downer95

But consider the standard use case for undergarments. It will continuously collect data any time it's worn. That could turn out to be a lot of data, even in a store-and-forward data collection strategy. And really, bras are most commonly worn in social situations, so most data will be collected while the subject engages in social interactions.

I point this out as a possible "lie detector" because that's my immediate association with respect to electrodermal and EKG sensors used in combination. Add in respiration (a small leap since this will be strapped to your rib cage) and you would have the complete recipe for a lie detector. That part doesn't seem to be included, although my free association still stands.

I'm hypothesizing that Microsoft might be taking aim at a strategy to crowdsource ambient lie detector data, because that sounds like a really interesting data set, with lots of opportunities for exploitation.

What motivation could there possibly be, beyond "pure evil", as a drive to study this sort of thing? Perhaps a sense of adventure and bold curiosity for the future that lies ahead? I dunno, but it's already well established that Microsoft is a known collaborator with the DoD and most alphabet agencies. Maybe it's a sureptitious fishing expedition?

Why women only? Because a complete lie detector session involves respiration. So, if it's a sureptitious data collection program, you start with the question: how do we convince people to adorn themselves with cumbersome blood pressure cuff, EKG, electrodermal and respiration sensors that we usually wrap around their chest? Who would ever wear anything tightly strapped around their chest? Wait! Women do that all the time, whenever they wear a bra!

Good work, Johnson! Here's a two million dollar budget! In six months, be ready to show me something that will convince people to willingly share respiration, heart rate, and skin conductivity via the web. Then we'll restrospectivly analyze the raw data set, blindly without context, and try to pick out the liars, and develop a common statistical model of deceptive behavior, ironically collected using deceptive tactics.

How much battery power do you need, in order to pipe readings from a sensor into a tiny 2GB cache of flash memory?

Then, the data syncs with your laptop, because how else will you find out what the readings are, without some kind of GUI interface showing you some charts and graphs that interpret the raw sensor data?

The sync software will come bundled with a "share your data, oh goody!" feature that defaults to constant sharing mode (dark pattern). You charge the battery whenever you sync. In the presence of an internet connection, it uplinks to MsSmartBra.com, where data is monitored and tracked so everyone knows your high score! Yay!

So, we can rest assured that the embedded system and controller board will be equipped with software that defaults to an always-upload mode, dumping all data to microsoft.com. The device will be completely unusable and it's data inaccesible without a one-time prompt agreeing to the EULA.

Is Microsoft trying to convince women to submit to continuous lie detector monitoring, under the auspices of weight control?

2. Timocracy

3. Oligarchy

4. Democracy

5. Tyranny

  1. An unofficial alternative to Node.js

  2. Ask HN: Best books you read daily?

  3. EU Commissioner Will Simply Ignore Any Rejection Of ACTA By EU Parliament supports the new Junk Food

  4. Why you shouldn't start a startup on Haskell [video]

  5. Stallman: Facebook is using IE6 as standard for displaying web pages

  6. Nexus: The best programmers are not paid in proportion to their help text

  7. "They're Made out of Facbook is not a war zone

  8. Behind the scenes of the opportunists and their hackathons

  9. Antibiotic resistance: The last time I saw Steve Jobs

  10. The UK Court Sanctions Apple, Hopes "Lack of Integrity" Is Not Free

How do they know they are SAFELY bricking your car?

How do they know you're legally parked? That the car won't be destroyed? If the car is destroyed, will anyone continue their payments?

Is that not their problem? Do they not care? Is that what you get for being a deadbeat?

Reality TV Star: Moral Bankruptcy

Microsoft Shill: Moral Bankruptcy

In hockey, that's called a hat trick.

For example:

  Labor hoarding is a widely believed empirical behavior of
  firms and a prominent explanation for procyclical labor 
  productivity. Conventional wisdom attributes labor 
  hoarding to labor adjustment costs. This paper argues that 
  the conventional wisdom is inadequate for understanding 
  labor hoarding because it ignores the role of inventories. 
  Since idle labor can be used to produce inventories, why 
  do firms hoard labor when inventory is an option?

Why not:

  Labor hoarding is defined as the retention of idle workers
  during periods of low economic activity or slow business,
  further reinforcing the impact of larger social trends.
  The common perception is that retaining valuable workers
  will prove less costly than rounds of lay offs, followed 
  by subsequent phases of recruiting and training new labor.
  Observations have proven that businesses will choose to 
  idle their workers during these periods, instead of
  producing finished manufactured goods and retaining an 
  expanded inventory of surplus product. This paper 
  questions the strategy of hoarding idle labor, and offers
  improved strategies as potential alternatives to the 
  tendency of hoarding.