Virtual Zuck Fails To Connect (bbc.com) 141
Rory Cellan-Jones, writing for BBC: It must have seemed like a good idea. As a taster for a big announcement about Oculus VR on Wednesday, send Mark Zuckerberg on a little virtual reality trip, including a stop in Puerto Rico. But the reviews are in -- and they are not good. The sight of Mr Zuckerberg using VR to survey the devastation of an island still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria may have been meant to convey Facebook's empathy with the victims. The fact that he was there in the form of a cartoon seemed to many the perfect visual metaphor for the gulf in understanding between Silicon Valley and the real world. Sure, he was talking about all the activities which his company had initiated to help the island, from helping people tell their families they were ok using Safety Check to sending Facebook employees to help restore connectivity. But cartoon Zuck showing us a 360 degree view of a flooded street before zipping back to a virtual California just seemed a little, well, crass. Is Facebook really concerned about the plight of Puerto Rico, or is it merely a handy backdrop to promote Oculus, whose sales have so far proved disappointing?
Paper towels? (Score:2)
Did virtual Zuck get a chance to lob some?
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You'd think that the whole tone-deaf episode with Trump with his paper towels, Zuckerberg would've learned a lesson.
I find the fact that nobody at Facebook dared to point this out to him rather insightful. Silence does speak volumes.
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Of course not. Zuck knows he's so much a better person than Trump that he couldn't possibly be insensitive like Donald!
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Re: Paper towels? (Score:2)
nitwitsSurely there's only one.
What everyone is REALLY asking... (Score:2)
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Tasty Wheat.
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Shut up, Mouse.
"I care about form over function" (Score:1)
The real one saying they care about form over function is the author of the article. I hear no complaints about what Facebook is actually doing in Puerto Rico. In fact the article lists several things that sound quite helpful, even though Facebook is not a relief agency and has no charter to help at all. Yet this article complains about how Zuckerberg was rendered in a VR setting.
I am sure the article author has done much more to help Puerto Rico than Zuckerberg has.
I think it has promise (Score:5, Interesting)
The real cool part was lost because the message delivery felt like a PR stunt using devastation in PR.
What this really is good for:
Using Oculus like this is a way that professional relief planners and project managers can determine optimum load-out of emergency supplies before leaving the warehouse location, when it's much easier to add/remove/change the loadout on short notice.
There's nothing quite like *seeing* the environment. back-pack street-view cameras on dirt bikes comes to mind...
Re:I think it has promise (Score:5, Insightful)
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No, I fully expect that they know a general rule of thumb for always needed supplies and such, but I was thinking more from the aspect that while they're gearing up to go, there can be less or unskilled people dropped in with the recording and Tx gear then the final loadout could be adjusted based on what's seen to be needed.
Obviously I am not a member of an ERT that deals with such things, and I am blessed that my part of the world is relatively boring from a geologic and atmospheric perspective; but aside
Re:I think it has promise (Score:5, Funny)
Why would they do that when they already have trained and skilled professional to assess the damage and created detailed reports? Do you really think that multi-billion dollar relief operations are conducted based on some "general rule of thumb" without any onsite assessment? Just because you never leave your cubicle doesn't mean that other professions operate the same way.
Obviously.
Maybe tech can ask that question before trying to shoe horn in their latest fad.
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"Do you really think that multi-billion dollar relief operations are conducted based on some "general rule of thumb" without any onsite assessment? "
In this Administration?
You can bet your ass that I think that,
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I think "general rule of thumb" is giving them far to much credit. Seems like "whatever seemed like a good idea to Donald at the moment" is more realistic.
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or satellite images, or traditional photos taken by people on the ground, or a panoramic shot taken with a smart phone that someone on the scene is sure to have.
While Occulus like VR *might* be a good way to help someone like a politician appreciate a situation on an emotional level, its unlikely to provide an additional information useful in planning a response.
I think I like this, in principle (Score:2, Insightful)
Motive aside, I like this.
It is important that Congress connect to their constituents, see what they endure each day, talk with them, learn their problems, their needs. It's also important that Congress see the country as a whole, see the disasters which strike in remote locations, and the ones which make locations in the very heart of our nation remote by way of the sheer volume of destruction visited upon them.
We need a reasoned, rational approach to all things; yet men only move at an imperative dr
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/76604655/Steven-Joyce-hit-by-sex-toy-thrown-by-protester-at-Waitangi
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Just virtue signaling (Score:4, Insightful)
Is Facebook really concerned about the plight of Puerto Rico
I think we all have come to realize that the SJWs out there are really more concerned with signaling virtue more than actually solving problems.
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You mean like spending 10 million on advertising budget to let the world know they donated 1 million on relief efforts?
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I admit I didn't give a flying fuck.
Reasons:
- I can't provide meaningful help anyway, living on a different continent an ocean apart;
- There are other things closer to me which need to be prioritized higher.
- There seems to be more than enough people offering help there anyway.
With that being said, I don't expect anyone from PR, US or wherever to give a flying fuck when my country is struck by disaster.
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Reasons: ...
- I can't provide meaningful help anyway, living on a different continent an ocean apart;
"Can't" and "won't" aren't synonymous. The most meaningful way most of us can help is by donating to the relief funds. Don't pretend that the ocean is standing in your way. It's not. Believe it or not, most of the world has water between it and Puerto Rico. Big water. Ocean water.
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It's not the ocean, it's the hundreds if not more issues closer to me which I could donate to.
Last week we gathered money to help a neighbor whose daughter died - he didn't have enough money for the funeral. Puertoricans on the other side of the globe need to wait their turn.
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I can't provide meaningful help anyway, living on a different continent an ocean apart
It's not the ocean, it's the hundreds if not more issues closer to me which I could donate to.
Now how did I get confused? Having different priorities than helping disaster-struck Americans is entirely valid. Saying that you "can't provide meaningful help" is nonsense. Of course there's an ocean in the way. It's Puerto Rico.
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What I meant is "because of the distance" - meaning there are more important issues to attend to closer to home.
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Thank you - that's exactly what I meant.
It's like this:
I have 5 dollars. There's someone I know, a neighbor, in need of 1000 dollars, and I can contribute with 5.
And then there's Puerto Rico, 10K miles away, in need of 5 billion dollars, and I can contribute with 5.
My choice is to ignore Puerto Rico and give the 5 dollars to my neighbor.
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Re:Just virtue signaling (Score:4, Insightful)
Social justice warriors change the world for the better by fighting oppression and inequality.
I think this is how social justice warriors see themselves.
The rest of us mostly see them as tilting at windmills for their own gratification and/or local social standing.
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You may want to watch it with that deceptively inclusive "us" on a site as diverse as this, because you sure as fuck don't represent me.
Nah, he's correct.
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The worst are not the most (Score:3)
Social justice warriors change the world for the better by fighting oppression and inequality.
I think this is how social justice warriors see themselves.
The rest of us mostly see them as tilting at windmills for their own gratification and/or local social standing.
It's surprisingly easy to see them that way from the outside. But the person you hear about tends to be the one with the loudest voice, not the typical one, much less the one you should take as representative of what the movement aspires to. There are lots of people who dedicate their lives to making the world better because they like helping people. While there are some noisemakers who do it for social standing (among SJWs just like in pretty much every other population), there are also lots of great peopl
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Re: Just virtue signaling (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sorry, what SJW made a positive difference?
All I've seen them do is blow a lot of hot air around. Oh, and attack people for cultural appropriation.
These idiots made a guy in Oregon shut down his Hawaiian restaurant because he's white. They don't care that he was born and raised in Hawaii at all.
Re: Just virtue signaling (Score:5, Informative)
Here you go:
http://www.gazettetimes.com/al... [gazettetimes.com]
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Although the OP seems to have exaggerated a bit: the owner wasn't "born and raised" in Hawaii, he just had relatives there and went there to visit them every summer as a kid.
Re: Just virtue signaling (Score:5, Insightful)
Although the OP seems to have exaggerated a bit: the owner wasn't "born and raised" in Hawaii, he just had relatives there and went there to visit them every summer as a kid.
What's the minimum amount of time somebody has to live in Hawaii before they can open a Hawaiian-themed restaurant without being insensitive? My opinion? None.
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From TFC(ite):
A local Facebook forum also had numerous comments about the situation, including questions of whether it was appropriate for chefs to cook ethnic food that wasn’t from their ancestry, such as a Korean chef running a sushi joint, since the cuisine is Japanese;
AAAAhhhhhh hahahahahaha
So by that logic fire all the mexicans that work as short order cooks *everywhere* because Denny's and the ilk aren't mexican food??
Also, did all those SJW's have an issue when it was an Irish Pub? "Cloud Davidson" does not sound like that Irish of a name, in fact Cloud is French:
The name Claud is a French baby name. In French the meaning of the name Claud is: From the Roman clan name Claudius, derived from the latin meaning lame. F: Claudette, Claudia, Claudine.
I think he should have kept it open, you don't like me? then don't eat and drink here! But likely would have killed his business, as from what I've seen SJWs can get rather nasty.
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Never said or implied that he needed to be born and raised in Hawaii, just that the OP said he was when he wasn't.
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Zuckerberg couldn't be a SJW because he's actually doing something. Thank you for pointing out the complete worthlessness of the SJW.
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It's a perfect metaphor for Zuckerberg (Score:4, Insightful)
He's become one of these people who live in a bubble surrounded by sycophants who blow smoke up his ass all day about how great and meaningful he and Facebook is to the world, despite the fact that if Facebook actually did disappear overnight the only real effect on the world is probably greater productivity and some unemployed Facebook workers who will be needing new jobs. And this guy is coyly hinting he might want to run for President. I personally believe he'd be just as bad as Trump for mainly similar reasons - both think they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. Though where Trump harms by malice, Zuck would harm by out of touch ignorance.
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Re:It's a perfect metaphor for Zuckerberg (Score:5, Informative)
This. Zuckerberg has indicated many times, through speech and deed, that he is a malicious person who cannot be trusted.
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Yep, he's evil, and he knows nothing of the difficulties mere mortals face, but he's not stupid. He's a pretty smart guy, and that makes him a towering intellectual giant compared to Trump.
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Yep, he's evil, and he knows nothing of the difficulties mere mortals face, but he's not stupid. He's a pretty smart guy, and that makes him a towering intellectual giant compared to Trump.
I don't know, he just tried to foist a new Clippy on the world.
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And what could be more evil than that?
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The way I see it, Trump's harm is a pretty even balance of bald-faced malice and sheer, blind ignorance.
Zuck's harm would be mostly well-disguised malice with a sprinkling of out-of-touch ignorance.
Over time, Zuck proves himself to be more and more like Mom from Futurama.
Who'd've guessed that (Score:2)
Some people have success and humility. Other people have success.
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You forgot the ones who only have humility. What, you can't connect to them? :)
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... a side project from someone else's dorm room ...
FTFY.
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Stop. Just stop. (Score:1)
I'm still against the very idea of Trump being president, on the basis of, well him being completely unqualified to actually perform the actual duties. Or any actual duties at anything. He's basically a 'fake it until you can fake it" guy, with nothing underneath. I feel the exact same way about Reagan actually.
For the same reason, I'm going to be against Zuckerburg being anywhere near the presidency. It's cool that he can craft an advertising/communication empire from his college facebook project - but
yawn (Score:2)
let me know when there's an oculus 'virtual boxing match' starring zuck. i imagine the lines would be pretty long to buy one of those goofy headsets if it meant you got to pummel the Hitler of privacy concerns.
ad hominem,don't care: I hate Zuck/Facebook/Oculus (Score:2)
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Understanding (Score:5, Insightful)
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I think this is spot on.
It's a natural human tendency to think that your life is more or less "normal" and your experience is shared with most people. It's almost never actually true, but it's very easy to think that way.
The "tech leaders" live in a very rarefied world that bears almost no resemblance to the world of ordinary people, but they tend to think of themselves as "normal".
I believe this is the source of quite a lot of the insane things that come out of SV/Seattle.
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actually, this tech leader (whom I don't like for a number of reasons) is doing something to help other people. In fact, he's done more than you have ever done to help other people. I think it's fair to say you just want to bitch about someone famous
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"actually, this tech leader (whom I don't like for a number of reasons) is doing something to help other people."
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actually i'm pretty sure they got where they are by having a deeper understanding of people than typical slashdotter has
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link (Score:4, Informative)
Also, none of the articles I looked at on this topic included a link to the video. What is it with "news" no longer linking to their sources? C'mon people!
</getoffmylawn></rant>
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That's on Facebook, so I can't see it.
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Just goes to show how well I've been trained -- a facebook link automatically equals "can't go there" in my brain because it's been true every time I've tried. Clearly, that is no longer universally the case.
As to Luddite, how does that follow? Do you know what "luddite" means?
Pro-tip (Score:3)
"Cartoon" and "Death Toll" should not be applicable to the same media presentation.
I actually think the problem here wasn't actual insensitivity, but rather failure to anticipate a shortcoming of the avatar technology employed. Zuck's cartoon representation doesn't reproduce any emotional expression, just the kind of upbeat, non-Duchenne smile you get from a hotel receptionist greeting you as the 100th guest that morning. The jolly Zuck cartoon figure surveying scenes of horrific devastation gives the inescapable impression of sociopathy.
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Wait a minute, considering who we're talking about, are you sure the avatar wasn't actually connected to an advanced facial motion capture system?
Zuck I love you, but... (Score:1)
At least they're helping (Score:3)
Was the video a bit in poor taste? sure. Should they have had a more serious demeanor when showing people's loss? probably. Especially the Rachel character.. Zuck had a much better demeanor IMHO she sounded more like she was marketing making sure they kept talking about the VR.
All that being said: The efforts they highlighted are real efforts that are working towards real results in helping the people of Puerto Rico. I'll give them a lot of leeway when it comes to squeezing a bit of PR out of PR when the the efforts are more than just fluff. I only hope some of that generosity is going to the USVI and other island nations as well as they are in as bad or worse shape and now out of the spotlight since Puerto Rico is a more visible aide target.
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Why would anyone care?
If a company is making a case that they're concerned, then it becomes fair to expect them to be.
You wouldn't expect a company to be concerned about a plight, other than how it might affect their sales or equity.
If, as so many suits insist, corporations should be treated as people, then I think it's also fair to demand that they behave like people.
I expect people to have some measure of compassion -- at least enough to avoid capitalizing on a disaster -- and if they don't then there's nothing wrong with calling them out on it.
I guess you could say (Score:5, Funny)
...that zero zucks were given.
I'll show myself out.
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The VR scene isn't interesting to me, so I haven't been following it. I just assumed that OR was the best selling such device. But your comment made me look up some numbers.
Apparently, the OR is selling 2/3rds as many units as the Vive -- even taking into account a fairly steep summer discount that made the Rift cheaper.
I wonder if the "Facebook stink" might be more powerful than I thought it would be.
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This guy has proven himself a fucking moron over and over and over again.
--Rex Tillerson
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