normalentrance

@normalentrance@lemmy.zip

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Walmart Is Putting Digital Labels That Change Prices Instantly on Every Store Shelf in America⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Smartphones with WiFi can now be used as an indicator of customer presence thanks to a WiFi mechanism that is common across all such devices: probe requests. These 802.11 management frames are transmitted at regular intervals from WiFi devices. The frames contain information that can be used to identify presence, time spent, and repeat visits within range of a WiFi access point. These devices can be detected by WiFi access points irrespective of its WiFi association state meaning that even if a user does not connect his or her device to the wireless network, the device’s presence can still be detected while the device is within range of the network and the device’s WiFi antenna is turned on.

  I’m just a developer, so admittedly I’m unsure if the frames they refer to have any uniquely identifying information in those frames. Hopefully not. At the very least they get a heat map of where phones are in the store.

  If you connect to the wifi they will get your MAC address for sure, but that’s usually randomized every time you connect.

  Hypothetically if you hop on their wifi they can track your device for the duration of that connection all the way to the register. Then you use your credit card or rewards programs and they can put it together. (When I swipe my card at microcenter they always say “do you still live on…” since I’ve purchased online from them.)

  Locally at one of our sports stadiums you swipe your card walk in to a snack area, grab what you want, and walk out with it. They use cameras and other sensor to make that possible. If they can figure it out Walmart certainly can.

  This is all tinfoil hat stuff based on pieces of information I have, but it sure is interesting to think about.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Walmart Is Putting Digital Labels That Change Prices Instantly on Every Store Shelf in America⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I once worked retail and it was a pain to run around printing labels for hours. Granted, I got paid by the hour, so there were much worse things to do.

  I also don’t believe this is a nefarious plot, but it does enable dynamic pricing. Stores are creepy these days, they have sensors and network hardware that can track you in the store. They also can do facial recognition.

  So they know who you are, where you are / where you went, what you ultimately buy (just enter your rewards number!). So they could literally see someone coming and raise prices on certain items as they enter the store.

  Not to say that is a strategy companies are actively employing, but all the pieces are there.

  Reference to help you sleep at night: documentation.meraki.com/…/Location_Analytics

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It turns out that Juggalo makeup blocks facial recognition technology⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Woop woop

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨This robotic hand has such sensitive touch that it can grasp objects as fragile as a potato chip or a raspberry without crushing them⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Sweet, robots that can do more human jobs.

  they took er jerbs!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Bring Back the Burned CD— They’re a love language. And a reminder of the hope we once had.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  You can get one at a bank. It is short for certificate of deposit. It’s basically a high interest savings account that is difficult to access until it matures. They are at or above 4% now at some banks, so it is a relatively safe investment that is slightly higher than inflation.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨This Fall, Florida Students Will Be Forced to Take “Anti-Communist” Classes⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  This is a stupid idea, but I have faith kids will smell the BS

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is there any reason we were taught in school that blood is blue in the body until it reaches oxygen and then it turns red other than our veins look blue?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Did you go to school during a period of time where there wasn’t access to information on the Internet? Old wives’ tales had more legs back in the day because you’d have to visit a library and open a card catalog to disprove them.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s always sunny does this brilliantly.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What's happening on Epstein Island now after everything that has been exposed?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I’m curious where the billionaires go to rape kids now. They didn’t stop because Epstein is dead.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨For when joints give you a sore throat and edibles give you a tummy ache⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I’d try that once

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Ring Cameras Join Flock and Amazon to Now Create Direct Data Access for ICE⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  We don’t have any expectation of privacy in the US. You can place cameras anywhere you like on your property and can film anything in public.

  Unfortunately we have to make our own privacy here (by closing the shades, etc.)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Ring Cameras Join Flock and Amazon to Now Create Direct Data Access for ICE⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I enjoy having cameras on my house to see what’s going on in the neighborhood. It has come in handy at least once when my neighbor’s truck was stolen in broad daylight.

  They are ring cameras because two were installed already when I moved in. What should I switch to? I just really want motion alerts and proof when something bad happens.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Big AI has PC users furious. Nvidia and Micron's weird emotional appeals make it worse⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It almost seems like they want to make home computing unaffordable, so you have to rent PC time from a cloud provider. This way they nickel and dime you, and use your data to train their LLMs.

  Micron and nvidia get their cut by being able to set whatever prices they can imagine.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Jeff Bezos said the quiet part out loud — hopes that you'll give up your PC to rent one from the cloud⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The quiet part is what they plan to do with your data. Spoiler: nothing good.