End of Software Support - Clarifications

On my continuation of streaming services worries - from being laughed at four days ago, to this today:

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2020/03/19/netflix-is-lowering-stream-quality-to-preserve-bandwidth-is-music-streaming-next/

Of course this is for just the EU, the US is exempt, no?

Hi Res, anyone?

Sonos cancels May event - any bets for which day next week?

What I heard on CNN was that this is in fairness preventative rather than essential. They also had Verizon’s top boy on saying they had no such need at that time US wise … mind that was probably three days back. Was purely what I heard on the news. I’d say we could all do with life in SD rather than 4k UHD for a while :-)

Our VM service has stuttered a few times but could be absolutely anything and could measure as individual events not a trend.

I guess some stressing is inevitable as so many are taking to using the wires to communicate over. Today will be an interesting test of that in the UK .… Mother's day and the advise (quite reasonably) is to not visit, stay at home and find other ways to do the honorable things. 

For once, India is showing the way. The whole country of 1.4 billion people are on a voluntary curfew today from 7 am to 9 pm, and I am honestly in awe of how much people are cooperating - and we are a people that love breaking every civic rule unless visible force is there to implement it.

Today, all cities are still; even the stray dogs are quiet because they are completely confused, even shocked by the absence of the usual hubbub.

But when all are at home how else to communicate but over the net; and to binge watch?

Because this drill of today is merely to prepare us for a longer lockdown, and to identify for the government where enforcement needs to be present to ensure mandatory compliance in the days ahead.

You got this all wrong.

No one is going to sit and listen to YOU specifically, they use software to listen to EVERYONE, and then the software will decide, based on some ruleset it is programmed to, if you are a bad person.

If there is a mistake or if you say words that are not meant in any bad way, but interpreted by the “AI” then you will be put under more surveillance.

Saying “I dont care about my privacy, because i have nothing to hide” is just the same as saying “I dont care about free speech, because i dont have anything to say”.

Usually, when someone makes something, someone else finds a way to misuse it. Maybe some hacker gets access to your microphone and listens in and finds out something about you that is not illegal, but might be embarrasing if everyone knew. Maybe you have a special sexual preference that is not illegal, but you dont want everyone to know.

Well, there is great potential for extortion then.

In my country, at some point in the past, some crooks began sending out bill’s for call’s to sex-lines.

Totally bogus, but you would be surprised to know that a lot of men paid the bill, instead of contesting it, mainly because they knew they would have a hard time convincing their spous that they did in fact not make these calls.

Maybe sometime in the future when sonos has been listening in on your conversations (Not saying they do, but who knows in the future). They know all of your preferences, so they can show you targeted advertising. Google has been accused of this quite a bit, and even i have had an example of me, talking on the phone with someone else about a product i had never heard of and never searched for online, only to find that my google adspaces were suddenly filled with adverts for this particular brand of product.

Also, if i do searches online for “sonos” i will get sonos ad’s which is how google works, but even my wife gets sonos ads on her phone when she browses the internet from the internet connection at home, because google knows we are together, as our phones always connect to the internet from the same internet connection.

So next time you search for “inflatable love sheep” remember that you might get a stern talking to, by your wife when these kind of items pops up on her google ads.

Also…..You are safe, as the microphone power is in parallel with the LED so if one is on, the other is as well, is not very helpful, who has their sonos speakers mounted in such a way that you can see the LED on top of the unit in everyday situations.

Just a clarification on this feature - If you never set up a voice control service, the microphone cannot be turned on, and the LED need not be obsessively checked.  If that is not enough to allay your fears, then I don’t know what to say.  

Let me put it this way.

I dont ever want to use these voice features, so the microphone is totally irrelevant to me.

Why do you think that TV manufacturer’s that just a few years back were announcing in a big way that their tv had a camera, have scrapped this feature.

Also….Cisco also said that their phones could not be listened in to when the receiver was hung up …

Their claims did not age well

A device with a microphone and/or a camera, that does not support a feature that i want, is just not something i would want in my house.

I tolerate my phone as it can not function without it, but my phone is always put in a special place where the microphone can not hear anything, but i can hear if it is ringing.

You will maybe change your mind when sonos or some similar voice assistant product is hacked and info leaked.

Been hacked before. Called Fitbit, got it back on my account.  Changed all my other passwords that were similar.  Done in about an hour.  Scary, yes.  However, I'm far more concerned about my banking and purchasing apps being hacked than Sonos or Alexa knowing my conversations, which is why I enable 2 factor authentication wherever I can.  Being behind my firewall, Sonos is last on my list to require that type of security.

Obviously, YMMV.  Doesn't make either of us right or wrong.

We saw this on UK TV today and everyone commented how disciplined. And damn those are big cities. Impressive.

Am a fairly hefty traveller in my work sphere (80 returns a year) but never yet had the opportunity to visit India. Can you believe this year ‘was’ the year. On Ice.

 Unlike our own folks skiing down hills in Scotland and walking up mountains in Wales in droves. I’m not a panicker or over reactor indeed and can be accused of playing stuff down a tad too much maybe but the pictures on TV are nuts. Total lack of respect, discipline and consideration for the other guy and his people.

I hope this bauds well for the people there in the time to come.

I did know that this isn't being done by people listening on headphones sitting in a van outside my home.

I am sure you also know that every cell phone call you make is heard in the way you describe, and I am dubious about the claim that what's app messages are safe/private, being encrypted.

I am paranoid where I need to be for banking and purchasing using 2 factor.

I also do not use a debit card because that leaves me having to argue with a bank that has the disputed amount in its pocket - I use credit cards from banks I do not bank with, so any argument can be conducted with an intact bank balance.

In my case it may help that I am over 60 and left with little energy or motivation to be naughty. It is the same circumstance that permits me to listen to music without obsessing that it is not hi res.

YMMV.

So do I. We need the firebreak of two weeks of such a total lockdown - that the curfew has now morphed into - if a country of our size is to get a fighting chance of success against a menace, by breaking it down to manageable proportions.

Since 2002, when he was head of one of our states, I have detested our PM and his divisive politics - to my thinking there are frightening parallels with Adolf Hitler and Germany in 1930. But for now, I have to say that his leadership has been masterly, rising to being a statesman that is talking to all Indians effectively. Once we are out of this, I will go back to evaluating him on merits. If he is successful, he may even have a good epiphany. But that is something for a post corona world.

Digression over.