News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:A long expected update (probablistic programming langauge... by lozenge on Wednesday November 30, 2022 @07:57PM (#33810703)
I think the common opinion is that nobody will want or use the metaverse. Getting paid to build something that nobody will use isn't immoral, it's amoral.
Re:A long expected update (probablistic programming langauge... by __MatrixMan__ on Thursday December 01, 2022 @12:58AM (#33812877)
Helping an advertiser trick kids into spending their time in a pupil dilation monitor/retinal scanner so that ads can be optimized for impact based on biometric markers isn't amoral, it's immoral.
Re:A long expected update (probablistic programming langauge... by otabdeveloper4 on Thursday December 01, 2022 @01:36AM (#33813080)
I know it's an accepted sci-fi trope and people (including advertisers) genuinely believe it's the future, but advertising doesn't work that way.

When you peel back the layers and figure out how this sausage is made, underneath it's just sociology and broad target audiences. (Age, sex, location, social status.)

Retinal scans don't help solve this problem.

Re:A long expected update (probablistic programming langauge... by Eisenstein on Thursday December 01, 2022 @03:43AM (#33813835)
Retinal scans do not help; however, 'eye tracking', which is currently available in Quest Pro and should filter down to the consumer tier headset in a year or two, does. When Meta knows what you look at, and for how long, and in which patterns, then advertising will legitimately have some 'next level' shit to work with.
Re:A long expected update (probablistic programming langauge... by __MatrixMan__ on Thursday December 01, 2022 @10:30AM (#33817537)
The role of the retinal scans, I expect, has more to do with identifying which human is in the headset. In the metaverse, biometrics of that sort will be like cookies that you can't clear.
Re:A long expected update (probablistic programming langauge... by squeaky-clean on Thursday December 01, 2022 @03:53AM (#33813910)
I mostly agree with your point, but it's a bit more specific than that. I used to work in airfare advertising and we could target ads at people who were interested in certain locations. You searched for flights to Paris and they were $600 and didn't purchase? Well now there's a weekend deal where it's $450 and we'll bid on Instagram ads that target you. You've flown to Europe, Asia and North America? Here's some Latam flight ads. Flew to Chicago over the Christmas holiday? We'll show you some Chicago flight ads next October.

We didn't get access to the actual user lists, but the queries you could build in your ad bids could include these factors. We were also in a special "Ads For Travel" partner program, so we probably had bid options not available to the average FB ads account manager.

Re:A long expected update (probablistic programming langauge... by __MatrixMan__ on Thursday December 01, 2022 @11:32AM (#33818597)
Ok, how about this: Helping an advertiser is immoral.

Creepy methods aside, you're trying to get people to do something other than what they wanted to do today.

Re:A long expected update (probablistic programming langauge... by langsoul-com on Thursday December 01, 2022 @01:57AM (#33813193)
They shipped 10 million quest 2's. That ain't nobody.
Re:A long expected update (probablistic programming langauge... by Mikeb85 on Thursday December 01, 2022 @02:11AM (#33813271)
People are interested in VR for gaming. Not for the metaverse. Zuck should be building a console or something, not wasting time on something no one wants.
Re:A long expected update (probablistic programming langauge... by entropicgravity on Thursday December 01, 2022 @05:21AM (#33814466)
He might try buying Amazon Alexa from Bezos, that sounds promising. At the very least it would be cheaper.