The official tablet (and other useless electronics) thread!

[Apoc]

If the fine folks at Amazon want to listen to my wife and I have sex, more power to them.

[JustinG]

Yea, same boat. They both already have my address through other means outside of the voice assistants.

If them DLing and listening to my requests helps improve the functionality then by all means go for it.

[JPolen01]

Are any of you Alexa or Google Home users worried about privacy with these devices constantly listening? I don't have one a) because I really don't think it will be that useful and b) it sketches me out about what they are listening to and/or storing. 

From this Bloomberg report it looks like it may be fairly easy for an Amazon Alexa team employee to pinpoint your home from the data they are storing.

You mean, Amazon could have my home address? oh my. 

I have the Sonos with Alexa built in and i love it. No i don't care about it listening because i have nothing to hide. Enjoy my terrible sing along to some embarrassing music i guess.

Not that Amazon itself has your address, but that an untold number of employees have access to it. Is that probably already the case? Anyway, I just wanted to see if anyone was concerned. Sounds like no.

[JustinG]

I mean I have access to a lot of data, but im still rocking a used 328, and a Seiko.

The fear mongering by the media about data management is pretty comical.

It's a concern sure, but automatically assuming the employees are immediately gonna use it in a harmful way is retarded.

[Apoc]

I think I'd be concerned if I was talking about intellectual property, my SSN, or my bank routing number, but these topics don't really come up in conversation. I am cognizant of not giving away my privacy for convenience, but I'm also not clear on what the perceived threat is if they can hear what's happening in my house... other than maybe the FBI secretly listening. I think it's a bigger deal that the data could be compromised/intercepted by bad actors and that's why we do not have any cameras in the interior of our house that are connected to the internet.

[.RJ]

The fear mongering by the media about data management is pretty comical.

Until its not.

[JustinG]

The fear mongering by the media about data management is pretty comical.

Until its not.

Well yea. But I equate this Bloomberg article to the same shit the media was peddling about people’s nest cams being “hacked” cause they didn’t change their known compromised pwd.

[.RJ]

The fear mongering by the media about data management is pretty comical.

Until its not.

Well yea. But I equate this Bloomberg article to the same shit the media was peddling about people’s nest cams being “hacked” cause they didn’t change their known compromised pwd.

Ok, but its a real thing.  And if its not your nest cam, its your drone/tv/stove/toaster/fleshlight.  Or the data collected by those apps is used against you as blackmail or if you ever have any legal/marital trouble.  Or one of these compromised iOT devices compromises your laptop which probably has passwords, SSN, bank information somewhere.  And so forth. And edit - some of the biggest DoS attacks have been done by hijacking common "iOT" devices with default passwords.

I realize that i'm a bit of a hypocrite because I'm balls deep in the apple ecosystem and I'm sending tons of data back to apple every time I plug in or back up a device, but I hope (probably misguided) that apple is a little more concerned about security and data than the guys that built my oven.  We'll see. I dont turn on/enable any of the wifi functions on anything else in the house.

And, on edit again, this is only what we know, nevermind the NSA data farm which we dont even know what's being collected about us and your internet/voice carriers selling your data.... China is turning into Black Mirror and I hope that doesnt become us in 50 years.

I'll stop now, I've got clouds to go yell at.

[JPolen01]

^That's what I was getting at. I'm sure it's extremely unlikely, but it only takes one person to do something crazy. What is to stop someone at Amazon from listening to your conversation about your planned vacation and then robbing your house since they can pinpoint your home address through Alexa? Or that same person listening to you cheat on your spouse or plan a crime and then blackmail you.

You can't just completely write off these concerns because "ha they can listen to me bang my wife if they want" or because you are already balls deep in home automation.

[Apoc]

It's far more likely someone is casing my house in my neighborhood and waiting for me to be out of town. That's why I have an alarm system. Plus, I post pictures of us on the internet of us on vacation, so I'm clearly not worried about getting robbed. That said, I will NOT have an internet enabled lock on my house because that's likely to be the failure point.

I don't plan to cheat on my wife or commit a crime, so I'm good there. I get the "I don't have anything to hide" is a lame excuse, but you can't use the commission of immoral or illegal acts as a possible reason not to use the technology. I mean, you can, but it doesn't strengthen your position.

WAY more information is being purposefully transmitted by you over the internet. I'm not sure why voice conversations are this taboo thing.

[.RJ]

I dont expect hackers will rob my house or that anyone gives a fuck about what I argue with my wife about. The potential for abuse though is enormous, although we as a society have voted that convenience and apps are a worthy tradeoff for our privacy and our data.

And I'll just leave this here - https://www.businessinsider.com/china-so...ned-2018-4

[Apoc]

And I'll just leave this here - https://www.businessinsider.com/china-so...ned-2018-4

Using China as an example is a stretch, as the culture there is significantly different. I'm not saying we couldn't end up there, but I am saying it's probably not going to happen in my lifetime. That, and such system is not at all dependent on the technology you choose to use. We're all already being socially ranked by credit providers, medical providers, etc., etc., so are smart devices really any different?

What you should worry more about is machines making decisions about you based on the data that's already provided. It's fine if I get ads that are more relevant to my interests, but categorical decisions about my eligibility for say... medical coverage... based on my phone's location is a concern.

I'd rather work to ensure the appropriate laws are in place and companies are punished for misuse than wear a tinfoil hat with anything that has an internet connection.

[Apoc]

What you should worry more about is machines making decisions about you based on the data that's already provided. 

https://venturebeat-com.cdn.ampproject.o...owers/amp/

[Sully]

Is anyone in the know about small circuit projects and coding such projects. I want to automate my blinds tilt function as a percentage using a small servo and preferably power it with a small solar panel and battery but could really make anything work. Want to be able to control with my phone and Google home. (could be as a function of dimming). I've never really messed with pcbs or stuff like this but figured someone here might be into this stuff.

Yes they make kits but the main ones are like $150 per blind which seems like alot considering the parts are like $15.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

[Evan]

Is anyone in the know about small circuit projects and coding such projects. I want to automate my blinds tilt function as a percentage using a small servo and preferably power it with a small solar panel and battery but could really make anything work. Want to be able to control with my phone and Google home. (could be as a function of dimming). I've never really messed with pcbs or stuff like this but figured someone here might be into this stuff.

Yes they make kits but the main ones are like $150 per blind which seems like alot considering the parts are like $15.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Neat project,  and relatively complex.  I would read around to see if anyone has done it before and try to copy it.

An esp8266 running micropython would be a good platform to start with.  A raspberry pi zero might work (pending analog I/O).   Arduino would work but super old and requires lots of add ons to get wireless working.


From there,  get some breadboards, find the right components (anything Arduino compatible should be easy to work with)  and start prototyping.  Sparkfun, adafruit, and ebay are your friends for components. 

Youre going to spend a LOT LOT more than $150 worth of your time however,  so make sure its something you find fun and interesting,  not just for saving a buck

[JPolen01]

Is anyone in the know about small circuit projects and coding such projects. I want to automate my blinds tilt function as a percentage using a small servo and preferably power it with a small solar panel and battery but could really make anything work. Want to be able to control with my phone and Google home. (could be as a function of dimming). I've never really messed with pcbs or stuff like this but figured someone here might be into this stuff.

Yes they make kits but the main ones are like $150 per blind which seems like alot considering the parts are like $15.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Did you upgrade to a McMansion? Adjust your blinds manually twice a day like a normal human.

[Apoc]

Did you upgrade to a McMansion? Adjust your blinds manually twice a day like a normal human.

So I assume you never use remote entry for your car and unlock your car manually like a normal human?

[.RJ]

Dude went to college, come on now. Why would you adjust your blinds or use a light switch like a peasant?

[Sully]

It's like 13 windows in just the downstairs. What ends up happening is they just stay closed because I don't feel like opening and closing each one every day especially on days we work but it would be nice to get some natural light in and there is plenty of tech to do it so why not.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

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My time isn't worth that much except for manually opening blinds lol.

Lots of people have done different versions but they all seem to be into this type of thing and writing the code for the system.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

[JPolen01]

Did you upgrade to a McMansion? Adjust your blinds manually twice a day like a normal human.

So I assume you never use remote entry for your car and unlock your car manually like a normal human?

That's a terrible comparison because my car comes with a remote that unlocks it without me having to spend countless hours and money in order for it to do so.

Try harder next time.

And that is a lot of windows, Sullivan. McMansion of townhomes for sure.