I always feel like somebody's watching me

found on Acid Cow

I have a soft spot for pranks, and I would very much like to try this one some day (if I ever travel again)

We're paying AND we're the product

from here and here (image source)

You've no doubt heard the saying before: If you're not paying then you're the product. Well, it seems as though Vizio thought that was too limiting and found a way to make you the product even when you do pay. They make twice as much from the data they collect from TVs as they do from selling the TVs in the first place. I kind of think that if they're making so much off the data they should be giving us something for free. Where's my slice of the pie?

Look at me, I'm the adblocker now

from here and here (source tweet)

If you're technical enough you might be able to save your expensive smart TV from the clutches of advertisers, but I tend to think it will be easier for most people to just download their TV shows from the Internet, and then what's the point of paying for a fancy smart TV? Viewers are going to take whatever path gives them the better user experience, and filling the top half of a navigation screen with ads is not a good user experience.

Unfortunately, that solution only works for smart TVs. It's not going to save you from ads on smart fridges or other smart devices. The Internet of Shit is rapidly becoming the Internet of Shitty Ad Players.

Hopefully they can quarantine awful shows while they're at it

from here

Virus-scanning all the things is the price of "Smart" technology. All general purpose computers support viruses, and the people making smart devices are putting general purpose computers in them because it's cheaper to put a general purpose computer in a special purpose box than it is to create a special purpose computer. Samsung was just trying to accept the reality of the situation when they told people to scan their sets.