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For all of us who hate Google spying on us.....

Susquatch said:
We have a Roomba and we love it. It does a better job than a human could and also leaves pleasing patterns on carpets sort of like lawn cutting does. It learns the dirtier areas and deep cleans them. It learns about your rooms and can be told which rooms to vacuum and in what order.

Yes, it has a camera that it uses to form a map of the rooms and furniture and avoid obstacles. The camera faces the wall when it isn't vacuuming and we leave the room when it is working. Although I am a security freak, I am not concerned about our Roomba. We have nicknamed it "Molly" from the Jetsons.
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My wife gave me a lower end one of those vacuums and I gave it a try for a while but returned it because I thought it very inefficient. Ours just bumped around aimlessly for ever running into the same objects over and over. It spent much much longer running than it would take me to vacuum and it had lots of misses. Like I said, our was not the top end model and I can see how those extra features would make it more useful but I still vacuum the old fashioned way, and I even still use a broom and dustpan. Yes I know I'm a caveman.
 
DPittman said:
My wife gave me a lower end one of those vacuums and I gave it a try for a while but returned it because I thought it very inefficient. Ours just bumped around aimlessly for ever running into the same objects over and over. It spent much much longer running than it would take me to vacuum and it had lots of misses. Like I said, our was not the top end model and I can see how those extra features would make it more useful but I still vacuum the old fashioned way, and I even still use a broom and dustpan. Yes I know I'm a caveman.
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Well, our Roomba i9 was a top of the line at the time. It was a Christmas gift from me to my bride. Getting her a vacuum was taking a huge mortal risk so I wasn't fooling around. The gift card with it said "free vacuuming for life by your hubby."

I think you gave up too soon. Yes, it stabs around like a blind squirrel for the first one or two times it does a room, but it learns as it does so and quickly settles down to be way more efficient and thorough. I don't ever recall it missing any spots though and it certainly doesn't now. There is no way in hell that I could do a better job manually unless I was willing to take hours and hours doing so. It also integrates with Google Home, so all we have to do is tell Google to vacuum the great room and the mudroom, or whatever, or the whole house. It also learns the dirty spots and deep cleans them. Or you can designate an area to deep clean or avoid on the vacuum map. Avoiding is important at Christmas cuz it eats Tinsel like a rabid cat.

It does have a few major pluses and a few minor minuses. I could write a full review if anyone wants it.

There is only the very rare time when we sweep or vacuum manually now.

Let's put it this way. My wife was hopping mad when I gave it to her, but she has totally calmed down now and actually loves it. She counts it among her favorite gifts from me. Which isn't really saying much...... But I'll take any kudos I can get in that arena no matter how small.
 
I tried one of the Roombas. Set it up, charged it up and then let it go. A few hours later, no sound, no Roomba. A search found it in under the bed in the spare bedroom with a dead battery.
If it finishes vacuuming, it automatically returns to home to recharge, but they can’t program it to recognize the battery is low and return to home to recharge?
Apparently the top of the line model does do this. Really? This is a feature that costs a few hundred dollars more to include?
 
Susquatch said:
We have a Roomba and we love it. It does a better job than a human could and also leaves pleasing patterns on carpets sort of like lawn cutting does. It learns the dirtier areas and deep cleans them. It learns about your rooms and can be told which rooms to vacuum and in what order.

Yes, it has a camera that it uses to form a map of the rooms and furniture and avoid obstacles. The camera faces the wall when it isn't vacuuming and we leave the room when it is working. Although I am a security freak, I am not concerned about our Roomba. We have nicknamed it "Molly" from the Jetsons.
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I guess I'm ok with the camera but not when it's paired with an internet connection. I was under the impression they are internet connected.
 
FatherWes said:
Apparently the top of the line model does do this. Really? This is a feature that costs a few hundred dollars more to include?
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Ours has never died like that. It interrupts the job, returns home to charge, and then picks up where it left off. Sometimes when the grandkids have destroyed the house, it might do that several times during a job.
 
Upnorth said:
I guess I'm ok with the camera but not when it's paired with an internet connection. I was under the impression they are internet connected.
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Yes, mine connects to the internet to update.

I am concerned about that, but not nearly enough to stop using it. I'm much more concerned about recording voice than recording pictures or video, and damn near everything records voice.
 
Mcgyver said:
Sort of related, or at least a smack upside of the head on their power, Google recently cancelled my you tube account. It couldn't have been a sleepier little channel, innocent and all original content. For the life of my I can't understand why.

Yet the arrogance they approach the situation with is repulsive, demeaning. They solicit videos to become their content, which takes a lot of work to produce, then a bot yanks the rug out from under you without so much as a warning or opportunity to appeal to a human. yeah its mice nuts in the grand scheme of things, but kind of feels like a dystopian era warning, all the power and zero sense of fairness or right/wrong in using it against you, and zero accountability.

Grrrr.

So now I only use Brave browser to watch you tube. Teensy weensy minuscule revenge on the gargantuan big data juggernaut, but hey, do what you can :)
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I use duckduckgo and their viewer so at least YT can't send me targeted ads.
 
Every device now that requires a connection to the internet spies on you and sells your data. Worse yet, they constantly listen for keywords to identify those the NSA feels it needs to illegally surveil.

I'm not sure who is the bigger weasel, sociopathic corporations who profit off stealing our privacy, or government spies.

I've resigned myself that they're gonna spy and I've become soft and enjoy most of my cushy interwebs comforts too much to rid my life of them. I'm also among that group that the government tells "If you don't have anything to hide you shouldn't mind our spying" so apathy wins over ridding myself of the intrusions.

BUT that does not mean I wont poop in their pool for shits and giggles. Just like I did with telemarketers. I no longer have telemarketers calling.

Whenever I am bored I sit for hours speaking to my web connected devices emulating a schizophrenic spouting paranoid delusions and nonsense, within which I include long lists of brand names and delusions related to products. Thanks to conspiracy theorists in the US there is tons of fodder a person can mine to create crazy diatribes. I toss in enough garbage that if the NSA is really interested they'll waste so many man hours for naught.

When I was in University I had the opportunity to read a few transcripts of schizophrenics. Eye opening and scary to say the least. Two writers fixated on their perceived "enemy/tormenter" being the devil. One wrote hundreds of pages filled with the phrase "Satan the Devil and the persons Full Name" and every slight etc.

The reason I started this is because my wife and I noticed that while we were watching TV while also browsing the internet, which we do daily, we got ads pushed at us based on what we spoke to each other why the Samsung TV. Upon researching it I found out Samsung smart TVs are always listening and there is no way to turn off the feature, and that they mine that data in real time listening for key words supplied by their customers.

I also switched to VPN, non-tracking browser and a few other features to end targeted ads, and I continue to pollute those targeting efforts I can't eliminate.
 
And then there are those who think talking on a landline is safe..... Hahahahaha!

Someday when I'm sick and bored, I'm gunna see how much info each of my 50+ connected devices sends out.
 
TorontoBuilder said:
The reason I started this is because my wife and I noticed that while we were watching TV while also browsing the internet, which we do daily, we got ads pushed at us based on what we spoke to each other why the Samsung TV. Upon researching it I found out Samsung smart TVs are always listening and there is no way to turn off the feature, and that they mine that data in real time listening for key words supplied by their customers.
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Why not just clip the leads to the microphone? Or a squit of RTV applied appropriately?
 
kstrauss said:
Why not just clip the leads to the microphone? Or a squit of RTV applied appropriately?
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I dont really want to risk taking apart the TV to find where it is and physically disable it. If I did that I'd have to do the same with my security cameras, cell phones, laptops, tablets etc etc. I suppose while not in use I can drop cell and tablets into faraday box...

But I have fun with my method entertaining myself like an idiot.
 
JustaDB said:
In my house, said TV would very quickly find itself ventilated w/ buckshot.
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Can you even buy a TV that isn't listening anymore?

Other devices that can listen include: Cell Phones, tablets, computers, readers, security cameras, appliances (washers, drivers, dishwashers, fridges, stoves) coffee makers, robotic vacuums (maybe other vacuums too), smart switches, electric toothbrushes, bathroom scales, smart home hubs, tv's, entertainment centers, landline telephones, weather stations, thermostats, pool equipment, cars & trucks, doorbells, baby monitors, light bulbs, and the list goes on. Basically, anything that has WiFi, Ethernet, or a central hub.

We have over 50 such devices in our home. I am not gunna try and plug the mics on all of them. I don't even see the point of it if I'm not gunna plug the mic on my phone, tablet, and computer.

Not all devices that can listen - do listen. But how do you know which ones do and which ones don't? Adding WiFi and a mic to a device costs the manufacturer less than a dollar.

I think @TorontoBuilder's point was that muting the mic on his TV is pointless when you have so many other devices that might be listening too. I sorta like his twisted form of entertainment. But, I don't think I'm smart enough to stay out of trouble doing it.
 
Susquatch said:
We have a Roomba and we love it. It does a better job than a human could and also leaves pleasing patterns on carpets sort of like lawn cutting does. It learns the dirtier areas and deep cleans them. It learns about your rooms and can be told which rooms to vacuum and in what order.

Yes, it has a camera that it uses to form a map of the rooms and furniture and avoid obstacles. The camera faces the wall when it isn't vacuuming and we leave the room when it is working. Although I am a security freak, I am not concerned about our Roomba. We have nicknamed it "Molly" from the Jetsons.
Click to expand...

Susquatch said:
We have a Roomba and we love it. It does a better job than a human could and also leaves pleasing patterns on carpets sort of like lawn cutting does. It learns the dirtier areas and deep cleans them. It learns about your rooms and can be told which rooms to vacuum and in what order.

Yes, it has a camera that it uses to form a map of the rooms and furniture and avoid obstacles. The camera faces the wall when it isn't vacuuming and we leave the room when it is working. Although I am a security freak, I am not concerned about our Roomba. We have nicknamed it "Molly" from the Jetsons.
Click to expand...
We have a Shark unit, not sure how it was programed, but it seems to lose its way around all the time. Often gets "lost?", does not get back to recharge. Sometimes when it does, can not seem to back into docking unit. It's "parked" now.
As to spying on you, do not forget about credit cards, bank cards and such. When you use them, they track where you used it, when, what and how much was brought. In hand with some stores can detect you and your card as soon as you walk in, they track what you buy, when you buy and how much, to be used for restocking by such and such a date. Hell, some places are tracking you with cameras in the store, and the cards in your pocket, they know how long you were in each area and what you looked at.
All/most of the phone companies sell your info and phone useage to others. They are not willing to stop all the B.S. calls you get as this also drives up your useage rates.
Some of these tactics started at least in the '80s and have gotten worse, knowledge is power!
Think you can beat some of it by using cash, not if you got the cash from a bank or the machine. The systems look for where cash is used and when, matching it to people and pay checks, possibly even matching serial numbers on bills.
You are being watched and tracked, some one may know where you are, even if you don't.
 
terry_g said:
Even your vehicle is spying on you. Soon to get worse!
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Vehicles have already been spying on you for a very long time. What they don't do (yet as far as I know) is report you to the police. But regulators have been working on it.
 
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