17 comments

  • Ben GiffordBen Gifford, over 2 years ago

    Now I don't have to miss the ads I usually would when I walk briskly away.

    11 points
  • Mattias HMattias H, over 2 years ago

    Ye, so i noticed Chrome has a new FaceDetector API which basically lets you detect faces in images easily, so what if we could pause youtube when you're going to make a sandwich?

    GIF Demo

    I don’t trust my webcam, so i have it covered and I don’t trust youtube/google so see this more as an experiment of chromes new technology, than a product you use everyday.

    4 points
  • Stuart McCoyStuart McCoy, over 2 years ago

    Why do people continue to use Google's products? They are, and always have been, and advertising company looking to sell information about you to the highest bidder. Tools like Gmail, Chrome, and Maps are all designed to collect information from you. It doesn't take a PhD to connect the two and after the release of the Selfish Ledger video last week, I'm really surprised there wasn't more of a call (a la Facebook) to quit using Google products. I started an experiment a few weeks ago to stop using Google's search engine in all my devices (I already use Safari, Apple Maps, and Mail on my iPad, Macs, and iPhone). So far I haven't really missed finding information I've been looking for using Bing. I'm thinking of giving Duck Duck Go a try again but it's not readily available on iOS through Safari and I like having access to the same experiences across all my devices.

    3 points
    • Pierre FortierPierre Fortier, over 2 years ago

      I'm in a similar boat. I've ditched Chrome for Firefox (even if it means a significant performance hit on macOS). I've also been using DuckDuckGo on desktop and mobile without noticing much difference (I'm on android for mobile which is its own issue, and I've been contemplating switching to LineageOS... or buy an iPhone)

      It can be a lot of work, though! I'm still not sure what to do about my Gmail, Gmaps on Android (open source alternatives are... sub-optimal), Google Docs+Drive... I'm pretty entrenched.

      Google has sort of become the "default internet" for a lot of people, and off-boarding from it can be quite a project.

      0 points
    • Andrew Hersh, over 2 years ago

      Why would I care if they figure out I am looking to buy a grill, and start showing me ads for grills?

      Why would I care WHAT information they gather about me?

      1 point
      • Stuart McCoyStuart McCoy, over 2 years ago

        Because the grill you're looking at is only a fraction of the data they weened from your perusal of the web. Much like herd immunity from viruses, internet privacy requires "vaccinations" and awareness. The more anti-privacy people like you there are, the more difficult it is to demand privacy concessions from these companies in the future.

        0 points
    • John LeschinskiJohn Leschinski, over 2 years ago

      Why do people continue to use Google's products?

      Because not everyone has a tinfoil hat.

      1 point
      • Stuart McCoyStuart McCoy, over 2 years ago

        A tinfoil hat need not be required to see the damage caused by Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. Privacy isn't dead but it is on life support. Hopefully the GDPR will force stronger privacy protections outside of Europe as well but unless people start caring about what corporations can do with personal information, they will continue to harvest it to the detriment of the internet as a whole.

        And look at this, directly to my point, the NYTimes has an article about amazon.com and facial recognition databases being used by law enforcement.

        0 points
    • Andrew C, over 2 years ago

      You get what you pay for, I guess?

      0 points
  • Vipul. MishraVipul. Mishra, over 2 years ago

    It's one of the things which has huge potential but yet to figure the right use case.

    But good job with the project, works as advertised (punny) .. :)

    1 point
  • Tyler RenfroTyler Renfro, over 2 years ago

    I'm too tinfoil for this. I always keep my cam covered

    1 point
    • Andrew C, over 2 years ago

      A lot of people (and almost all women in tech I know) cover their laptop cameras with tape.

      I also think pausing a video because someone looks away sounds horribly annoying. I often have YouTube streaming new music in the background, for example.

      I could see this being useful for exams or something though, where you may need to require focus.

      0 points
      • Mattias HMattias H, over 2 years ago

        I see where you're coming from and I also cover my webcam, built this more as an experiment with the new API. It is disabled by default so whenever you listen to music etc, don’t enable it :)

        1 point
        • Andrew C, over 2 years ago

          Yea. I actually think you could find a niche market for this technology. Face gesture, for example, sounds pretty accessible so those with limited motor function may find a lot of value.

          1 point