I think my BBQ just offered to be my default browser?
twitter.com
twitter.com
I worked for Ai Squared on an app named Sitecues, which was a SaaS product that companies would add to their website to improve their accessibility for low vision users. We ran into a vast number of edge cases when trying to make our JavaScript library compatible with all of our customers' websites, many of whom had awful coding that we needed to handle gracefully (hacky CSS, old versions of Prototype JS that override Object.prototype, and far, far worse). One day I stumbled upon the iGrill website and found out that it exposed practically every problem that we had seen scattered across various other sites. It was so convenient that their website was so poorly coded that I could stress test our app on their site and if it worked, well, "ship it!"
Looks like their site has had a few updates since then, but those were good times.
It looks like this is the culprit:
E: activity (line=48)
A: android:theme(0x01010000)=@0x7f110149
A: android:name(0x01010003)="com.weber.igrill.pages.splash.SplashActivity" (Raw: "com.weber.igrill.pages.splash.SplashActivity")
A: android:screenOrientation(0x0101001e)=(type 0x10)0x1
E: intent-filter (line=52)
E: action (line=53)
A: android:name(0x01010003)="android.intent.action.VIEW" (Raw: "android.intent.action.VIEW")
E: category (line=55)
A: android:name(0x01010003)="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" (Raw: "android.intent.category.BROWSABLE")
E: data (line=57)
A: android:scheme(0x01010027)="http" (Raw: "http")
I personally can't blame them for getting this wrong if the development tools don't provide adequate feedback.
1. Everyone else can apparently do it properly. 2. They could have caught this problem in testing.
It's just a case of a non-software company adding on an app as an afterthought.
"F.U., that's why" is the simplest conclusion I can draw. "Unpaid concept testing" is the next simplest.
1. https://cdn57.androidauthority.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/0...
As an extra F.U., it also changes the list of contacts after a second. So I try to tap on my wife, only to have it substituted with the plumber who came once half a year ago... and this of course gets logged by the AI, ensuring the plumber continues to hold pride of place in my contacts.
It's slow. It encourages mis-taps. I have intentionally tapped it literally <10 times ever despite using the share dialog thousands of times, since it almost never shows me the desired contacts, and even then I've tapped the wrong contact half the time.
It's incomprehensibly awful, wantonly violates even the most basic user-interaction guidelines of the past few decades, and there's no way to turn it off. What in the world are they thinking / drinking.
When you are in the “...” screen, tap on “edit” at the top right.
This is what OP complained about is not possible on Android out of the box.
I know it exists as an intentional dark pattern (so we just think that's what happened). But it also seems so common now across computing and it pisses me off every time.
It seems like they stripped all metadata, including visual names of items themselves, and instead substituted random words.
The result is like playing a text-based adventure game without a list of the verbs the game supports.
Per memory, 7 and even 98 had a perfectly reasonable and accurate search.
If I type VS... Visual Studio Code! Cool. (wonder why it did not suggest Visual Studio itself which I also have installed, buy hey I got what I wanted)
If I type VSC... ??? config files and some random XMLs from the deep realms of AppData
If I type vscode... No results, try a web search!
If I type Visual Studio... THE Visual Studio shows, but no Code in sight
If I type Visual Studio Code... There it is again!
---
The whole rigmarole is just... Huh?! How does one even reach that point? I can't think about any naive buggy way that could reasonably cause such discrepancy of results. Just search by Filename and Display Name! Or whatever criteria, but be consistent!
But literally mystified why there isn't a prebuilt index table that instantly loads the top results.
All Windows apps / panels + last 250 files opened shouldn't be hard.
So there is literally already a textual, and usually interpretable, path to any window.
Apparently tying search into that made too much sense though, and so instead we get a reinvented (slightly square) wheel.
I love that term and the Android share dialog has always been my top example.
Asynchronous element loading saves time overall but it costs time when key UI elements rearrange. It's probably difficult to pull off but linear/blocked/sequential loading for the current viewport and offscreen asynchronous loading is probably what we need to avoid this (or ugly placeholders).
I find this happens with computer game UIs a lot, too, especially for dynamic UI elements that float above static UI elements. Especially when there is a lag due to animations.
But then I thought of: "Percusssive enhancement". Maybe not semantically 100%, but... not 0%.
Or maybe I have 15 years of expectation that images is going to be the second tab.
Edit: nope, just did a search, it started web images videos then right when the page finished loading it switched to web videos images
So only does search not work anymore, it's unnavigable
Edit 2: it's not just video, it rearranges the tabs based on relevance. "John wick" will move videos to the second spot. "San Francisco" will move news second and maps 3rd.
I get it, but I also don't.
A product manager somewhere in Google is excited for their quarterly bonus.
I just clicked on google ads 3 times in 2 minutes because it keeps showing image search results. Then juuuuust as you're about to click the row of ads shows up and you click on an ad.
The AI then congratulates itself on serving such relevant ads.
@9nGQluzmnq3M don't mean to mock you. It more that it sparked a general observation that seems to be the case now dasy . It is how 'funny' it is that now days we tend to all a lot of stuff AI. Back in the days pre-internet days, this is just some kind of preferences we stored per user bases. I can see that the IT industry is a lot of what is in fashion.
The sorts of things phones used to remember I'd never refer to as AI. A list of contacts sorted by the frequency with which I use them isn't AI. A list of contacts sorted in an order I don't understand, with a slight preference for frequent contacts, is.
The latter have proliferated recently, hence the shift.
Clearly, you want your list of "frequently searched terms" stored locally on your device in a very small and efficient history file.
However, if you store this file on the server, you can hide from the user what actually gets stored in it, it takes longer so it seems like it's doing harder work, and for some reason gets it wrong occasionally which means -- AI.
Google Maps is like this. It completely refuses to remember your recently searched addresses if you disable Location History (which includes remembering and storing, let's call it a little bit more info than just my recent search terms).
This would be such a prime candidate for storing securely, privately on your device, for any type of map service, that I can only conclude this is deliberate hostile anti-user programming.
Also I bet there's code out there that just returns most-recently-searched with a few deliberate mistakes to seem more opaque and thus more AIey.
I'm sure there are companies which play the various games you're suggesting, but I think positing that it's the rule verges into the conspiracy theoretical.
For sure, with all the type of Neural Structured Learning, seems like we are just trying things out by training models. Would be good to have a way to actually explain to us developers how decisions are actually made. I know it is based on some kind of statistics.
If anyone can point in the direction that would be greatly appreciated.
It's definitely not sorted by contact frequency or anything close to it, because many of the people I share with all the time never show up. As I type, three of my "top" 4 (including that plumber) are SMS, which is doubly weird since I almost exclusively use WhatsApp.
How often does a badly implemented algorithm that should in theory just work, get labeled AI because in practice it returns opaque results occasionally?
It's like they know what our intent is, and intentionally replace what we want with what we don't want.
that's funny because on iOS you seemingly can override the order, but the behavior of that between different apps (and/or content types?) is so undeterministic that people just give up.
Or maybe it's just really undeterministic. :)
artificial ... artificial intelligence.
(not to be confused with humans)
Never attribute to AI that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
The one thing iOS does get right is being able to order my apps in the share dialog however I want and it always respects that. I fucking hate using my android phone because I'm 100% sure it's meant to torture you.
I'm using Fliktu https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oakstar.fl... to override the share menu, it works in most apps (some apps use an internal share menu), and you can also trigger it by shaking the phone after copying something into the clipboard. AFAIK it sorts the share targets by "last used".
Personally, until something open source is available, I'll stick with NeoLinker on my unrooted (no firewall) phone. It uses the built-in share share menu, but has the advantage of being able to share to itself to rotate between share, open with, search for, etc. If you're interested, it's available on Fdroid (and probably the play store as well?)
These days though I think iPhone is a little better at that, and Android gets in the way all the time ("Camera has crashed, please restart your phone" - somehow, restarting all apps that may have interacted with the camera works too Android, why don't you clean up after yourself so I don't miss nice photo opportunities).
That said, having to evaluate different models to get something reliable is a pain (currently I would only buy either Pixel or Nokia).
However, if it carries the Android brand I think it's fair to put some of the blame on Google. Atari learned that lesson in the early 1980s.
It's not a big issue normally, but how would you feel, if, as a QWERTY user, you were punted to a Dvorak keyboard to enter your password every time you restarted/updated your phone?
I knew I had them both down when I could tell people verbally how to enter text on our DVORAK machine by telling them the QWERTY equivalent without looking.
I.e. assume the trends continue, and COVID spread is confirmed to happen 99% of the time by respiratory droplets (touch being an ineffective transfer mechanism). Also, data on ultra-clean environments point to harmful effects on the human immune system.
Story from colleague: New intern doesn’t shake hands on introduction, but subsequently continues to work shoulder to shoulder in doors for hours learning equipment.
I’m indifferent to the handshaking, but it will be humorous to me if it has absolutely nothing to do with covid and it goes away. (kind of like rental car companies, some airlines, air bnb etc. that may all be destroyed by fear).
This sort of fault shouldn't have been allowed to pass.
The user has to agree to use that app to open http links.
Sure Google could kick this dev butt and ask them to use a more focused intent filter but that's way less of an issue than an extension siphoning all your web browsing.
"The app" does not provide the share intent panel functionality, the framework does, and even if there was some way in which an app could be thought to be to blame, with what permission would it be inserting its resources in a particular spot in the panel?
Also, the share panel is configurable:
https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/edit-androids-share-m...
Can confirm this works, I just tried it.
Android 7.0 through Android 9
I run Android 10 on a (Google) Pixel 3a.
https://erik.itland.no/andoid-pie-ai-fails-like-most-ai
I have now switched to a iPhone XR, and while it has its own issues it manages to get its suggestions right some times at least (no, I don't need directions home from the store 1000 m away, but at least it isn't completely out of touch like Android.
You can replace the share provider app with something else like https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rejh.share....
It used to be miles ahead of iOS but it has been pretty stagnant and for a while has shipped with an implementation that would ask at share time which apps can respond (Which explains why populating the share menu was pretty slow for several android versions)
Shutup and eat your dogfood like a good consumer ; )
So actually not a crock of shit, and pretty useful if you're grilling/smoking over long periods of time before/during a big party or something. Not all grilling is quick searing.
Sometimes new features aren't just gimmicks, you know?
On a lighter note, Weber does sound like a good name for a web browser.
In other words - the backlash over excessive data storage and retention is very much good thing, but let's be careful to try keep things in perspective a bit. Otherwise we run the risk of people not taking us seriously when it actually matters.
as we learn time and time again with this kind of thing, the scary things don't come from the data and metrics that they want, the scary things come as a form of collateral damage that occurs when the company does whatever they have to do in order to harvest the metrics that they're interested in.
Here's a devils' advocate leap that isn't too far from the realities of IoT devices: Company X's telemetry function is broken, allowing arbitrary remote code execution. The IoT device receives a command that causes property or personal damage -- or it becomes a node in a much larger destructive network.
These things happen when features get packed in faster than the security can follow.
Yeah, yeah, the Weber product is just a thermometer. It can still be a node in a malicious network, given attacker incentive.
This is a poor example -- it's an interface that accepted and expected inputs -- but I think it serves as a good example of IoT doing security wrong.
https://www.wired.com/story/snoo-smart-bassinet-vulnerabilit...
Now imagine what could be inferred from your meat grilling data.
I am not saying that that people go around doing nefarious things with your meat grilling data. In fact, there is a very good chance that it is not even being collected. Yet we live in a world that is hungry for data of virtually any type and in any form, which makes both data collection and nefariousness a possibility when that data is being handled by an Internet connected device. Personally, I find that possibility creepy - even if no harm is being done.
Some of your valves may be stuck, resulting in low output. Check all areas for rust, and clean it out if it's evident.
Gas grills are too often engineered for low cost builds. They rust easily, and require regular maintenance.
Good luck!
I still probably wouldn't use an IoT one, though.
I understand that if the thermometer is on th lid and not actually measuring the meat it's crap, but if it's measuring the same way as the IOT version, then the readout is fine on the lid.
I use an IoT thermometer so that I can monitor smoking progress over 13 or so hours and still do things like go to the hardware store.
Fire, knives and an apron with a pithy slogan - c'mon, how hard can it be?
Anyhow, folks who are serious about preparing smoked brisket, ribs, etc., are very particular about the temperature of both the air/smoke and the food. Two thermometers and maybe a computer-controlled fan or damper are not far outside the norm.
Haha, gadget as in IoT crap, maybe, but we're for-sure the market for: aeropress, sous-vide devices (yes some do them DIY but...), dedicated pizza ovens, and so on. You got a gadget to prepare food or drinks that already have other ways to prepare them, HN's not a crazy place to market it. Bonus if it's "sciency" or can be described as more "authentic".
But of course we're not like the stupid plebs falling for those silly devices we don't like.
(mind, I'm far from immune to this, so I'm not just casting stones at others—oh I am getting one of those pizza ovens at some point. That's happening.)
It's ok to not know something about a topic and not disingenuously comment about it.
Sure, you could go with a standard soil composition and add water on a schedule, then harvest when it feels best.
Or, you think of it as a system with inputs and outputs. If you can observe the system and manipulate the variables (soil composition analysis, moisture measurements, temperature control and sunlight optimization, etc) accordingly, then your yield can improve dramatically.
Any nursery sells a multitude of tools to measure and manipulate those variables, and farms are a whole other beast of systems design.
It's much the same with cooking meat. Control the variables, improve the result.
Jokes aside, cooking meat properly should almost always have a leave in thermometer for anything that isn't being seared.
Personally, I wouldn't use an app for this and instead just use a remote sensor and dedicated monitor, but I don't fault anyone for using an app.
But even if it were grill temp the gauge on the BBQ lid is more of a guide than an actual temperature. They are highly inaccurate, more like "cold, warm, hot" than "400 degrees".
For most stuff just dialing in the temp comparatively is fine, so the grill gauge works. You know you want to grill your steak when the thing reads 600 degrees, and your chicken at 400. But those temps are certainly not remotely accurate.
For some other things (e.g. BBQ/smokers/etc.) getting exact temps correct is key. In those cases you'll require something much more accurate than the grill gauge even just to measure grill temp. Having something wireless is pretty handy in this case, so you can watch a movie in the basement and check on your meat temps without walking upstairs every 15 minutes.
This whole attitude to cooking is also weird. Cooking is in large part experimenting, seeing what works and what doesn't, learning and iterating. Sometimes the results will be bad, often they'll be sub-optimal but the variance is part of what makes it and we lose something by trying to turn it into an exact science. If you want something precisely timed and always the same I suggest McDonalds.
Actually, if you want something precisely timed and always the same I suggest a Michelin-starred restaurant.
If you've ever eaten at McDonald's you'd know the quality control, well, leaves a lot to be desired.
Your comment tells me you don't really know anything about cooking at all.
This is an awesome feature for a smoker, which needs fairly consistent temperature for like 10-14hrs.
Off-hand I'd think for things like a grill I'd want this to be handled at the power strip level. Normally a grill, like a weber grill, is just a piece of metal and will last until you wear it out (even then it's mostly the flimsy legs that fail). If you add internet connectivity, the expected lifetime value of a product goes way down: failing hardware, services that get shut down, protocols that stop working as expected.
Meanwhile at the power strip level, you can both monitor and enforce energy usage, something that's beneficial even if you remove the ability to control it remotely (and why would you!?). I'd imagine for most things but maybe my computer and media setup I'd prefer to be able to simply cut the power to ensure it's not running.
EDIT: Apparently this is a meat thermometer!
Not even being picky and sticking with an open protocol like ptpp but any kind of internet controllable power strip. All I can find are single outlets at ~$25 a piece.
It plays nicely with Home Assistant. https://www.kasasmart.com/us/products/smart-plugs/kasa-smart...
https://dlidirect.com/products/new-pro-switch
Fairly expensive though.
Valid concern about more moving parts and expected lifetime
Personally I use charcoal because I like flavor. :)
Points kinda the same tho right? Power strip is too early / dumb to modify a near-continuous variable on the device
It's a thermometer app for a Bluetooth thermometer.
I upgraded specifically for that and I genuinely love it.
This is so nuts, there must be something missingThis might be a recipe app registering some bullshit capabilities or something.
Now my dishwasher, that's got wifi as well and that one I don't really get. The only command it accepts is to tell me how many dishwasher detergent pods I have left. To have it track that, I have to tell it whenever I buy more pods, and it subtracts one every time I run a dishwashing cycle.
[0] - https://grocy.info/
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How are we going to prevent every single useful thing from coming up with its own crappy, poorly-maintained application? Because obviously having open standards is not enough.
So far the solution we've come up with seems to be "wait until one or a few companies dominate the market, come up with their own solution, and hope it's an open one and/or others adopt it."
This particular app might not be crappy, but I think my question still stands.
In the context of the early Web, should we have prevented any company from making their own website? Enforced some standard for how your website UX should work in the name of security and usability? Obviously not, as that diversity has led to more, better choices over time, and in the end the better UXs usually win out anyway.
Perhaps in a similar way, as Weber and other grill brands continue to sell into the IoT space, competition will drive them to differentiate in UX on their apps in addition to their hardware. Albeit at a slower pace given that their hook is their hardware unlike a digital product where the website is also usually the first impression.
Well, websites are now a bundle of arbitrary remote code execution called javascript, we didn't allow that, so by today's standards, ya we did.
> Enforced some standard for how your website UX should work in the name of security and usability?
Well, html, so ya, again, ya we did. And we could again. A lot of the functionality of apps simply don't justify requiring you to run a program.
The only thing you can really do with an app-tied product: complain loud and publicly, and hope the company realized that nobody is buying a locked in product if the app has two stars.
"Comes with a built in firewall"
"*Default Braiser?"
"Still better than Internet Explorer!"
I'm here all week.
"Does it support cookies?"
"Welcome to the World Wide Weber"
I think it would be incredibly cool if this tweet especially was turned into reality: