4 ms·

People are still rather short-sighted when it comes to what a computer can do. They can really only think in front of them. If I put information into this prog

by bena 4y ago

People are still rather short-sighted when it comes to what a computer can do. They can really only think in front of them. If I put information into this program, I get information out. They don't think that applications can monitor their own meta-state. Or the state of other applications. So I'm not terribly surprised that he thought running the engine in another browser window would have been sufficient. He might have even had it open in "incognito mode". And since it's incognito, it can't be detected, right?

KennyBlanken 4y ago
Most people don't realize that the online chat functions for a lot of customer service sites show every character you type, not when you hit 'enter' or 'send'.
- bambax 4y ago
  Didn't know that. Is this really true? What would be the point of it? When chatting with a customer support it's quite apparent the csr is involved in many chats at once; wouldn't it be quite taxing for them to have to monitor not just the responses but every keystroke of the people they interact with?
  - bena 4y ago
    You could passively record without having to force the CSR to engage. You could also then use that text to help prompt the CSR.
  - permo-w 4y ago
    the way they justify it is to give faster responses. I suspect that is part of it, but another part of it is to weed out time-wasters and liars
permo-w 4y ago
there are easily observed indications that websites can detect window focus. take facebook for example. if you get a notification while a facebook tab is open but not in focus, the tab title will irritatingly and eye-drawingly flash between "facebook" and "x messaged you" until you focus on the tab. or youtube. if you open a youtube video in the background it will not autoplay until you focus on that tab. these things are not hidden from the user
- yucky 4y ago
  Easily observed to people who know what to look for or how these things work. I'm sure a mechanic would scoff at how many "obvious signs" the average driver misses about potential problems with their vehicle.
  - permo-w 4y ago
    these are things I’ve noticed without any experience of webdev beyond “here’s how html syntax works”
    - yucky 4y ago
      >these are things I’ve noticed without any experience of webdev beyond “here’s how html syntax works” these are things I’ve noticed without any experience of autorepair beyond “here’s how internal combustion engines work” See what I mean? It's a bar that most people don't cross.
      - permo-w 4y ago
        I kinda see what you’re saying, but I also really think that observing that websites often act differently when you’re not focused on them is a pretty standard-level observation to make even if you’re not a programmer also knowing how an internal combustion engine works is not equivalent to knowing that html code goes in angle braces. it’s more equivalent to knowing that you need to use a certain type of wrench when working on a certain type of car (I don’t know if this is actually true because I don’t know how to fix cars, but it’s more equivalent)
        yucky 4y ago
        >I also really think that observing that websites often act differently when you’re not focused on them is a pretty standard-level observation Agreed, and I would guess that is the extent of what people do with that observation. They see it, and have no clue why or how or what that means. Is it only certain browsers that do it, or does it depend on if it's a phone or laptop? Maybe it's a AT&T service feature on phones now? Or maybe just iPhones do it. Maybe it's only on previously visited sites? Or maybe it's a virus or a scam of some sort. People with no frame of reference see things very differently. It's a magic box.

by bena 4y ago

KennyBlanken 4y ago

Most people don't realize that the online chat functions for a lot of customer service sites show every character you type, not when you hit 'enter' or 'send'.

bambax 4y ago
Didn't know that. Is this really true? What would be the point of it? When chatting with a customer support it's quite apparent the csr is involved in many chats at once; wouldn't it be quite taxing for them to have to monitor not just the responses but every keystroke of the people they interact with?
- bena 4y ago
  You could passively record without having to force the CSR to engage. You could also then use that text to help prompt the CSR.
- permo-w 4y ago
  the way they justify it is to give faster responses. I suspect that is part of it, but another part of it is to weed out time-wasters and liars

permo-w 4y ago

there are easily observed indications that websites can detect window focus. take facebook for example. if you get a notification while a facebook tab is open but not in focus, the tab title will irritatingly and eye-drawingly flash between "facebook" and "x messaged you" until you focus on the tab. or youtube. if you open a youtube video in the background it will not autoplay until you focus on that tab. these things are not hidden from the user

yucky 4y ago
Easily observed to people who know what to look for or how these things work. I'm sure a mechanic would scoff at how many "obvious signs" the average driver misses about potential problems with their vehicle.
- permo-w 4y ago
  these are things I’ve noticed without any experience of webdev beyond “here’s how html syntax works”
  - yucky 4y ago
    >these are things I’ve noticed without any experience of webdev beyond “here’s how html syntax works” these are things I’ve noticed without any experience of autorepair beyond “here’s how internal combustion engines work” See what I mean? It's a bar that most people don't cross.
    - permo-w 4y ago
      I kinda see what you’re saying, but I also really think that observing that websites often act differently when you’re not focused on them is a pretty standard-level observation to make even if you’re not a programmer also knowing how an internal combustion engine works is not equivalent to knowing that html code goes in angle braces. it’s more equivalent to knowing that you need to use a certain type of wrench when working on a certain type of car (I don’t know if this is actually true because I don’t know how to fix cars, but it’s more equivalent)
      - yucky 4y ago
        >I also really think that observing that websites often act differently when you’re not focused on them is a pretty standard-level observation Agreed, and I would guess that is the extent of what people do with that observation. They see it, and have no clue why or how or what that means. Is it only certain browsers that do it, or does it depend on if it's a phone or laptop? Maybe it's a AT&T service feature on phones now? Or maybe just iPhones do it. Maybe it's only on previously visited sites? Or maybe it's a virus or a scam of some sort. People with no frame of reference see things very differently. It's a magic box.