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jchrome

96 karma · joined July 10, 2014

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jchrome··on Smart TVs sending sensitive user data to Netflix and Facebook
Fair point on the screenshot. Yea I dont think any TV is phoning home with screenshots. Rather it's phoning home with a processed signal of the A/V in order to ID that A/V. If there is A/V that cannot be recognized, it may phone home a screenshot of that.

And I also don't think it's easy to escape the scope of GDPR. I'm just saying companies come up with ways of being "GDPR compliant" and they've done so.

jchrome··on Smart TVs sending sensitive user data to Netflix and Facebook
"They are spying on millions of people"

If you consider tracking an anonymous identifier for the purposes of better marketing "spying" then I think that's a stretch. Calling out TV in particular for it is a bit silly - it's simply everywhere.

"...without their consent and without telling them about it."

Yes they are. You opt in or out when you buy the TV. They tell you about it then. You can be like most people and not read the fine print, but then don't be all surprised when someone's pulling the wool over your eyes.

jchrome··on Smart TVs sending sensitive user data to Netflix and Facebook
Not for attribution. It’s for exposure. If Pepsi buys $1M in ads on NBC, it only knows the DMA and time slot/programs it bought the ads on. It doesn’t know the households it bought the ads on. With ACR data, it will know that you were exposed. From there, they can do a few different things. Audience studies (like they reached 2000 households with a certain income etc). Or they can run attribution studies. A company called Data+Math looks at exposure of these kinds of ads, understands which households weren’t exposed (as a control) and gives statistically significance calculations on linear TV ads to understand lift of sales (one example).
jchrome··on Smart TVs sending sensitive user data to Netflix and Facebook
It’s called ACR data and it’s very common. And yes, TVs are phoning home with it.

And GDPR only requires that you opt in. So when you sign into the TV for the first time, it gives you an opt in choice and many do it. The States is less regulated but will be soon.

jchrome··on Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?
It tickles me that photography is noted as a worthwhile skill. I don’t disagree. Photography to me is meditation. I get to wander around and find things pleasing to the eye. Nothing could be better.
jchrome··on What is a Dog?
I find it funnier the outrage of those who can’t bear to think of their dog’s love as contingent upon food. “But I need unconditional love from my pet!”
jchrome··on Bitcoin Blows Past $9,000
Can't wait until it gets to Frieza's level
jchrome··on How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York’s Subways
You've got to be more specific. I've lived in NYC for almost a decade and I think the power went out 3 times and that's always been due to a hurricane. Power cuts are not something I've had to deal with in any significant manner in anyplace I've lived in the USA (and I've lived all over).
jchrome··on Paradise Papers: Dear Tim Cook
The more interesting fact is that if Tim Cook were to pay more taxes, he'd be fired by his shareholders. CEO's of public companies are supposed to increase profitability, not decrease it.
jchrome··on Scientists record biggest ever coral die-off on Australia's Great Barrier Reef
What I find most fascinating is that we look to others to change principally before ourselves. Invariably when there is terrible news such as this, people will discuss the 'deniers' etc.

But the deniers aren't the most pernicious. Those who know perfectly well what they are doing is hurting the planet but do nothing about it are the most pernicious (aka - me). I know what I do is bad, but how do I not do it?

I live in New York City. Take public transportation everyday and probably consume less plastic goods than the average (my household is about 1000 sq. ft and therefore requires less chemicals to clean, less furniture to fill with etc).

A friend from San Francisco said to me "I view NYC as a giant pile of trash." And I can see her point, it's out on the street and in clear daylight. She's right. But just because San Francisco hides its trash better doesn't mean it doesn't make any.

So though I can argue that I pollute less on a per capita basis, I still do. What should I do?

jchrome··on Facebook is a growing and unstoppable digital graveyard
Please explain how it is irrelevant. If you cease paying attention to FB, then your deceased loved ones no longer continue this "digital life" as the article puts it.
jchrome··on Facebook is a growing and unstoppable digital graveyard
I think the last quote of the article is telling:

"The truth," writes Borges, "is that we all live by leaving behind."

Honestly, why can't we all heed this advice and just leave Facebook behind?

The second we all stop looking at it the second it stops being so important. I hardly ever check FB anymore.

jchrome··on Rand Paul: 'I will force the expiration' of portions of Patriot Act
Ha. I got -4 points for this. Can't people take a joke?
jchrome··on US Senate Debate on Patriot Act Extension
This needs more upvotes..
jchrome··on Rand Paul: 'I will force the expiration' of portions of Patriot Act
I usually confuse RuPaul with Pope Paul II
jchrome··on Not Buying a Home Could Cost You $65,000 A Year
HURRY UP AND BUY!
jchrome··on Ask HN: What do you wish you were doing in your 20s that you didn't do?
I would take more life risks in my early 20's like traveling/living in different places.

In my late twenties I would take more business risks - creating apps/companies that are seemingly without business model and it would help me learn a lot.

jchrome··on Project Exodus: What’s behind the dream of colonizing Mars?
Guess we'll never know.

Too bad too. The headline had potential!

jchrome··on So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
> "And as he compares Google to 1800s colonialism, he is making a _complete_ mockery of history. Are you freaking serious? Free Internet offered on balloons is equivalent to EIC-style Imperialism / Colonialism ?"

Colonialism comes in many forms. Sure, there are obvious forms such as enslaving a population and making them mine ore from a mountain so that the colonist can get physical goods. Then there are less obvious forms, cultural imperialism as an example (or as Aral calls it, Digital Imperialism).

Open your mind a bit and criticize him for what he's really saying. You're fighting a straw-man here.

jchrome··on Why Is Marketing Such a Tough Pill for Startups to Swallow?
Was this generated by a machine automatically to help increase your SEO marketing?

"Having worked at a startup that kept adding more features, I can tell you this approach doesn’t work. It’s like adding more flavors to a sundae based on the belief that variety is the spice of life. The truth is that consumers will bite (pun, intended) on a plain vanilla sundae with chocolate sauce if they know that it exists and there is The truth is that consumers will bite (pun, intended) on a plain vanilla sundae with chocolate sauce if they know that it exists and there is good buzz around how good it tastes."

jchrome··on So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
"I don't know why he keeps bringing up "White People" conquering nations, or "The White Dude who lives in a Cloud and watches over Us" , or any of the other disparaging remarks. What the hell? How many times does he call Mark Zuckerberg white? Why have any emphasis there at all?"

You obviously don't understand the main point he is driving at. It's about colonialism. And throughout history, the White Man is typically the colonizer. He's just furthering his point.

I am* white and I don't find it disparaging.

jchrome··on Self-driving cars are getting into accidents in California
What a terribly misleading title.

Yes, self-driving cars are getting into accidents. No they are not the cause of those accidents. Whats the story here?

jchrome··on So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
"constantly disparage audience members for being white or religious.."

Hyperbole much? He may have been disparaging of religions (once in the talk, mind you) but never white people.

The talk's great.

jchrome··on Entrepreneurship is Not Business
Please stop having an exclamation point at the end of every sentence. Just use periods.
jchrome··on The Ten Thousand Dollar Homepage (2015)
That was genius, Lloyd, sheer genius.
jchrome··on Los Angeles' Booming Creative Class Lures New Yorkers
I think the other thing you didn't mention is that all of those terrible things (like the Kardashians) weren't created by LA, they were created by America. The rest of America encourages such terrible behavior that the Kardashians actually make money when they act poorly. Just because the entertainment industry (which is filled with crap as well as art) is based in LA, is not LA's fault.

I also think Wall Street is filled with soul-less monsters, but it's not on TV as much so I just don't think about it.

jchrome··on Ask HN: What would you do with a year off?
I'm working full time now and wish I had time to pursue artwork. I am now making photographs and printing them. But to really complete my concepts I need time and resources.

If I had your year, I would find some art form and try to perfect it. Then go back to CS in the fall.

Another option: go to Asia. And scuba dive. You can live in India for awhile for little no money. I spent 4 months traveling, diving and shooting photos and absolutely loved it. I don't think I learned a whole lot. But it was heaven.

Maybe do that and have some goal in mind. And if you do travel, you're going to take photos (how can you not?). So get good at making photographs before you go if you do (take a street photography class).

jchrome··on I Hate the News (2006)
Hacker News isn't so much about "news" per se.

"News", I believe, should be about something new or recent. We're now talking about an article (op-ed?) written by Aaron in 2006. This isn't news and much of Hacker News isn't either. It's more just curated information.

jchrome··on Ask HN: Non-Sexist Behaviour Guidelines?
That is a tough one. It's hard because there's nothing "apples to apples" with a male. If some girl stared at my chest, I really couldn't care less.

Now, if a girl made me uncomfortable in some way because of some advance or because she was staring uncomfortable at me in some way, I would let her know.

jchrome··on Obama sharply criticizes China's plans for new technology rules
Inevitably when you take away privacy you hamper freedom of speech. There have already been polls of journalists who are concerned with reporting on important items because of a lack of privacy.
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