Viral Chinese App 'Are You Dead?' Checks On Those Who Live Alone (cybernews.com) 53
The viral Chinese app Are You Dead? (known as Sileme in Chinese) targets people who live alone by requiring regular check-ins and alerting an emergency contact if the user doesn't respond. It launched in May and is now the most downloaded paid app in China. Cybernews reports: Users need to check in with the app every two days by clicking a large button to confirm that they are alive. Otherwise, the app will inform the user's appointed emergency contact that they may be in trouble, Chinese state-run outlet Global Times reports. The app is marketed as a "safety companion" for those who live far from home or choose a solitary lifestyle.
Initially launched as a free app, "eAre You Dead?" now costs 8 yuan, equivalent to $1.15. Despite its growing popularity, the app has sparked criticism in China, where some said they were repulsed by the negative connotation of death. Some suggested the app should be renamed to "Are You Alive?" The app's creators told Chinese media that they will focus on improving the product, such as adding SMS notification features or a messaging function. Moreover, they will consider the criticism over the app's name.
Initially launched as a free app, "eAre You Dead?" now costs 8 yuan, equivalent to $1.15. Despite its growing popularity, the app has sparked criticism in China, where some said they were repulsed by the negative connotation of death. Some suggested the app should be renamed to "Are You Alive?" The app's creators told Chinese media that they will focus on improving the product, such as adding SMS notification features or a messaging function. Moreover, they will consider the criticism over the app's name.
feed it this (Score:1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
What a nightmare (Score:1)
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Why? This is a great idea (other than the name). I'm going to set up something equivalent when I'm retired so my kids don't drop by and find my skeleton.
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And for your enemies... (Score:3)
Are You Dead Yet?
(Sountrack, of course by Children of Bodom)
Not a bad idea. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not a bad idea. (Score:5, Informative)
I live alone, kind of old. I outlived my cats so I'm not worried about them eating my corps anymore. Still, I wouldn't want me to rot here for months until someone discovered my body.
I am still somewhat concerned about my cat nibbling on me till I'm found. I've been using a checkin service called I Am Fine [iamfine.com] since the pandemic for that very reason. If I don't respond to multiple calls they notify some friends to check on me. It's not a real time "I've fallen and I can't get up" kind of service but I'm quite happy with it.
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You're a crappy person.
Re:Not a bad idea. (Score:5, Interesting)
You're a creepy person.
Yeah most people prefer not to think too much about death, especially their own, but we all do it in the end. I also have a will, and a pre-arranged cremation and burial plot. Having been an executor myself I can tell you those things were very much appreciated and I wanted to do the same for my loved ones. It will also make it easier on them cleaning out my house if I have not oozed deeply between the floorboards. I'm actually hoping to be less creepy in the end.
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Catholics in particular allow cremation but the cremains have to remain "intact".
Every time I see or hear the word "cremains", I can't help but think of something you put in coffee.
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Help me... (Score:2)
Presumably the parts have to remain together for some kind of spiritual reconstitution later. Presumably some process is involved that is somehow magical enough to make something of the ashes but not magical enough to track multiple locations
But the best bit must be when a fly gets caught in the cremation
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I've known several older folks that were cremated and got a burial plot. They're typically smaller than normal burial plots, but it gives a place to put a memorial / headstone, and gives the family a place to visit if they want to.
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Wait, you’re getting a cremation an a burial plot? Sounds made up. I’ve never heard of someone getting cremated and buried.
Both my parents were cremated and the urns buried. Looks just like a bog standard burial with a tombstone and all. It isn't uncommon.
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Wait, you’re getting a cremation an a burial plot? Sounds made up. I’ve never heard of someone getting cremated and buried.
Yes, burying ashes is pretty common here. You still get a little patch of grass and a headstone without the need to deal with coffins and embalming, or the cost of a spot in a columbarium.
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You're a creepy person.
Yeah most people prefer not to think too much about death, especially their own, but we all do it in the end. I also have a will, and a pre-arranged cremation and burial plot. Having been an executor myself I can tell you those things were very much appreciated and I wanted to do the same for my loved ones. It will also make it easier on them cleaning out my house if I have not oozed deeply between the floorboards. I'm actually hoping to be less creepy in the end.
They are going to be annoyed when they see my post death demands. Cremated, then dumped down one of the toilets in a random state park.
I've never been able to grok a lot of the plans some people have (yours are pretty good)
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> Yeah most people prefer not to think too much about death, especially their own, but we all do it in the end.
Screw that.
I intend to live forever. So far, so good. -- Steven Wright.
I detest life insurance agents; they always argue that I shall some day die, which is not so. -- Stephen Leacock
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Just short circuit the service and call your friends now and then...
I'm old but I don't live alone, though the urge is sometimes overwhelming...
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Wasn't implying you were a curmudgeon or anything. I've often dreamed of how nice living alone would be. A bathroom that I could actually get into...sigh. I love my wife and daughter but...sigh.
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"they notify some friends to check on me"
Well there's your (my) problem.
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I live alone, kind of old. I outlived my cats so I'm not worried about them eating my corps anymore. Still, I wouldn't want me to rot here for months until someone discovered my body.
I am still somewhat concerned about my cat nibbling on me till I'm found. I've been using a checkin service called I Am Fine [iamfine.com] since the pandemic for that very reason. If I don't respond to multiple calls they notify some friends to check on me. It's not a real time "I've fallen and I can't get up" kind of service but I'm quite happy with it.
I can't find a reason for me to care about what happens to me after I'm dead. I would be concerned that my pets are taken care of. So an alternative reason to use such a service
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DIY (Score:5, Interesting)
Not a new idea, why is this news? (Score:3)
Snug Safety has the same purpose, and has been around since at least 2016: https://www.snugsafe.com/ [snugsafe.com]
There are many, many other similar apps on iFraud and Android.
Why is this one news? Has "in China" replaced the "on a computer" meme?
Are you dead? Yes. (Score:1)
Are you in there? No.
Who left the milk on the counter in the break room again? The guy who doesn't speak English.
Yvette Vickers (Score:2)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
She could have used something like that.
I worry a bit about that myself.
The app name "sileme" (Score:3, Interesting)
Is pronounced roughly "suh luh muh", three quick syllables.
"Si" means death, "le" is the "in the past" tag word, and "me" is the "question" tag word.
So a more literal translation would be: "Dead yet?"
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i like it. it has humorous touch, a bit of humor is always good for matters as serious as death.
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For the English version, we could ask for Pterry's aid:
“Granny Weatherwax was stretched rigid on her bed. Her face was gray, her skin was cold. People had discovered her like this before, and it always caused embarrassment. So now she reassured visitors but tempted fate by always holding, in her rigid hands, a small handwritten sign which read: I ATE’NT DEAD.”
Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies
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"Not dead yet" to me brought to mind the plague cart in the Monty Python movie.
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"Not dead yet" to me brought to mind the plague cart in the Monty Python movie.
It's China. "We've come for your liver" is probably a real possibility too.
Automation (Score:3)
You could probably automate a lot of this by having the phone detect motion (or lack of it)...
If the phone is moving around then the owner is probably not dead.
If people have to press something they will forget to do so...
Of course you could always have them enter a sequence of numbers into a C64 to prove they're not dead...
4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42...
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The GPS won't detect such small movement, but the gyroscope will.
If someone left their phone laying in one place for days (especially without being connected to a charger) then it would trigger this kind of app with or without automation as they'd never press the button and the battery would discharge. It would probably need to use some kind of audible alarm if it's not been moved for some time, and/or the battery is getting low.
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into a C64
Which, in turn, is plugged into C4. You want someone to notice, of course.
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You could probably automate a lot of this by having the phone detect motion (or lack of it)... If the phone is moving around then the owner is probably not dead.
The have sensors you can wear to detect falls. The 24hr monitoring is quite a bit more expensive than a checkin service.
If people have to press something they will forget to do so...
Like the button on "Lost"?
I am already dead! (Score:2)
:P
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post office (Score:2)
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What do they call it? Post mortem?
I read that as "why are you not dead yet"? (Score:2)
Unproductive citizens are merely a drag on the economy. Same in the US.