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jonthefox

The “ I’ve got something to say, but it doesn’t warrant its own thread “ thread.

By jonthefox, in General Chat

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foxile5

foxile5

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, lcfc278 said:

I'm not one to buy into conspiracy theories and I'm not easily led into believing things like this.

 

However, a couple of weeks ago we realised our shed was quite full, so in conversation with the Mrs I mentioned about getting a small bike shed type thing, the kind of small storage shed you can put next to your actual shed. Literally opened my phone about an hour later and the ad's on Facebook were from Amazon, with you guessed it, storage sheds and bike sheds. Turned her off and she's not been back on since lol

It's how it happens - 1984 style.

 

Any public objection with this would be met with 'optimisation of service' style jargon. They'll come wearing a smile and pledging help. They'll leave with monitoring devices in your house and using them to manipulate and target. It's sinister but inevitable. 

 

 

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Parafox

Parafox

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

19 hours ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

Alexa listens to you all the time.

 

My GP has put me on some new med and I was chatting to Mrs. FFF about this earlier - within Alexa's range.

I went on YouTube a short while ago and the first ad that comes on tells me to go to the experts at Boots if you want to chat about any new medication you've been prescribed.

 

Coincidence?

 

I've had 3 other examples where I start receiving adverts on topics prviously discussed with a 'smart' device in earshot.

 

10 hours ago, lcfc278 said:

I'm not one to buy into conspiracy theories and I'm not easily led into believing things like this.

 

However, a couple of weeks ago we realised our shed was quite full, so in conversation with the Mrs I mentioned about getting a small bike shed type thing, the kind of small storage shed you can put next to your actual shed. Literally opened my phone about an hour later and the ad's on Facebook were from Amazon, with you guessed it, storage sheds and bike sheds. Turned her off and she's not been back on since lol

This happens quite a lot. My wife and I and our closest friends were talking light-heartedly about our daughters using dating websites. Next day, on my wife's phone, up pops adverts for dating websites. I didn't get anything as my phone was turned off during the conversation. No Alexa in range.

Recently my wife and I were talking about getting a new laptop and we have Alexa in our kitchen. Next time I look on Amazon... "suggested for you"... laptops.

If you've ever read "1984" by George Orwell you'll know that the (fictional) State had listening devices in all apartments using the compulsory State "TV" screens.

The devices we use now, although we choose to have them, aren't that far removed from those in "1984". It's not state control but's still spying and eavesdropping to further advance corporate income and to influence us, as consumers, in favour of their products. Why search for something if that thing is presented to you by some company as soon as you log on to the internet?

Similarly, whenever you look at a website for a product you're interested in, you will then get emails from them in your inbox regularly until you unsubscribe. That's why I never agree to any suggestion that I can have an email receipt. Say yes, and they've got you.

Edited by Parafox
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foxes21

foxes21

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, foxile5 said:

It's how it happens - 1984 style.

 

Any public objection with this would be met with 'optimisation of service' style jargon. They'll come wearing a smile and pledging help. They'll leave with monitoring devices in your house and using them to manipulate and target. It's sinister but inevitable. 

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Parafox said:

If you've ever read "1984" by George Orwell you'll know that the (fictional) State had listening devices in all apartments using the compulsory State "TV" screens.

The devices we use now, although we choose to have them, aren't that far removed from those in "1984".

The Orwellian nature that has manifested in today’s society is undeniable. 
 

Orwell’s double think, learned helplessness, subjugation of wrong think and the prevalence of newspeak is rife in the modern day. 
 

Is there really much difference between Orwell’s big brother and the snoopers charter, key disclosure law and other invasions of privacy?
 

Is Orwell’s State TV propaganda, much different to the propaganda on TV today? 
 

We like to think we’re not effected by propaganda here in the west, but sadly this is not the case and the behavioural science behind it is eye-opening. For example, the use of Amygdala hijack:

 

During strong threats of fear (such as watching the latest fear mongering on the news), the frontal lobe of your brain which is responsible for reasoning, thinking & decision making, can be disabled by the amygdala, triggering a fight or flight response which can sometimes lead to irrational & unreasonable decision making. 
 

This is of course just the tip of the iceberg. The behavioural science & understanding of how to manipulate the human psyche has come a long way. 
 

‘The literate man is a natural sucker for propaganda. You cannot propagandise a native. You can sell him rum and trinkets but you can’t sell him ideas. Therefore, propaganda is our achilles heel. It’s our weak point. We will buy anything if its got a good, hard sell tied to it. So propaganda is the great big soft spot in the makeup of the literate man’. - Marshall McLuhan, 1977.

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whoareyaaa

whoareyaaa

Posted
Posted
23 hours ago, lcfc278 said:

I'm not one to buy into conspiracy theories and I'm not easily led into believing things like this.

 

However, a couple of weeks ago we realised our shed was quite full, so in conversation with the Mrs I mentioned about getting a small bike shed type thing, the kind of small storage shed you can put next to your actual shed. Literally opened my phone about an hour later and the ad's on Facebook were from Amazon, with you guessed it, storage sheds and bike sheds. Turned her off and she's not been back on since lol

 

On 06/04/2022 at 23:29, Free Falling Foxes said:

Alexa listens to you all the time.

 

My GP has put me on some new med and I was chatting to Mrs. FFF about this earlier - within Alexa's range.

I went on YouTube a short while ago and the first ad that comes on tells me to go to the experts at Boots if you want to chat about any new medication you've been prescribed.

 

Coincidence?

 

I've had 3 other examples where I start receiving adverts on topics prviously discussed with a 'smart' device in earshot.

I'm sure something will come out in a few years about this because as you say you only have to speak about something and you will find it in your ads in no time.

 

Although it may not be fully listening and recording what we say I'm sure it is picking up keywords and using them to establish the ads 

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lcfc278

lcfc278

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

 

I'm sure something will come out in a few years about this because as you say you only have to speak about something and you will find it in your ads in no time.

 

Although it may not be fully listening and recording what we say I'm sure it is picking up keywords and using them to establish the ads 

When I get home from work this evening I'm going to do some tests, have a conversation in front of Alexa about fishing hooks or something and see what happens lol

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Free Falling Foxes

Free Falling Foxes

Posted
Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, lcfc278 said:

When I get home from work this evening I'm going to do some tests, have a conversation in front of Alexa about fishing hooks or something and see what happens lol

Interesting you mentioned fishing.

In my post earlier on this topic, I said it had happened to me before. On one such occasion a friend and I had just finished a game of tennis when he mentioned he was thinking of taking up fishing.

My son is a keen fisherman and I said that all the kit available for what appears a simple pastime, is staggering. I mentioned some of them.

 

Next day an awful lot of fishing related ads appeared wherever I visited online.

 

Your idea to deliberately discuss a topic however, has been tested before, without success apparently.

 

For me though, it seems undeniable it happens.

 

Edited by Free Falling Foxes
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lcfc278

lcfc278

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

Interesting you mentioned fishing.

In my post earlier on this topic, I said it had happened to me before. On one such occasion a friend and I had just finished a game of tennis when he mentioned he was thinking of taking up fishing.

My son is a keen fisherman and I said that all the kit available for what appears a simple pastime, is staggering. I mentioned some of them.

 

Next day an awful lot of fishing related ads appeared wherever I visited online.

 

Your idea to deliberately discuss a topic however, has been tested before, without success apparently.

 

For me though, it seems undeniable it happens.

 

That's interesting. Rest assured though, if I go home and do it and start seeing fishing equipment ads on my phone, I'll be nipping out to buy some tin foil.

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Livid

Livid

Posted
Posted

I loathe Evri/Hermes and ASOS for using them. 
 

Ordered midweek with premier delivery to home and selected today as my designated delivery day. Dispatched last night on next day delivery and it’s nowhere to be seen. 

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Parafox

Parafox

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

Plasters, the sort you put on small cuts, ain't what they used to be.

 

I recall having them on my knee for hours and it would still be well stuck on after a bath. Ones on my arm would hurt when my mam ripped them off.

 

Nowadays you put one on and it's peeling off in less than half an hour.

Agreed. I find the best ones are the fabric type rather than the plastic ones. The issue I think, is that some people have an allergic reaction to the "glue" on the old style plasters.

Waterproof plasters... not a chance. 

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Parafox

Parafox

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Livid said:

I loathe Evri/Hermes and ASOS for using them. 
 

Ordered midweek with premier delivery to home and selected today as my designated delivery day. Dispatched last night on next day delivery and it’s nowhere to be seen. 

I agree after a delivery due on the day of my choice didn't arrive on the day but came 2 days later. Their tracking system is useless. Hermes is notorious for slack delivery and customer service.

I recently bought a new laptop from Amazon and I could track the package on Google maps via Amazon's system and I knew it was 5 stops away from my house. And it was!

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Livid

Livid

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Parafox said:

 Hermes is notorious for slack delivery and customer service.

Everyone uses them though, and we do at work because they’re cheaper than the rest. If you’re doing any kind of online volume it comes down to cost. 
 

They are appalling poor and incredibly frustrating though. My heart sinks a little when I see they’re being used.
 

 I did an order the other week, next day delivery didn’t happen the retailer refunded the delivery in full. Next day the package didn’t move, the retailer marked it as lost and resent it again on next day delivery. Still didn’t arrive but the day after both orders were delivered. :dunno:

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Finnegan

Finnegan

Posted
Posted
49 minutes ago, Daggers said:

I am proud that I don’t know how to and never have danced The Macarena, the birdie song, or that one where everyone sits in a line.

 

Yeah you were always more of a Black Lace guy weren't you? Comb your hair! Superman! 

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BrummieFOX

BrummieFOX

Posted
Posted
On 09/04/2022 at 16:30, Livid said:

I loathe Evri/Hermes and ASOS for using them. 
 

Ordered midweek with premier delivery to home and selected today as my designated delivery day. Dispatched last night on next day delivery and it’s nowhere to be seen. 

Same. Paid for next day, arrived 2 days later and was just left on my doorstep. I was away that night so came back to it the following morning, luckily no one had nicked it.

 

But I told them it didn't arrive and so got a full refund. F**k 'em.

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Nalis

Nalis

Posted
Posted

I've never understood the tradition of eating a pie at half time at a football match when broken down logically.

 

First of all, 3.45pm is an awful time to eat something other than a snack.

 

Also, its a pie - its too big for a snack but not enough for a meal unless its with something else.

 

Pointless.

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RonnieTodger

RonnieTodger

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Nalis said:

I've never understood the tradition of eating a pie at half time at a football match when broken down logically.

 

First of all, 3.45pm is an awful time to eat something other than a snack.

 

Also, its a pie - its too big for a snack but not enough for a meal unless its with something else.

 

Pointless.

I’ve wondered this about McDonald’s.

 

There is always a queue of cars outside the Wigston one, even at 11:30 when they’ve stopped serving breakfast.

 

Animals having a Big Mac before lunch

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