
Curses, Fooled Again - r0h1n
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/27/opinion/curses-fooled-again.html
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bencollier49
I feel cheated that this isn't about the terminal control library.

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ngws
Then the title should've been "ncurses, fooled again", unless someone fooled
you into using old curses.

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yanowitz
I feel like this advertorial for Candid Camera, appearing in the New York
Times, is a meta-prank on the reader.

Seems like the show relies on the kindness of strangers and that still exists,
even in a smartphone world.

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rtpg
I don't get it. These "pranks" are all just slightly silly, but not completely
absurd.

For those behind a paywall, this is about Candid Camera, and some newer
material they're trying. Among which :

\- Postman telling people their mail will be delivered by drone (With a drone
coming by dropping it off)

\- People getting told that they'll be charged $10 "in store fee" for not
buying online

\- People being asked for 3 forms of photo ID to pay by credit card

\- hired a cop to enforce a “2 m.p.h. pedestrian speed limit.”

The political ones are a bit sillier

> We showed New Yorkers petitions to recall state officials, but the names
> were all fictitious. Most people supported the effort, among them a lawyer
> who carefully explained that one should never sign anything without complete
> knowledge of the facts, and then signed anyway.

>our actress posing as a candidate obtained dozens of campaign signatures
without ever stating a position, a party or even her last name.

The last one shows an example of "real life" bikeshedding though:

> I told residents in Queens, N.Y., that they would now be required to
> separate household trash into eight different color-coded bins. I can’t
> imagine someone being more passionate about any world controversy than the
> gentleman who was incensed about a bin devoted to “poultry waste.” “How,” he
> asked, “am I going to eat enough chicken in two weeks to fill that up?”

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swombat
_I don 't get it. These "pranks" are all just slightly silly, but not
completely absurd._

Yeah, I got that feeling too. It's not surprising that people are "taken in"
when the pranks seem actually not that far off given the rate of technological
progress. In a few years, chances are mail WILL be delivered by drones in some
parts. Stores already effectively charge a premium compared to online
purchasing. Credit cards are so insecure in the US that they ARE long due for
an overhaul (e.g. getting the PIN system that's in place in the rest of the
world). Two mph walking speed limit? Wouldn't be the most ridiculous law in a
country that features "free speech zones" and cops that wait at pedestrian
crossings to ticket people for jaywalking if they cross on a red light.

This is so mild, it's a bit as if you used a police car with sirens to get
someone to stop on the motorway, and then told them "haha, I'm not real
police".

I think those people's reactions are perfectly sane and reasonable. Kudos to
the 80-year old dude who doesn't bat an eyelid when told yet another element
of his life is going to be turned upside down by technology.

If the Candid Camera folks want to make an interesting show, they should
perhaps consider doing things that are _actually_ outlandish/extremes. I'm not
even sure what that would be in today's world, though - in a world of absurd
government, extreme violence, rapid technological change and general
craziness, anything goes, really.

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jlarocco
Those weren't very good pranks, IMO. They're all very similar to things that
already exist.

Separating garbage into 8 categories? We already do 3 in real life. It's a
matter of time before it's more.

A broken yogurt machine? It happens.

The political ones aren't even surprising. They could have put real names of
city council members on the list, and I'm sure 90% or more of the participants
wouldn't know if they were real or not.

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vilhelm_s
The apartment building my mum lives in (in Sweden) already has six bins:
paper, compostables, clear glass, coloured glass, metal tins, and remaining
household trash.

Also, there are several things that can currently not be thrown away in the
bins at all and needs to be driven to the recycling center (batteries,
electronic items, large items, ...) so it would be easy to think of some more
bins to add.

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appleflaxen
Skip the article. Three points seem most important:

> "I am Allen Funt's son!"

> A Candid Camera remake is coming soon. Watch it!

> The NYT can't find enough news, so it fills space with entertainment

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zevyoura
This is an Op-Ed article, so it's not a replacement for news content. That
said it does seem to be a few notches below the grey lady's usual standard.

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dkarapetyan
Good commentary. I also see people walking their dogs while reading an article
on their smartphone or listening to an audiobook and completely missing the
point of taking the dog for a walk in the first place.

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gizmo686
You mean getting the dog exercise?

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dkarapetyan
No, I mean really smelling the dog poop. Everything else, in my opinion, takes
away from the experience and is a distraction that needs to be cast aside.

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Kiro
The point of walking the dog is getting the dog exercise.

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dkarapetyan
Not really.

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breen
Perhaps in an effort to ensure success with their reboot of Candid Camera, it
seems like they decided to go with pranks that are more plausible than were
historically done. I think this'll end up being more sad than funny.

The Candid Camera episodes I remember watching often involved slapstick humor
and ridiculous clown music. What music will they play during the scene where
New Yorkers agree to recall imaginary state officials?

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jp8000
Great I don't feel stupid laughing at Candid Camera because it's on New York
Times!

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placeybordeaux
What a terrible article. Why even publish this NYT?

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tomphoolery
sorry candid camera, /r/dashcams has you beat. you're about 20 years too late.

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nyar
cannot view without login.

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zackbloom
Chrome extension which bypasses the paywall:
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gorbachev/mfojdgde...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gorbachev/mfojdgdehneodbdffllmjmmklcojacoj?hl=en)

