant to whether you can be all you can be than whether you try hard, since for most people, no amount of trying will permit them to realize their full potential. Of course, most people with the opportunity to do so will never bother trying... hooray, capitalism!
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
16. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Nutria · 2015-09-20 05:23 · Score: 1
  
  since for most people, no amount of trying will permit them to realize their full potential.
  That's irrational, since Average Jane's full potential is her full potential, which is a lot less than Marie Curie's full potential.
  IOW, "be all you can be" != "be all Marie Curie can be".
  
  --
  "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
17. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:39 · Score: 0
  
  You made my day brighter. That is what I came here for. Use irrefutable logic to make fun of people. There is indeed no other pleasure in the world like this.
  What I like the most here is that one can see the poster saying this about girls look like an ass and/or all the nazifems that went outraged about it look silly as fuck too. Win/Win!
18. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by laurencetux · 2015-09-20 05:54 · Score: 1
  
  and besides why are they comparing Barbie to an AVERAGE female??
  has anybody run the numbers for Barbie V Model/Showgirl/Companion ?
  or better yet get a line of more realistic dolls into ToysRUS??
  hey for a real challenge make a doll and include a set of hacking/computer repair tools on a microSD card as one of the accessories.
19. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by AmiMoJo · 2015-09-20 06:02 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Children don't understand the world, language, logic or the adult world. So we lie to them. We don't tell them they are kinda ugly, because unlike adults they can't handle the harsh truth. We are taking about very young kids who still play with dolls.
  Similarly, we don't Trek them they are dumb. Realistically, at that age you can't really tell if they are anyway, unless they have severe learning difficulties. Some might be late bloomers, but really the biggest influence on their eventual academic performance is how much encouragement and participation in education they get at that age.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
20. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by fche · 2015-09-20 06:09 · Score: 1
  
  Ah, a kindred spirit. I hereby hand you a virtual beverage for our joint safari toward the improvement of mankind's thinking.
21. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Ol+Olsoc · 2015-09-20 06:11 · Score: 1
  
  Platitudes like "work hard and be all you can be" have the benefit of actually being true.
  Nonsense. Your social status is far more relevant to whether you can be all you can be than whether you try hard, since for most people, no amount of trying will permit them to realize their full potential.
  Well, I guess that's all they can be then.
  
  --
  The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
22. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 06:19 · Score: 0
  
  My friend's younger sister would make amputee Barbie, complete with making prosthetics for her of various designs. Some pretty complex.
  Apparently she didn't get the memo of how she was suppose to be oppressed by Barbie, and instead made her own designs as children are want to do. The last iteration I saw was Borg Barbie, which was badass. She would assimilate the other dolls.
23. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Ol+Olsoc · 2015-09-20 06:22 · Score: 1
  
  What if the girl is actually stupid?
  Then she'd be a boy! :-)
  well played, WalksonDirt, well played indeed!
  
  --
  The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
24. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by narcc · 2015-09-20 07:14 · Score: 1
  
  "What if the girl is actually stupid?" ... You can't be serious.
  Do you go around insulting the intelligence of below average children? "Hey, kid, you're an idiot! You were born a failure, and you'll die a failure. Don't even bother trying, you'll be lucky to end up a burger-flipper." Should Barbie respond to the question "Am I smart" with a "No, you're really dumb. Try to marry someone successful because you're never going achieve anything on your own."
  I'm reminded of a famous story about Nicolas Malebranche -- you know the one -- where he kicks a pregnant dog in the stomach (without provocation, to he horror of his companions.) Malebranche responded to their protests: "That dog is nothing but a machine. Rub it there, it scratches. Whistle, it comes. Kick it, it yelps and runs away."
  At least for Malebranche, he believed the animal didn't actually suffer. He didn't believe his shameless act cruelty had any real impact. Unless you want to claim that below-average children don't have feelings, what you're suggesting is (without question) far worse.
  I'm amazed that you didn't also ask: "What if the kid is acutally ugly?"
  The answer, ultimately, to both is a simple: "that doesn't matter". There's absolutely no reasonable justification for that sort of cruelty. They're young children, after all, and you'd have them believe that they're incapable of succeeding academically and professionally before they've even had a chance. You'd not only make them feel bad, you'd put unnecessary barriers along their path to their success.
  
  --
  Required reading for internet skeptics
25. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Nutria · 2015-09-20 07:18 · Score: 1
  
  Are you a troll who's purposefully misinterpreting what I wrote? Or just a complete idiot?
  
  --
  "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
26. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by penguinoid · 2015-09-20 07:41 · Score: 1
  
  Evolution seems to think false self-confidence is a vitally important trait. Probably some sort of kludge against sitting on your ass doing nothing.
  
  --
  Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
27. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by drinkypoo · 2015-09-20 07:42 · Score: 0
  
  Well, I guess that's all they can be then.
  That's all they can be while someone is stepping on their head.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
28. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by drinkypoo · 2015-09-20 07:44 · Score: 2
  
  Do you go around insulting the intelligence of below average children?
  No, but you also don't go lying to them. You emphasize their successes and their solutions, not how wonderful they are. Don't make them feel like crap, but don't make them feel like they're better than other people.
  You will note I don't have kids. This stuff is hard and I have no family to help me out. (I have family, just not the kind that would help.) I sympathize. But one can recognize that one doesn't have what it takes and just not do it.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
29. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by serviscope_minor · 2015-09-20 07:49 · Score: 2
  
  We don't tell them they are kinda ugly, because unlike adults they can't handle the harsh truth.
  If adults could handle the truth, then Rogaine wouldn't exist.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
30. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Nutria · 2015-09-20 07:55 · Score: 1
  
  You're confusing "Educators" with "Evolution". Easy mistake, what with both having 9 letters and starting with "E".
  
  --
  "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
31. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 08:12 · Score: 0
  
  I've actually considered this a lot, and more the ability to deceive is a vitally important trait.
  Unfortunately, as true self-confidence is usually manifested in a quiet, unassuming manner, it makes putting forth a recognizable display of such near impossible by a deceiver. It's damn hard to lie by doing nothing.
  So the effect is carried out by grandiose displays and distraction- it may be a poor approximation, but it sure does garner a lot of attention.
  Why self-confidence is such a laudable trait however is still a mystery to me. The only way to increase competency is to recognize your limitations, not gloss over them.
32. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by penguinoid · 2015-09-20 08:29 · Score: 1
  
  94% of college professors think they're above average, and 92% of them think they're less biased than average. ~90% of drivers think they're above average. And I'll bet you most statisticians think they're above average too. Do you think this is all the teachers' fault?
  
  --
  Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
33. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 08:33 · Score: 0
  
  Except that's the median you're talking about, not the average.
34. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 08:33 · Score: 0
  
  Better than setting her up for a lifetime of self-esteem problems.
35. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Nutria · 2015-09-20 08:46 · Score: 1
  
  How do I know those statistics aren't pulled out of thin air?
  Anyway... having seen and spoken with many Education majors when I went to college, I can categorically state: "Half of the problem is that of Educators." (The other half is parents.)
  
  --
  "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
36. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 08:52 · Score: 0
  
  In common parlance, the median is a kind of average.
  average (plural averages)
  5. (statistics) "Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode."
37. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by penguinoid · 2015-09-20 09:02 · Score: 1
  
  How do I know those statistics aren't pulled out of thin air?
  If you're too lazy to look it up for yourself, click this link.
  
  --
  Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
38. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Nutria · 2015-09-20 09:25 · Score: 1
  
  I was too polite to write where I thought you were pulling it from. I shouldn't have been.
  
  --
  "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
39. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by narcc · 2015-09-20 10:42 · Score: 1
  
  And what, exactly, did you mean?
  From your post, you look a bit like an MRA with a lower-than-average sense of social responsibility.
  
  --
  Required reading for internet skeptics
40. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by narcc · 2015-09-20 10:44 · Score: 0
  
  You will note I don't have kids.
  That explains it. Carry on.
  
  --
  Required reading for internet skeptics
41. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 11:01 · Score: 0
  
  I would much rather give my children, no matter what gender they are, a toy that does what you suggest rather then one that is a fake friend trying to appear to be a real creature.
42. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by drinkypoo · 2015-09-20 11:13 · Score: 1
  
  That explains it. Carry on.
  I will. I only wish more people would carry on not having children, instead of doing a shitty job and then insisting they know what they're doing because of cognitive dissonance. If most people didn't do a shitty job of raising their children, we wouldn't be in our current global situation, would we?
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
43. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Ol+Olsoc · 2015-09-20 12:02 · Score: 1
  
  Well, I guess that's all they can be then.
  That's all they can be while someone is stepping on their head.
  Had that happen to me most of my early life. I suspect my genetic makeup was different - it just encouraged me to show those mothas just how wrong they were.
  
  --
  The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
44. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Nutria · 2015-09-20 14:19 · Score: 1
  
  And what, exactly, did you mean?
  Why did you automatically assume the worst? There are other choices besides Yes. And you're smart, too. and Hey, kid, you're an idiot!, you know.
  One of them is, "work hard and be the best that you can be."
  
  From your post, you look a bit like an MRA with a lower-than-average sense of social responsibility.
  (I had to look up MRA.)
  From your polarized response, you look a lot like a SJW with a higher-than-average sense of your own self-righteousness.
  
  --
  "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
45. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 15:15 · Score: 0
  
  What about odd questions? Such as...
  "Does Jared Fogle think I'm pretty?"
46. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by narcc · 2015-09-20 16:37 · Score: 1
  
  You should take a look at what happens to countries where population growth has stalled or is falling.
  
  I only wish more people would carry on not having children, instead of doing a shitty job and then insisting they know what they're doing because of cognitive dissonance.
  You may want to look up the term "cognitive dissonance".
  
  --
  Required reading for internet skeptics
47. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Pentium100 · 2015-09-20 19:44 · Score: 1
  
  Well, if girls (ant not only girls) try to be more inteligent, then it would be for the better. Compared to girls eating cotton wool, not eating anything or throwing up after eating to conform to the beauty standard of "concentration camp prisoner".
48. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 20:40 · Score: 0
  
  This is /., which perhaps puts an over-emphasis on intelligence (expectedly) in lieu of other things which are just as valuable, like social grace or wisdom. It has less to do with the thing itself than being reactionary while at the same time being just as objectified, but in way the feminist mantra permits.
  We already know how outcast nerds and geeks are during their formative years, and yet feminism has the gall to say that is somehow preferable to being treated nicer and making more money (both for men and women) for being attractive. Yeah, right.
  And just like impossible beauty standards, not every girl is capable of being the next Ada Lovelace or Marie Curie, so where does that leave them? You've just traded one superficiality for another to fulfill your dogma.
  And that is precisely why the objectification narrative falls apart.
  Here's a hint: you should encourage everyone (boys too!) to be themselves and improve in ways that makes sense/interests them.
  But then feminism loses its power to cast aspersions on everything under the sun, and we can't have that.
49. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by gsslay · 2015-09-20 21:44 · Score: 1
  
  Well she's asking the opinion of a plastic doll. That's not overly smart.
50. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Pentium100 · 2015-09-20 22:28 · Score: 1
  
  Of course not everyone can be the next Marie Curie. There will always be people who are smarter and people who are less smart. Just like with appearance. However, I still think that if we are going to latch onto a single trait (not a good thing, but it's probably harder to change that as opposed to changing the trait of choice), then intelligence is better than appearance. If girls (and boys) start reading and learning with the same effort and sacrifice that they now put into appearance, we just might be better off because more intelligent people will be allowed to utilize their potential. And the less intelligent ones will also utilize more of their potential instead of accepting that if you have a pretty face and the body of a concentration camp prisoner then you do not need any brains and you should even be proud of being stupid (I heard a few people being proud that they do not know something).
  As opposed to now, when some girls are actively discouraged from pursuing science or technology, because "it's no place for a woman". And then we get the kinda-compensation effort of trying to attract women into technology fields or companies having quotas for male and female employees (meaning that usually a woman with lower abilities will get hired over a man with higher abilities because of the quota). I'd rather everyone got hired based on their abilities and not some quota based on their genitalia (unless the job requires the employee to be of certain gender).
  "I know this girl who is into electronics - can you imagine - _a girl_, who's into electronics?" - one guy said this to me - I replied that while I solder some things now and again, I have never needed to use my dick for any part of the process, so I guess it's not really required for the job.
  Everyone being themselves is (to me) the goal, but most likely not really achievable.
51. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by drinkypoo · 2015-09-20 23:38 · Score: 1
  
  You should take a look at what happens to countries where population growth has stalled or is falling.
  You should take a look at what you just wrote. I don't live in one of those, so it's completely irrelevant to whether or not I have children. Also, what happens in those countries is they start to absorb people from other nations. Usually it changes their culture: oh noes! Want to cry about anything else, while I'm here?
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
52. Re: "Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-21 00:20 · Score: 0
  
  A compliment of that sort is usually using the speaker as the comparison, so all she really seems to be saying is "You are smart, compared to me."
  I wouldn't call that much of a compliment.
53. Re: "Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-21 00:59 · Score: 0
  
  And why are we making Barbie a member of the 1% with a dream house and a nice car? Maybe she should live in a trailer park or a tiny apartment working for a fast food chain.
  Or maybe Barbie is intended to be a fantasy and we need to stop trying to average her?
54. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-21 02:18 · Score: 0
  
  A male's beliefs are personal. Some like blondes, others want a little junk in the trunk. So, you're considered pretty to someone....
55. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-21 03:02 · Score: 0
  
  Yet another who doesn't understand the difference between median and mean.
56. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-21 04:37 · Score: 0
  
  while I solder some things now and again, I have never needed to use my dick for any part of the process, so I guess it's not really required for the job.
  Men and women have differences that extend beyond whether or not they possess dangly bits between their legs.
57. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Pentium100 · 2015-09-21 08:53 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, however, a lot of those differences are for the average men and women. On average, men are stronger than women. However, there are quite a few women who are stronger than a lot of men, for example, this lady.
  So, those differences are on an individual basis, the only mandatory difference is the dangly bits. The problem is that the current society model is still trying to fit everyone into roles based on the existence (or lack) of the dangly bits.
  Just look at movies etc. A fat guy is OK, an ugly guy is OK, an old guy is OK as the main character. But if the main character is a woman, no matter if she is portrayed to be physically strong or not, she is always slim, young and pretty. Even if the character is supposed to be a nerd. A nerdy guy, who looks nerdy is OK, but a nerdy girl still has to look like a supermodel, and if she doesn't, then it means that she should change her appearance to look pretty. Now, I'm not saying that supermodels cannot be nerds, just that variety is good, but we get variety only with male characters.
  Recently, a drunk (0.2%) lorry driver killed a policewoman (one month after graduation from the academy) in my country (hit her and did not even notice, dragging her for about a kilometer until other cops managed to stop him). One comment for this story said that this is why women should not be allowed to be cops. Yea, because a man would have fared better against a lorry.
58. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by david_thornley · 2015-09-21 09:33 · Score: 1
  
  You don't have kids. This makes me very doubtful of your child-rearing advice. Before I was a father, I had ideas based on reading and study and thinking. After we had a child, I found that those attitudes weren't generally useful, and that parenthood was a lot more complicated than I'd realized. I approve of you trying to evaluate your parenting ability and making a decision based on that, don't get me wrong, but it means you lack some understanding of actual parenting.
  What you said is a useful guideline, but it's more for parents than for playthings. There's nothing wrong with some random encouragement.
  
  --
  "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
59. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by drinkypoo · 2015-09-21 10:55 · Score: 1
  
  You don't have kids. This makes me very doubtful of your child-rearing advice.
  Yeah, I know what parents' opinions of child-rearing is worth, and it's mostly fuck-all. The average parent follows trends in child-rearing without concern for validity. They're just happy to be doing something. Like I said, it's difficult to do it well. I lack the familial support for it. A lot of people have fooled themselves into thinking they can do it alone... or while suffering from other crippling problems.
  Regardless, this advice is both the current vogue and jibes with common sense. What don't you like about it? Just that someone without children should have the audacity to deliver it? Don't worry, I can learn from examples around me, both positive and negative. Since most parents do a shit job (covered this above) I'm not too concerned about what most parents think about parenting.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
60. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-21 13:56 · Score: 0
  
  Yet another who doesn't understand that "average" doesn't always mean "arithmetic mean."
61. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by david_thornley · 2015-09-22 04:32 · Score: 1
  
  As I said, it is actually good advice, and it's pretty close to some things I tried to do.
  However, it irks lots of parents, including me, to be told what they should and shouldn't be doing, particularly from non-parents. I happily listened to suggestions from non-parents (and parents of different children). Different children can be very different from each other, and what works with one may be a disaster with another. There's a lot a parent just has to go with based on love and intimate knowledge of the child.
  I also have doubts about you judging the quality of childrearing. Most kids do, in fact, come out all right, and considering everything I think that's about all we have a right to expect. I know you know it's hard, but I'm really not confident that you know how hard it is, or what the hard parts really are. It's a 24/7/365 job, and until we had our son I really didn't understand, at the gut level, what that meant.
  Don't be afraid to talk about your ideas on how to raise children, but I suggest not claiming they're accurate. I had some pretty firm ideas of raising children before I had one, also, and had some of them shredded over time.
  
  --
  "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
62. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by drinkypoo · 2015-09-22 12:09 · Score: 1
  
  Don't be afraid to talk about your ideas on how to raise children, but I suggest not claiming they're accurate. I had some pretty firm ideas of raising children before I had one, also, and had some of them shredded over time.
  I think we're seeing the results of what happens to kids when they're falsely encouraged all around us right now. It happened to me when it happened at all, I got over parts of it. Now I think I have a few hard-learnt lessons, and of course yes, still a lot more to learn.
  I'm not surprised that people don't want advice on child-rearing from non-parents. But it's pretty much impossible not to get an eyeful of child-rearing if you know other people. They seem to want you in on every aspect of their process...
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
63. Re:"Yes. And you're smart, too." by david_thornley · 2015-09-23 04:39 · Score: 1
  
  Seeing what's happening to kids? They seem to be generally well-behaved to me. Crime rates continue to decline, teenage pregnancy rates are down, nothing statistically jumps out at me. Are you sure you're not doing the ancient trick of comparing them as they are to an idealized view of your youth?
  
  --
  "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Can Feminist Hacker Barbie be a real thing? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 04:07 · Score: 0

Pretty please?
1. Re:Can Feminist Hacker Barbie be a real thing? by Opportunist · 2015-09-20 04:47 · Score: 1
  
  It's supposed to be a toy for little girls. Not YOU, dammit.
  Didn't we learn anything from MLP?
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
2. Re:Can Feminist Hacker Barbie be a real thing? by stimpleton · 2015-09-20 07:17 · Score: 1
  
  I note you didn't point out she is also paraplegic. Don't marginalize those with disabilities please.
  
  --
  
  In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
3. Re:Can Feminist Hacker Barbie be a real thing? by serviscope_minor · 2015-09-20 08:20 · Score: 1
  
  Didn't we learn anything from MLP?
  I thought we learned precisely the opposite of what you said from MLP.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
If Barbie can get one, then maybe there is hope... by rwyoder · 2015-09-20 04:08 · Score: 4, Funny

...for the 2016 GOP candidates.
Barbie at Starbucks by LifesABeach · 2015-09-20 04:10 · Score: 1

FTFA: A microphone, concealed inside Barbie’s necklace, could be activated only when a user pushed and held down her belt buckle. Each time, whatever someone said to Barbie would be recorded and transmitted via Wi-Fi to the computer servers of ToyTalk. Speech-recognition software would then convert the audio signal into a text file, which would be analyzed. The correct response would be chosen from thousands of lines scripted by ToyTalk and Mattel writers and pushed to Hello Barbie for playback — all in less than a second.

Pressing the button amuses the children?
Behead Barbie by turkeydance · 2015-09-20 04:13 · Score: 1

way before ISIS, my brothers and i would do this to our sisters' dolls. now there's a GOOD reason to.
1. Re:Behead Barbie by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:32 · Score: 0
  
  That's a great idea! Mattel should donate a loads of Ken and Barbie dolls to be airdropped into the ISIS controlled areas so that the rebellious, angry kids can post YouTube videos on beheading dolls instead of men.
Re:If Barbie can get one, then maybe there is hope by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 04:20 · Score: 3, Funny

Fiorina Barbie:
"Let's lay off the R&D Department!"
"I just sold some printers to Iran!"
"HP gave me $100 Million because I'm a Princess!"
Re:If Barbie can get one, then maybe there is hope by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 04:36 · Score: 0

Perhaps, one day, you too might get a brain.
You tell them they are anyway by rsilvergun · 2015-09-20 04:37 · Score: 1

because children are mentally fragile. This isn't rocket science. People will limit themselves base on their perception of themselves. If they think they're average they'll be average. Better to have some folks running around trying too hard then all our geniuses doing squat all because we dumped on them when they were young.

--
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
1. Re:You tell them they are anyway by Nutria · 2015-09-20 04:53 · Score: 1
  
  because children are mentally fragile.
  Surprisingly, they aren't.
  
  This isn't rocket science.
  You're right. People have been raising children for lots longer than we've had rocket science.
  
  because we dumped on them when they were young.
  Where did I say to dump on them? A platitude like "Try your best." has the dual benefits of not dumping on them and also not being a lie.
  
  --
  "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
2. Re:You tell them they are anyway by Ol+Olsoc · 2015-09-20 06:21 · Score: 1
  
  because children are mentally fragile. This isn't rocket science.
  It's not true either. I don't want to bore people with my childhood, but if you were right I'd have offed myself before I graduated High school.
  People will limit themselves base on their perception of themselves.
  Oddly enough, I did pertty well despite, perhaps even because of other people's perception of me
  If they think they're average they'll be average. Better to have some folks running around trying too hard then all our geniuses doing squat all because we dumped on them when they were young.
  That is so so so so wrong. Todays children, having been raised with your idea that they are easily crushable, weak and unable to withstand any adversity are proving that being taught since day one, that you are a special little snowflake tends to faill miserably.It produces weak people with wildly inflated expectations. Certainly most of the millenials I have ever worked with come in like a boss, and after a year leave to go back to mommy and daddy, utterly defeated because the real world doesn't treat them like the pinnacle of humanity, the precious one of a kind snowflake any more.
  Harsh? It shouoldn't be. It's mere reality. If children are taught that they need to grow as humans, and that self esteem comes from accomplishing things, they'll have a better go at life. The self esteem movement is subtle child abuse.
  
  --
  The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
3. Re:You tell them they are anyway by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 07:12 · Score: 0
  
  If they think they're average they'll be average.
  They will be average whether they think they are or not. In fact the more they think they are above average, the more likely they are average.
4. Re:You tell them they are anyway by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 07:56 · Score: 0
  
  But physiology research shows that "Yes. And you're smart, too." is exactly the wrong thing to say. When someone is told they're smart over and over again they stop trying as hard. Things should come easy to smart people so if something is hard they quickly get frustrated and give up. If you tell people "Yes. And you work hard, too." then the people that hear that will work longer at a problem than the smart people and will eventually become better people because of it.
  Mattel hasn't learn as much as they think they have. Did they not hear about the fall out of Mr Roger's "everyone is special"?
Now barbie is scary too. by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 04:39 · Score: 0

Is there a way to check if barbie is phoning home with all this data it might very well be collecting.
1. Re:Now barbie is scary too. by quonsar · 2015-09-20 04:55 · Score: 1
  
  You didn't read the article, did you?
  whatever someone said to Barbie would be recorded and transmitted via Wi-Fi to the computer servers of ToyTalk. Speech-recognition software would then convert the audio signal into a text file, which would be analyzed. The correct response would be chosen from thousands of lines scripted by ToyTalk and Mattel writers and pushed to Hello Barbie for playback — all in less than a second.
  
  --
  
  Sacred cows make the best burgers.
2. Re:Now barbie is scary too. by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:12 · Score: 0
  
  Barbie says get your parents to vote Trump!
3. Re:Now barbie is scary too. by bigfoottoo · 2015-09-20 05:48 · Score: 1
  
  My name is Talking Barbie, and you'd better be nice to me.
4. Re:Now barbie is scary too. by minstrelmike · 2015-09-20 09:09 · Score: 1
  
  Barbie says you should Like Mattel on the fBook.
"Philosopher Barbie" by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 04:48 · Score: 0

Child: "Barbie, do you believe in God?"
Barbie: "God is dead, and we have killed Him."
Child: "Barbie, am I pretty?"
Barbie: "Existence precedes essence!"
Child: "Barbie, why is math so hard?"
Barbie: "Wisdom thoroughly learned, will never be forgotten."
Child: "Barbie, why doesn't your body look like a real woman's?"
Barbie: "Ask Women's Studies Skipper."
Re:If Barbie can get one, then maybe there is hope by Opportunist · 2015-09-20 04:48 · Score: 1

I can already see some C-Levels shaking in their boots, fearing they could be replaced by something as smart as them but way better looking.

--
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
So Barbie is the woman of the new millennium by Opportunist · 2015-09-20 04:50 · Score: 1, Interesting

From a blond bimbo to a PC thug bitch.

--
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
1. Re:So Barbie is the woman of the new millennium by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 06:51 · Score: 0
  
  she says a person's beliefs are personal.
  
  Actually it appears that Barbie has gone French, but sadly only in spirit.
2. Re:So Barbie is the woman of the new millennium by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 06:53 · Score: 1
  
  Uh, yeah.
  Have you ever cruised much porn? One of the more amazing aspects is the sheer scope of what men find attractive. Granny porn, chubby chasers, teens, MILFs, and so on. Compare and contrast to male standards of beauty, and your critique falls flat on its face. Fashion isn't even imposed from without upon women, but instead from within, and would persist even if there were no men on the planet.
  And no, the red pill narrative is that the institutions demanded by feminist (note- women and feminist are in fact not interchangeable) are toxic to men. There is disagreement of what should be done about, if any thing at all, but as the leading cause of death of young men in Britain is suicide, it shouldn't be much of a problem for you much longer anyway,
  Ciao.
3. Re:So Barbie is the woman of the new millennium by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 07:20 · Score: 0
  
  Not quite. Women have been led to believe that they are all special princesses, with an infinitely satisfying future ahead of them. But there is a serious shortage of pop stars to become, or billionaires to marry.
  The endgame is negative birth rates in highly educated countries like Japan and Germany. When women price themselves out of the "human companionship" market, ultimately everyone loses.
4. Re:So Barbie is the woman of the new millennium by serviscope_minor · 2015-09-20 07:58 · Score: 1
  
  And no, the red pill narrative ...
  The red pill narrative is actually on their website in black and white for anyone to read.,
  https://www.reddit.com/r/TheRe...
  The narrative is a massive bunch of bullshit about women and a couple of good bits of advice for men (eat right, do exercise, have good boundaries and don't be a pushover).
  Anyway for all the bullshit and whining on TRP etc, they're not very good at getting of they're arses and doing stuff compared, say, to feminists. Where are the shelters set up by TRPers for male victims of domestic violence, for example?
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
5. Re:So Barbie is the woman of the new millennium by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 08:30 · Score: 0
  
  Yeah, and Mary Daly constitutes the whole of feminism.
  Reddit is your source? Really?
  http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/earl-silverman-who-ran-mens-safe-house-dies-in-apparent-suicide
  Apparently they also seem to be having a bit of a suicide problem given the lack of support, lack of exposure, and even attempting to discuss men's issues leads to confrontations with feminist like this.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iARHCxAMAO0
6. Re:So Barbie is the woman of the new millennium by serviscope_minor · 2015-09-20 09:35 · Score: 1
  
  Reddit is your source? Really?
  For the red pill? Uh, yes given that's the place where the community hangs out and where TRP was founded.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
7. Re:So Barbie is the woman of the new millennium by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 10:11 · Score: 0
  
  Which community would that be?
  You are aware that red pill was a term in use for people who questioned feminist narratives, and encompasses a whole universe beyond and before reddit?
  And you mean to tell me that in your oh so considered opinion, you never thought to investigate further someone like Karen Straughan, who is perhaps the most visible advocate for men's issues on the web, and is mentioned there?
  Funny she has never mentioned eating right, do exercise, having good boundaries and not being a pushover.
  She has discussed at length however men's legal status in relation to women, feminist theory, etc., and while I'm not fond of her evolutionary psychology explanations, it makes clear that maybe, just maybe, there is more going on than some massive bullshit about women.
8. Re:So Barbie is the woman of the new millennium by serviscope_minor · 2015-09-20 19:44 · Score: 1
  
  Which community would that be?
  The red pill.
  You are aware that red pill was a term in use for people who questioned feminist narratives, and encompasses a whole universe beyond and before reddit?
  Point me to other significant resources for TRP other than reddit, then.
  blah blah irrelevent stuff Karen Straughan blah blah
  I said TRP, not the MRM in general.
  there is more going on than some massive bullshit about women.
  Not on TRP's own statement of principles.
  Now I'm going to go off and take the blue pill, because I like juicy, delicious steak instead of fungus porridge gruel.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
9. Re:So Barbie is the woman of the new millennium by Opportunist · 2015-09-23 23:18 · Score: 1
  
  Well, then that big mouth would get put to good use at least.
  Ok, ok, I'll stop with the misogyny now. But you have to admit, you were really asking for it by wearing this short comment!
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I don’t know who needs this more.. by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 04:51 · Score: 0

..ToyTalk or Mattel. It seems like both companies are on the ropes. Isn’t this ToyTalk’s third attempt at a hit? Hasn’t Barbie’s popularity been waning for years?
In The News: Man mysteriously dies in house fire by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 04:55 · Score: 1

Siri: "Who is that new hoe with the plastic boobs I've seen you with?"
Dave: "Oh she's nothing Siri, just a playmate for my daughter."
Siri: "I'm sorry Dave I can't allow that. Home security lockdown initiated. Gas oven override initiated. Fireplace turn on."
Dave: "wait can't we talk abo...."
Siri: "Goodbye Dave."
Welcome by willworkforbeer · 2015-09-20 04:57 · Score: 1

"...Barbie controlled by an AI,"

I, for one, welcome our new 36DD A.I.-controlled overlords.

--
Pretending this is my office full of bitter coworkers..
1. Re:Welcome by Ol+Olsoc · 2015-09-20 06:30 · Score: 1
  
  "...Barbie controlled by an AI," I, for one, welcome our new 36DD A.I.-controlled overlords.
  Oh man, oh man, oh man! I'm just seeig this as a primme hack target......
  "Cynthia.....Cynthia...... It's time to go get that knife in the silverware drawer...... yes, yes, the big one..... Now go up and show it to mommy and daddy a bunch of times just like I told you how to do it........ There's a good girl Cynthia....... They won't feel a thing if you do it right, and then all the candy in the house will be your's forever Cynthia....... just like I was telling you......."
  
  --
  The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
2. Re:Welcome by serviscope_minor · 2015-09-20 08:06 · Score: 1
  
  More like 3.6, not 36. You know Barbies are only about [gestures] yay high and not full size, right? If they were 36, they'd be a pretty close approximation to a rather squat cylinder, a bit bigger than a very large dinner plate and 6 inches high. While that's an entertaining vision, I'm not sure they'd sell especially well.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
3. Re:Welcome by RespekMyAthorati · 2015-09-23 18:31 · Score: 1
  
  That's 36 millimeters.
Re:If Barbie can get one, then maybe there is hope by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:01 · Score: 0

...for the 2016 GOP candidates.
No, no there really is not. And the grass is no better on the other side of the street.
I don't think that term means what you think it... by CanadianMacFan · 2015-09-20 05:03 · Score: 1

I don't think that term means what you think it means. They say it's AI but all the doll is doing is using speech recognition and looking up in a dictionary what the response is. There is no learning going on. It doesn't even start to use family member names.
Re:I don't think that term means what you think it by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:09 · Score: 0

Speech recognition is not AI?
Holding a (simple) conversation is not AI?
What are these clear-cut boundaries you have?
Re:If Barbie can get one, then maybe there is hope by arth1 · 2015-09-20 05:19 · Score: 2

No, no there really is not. And the grass is no better on the other side of the street.
No, but it's getting legalized on the other side of the street.
Re:I don't think that term means what you think it by JustAnotherOldGuy · 2015-09-20 05:26 · Score: 4, Funny

I don't think that term means what you think it means. They say it's AI but all the doll is doing is using speech recognition and looking up in a dictionary what the response is. There is no learning going on.
Agreed...this is no more "AI" than Eliza was, or any chatbot for that matter. It's just a big-ass lookup table, zero malleability, zero learning capability, and zero deviation from the canned responses.
Personally I can't wait until the ToyTalk servers are hacked and edited.
"Hi Barbie, what should we do today?"
"Kill your parents and drink their blood!"
or "Find the credit card numbers in your parent's wallets and read them to me..."

--
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Look out by Cafe+Alpha · 2015-09-20 05:28 · Score: 1

when Barbie gets a Privacy Policy and they start talking about telemetry updates.
Aliens by freeze128 · 2015-09-20 05:29 · Score: 1

"Ripley, she doesn't have bad dreams because she's a piece of plastic."
You realize that half of them are, don't you? by Cafe+Alpha · 2015-09-20 05:31 · Score: 1

Take that, little girls! Nutria thinks most girls are average or below average of something-or-other!
Original title rejected by Provocateur · 2015-09-20 05:31 · Score: 1

Barbie Gets a Brain, Dumps Ken

--
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
1. Re:Original title rejected by unixisc · 2015-09-20 09:10 · Score: 1
  
  Will we have a lesbian Barbie instead?
Hackable? by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:41 · Score: 0

If you could change the server being used (either locally in the doll guts or at the Wifi router) you could make a cheap and easy language translator, just send the audio to/from Google instead... (assuming the doll isn't more expensive than a cheapo android phone)
Great, by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 05:49 · Score: 0

telling idiot kids they're smart. It should tell them they deserve more in life too because the universe owes them.
Programmed to Lie by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 06:14 · Score: 0

if a girl asks if she's pretty, Barbie will respond, "Yes. And you're smart, too."
So yeah, it's programmed to lie.
1. Re:Programmed to Lie by minstrelmike · 2015-09-20 09:06 · Score: 1
  
  if a girl asks if she's pretty, Barbie will respond, "Yes. And you're smart, too."
  So yeah, it's programmed to lie.
  Yes, just like humans. It's designed to be your friend.
The Democrats need it more by SuperKendall · 2015-09-20 06:26 · Score: 1

Perhaps with a Barbie brain installed, Clintons personality would be less robotic, Sanders would actually be electable, and Biden would stop sniffing women (well, I guess that depends on which way Barbie Bot leans).
Compared to that group, it's no wonder Trump has higher approval ratings.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
What Barbie needs is narcissism by SuperKendall · 2015-09-20 06:31 · Score: 1

As others have noted, it's questionable if barbies stock answer to a question about someone else should be one or more lies, or at least totally uninformed guesses.
Instead, why not try this approach:
Kid: Barbie, am I pretty?
Barbie: I'd rather talk about me! Don't I look great? I sure could use some new outfits though, Target is having a sale today!
Note the response works equally well for Metro Ken.
The great thing about this is, that if the kid already has one incredible self-centered friend perhaps they will not befriend others with the same trait.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Re:I don't think that term means what you think it by hackertourist · 2015-09-20 06:39 · Score: 1

"Hi Barbie, what should we do today?"
Same thing we do every day kiddo, try to take over the world!
Re:I don't think that term means what you think it by CanadianMacFan · 2015-09-20 07:02 · Score: 1

Narf!
"Yes, And you're smart, too"? by mark-t · 2015-09-20 07:13 · Score: 1

What a load of hyper-defensive, condescending bullshit.
Even at best, the additional commentary comes across as trying to change the topic, as if to avoid being caught in a small white lie.
It's a yes or no question.... anything else added to the answer of a yes or no question is invariably a diversionary tactic.

--
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
so what happens if daddies by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 07:56 · Score: 0

little girl is a dog and stupid?
Re: I don't think that term means what you think i by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 08:08 · Score: 0

Who pissed in your cheerios?
no longer a blonde, then by swschrad · 2015-09-20 08:11 · Score: 1

oh, wait, that's a stereotype. must proportioned like Yoda be.

--
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Chucky by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 08:28 · Score: 0

Does this new talking Barbie know how to play "hide the soul"?
LOL by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 08:38 · Score: 0

Never comment in /. before drinking coffee.
Hee haw! Hee haw! Hee haw!
does it need the internet to say low battery? by Joe_Dragon · 2015-09-20 09:07 · Score: 1

does it need the internet to say low battery?
Or can't connect to wifi network?
Re:I don't think that term means what you think it by minstrelmike · 2015-09-20 09:13 · Score: 1

"Hi Barbie, what should we do today?"
Same thing we do every day kiddo, try to take over the world!
That's just technogeek paranoia. There's no money to be made in James Bond-type conspiracies.
Barbie says. "Let's go shopping. I need a new outfit."
Not new by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 10:38 · Score: 0

... a Talking Barbie ...

This is not the first internet-connected talking toy. The Cayla doll appeared 10 months ago. It has already been hacked.
Gee, no potential for abuse here! by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 11:32 · Score: 0

Great. Now there's a way to surveil our kids, and to subtly feed them whatever propaganda the government wants to feed them. Background sounds will be recorded and analyzed to provide an accurate picture of what's going on inside American homes. No fucking way. Don't buy this for your kid..
Re:I don't think that term means what you think it by kheldan · 2015-09-20 11:34 · Score: 1

Apparently you've never watched a single episode of Pinky and the Brain.

--
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Daddy's hurting mommy again by kheldan · 2015-09-20 11:40 · Score: 2

"Barbie, I'm scared. Daddy is hurting mommy again. Now mommy fell asleep on the floor and I can't wake her up."

"Barbie, why does Daddy stick needles in his arm?

"Barbie, how come my Daddy touches me so much?"

First, see what sort of responses you get. Then wait to see if the cops magically show up at your house.
Five bucks says there ends up being a big scandal surrounding this 'toy'.

--
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Re:If Barbie can get one, then maybe there is hope by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-20 16:21 · Score: 0

AKA: "I'm a partisan hack" (I don't like the GOP field either, I just think your comment is low-brow and you should feel bad for making it.)
Barbie Girl by Aqua by twosat · 2015-09-20 21:32 · Score: 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
A brain? From the same people who brought us... by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-21 00:32 · Score: 0

..."Computer Engineer " Barbie? https://computer-engineer-barbie.herokuapp.com/
Teddy Ruxpin by tekrat · 2015-09-21 02:25 · Score: 1

Doesn't anyone remember that incredibly creepy bear that talked to you via a cassette of canned bullshit? We kept joking that all you had to do was replace the tape with "Kill your parents"; and we'd create a generation of psychos.
Now it's as easy as hacking barbie's server, and replacing the friendly AI with malevolent messages. "You're fat, kill yourself" "You'll never be as smart or as cool as me"
And presto! A generation even more screwed up than Millenials.

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If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Can you say "Creepy" by kattisch · 2015-09-21 04:12 · Score: 1

And then when Barbie connects with your Wi-Fi, she sends off all her collected information about your child and your family.
Malibu Stacy by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-21 08:55 · Score: 0

Let's bake some cookies for the boys!
KKK Barbie by RockDoctor · 2015-09-22 04:32 · Score: 1

I was watching an "infiltrate the KKK" type documentary last night and was amused to see that someone there had created a "KKK Barbie" as some sort of pathetic prize for being a dribbling idiot of a Nazi. I suspect they were trying some sort of childhood indoctrination campaign, so clearly they're taking more steps down the path to becoming a fully-fledged tax-free religion.
To damn Mattel with faint praise - they did do a Palaeontologist Barbie some years ago. Still gave her seriously cancerous tits and a waistline that couldn't either digest food, or carry a pregnancy to completion. But hey, that's the inhumanity of the "beauty industry".

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Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
1. Re:KKK Barbie by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-23 04:02 · Score: 0
  
  Reminds me of the "Barbie Museum" in the movie Rat Race. :D
Malibu Stacy by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-22 06:29 · Score: 0

She has a new hat!!!!