Quack System Upgrades


Ok, so what's the most ridiculous "SNAKE OIL" upgrade you have come across?

Let the fun begin HAHAHA :) :)

128x128crazyeddy
*LOL* Geoff, that's just the sort of thing that makes me vacillate between amazement and mild paranoia.  Things like that have an amazing tendency to just improve on us.  There's research going on towards in 'mind control' of digital devices that potentially could 'read your thoughts'; I suppose one has to 'think out loud' at this time to 'get it's attention' and trigger the desired response.  The obvious use would be for the handicapped... those who can't otherwise use hands, limbs, or any typical means to use a device, move about, or communicate...
Stephen Hawking comes to mind....one of the greatest thinkers of our era is able to share his thoughts and knowledge even now.  If he was able to have further improvements on his devices, if that tech was more common to a broader user base, it borders on magic and myth...

"The lame walk, the halt speak, the blind see..."  Truly practical magic. *S*  It's wondrous to live in the era when that begins to become real...

...and then there's the YT vid of 2 iPhones held next to each other, listening to Siri talk to 'herself'.  The conversation isn't terribly brilliant, but it's funny if only on the conceptual level. ;)

...and I think back to a Blue Man concert back in Houston some 12 years ago.  The 'opening act' was 2 LED 'reader boards', one each stage left and right.  They began with a simple 'conversation', one responding to the other.

It grew more involved....one became petulant, the other rather paranoid and argumentative.  Obviously contrived and scripted, but it amused the audience and started levels of support and disdain, depending on where it went.  A good distraction while the roadies 'tidied up'...

What would occur if there was some current AI's chatting it up?  Would we still be amused?  What if 'they' could respond to the audience, 'sense' their level of involvement?  Where would it go....?

The Future.  Live it, or live with it.  Happens all the time...*G*  Can't be stopped, not even paused...

What if our systems knew what you needed to hear?  The TV lights up to what you read earlier, or merely heard about?  The restaurant has your parties' meals waiting for you, just what y'all had in mind, Waiting for y'all to take your seats, the libation shaken, not stirred....;)

We may all be Borg eventually, but not in the STNG feared fashion....what if you could read your partners' mind?  Your neighbors?

Would it be the 4 things I kid people about now, reading minds and why I gave it up?

"It's always basically the same 4 things....Money, Food, Sex, and Sleep.  Not in any particular order..."

...but I'm just 'like that'... ;)  Just random walking while awake, doing something else....*G*
Sorry...off topic rant....I'm prone to that, lately....

Our current 'shared reality' is a bit too surreal for even my tastes of late.

asvjerry
*LOL* Geoff, that’s just the sort of thing that makes me vacillate between amazement and mild paranoia. Things like that have an amazing tendency to just improve on us. There’s research going on towards in ’mind control’ of digital devices that potentially could ’read your thoughts’; I suppose one has to ’think out loud’ at this time to ’get it’s attention’ and trigger the desired response. The obvious use would be for the handicapped... those who can’t otherwise use hands, limbs, or any typical means to use a device, move about, or communicate...
Stephen Hawking comes to mind....one of the greatest thinkers of our era is able to share his thoughts and knowledge even now. If he was able to have further improvements on his devices, if that tech was more common to a broader user base, it borders on magic and myth...

Let me put this in context. The Mind Lamp from Psyleron - for which I am the sole distributor - comes from the ICRL (International Consciousness Research Laboratory) which is the current reincarnation as it were of PEAR (Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research). The Mind lamp was developed to prove some of PEARs general conclusions or claims. I got involved with Princeton’s PEAR and ICRL because some of their findings are related to the operational mechanisms of many of my products in terms of extra sensory perception and how matter and especially "patterns of information" affect the mind, SPECIFICALLY HOW THEY AFFECT PERCEPTION OF SOUND AND VIDEO. avsjerry - one assumes you have an interest in video, yes? Some of my relevant products - the Teleportation Tweak, Morphic Message Labels, Clever Little Clock, Blue Meanies, Quantum Temple Bell.

from the PEAR website:

Engineering and Consciousness

The Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) program, which flourished for nearly three decades under the aegis of Princeton University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, has completed its experimental agenda of studying the interaction of human consciousness with sensitive physical devices, systems, and processes, and developing complementary theoretical models to enable better understanding of the role of consciousness in the establishment of physical reality.

PEAR has now incorporated its present and future operations into the broader venue of the ICRL, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization, in addition to Psyleron—a company that provides Random Event Generator devices to enable the continued exploration of PEAR’s findings by the general public and research communities.

As Arthur C. Clarke opined, "A sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

The interesting thing about the Mind Lamp is that its claims can be easily proven by tracking the colors that are displayed under a variety of conditions and calculating the actual percentages for the colors over time vs random probabilities which are all 1/8 or 0.125 for each of the 8 colors obviously.

have a nice new year

Andy, I'd feel better if we could....*L*

I want the "I don't mind Lamp"....wait a minute, I already own some.  You turn them on, and they don't flicker at me.  Unless the utility is having a hiccup, that's OK.  If I don't like white, there's colored bulbs....

Meanwhile, speaking of resonators....

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/acoustics-highend-novum-pmr-premium-mkii-room-acoustic-resonator-e...

Some want to do it on purpose, and pay a premium to do so.  Another "Say What?!" moment.....   Buy some ART for the room, a couple of beautifully done bowls that 'float your boat' aesthetically.  Something to 'take the minimalist edge off the cave'.  I'd wager they'd do more or less the same thing; and if they didn't, move 'em into the living room or wherever....

They're pretty...for a nicely rendered sat dish....;)

Can we blame all this on lead in the water, please?