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Physical assault by McDonald's for wearing Digital Eye Glass

1056 points by balnaphone 14y ago

charonn0 14y ago
The Parisian Police did nothing?!
- angelbob 14y ago
  An American tourist was harassed but not physically injured. He has evidence (some hearsay/unverifiable) that random McDonalds employees destroyed property, but it's going to be annoying and difficult to prove anything. I wouldn't expect a lot of help. Imagine if a random Albanian had a similar problem with NYC McDonalds employees and called the NYPD. The police don't support the assault, but they're not going to leap to attention over it.
  - grecy 14y ago
    This has always been my experience with Police in foreign countries. They are polite, friendly, and genuinely wish the incident didn't happen. Once they ascertain nobody is really injured, etc. there is not a whole lot they can do.
  - cgh 14y ago
    Small correction: Steve Mann is Canadian. Also, he has photographic evidence of his documentation being destroyed.
  - sli 14y ago
    His eyewear appears to record or take pictures, so he likely has evidence of them destroy the documents.
- conradfr 14y ago
  French police sucks. Usually they will try very hard to NOT take your report (bad statistics).
richardv 14y ago
This is a really disturbing story. I hope you get a satisfactory resolution. Anyway, there has been a trend recently with regular HN'er saying that people should stop using HN as a way to get justice. "HN is not your mommy". I strongly believe that this is exactly the time that HN should step up, upvote this story, and ensure to it that a guy who creates the technology he wears see's some kind of justice.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- InclinedPlane 14y ago
  These things are also more than just justice. It's helpful to get some insight into the nature of a big company, so that you can make your own personal decisions on whether you want to continue to do business with them in the future.
- rosser 14y ago
  I'm the person who wrote the "HN is not your mommy" comment, and I'd like to take a moment to clarify a bit what I was trying to say with that. Most importantly, I definitely wasn't decrying all instances of people bringing a situation that has gone some flavor of shitty to the attention of HN. In fact, it's in no small part the fact that the HN community is so willing to help one another out that keeps me here — particularly among the alumni, but I think their conduct just sets the example for the rest of us. That said, I've started to feel a few times lately like that willingness to be helpful is being taken advantage of — or at least people are trying to do so. The "I didn't win the contest! Waaaah!" was just the most egregious example I'd seen in some time, and I felt the need to call it out. Given that it was the highest rated comment I've ever posted on HN, I'm clearly not alone in that. This situation isn't remotely the same. This is a clear-cut case of ignorant idiocy escalating into physical assault, and the louder and more forcefully the fact that that kind of thing is fucking wrong gets shoved in McD's face, the better.
  - swang 14y ago
    Do you have a link to the I didn't win the contest article?
richardjordan 14y ago
I would imagine a lawyer at any of a number of the nations larger law firms would take this on for you on contingency given the rather large sums that McDonald's might be forced to spend settling this with you. These firms are pretty approachable - don't go the local small-fry ambulance chaser, they won't know what to do.
cargo8 14y ago
WHAT?! I can't believe this happened and truly hope you can find these people. From the sound of your story, it sounds like those three were probably not actually affiliated McDonalds. Were you confident that even Potential Witness 1 was a true employee? Sounds like a scam and heist, but very strange since multiple people involved were wearing (seemingly) legitimate McDonalds clothing. Although, I would note that they were not wearing the uniform that the cashiers were wearing, which may give more weight to the conjecture that they were just lurking in plain site waiting to mug or rip someone off. I hope you find these guys and they get whats coming to them.
- 0-_-_-_-_-_-_-0 14y ago
  Since we're throwing out conspiracy theories, I'd like to take a stab; that this is a mafia run McDonnalds working as a front.
- citricsquid 14y ago
  Here in England the managers of a McDonalds wear different clothing items to the peons, it's plausible that the people involved were either managerial staff or possibly security? The fact that perp 3 is carrying janitorial equipment would indicate he is indeed part of the store.
ojbyrne 14y ago
Random tidbit from the article - HDR photography is patented.
heyrhett 14y ago
I find it really hard to believe that Steve Mann would have some kind of medical condition that would lead a normal Dr. to prescribe that Steve Mann wears the computer vision glasses that Steve Mann invented. I'm sorry he was harassed, but this story really smells of one of the oldest ways to gain media attention on the internet: Step 1: Get screwed by a big company (this is the easy part) Step 2: Write a blog article documenting how you got screwed Step 3: Submit story to slashdot, digg, reddit, etc. Keep in mind people, before you start blowing up about this "injustice" that we're only hearing one side of the story. And frankly, I'm of the opinion that cases of assault are better handled by police and courtrooms than blogs and internet mobs. Also, the fact that the retribution Steve Mann is demanding, is that McDonald's repairs the glasses that Steve Mann invented is, well, a fantasy to say the least.
- potatolicious 14y ago
  From the post: > "I tried on many occasions to contact McDonald's but have not received any response." > "I also contacted the Embassy, Consulate, Police, etc., without much luck." IMO going to the court of public opinion is acceptable when nobody who should be dealing with the issue is actually doing so. This is practically why we have modern media, blogosphere or otherwise.
  - Zenst 14y ago
    Not good is it, quick google yeilds this site: http://www.contact-the-ceo.com/mcdonalds.html http://www.contact-the-ceo.com/mcdonalds.html Which highlights how he can be contacted though has no email address, but that is: jim.skinner@us.mcd.com
- reso 14y ago
  I think he's well within reason. If you were assaulted by a cashier at McDonald's, would you just ignore it and continue on? I'm pretty sure I would try and get the perpetrators fired and possibly charged, and have the company pay for any damages to my property.
  - 14y ago
AsylumWarden 14y ago
Wow, sorry to hear about the assault and damage to your property. That is quite a way to wreck an otherwise pleasant vacation. I will say that I am glad to hear that I am not the only one to have been treated in a rather hostile manner at a McDonald's in Paris. My wife and I went there on vacation a few years back. My wife was filming my clumsy handling of the french language as she made me order (she is actually quite good at french) and an "employee" took her camera, shoved us out of the restaurant and then smashed our camera on the side walk. I'm not sure what they think they are hiding.
- waffle_ss 14y ago
  There must be something in the water there because we had eggs thrown at us from an upper floor apartment walking down some sidewalk in Paris (I guess our speaking English to one another was offensive?). We always spoke French when interacting with francophones. Visiting the more rural places in France was pleasant though, and the people were more friendly.
  - chris_wot 14y ago
    Parisians are famed for their rudeness. Whether that is fair I cannot judge, when I went there we didn't seem to have any problems!
    - Natsu 14y ago
      Except for one rude shopkeeper, everyone I met in France was nice.
      - AsylumWarden 14y ago
        Were you in Paris? Seriously, we had no problems anywhere else we went. It was just Paris. We visited Nice, Lyons, and Toulouse on our trip and had lots more fun in those places.
franzus 14y ago
> visit Paris > go to McDonald's
- lazugod 14y ago
  He was traveling with his kids.
  - inoop 14y ago
    ... which is probably one of the best reasons you shouldn't go to MacDonald's.
- saraid216 14y ago
  As someone who has actually done this (I was with my parents), I can tell you that the Parisian McDonald's is, in fact, different from the American one. I think that the one in Beijing was different, too, but I didn't get to go into that one.
Zenst 14y ago
Complain to the Olympic board as McDonalds are a sponsor of the Olympics and the Para-Olympics. In parallel write/email to the newspapers etc. Also talk to your embassy who can advise how to proceed in other ways. You have a vision problem and need a visual aid to combat that disability. McDonalds not only commited assualt but also did it systematicaly and premeditated way indicating they are not a suitable sponsor for the para-Olympics. If they won't deal with this issue responsibly, then sod em and shame them as publicly and in as many ways as possible; you have done nothing wrong, nothing and they are all to blame so shame them. Also few links on FB and twitter with liberal abuse of #mcdonalds #imlovinit #mcd and the like will soon garner this issue the attention it needs and deserves. You could see a lawyer, but it's hard to find one who can deal with this. I'd go the press/PR route (then a good lawyer will come to you) as your doing but with a few nationals who will happily run this story. Now is a good time given there large marketing event called the Olympics, leverage this time and educate McDonalds. Last time I went to McDonalds security told me the toilets were for customers only too which I pointed out that in a civilised World we wash our hands before we handle our food and I had no desire to take my food into the toilet or leave it unattended as I had no confidence on the security being able to saftly protect my food/possesions. He appologised and I left to eat elsewere.
- grimboy 14y ago
  Drifitng off topic, but the Paralympics are already sponsored by ATOS, the company the UK government has put in charge of taking social security from the genuinely disabled. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/21/paralympic-games-organisers-defend-atos-sponsorship http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/21/paralympic-games...
  - writetoalok 14y ago
    > social security from the genuinely disabled And what might that percentage be? Seeing a number of moochers feigning disability for unearned dole outs, is surely the most common disgust of our times. And if one is disabled, they should not expect to be given free handouts from money forced out at gunpoint. They need care and consideration and all volunteer help they can get. Its time to realize that Government should be the institution for one thing and one only. Protection of individual freedom. And nothing else.
saboot 14y ago
Can someone illuminate why a recording device would illicit such a harsh reaction? I can understand businesses wanting to avoid someone stand there with a video camera, but does France take this more seriously?
- facorreia 14y ago
  He's not telling the whole story.
- petercooper 14y ago
  There are (sadly) thousands of such stories, YouTube videos, etc. about photographers getting assaulted and intimidated when legally taking photos in certain areas. This is basically the same thing at an even more technological level. My speculation on this: A lot of people in security have such boring jobs that even if they don't feel intimidated by photographers, they relish a chance to play big, get a buzz out of the day, and look like they're "doing their job."
- jlgreco 14y ago
  Security personnel often react irrationally to photographic equipment. The only unique thing here is that in this case the equipment was attached to his head.
- DanBC 14y ago
  Try it sometime - just take a video camera and point it at someone and see what their reaction is. Now do this for everyone you ever meet, all day every day, in a strange country, and you see that although violence is rare you've increased the number of opportunities for violence to happen.
bobotom 14y ago
The actual assault description is extremely lacking in detail. Are we to believe someone walked up unannounced and tried to rip the eye glasses off!?
- sukuriant 14y ago
  That's what I ascertained, so ... yes.
- jlgreco 14y ago
  That sounds like a fairly standard security overreaction to cameras, so yes?
pg 14y ago
No one at an ordinary McDonald's would even notice such a device. Ergo this was not an ordinary McDonald's, but one with security people looking for cameras. Why would a McDonald's have security people looking for cameras? Possibly because it was a mafia front. If you wanted to launder money, a fast food restaurant in a popular location would be a good place to do it. The way the employees behaved is consistent with this explanation. Edit: I should have said no more than that the excessive reaction of the security people suggests there may be something dubious happening at this McDonald's that they don't want filmed. But there are other less dramatic things they might be doing besides money laundering: using undocumented labor, for example.
- richardv 14y ago
  Are you enacting Poe's law? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poes_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poes_law I seriously cannot tell, and you didn't wink at the end? Since McDonald's are easily franchise-able, I suppose they could legitimately be used as a Mafia Front... But really, Poe's Law? wink ;)
  - chao- 14y ago
    This is what came to my mind as well. I can't decide whether or not the comment is supposed to be serious. On one hand, I can't think of many above-board reasons that a restaurant employee would tackle you for having a tiny camera, or rip up medical documentation. On the other hand, the jump straight to a mafia seems a leap too far. Yet if we are going to speculate, I don't see a criminal explanation as significantly more plausible than others. To demonstrate one of my own: Perhaps they'd recently had a bad rating/inspection from the French/Parisian health department (replace with proper name), and were really worried about some undercover story by local news stations. A bit extreme to use physical intimidation, but perhaps the manager is on the verge of losing the place?
    - SilasX 14y ago
      Most sensible explanation so far. It accounts for why they would be worried about hidden, automatic cameras much more than the ones regular tourists have, where you can see when they're taking a picture or getting a good video angle. Also, most tourists don't take pictures of what's going on behind the counter, so you can catch someone trying to overtly do that, but a hidden camera would make that harder to spot, leading management to be more paranoid about built-in cameras. On top of that, "concern about the health department" has a much higher prior probability than "mafia collusion with major fast food chain".
corford 14y ago
Upsetting but I don't think there's much that can be done about it. The local police or gendarmes are unlikely to have the time to pursue it and I doubt any witnesses will come forward (from the staff at least). Just a case of three "beuf" (as the French would say) taking a dislike to a geek. Sadly, there's a sub-section of young(ish) male French society that is extremely macho and very closed minded when it comes to people not fitting the mould. They're the same jerks that will harass a girl if she's wearing a short skirt (because obviously that means "she's up for it!")
- guard-of-terra 14y ago
  In Russian, this kind of person is called "gopnik". Feel free to use. Not directly related to one of two USA main parties.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
hastur 14y ago
Can't wait for the Anonymous to hack and publish McDonalds' mail systems. As a side benefit, we might learn what kind of turd they're feeding to people.
- gcb 14y ago
  they will not move a finger. unless you say perpetrator 1 proceeded to kick a cat.
ackackackack 14y ago
> The computerized eyeglass processes imagery using Augmediated Reality, in order to help the wearer see better, and when the computer is damaged, e.g. by falling and hitting the ground (or by a physical assault), buffered pictures for processing remain in its memory, and are not overwritten with new ones by the then non-functioning computer vision system. The computer broke and accidentally took these handy photos of his perpetrators? Yeah I don't believe that for a second. I'm betting that it was always recording video and in order to release these images publicly or in a courtroom, he needs a story about how it "malfunctioned" when he was roughed up. Side tangent, that's exactly what's creepy about this glass technology. There's no physical indication that a picture/video is being recorded, like someone reaching into their bag, pulling out a camera, and pressing a button. Will someone be recording me as I'm talking to them? I'll never know.
- enneff 14y ago
  It is plausible that the software stores recent imagery in a circular buffer for processing purposes and that the assault caused the software to crash, leaving the data in the buffer. Besides, Steve's work is university funded research so it wouldn't be hard to have the code analyzed if it came to that. Regardless, your paranoia about such devices filming you unawares is misplaced. There are many off-the-shelf recording devices that are far less conspicuous; you have probably already been photographed hundreds of times by such devices. At least with these head mounted devices you have a definite visual cue that a camera is pointed at you. A reasonable practice is to assume you're being filmed when not in a place or around people you trust.
obilgic 14y ago
What is wrong about taking pics at mcdonalds, Im confused..
guard-of-terra 14y ago
I believe in the future it would be legal to film everywhere 24x365, and it also will be legal to shoot the bad guys (with weapons, not video) if they did some bad thing AND you film it. And then everybody will behave, because if they don't they might get shot. Sort of a high-tech wild west. (and you don't have to be a hard ball, just trigger the wearable fire response system).
- commandar 14y ago
  >and it also will be legal to shoot the bad guys (with weapons, not video) if they did some bad thing AND you film it. You can already do this in nearly any jurisdiction in the US as long as you're justified in using deadly force. It might make it easier to prove you were justified, but it wouldn't be anything new. If the suggestion is that you'd need video to prove you were justified, that's a huge can of worms. You'd effectively be forcing people to choose between filming 24x7 and dealing with the potential privacy and self-incrimination issues there or being stripped of their right to self-defense.
- westicle 14y ago
  There is a difference between filming in public and private spaces. In most common-law jurisdictions filming in public is completely legal, even filming an event put on by a private entity (ie a sports game - there is no property in a spectacle). Note also the proliferation of CCTV in public spaces in many countries. On private property you have the right to set rules and effectively dictate who is welcome and who is trespassing. Hence you can't take a video camera into a theatre etc. There is a grey area when your public filming infringes on the reasonable expectation of privacy of another person. I doubt anyone here would take too kindly to a stranger following them 24/7 with a video camera.
  - guard-of-terra 14y ago
    Stranger following you with a cam is not much worse than stranger following you 24/7, period. But now you would be able to film that fact and then sue him for annoying behavior.
  - 14y ago
kghose 14y ago
A few people have voiced concern that this is a made up story. I have to admit that I belong to that bunch. I would imagine that if a store had a concern that this was an ... odd individual, carrying a video recording device, recording customers, employees and the store itself, I would send out security to escort the person out. But I would do so with a great trepidation, because of lawsuits. There MUST be something missing in this story. It would take great recklessness and lack of ethics to completely fabricate the story, but it is possible. More likely is that there were some leading events that we have not been told about.
- akoumjian 14y ago
  The biggest red flag for me is how he is suddenly assaulted without any warning or prior dialogue taking place. That doesn't mean that any assault was justified, but it means we are not being told something.
- forgottenpaswrd 14y ago
  "...I would send out security to escort the person out. But I would do so with a great trepidation, because of lawsuits." This is what they did, but he did not want to go out because of the letter from his doctor(as his doctor's letter is something in France). So they waited until they could suddenly remove the device from him, they not realizing it was permanent connected to the skull. He wants it his way or his way.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
- ppod 14y ago
  You should delete that right away. What good do you think is going to come of putting his home address, phone number, and wife's name (!?!?!) on the internet?
  - scarmig 14y ago
    Flag the comment, moderators should delete immediately. Perhaps the most inappropriate thing I've seen posted at HN before.
    - Zenst 14y ago
      I deleted it. happy now?
  - Zenst 14y ago
    It is already on the internet, blame google and bing for making it easy to find. EDIT ADD It is also on facebook, and so many other places. Googling his for i email address is a hard one to find but pulls up that address alot. So write him a letter saying that attacking a disabled person infront of his family is just not acceptable.
    - Zenst 14y ago
      Oh you bunch of drama lama's - I deleted it though I'll repeat his email address: CEO's email address jim.skinner@us.mcd.com But seriously his home address along with the other mcdonals executives are a 5 year olds googling efforts away. I reveled nothing new that was not liberly plastered all over the internet. Maybe if they handled complaints better then people would not have to write to them directly and or sue them directly, food for thought.
      - chris_wot 14y ago
        If its so easy to find the information, there was no real need to post it here then.
drrotmos 14y ago
While this incident is terrible, there's one thing Dr. Mann doesn't make entirely clear in the article. The contact information for McDonald's France is quite easily found at http://www.mcdonalds.fr/contacts http://www.mcdonalds.fr/contacts. It's not an e-mail address, but rather a phone number, but the way the article is written it's not at all clear if he's tried to contact them by their publicly available phone number?
- alister 14y ago
  He says that he tried to call, and his statement looks clear to me: > I also tried calling the main number, at mcdonands.com: 1-800-244-6227, but got a voice recording that was totally unintelligible (very loud and distorted), and it appears this number does not work. I tried the number just now, and in fact, it is exactly as he describes: you get a loud distorted unintelligible message for a 3-4 seconds and then it hangs up. As Dr. Mann is likely calling from Canada, as I also am, it occurred to me that this particular 800 number might not work from Canada. Some USA-based 800 numbers work, and some don't -- it depends on the calling area that the 800-number subscriber wants to pay for. Listening to the message a second time, I think that I can make out words about the "calling area", which would indicate why it's not working.
  - deadmansshoes 14y ago
    Except that number is for the US McDonalds. The French numbers would be +33 1 30 48 65 28 or +33 1 30 48 60 00 as stated on the contact page. "I don't have the resources to take on a branch of a large multi-national corporation operating in a distant country" - doesn't really cut it when the contact page and number can be found on the Internet in 2 seconds of searching.
supervacuo 14y ago
Surely the only take-away from this is that McDonald's is a terrible place. Didn't we all know that already? It's still helpful to try and do as much damage as possible with this story (ideally getting some money or at least an apology for the victim), but make no mistake that the company structure will make this vanish into the æther in no time. The long-term solution: just don't go there.
- enneff 14y ago
  Do we all know that? Is it true? I have had hundreds of meals at McDonalds and never witnessed anything like this. The staff have been pleasant and helpful, the environment clean, and the food as advertised. "Terrible," seems ridiculously hyperbolic to me.
  - justinatjustat 14y ago
    'as advertised' - there's ya terrible.
- scarmig 14y ago
  Regardless of whether MacDonald's is the salvation of the human race or the reincarnation of Nazi-ism... I think it's pretty obvious that this wasn't some plot from corporate to beat up guys weiring eyeglasses that are medically integrated with their body. It's the unordered work of some violent thugs, though their motive remains to be seen (or even if they're actual employees or something else).
disappointment 14y ago
A number of companies seem to have policies against in-store photography. Supermarkets don't want their competitors getting accurate data about their pricing. Usually, it's the ones that offer loyalty cards so they can track their customers more effectively. I have no idea how a branch of McDonald's in the centre of a major tourist city expects to be able to keep any secrets but it may simply be a company wide policy. Someone should update them on just how small, cheap and effective actual spy cameras are these days. Not to mention phones.
truxs 14y ago
I think they were not afraid of terrorism or cops but rather journalist. This past few years several documentaries showed how bad hygien can be in some french restaurant (fast-food or not) wich in the worst case led to the death of customers. http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/quick-d-avignon-benjamin-14-ans-est-bien-mort-intoxique-18-02-2011-1321649.php http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/quick-d-avignon-benjam... One of this documentary was involving macdonald but was only broadcast on the internet once it was leaked cause the channel didn't want to lose one of the biggest advertiser. http://www.slate.fr/story/19421/mcdo-kfc-le-reportage-censure-de-m6-reapparait http://www.slate.fr/story/19421/mcdo-kfc-le-reportage-censur... So i would bet they were afraid of bad publicity ... Oh the sweet taste of irony
MichaelApproved 14y ago
Why are we discussing this on HN? If you were assaulted, file a police report. If your private property was damaged, hire a lawyer or file a small claims lawsuit.
robomartin 14y ago
> but I could use some help and advice as to how to resolve this matter This is bound to not be popular on HN, but, so be it. First bit of advice: Don't be such a dork. Respect others, their space and privacy. People don't want cameras pointed at them all the time. You might. I certainly don't. You can't just walk-up to people wearing a bunch of hardware and not expect a variety of reactions. If someone asks you to take it off and you can't, then you leave. You are the transgressor, not the people in front of you. Second bit of advice: Ask for permission when walking into a private establishment -like a restaurant- with such a rig. It isn't their job to accommodate every nutcase that comes through the door. You are not a nutcase, but your actions may have telegraphed otherwise. I would expect people to react very differently to an actual blind person wearing some hardware than an obviously sighted person under the same circumstances. There are also details that are not being revealed. Does he "scan" the place and do a bunch of stuff with the hardware when entering a new environment? I find it hard to believe that someone would outright attack him without prior motive. People just don't do that -not even in France- unless they are seriously provoked or are criminals. We know nothing about the interaction and actions of the cyborg propr to the "assault". Let's say he was "scanning" people at the restaurant and generally acting in an intrusive manner, well, that's just not acceptable behavior in most parts of the world. Finally, the las bit of advise might be: Be aware of cultural differences when traveling to other countries. While in Canada and parts of the US people might generally go out of their way to be polite, that is not the case around the globe. In some parts of the world you'll gen man-handled and even beaten-up if you act like an idiot and show a general lack of respect. Just because you think what you are doing is OK it doesn't mean that everyone around you agrees. Times do change. When I was in college I'd walk around with my HP calculator hanging off my belt. Outside of college I'd take it off. Today people walk around with computers in their pockets and little devices with blinking LED's in their ears all day long. That's just the way the world works. Be smart enough to use Aikido, not Karate. Finally: Get someone to help you with industrial design. When comparing the photos on the linked page, your rig looks intimidating, while the Google rig is almost invisible. Also, turn the damn thing off when dealing with people so your eye looks normal. I respect the work and dedication immensely, what I think is off-base here is the assumption that it is OK to stick a camera in everyone's face (or within a private establishment) without permission. If you decide to down-vote please have the courtesy to explain your reasons so that I and others might learn from contrasting points of view.
akamaka 14y ago
Coming from Steve Mann, I'm a little bit hesitant to take this story at face value. A while back, he had a run in with airport security about his equipment: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/14/technology/circuits/14MANN.html http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/14/technology/circuits/14MANN... While I don't deny that the security guards could have acted more respectfully, it seems like Steve went out of his way to put himself in a situation that he knew would be problematic. Why couldn't he have removed the equipment before returning to the airport? Also, some of his claims seemed exaggerated, like that his equipment couldn't be x-rayed or that he became disoriented in the airport with having his wearable computer. If he's looking to make a point about cyborg rights, fair enough, but my opinion of him is that he doesn't come into these situations with an attitude that avoids misunderstandings. I think that another person in this same situation would have at least been able to communicate with the McDonald's staff and determine what the problem was.
scoot 14y ago
"when the computer is damaged, e.g. by falling and hitting the ground (or by a physical assault), buffered pictures for processing remain in its memory, and are not overwritten with new ones" This sounds bogus. The stills presented in the post suggests they were taken by design rather than some random stills "remaining in memory" after the alleged assault. There are frames from earlier in his McDonald's visit that it would not make sense to still exist in memory for "processing". I'm not questioning the alleged events, but wondering why he would give such an unlikely explanation of the existence of these stills? Is it illegal to video in a retail establishment in France?
- antoinevg 14y ago
  What he is trying to explain is that he is NOT making a permanent video record of everything he sees. Any computer vision system is going to have an image buffer. When you break the system it's going to stop overwriting that buffer with new images. If he had been left alone the images on his blog would have been overwritten with new images. Does it make more sense to you now?
  - betawolf33 14y ago
    Consider how long ago these events are in his narrative. He gives a still of 'Possible Witness 1' who he met and talked with as he entered the store. Presume that that image is at the end of their conversation (as it will have been pretty long). He then describes going to the counter and ordering food. That is to say, his daughter ordered food in French. That's a minute or two of activity, at the least. Then he goes and sits down to eat his food. Assuming really prompt service and that he was attacked almost as soon as possible in the narrative, that's at least another half-minute to take a seat and unwrap your sandwich. There are then a series of images and a description of him trying to reason with several people who 'deliberated on [his documentation] for some time' before pushing him out. That, to me, is at least five minutes of confrontation. I can't see why his image buffer would be over seven minutes long.
- ajanuary 14y ago
  The earlier frames can be explained by having a larger buffer than is strictly necessary for typical use and rather than removing them as soon as they're processed, just leave it to get overridden. Why you would have a buffer that large for realtime processing, I'm not too sure, but there probably is a reason.
anigbrowl 14y ago
I find it strange that there's no mention of a police report or a complaint to the Canadian embassy.
ww520 14y ago
This is an outrageous assault and battery. This is a criminal act. I hope the police are involved and arrests are made. Steve Mann is the father of wearable computer. I remember seeing him as a undergrad in MIT wearing those clumsy camera and computer at the belt. He is the pioneer in real cyborg tech.
LargeWu 14y ago
The real crime is that he went to Paris and ate at McDonalds.
TheAmazingIdiot 14y ago
Complete aside - Comment about posted pictures from Digital Eye Glass I noticed from his posted pictures (labelled as Possible Witness 2) http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RnoG7dHRDjY/UASnGzPFkSI/AAAAAAAAADA/8zPAI5x2Cm0/s640/cashier.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RnoG7dHRDjY/UASnGzPFkSI/AAAAAAAAAD... There's some nasty spherical lensing effects there. I'm noticing that from the signboard on the right middle side. The menuboard should be flat across, with perhaps a deviation of where the signage isnt exactly flush to each other. Also in other pictures, you can see spherical lensing distortion from the corners of walls and ceiling tiles. I know of libraries that take low compute overhead that compensate for this. And all you need for calibration is a checkerboard of white and black waved around.
- strstr 14y ago
  This could be intentional, as it may increase his peripheral vision through the Eye Glass.
  - vacri 14y ago
    It may also be corrected when the image is projected into his eye.
tokenadult 14y ago
The link in the submitted article, referring to an earlier incident in which a cell phone camera caused a physical confrontation with a McDonald's customer in France, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-49140976/mcdonalds-messes-up-how-not-to-handle-service-mistakes/ http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-49140976/mcdonalds-me... is probably important context here. It appears that there is some systematic misunderstanding among the company managers about how to train their employees to avoid overreacting to cameras in the store.
datalus 14y ago
Go to Paris. Eat at a McDonald's. o_O
- petitmiam 14y ago
  I love eating fast food in other countries. It's always different from home and that fascinates me. Sure, I'm much more keen to enjoy 'proper' food from the country I'm visiting, but there's still a place for experiencing fast food.
  - pbhjpbhj 14y ago
    Why not Quick then? http://www.quick.fr/ http://www.quick.fr/
- tspiteri 14y ago
  Maybe it's a fast meal at midday when there are still places to go, and a good meal in the evening to wind down.
  - datalus 14y ago
    I spent sometime in Lyon last summer, the cafes aren't too slow when you want to grab a bite to eat. However, I can only assume one would go to McDonald's to get a Royale with Cheese ;)
lnanek2 14y ago
What will be really interesting is when he brings his recording device into somewhere people get naked, like a locker room...that isn't going to go well with a lot of people.
foxylad 14y ago
Anyone else have alarm bells going off about the statements about buffering? He's very careful to represent storage of the images as an accident caused by the incident, which is slightly odd in itself - why not simply say it records everything it sees and that that was very useful in this case? Then if there was no storage, how come there are images for several minutes before the assault? It must have been at least a ring buffer, so there WAS storage (albeit temporary). I'm not condoning the violence that was done to him in any way. But this dissembling makes me want another witness before I take this at face value.
- EvilTerran 14y ago
  He's very careful to represent storage of the images as an accident caused by the incident, which is slightly odd in itself - why not simply say it records everything it sees and that that was very useful in this case? Probably because he either believes French law forbids recording people without their permission, or doesn't know one way or the other (I'm in the second camp) -- so he has to emphasise that it was not his intention to take these pictures, to make it clear that he wasn't doing anything wrong in that regard.
lsc 14y ago
Seems to me like he needs to implement a Stephenson style panic button - In Snow Crash, at one point YT used a special button on her phone to summon help from other couriers. It'd be easy enough to implement technically; when I hit the panic button it notifies all listeners of my location; listeners configure how far away they want reports. (perhaps taking reports from further away from people with higher reputation or from people you manually configure as more important...) I mean, in the case of Mann, it's easy; if I was nearby and knew he needed physical help, I'd be happy to show up. The problem is for the rest of us, the unknowns, there would need to be some sort of sense of community or something.
- ktizo 14y ago
  It would be fantastic to be able to summon the MIT wearables division in an emergency. Surely one of them has built a Gundam by now. http://www.wearcam.org/computing.html/borgs_outside_medialab.jpg http://www.wearcam.org/computing.html/borgs_outside_medialab...
  - lsc 14y ago
    hah. yeah. but I think the most powerful thing (and this could be implemented with cellphones) is just being able to summon witnesses, esp. witnesses with cameras. It seems that these days wars are more about how it looks in the media than about killing as many of the other guys as you can. Just knowing that they are being watched, I think, would prevent most violent crime.
springishere 14y ago
What about simple sale of illicit goods ? That would warrant a response like this. With so many people in and out it would be easy to slip something in with the orders. It isn't the first time it's happened, either. http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/police-say-mcdonalds-drug-buys-lucrative-333133/ http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city...
obilgic 14y ago
"The computerized eyeglass processes imagery using Augmediated Reality, in order to help the wearer see better, and when the computer is damaged, e.g. by falling and hitting the ground (or by a physical assault), buffered pictures for processing remain in its memory, and are not overwritten with new ones by the then non-functioning computer vision system. As a result of Perpetrator 1's actions, therefore images that would not have otherwise been captured were captured. Therefore by damaging the Eye Glass, Perpetrator 1 photographed himself and others within McDonalds. " Dude, this makes no sense...
- pbhjpbhj 14y ago
  This is the bit, as it appears, where the guy treats the readers as idiots and tries to make out that he wasn't really recording the whole visit just in case that mitigates against his claim of unfair treatment. Those are not "buffered pictures" they are captured and purposefully stored images of the entire visit - which must be more than 10 mins. A transient store that simply enabled immediate viewing would likely be of the order of [far] less than a second; comparable with the buffering in an LCD screen. What we'll probably find is that McD asked him not to take pictures in their outlet and he claimed he wasn't taking pictures at all that it was solely a medical device. It looks about as bogus as it comes to me - is it some sort of PR stunt.
tuananh 14y ago
Stop watching Breaking Bad, people.
ams6110 14y ago
McDonald's has a policy of not allowing photography in their stores. Clearly in this case there seems to have been an overreaction, they should have just politely but firmly asked him to leave. McDonand's does not publish any direct contact email information So do it the old fashioned way. Get out a pen, paper, and stamp. Probaly have better results anyway. Here are the people in charge: http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/leadership.html http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/leadership.htm.... Their address, from their "contact us" web page, is McDonald's Corporation, 2111 McDonald's Dr., Oak Brook, IL 60523
chrismetcalf 14y ago
Anybody else notice that this is blocked as "spammy" on Facebook?
- andri 14y ago
  Getting the same thing here. I did find an acknowledgement from Facebook regarding blocking imgur.com 8 hours ago (http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/wo8ej/facebook_has_blocked_imgurcom/c5f2pv0 http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/wo8ej/facebook_h...), but blocking EyeTap seems suspicious.
  - adv0r 14y ago
    same thing here
madethemcry 14y ago
I can`t accept the story without questioning the part with the buffer. I looked at the pictures and thought, this buffer must have been very huge to record all those images. Watching the full buffer content would be interesting.
- madethemcry 14y ago
  It seems that he removed or never stored related images on his glogger profile. http://glogger.mobi/u_noscript.php?u=mann&y=2012&m=7 http://glogger.mobi/u_noscript.php?u=mann&y=2012&m=7
digitalengineer 14y ago
I've been to Paris many a time and have friends there. The French cab drivers and people working in restaurants are known for their extremely rude behavior. Even the French hate them! I've been called a faggot by one waiter for ordering tea instead of coffee. (I was dining with two girls). Another waiter in the freaking LOUVRE MUSEUM tried to buy drugs from me. You know, just because I'm from Holland I must be carring pot. I don't know why but don't judge France and the French by visiting only Paris.
- jack-r-abbit 14y ago
  Worst two weeks of my life was two weeks spent in France. And only about 8 hours of that was in Paris. And that was actually somewhat pleasant. Aside from the people at the host company I was doing work for, nearly every human interaction I had in France fit the "Rude French" stereotype to the letter. But I doubt they care (or even know) they were all rude asses.
deleted 14y ago
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sathishmanohar 14y ago
I can't help but think, anonymous is the right kind of people to deal with this incident. Given he is willing to publish photos without masking faces.
leke 14y ago
If the normal channels of bureaucracy don't find this man justice, I'm sure the internet will. All hail the internet!
forgottenpaswrd 14y ago
The reality is that you are assaulting other people's privacy if you wear this glasses. It does not matter that you have a letter from your doctor, you have to provide a way of switching the thing off. Me, me, me. What about others? What happens if people don't want to be stalked?. This man does not realize what he is doing is not only for good, but is going to be used for the bad, to control other people. This has serious consequences for the people. Very serious , you know what John was doing from 6:00pm to 6:16, where he was, with whom. The good thing about cities was the personal freedom to do anything without gossip like in a rural village. In the future you will have central databases with information about what every person is doing on real time, just sending the video feed and using facial recognition technology.
- capitao 14y ago
  honestly I don't care about their privacy. They work at mcdonalds not fucking NASA, it no secret what a big mac is
  - vacri 14y ago
    NASA is publicly funded and its mission is to extend human knowledge. Why should anything there be more secret than at McDonlads?
sball 14y ago
Well, you can't blame them since they're working for McDonald's (and are therefor somewhat retarded).
adv0r 14y ago
guys, did they blocked the link on facebook ? http://www.lize.it/up/blockedOnFb.png http://www.lize.it/up/blockedOnFb.png
michaelfeathers 14y ago
Sadly, I predicted this would happen years ago. Fear of Photography vs. Next Generation Prosthetics. The way technology and society work, I expect that visual prosthetics will eventually have built-in recording restrictions and classified as medical devices, thus making people with photophobia feel safe, or they will jump into the mainstream so fast (ala Google) that society will get used to it. Having an unobtrusive appearance would help, but I don't hold much hope for the latter.
deleted 14y ago
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pferde 14y ago
A bit off-topic, but I couldn't even get to the linked article, even after allowing all javascript I could find. Web really has gone to hell.
bborud 14y ago
This is really simple: don't eat at McDonald's. If you don't want a hysterical society where people get beaten up while minding their own business, then please do not reward them with your money.
florent_k 14y ago
Facebook don't allow to put this link in a comment, it's strange
feralchimp 14y ago
If you think McDonald's is liable for assaulting you, bring a suit. If you lack the resources to bring a suit, by all means complain and stop shopping at McDonald's. But how much else is there to say, really?
arjn 14y ago
Assuming everything the OP says about the incident is true, why would the French police not help ?
helen842000 14y ago
This particular McDonalds has been at the centre of SO many protests turned violent, anti-americanist attacks & incidents that I'm pretty sure the staff are permanently suspicious of anything or anyone out of the norm. I too have been to this particular McDonalds & the sheer volume of people that pass through the doors I'm surprised they don't have a more professional security team with the intelligence to differentiate on a customer by customer basis. I also totally agree that any form of photography in Paris (either close up to an individual store front or inside) will cause immediate confrontation. There is some irony in this story, that McDonalds' objection to recording images in their store actually gave the Eye Glass wearer a reason to use the images captured. An incident was caused by them trying to attempt to viciously stop what they perceived as a threat.
tripzilch 14y ago
There's no question that Perp-1 and Perp-2 were assholes and had no right to do whatever they did. But the sheer naivety and entitlement in this story really makes me shake my head in disbelief. Maybe he just doesn't have any experience travelling abroad? What about his travel insurance? He doesn't mention that at all. He got assaulted and his expensive medical equipment broken. He even got photographic evidence! Sounds like a clear-cut case that any decent travel insurance would cover. He did check with his insurance agency whether they cover his eyeglasses, right? And if they did not, he must have surely insured them separately before travelling abroad, right? So, what is this "I'm not seeking to be awarded money. I just want my Glass fixed" about then? Did he really bring an expensive piece of medical equipment on your vacation abroad, without properly insuring it? And what about this "letter from my doctor"? Anyone notice how his excruciatingly detailed report is rather quiet on this matter, he doesn't even mention anything like "which explains that I require these glasses for health reasons" (which would be the only time when a "letter from my doctor" would carry any weight). Or whether it includes a French translation. I know this because I have, on occasion, had to bring certain medications over the border (to Turkey, a non-Schengen country). It's not "a letter from my doctor", it's a multi-lingual form you need to request at the embassy of the country you're going, which your doctor fills in, signs and stamps--I was informed that in Turkey, the bureaucrats won't accept forms that are not stamped, and I assume that every country has its peculiarities like that. I brought three copies to be on the safe side, one for in my suitcase in my hotel, one for in my wallet to always have with me, and a third one for "just in case" I gave to a travel companion. Overkill maybe, but it's those little details that can make the difference between a minor inconvenience and a disaster, when on holiday. As far as his description is concerned his letter might as well have been a postcard with "Hi Steve, have fun on your vacation! Hope your glasses don't break. Greetings, your friend the nameless Doctor, MD.". There's a few other parts of the story where details are somewhat lacking. (I'm mostly noticing because he's being rather tediously detailed about all sorts of irrelevant things, such as the meal he ordered) What exactly happened when things turned bad? His story makes it seem like Perp-1 came out of the blue and "angrily grabbed my eyeglass, and tried to pull it off my head", really? And he later states "struck my Eye Glass, not a direct hit like a punch in the face, but a side-swipe, grabbing motion", a separate event implying that he and his family actually stuck around after having been assaulted from behind to see if they had any more where that came from? You're in a cheap "restaurant" in a foreign country, people are being aggressive, you get the fuck out. It's a McDonalds, not a US Embassy. The meals may be molecularly identical, but you're not in the US. And, apparently, uninsured. He also does not mention whether there were any words exchanged as things got heated. Did they ask him to leave? Did Mr Mann say or explain anything? His daughter speaks French, did she step in and try to mend the situation? French people do have a habit of speaking rather fast and incomprehensible as they get more annoyed, so maybe her French did not suffice. In which case, you're a tourist in a hostile situation, not speaking the language, and it's probably smart to leave. Also it seems pretty obvious that Perp-2 was not a McDonalds employee (notice the shades in his hair and the "meal" in front of him). The most logical explanation would seem to be that Perp-2 was a (minor) celebrity, complaining about a possible paparazzi tabloid photographer (who are known for doing weirder things than wearing silly cameraglasses). Doesn't make it right, but tabloid photographers sometimes get treated very similarly. What about "I also contacted the Embassy, Consulate, Police, etc., without much luck". Sounds like that aspect adventure should have been at least half of his story. No word about contacting his travel insurance agent. They should have a 24/7 world-wide hotline, especially when it concerns, er, "medical emergencies", such as, you know, damage to your expensive highly specialized medical equipment that you really need to carry on you at all times as your properly filled out, stamped and translated paperwork clearly shows. I can't believe he actually spent more words on how he tried to contact McDonalds than what the embassy, consulate, police and his travel insurance agent had to say. He actually called a US 1-800 number to speak to a McDonalds rep?! What good did he expect that would do? Is that how you do it in the US? "Take on a branch of a large multi-national corporation operating in a distant country", take them on about what? You can't possibly expect them to take responsibility for this, that is why other countries also have police and laws and such, and you go to them. For example, let's say you go to Somalia (in case Mr Mann is reading: please don't actually do this), it's practically anarchy there, not much of a state to speak of. Say you find a McDonald's restaurant, you go there, and you get beaten up and mugged by the staff there. Would you then also call this US 1-800 number and complain to the US branch of McDonald's and say "I went to one of your establishments in Somalia and I got mugged!" ? What I would do in his case: 1. As soon as I get out of the restaurant, call the travel insurance hotline, who would probably tell me to: 2. Go to the police, file a report of physical assault and property damage. There is no "luck" involved. File the report, you get a piece of paper, and that is your only business with the French police. There is very little you can do about bringing justice to the McD employees, so forget about them. 3. The piece of paper report is the evidence you need to make the claim with your travel insurance agency. Those photographs will also come in handy. 4. They either pay out or not. If not, consider getting better insurance and try reading your insurance policy to see if they cover damages done to your eyeglasses in cases of physical assault. But if they don't cover even that, I really wonder what they do cover. The biggest question is probably whether the glasses are more expensive than a certain maximum limit coverage. But that's really something you should take into account before leaving abroad with really expensive and fragile medical equipment on your face. 4b. There is a possibility where your travel insurance company will want the details of whoever assaulted you, to see if they can make a deal with their liability insurance, if those are mandated in France. The police report should also help with that. This will make things quite a bit more tedious, but still relatively straight-forward, as you know who it is and where he works. 5. End of story. Notice how nobody needed to "take on a foreign branch of a multi-national corporation" ...
student12383947 14y ago
part of the problem might also be McDonald's nazi-like controlling strategy - in our business class a McDonalds owner came in couple months ago and told a lot about his 2 McDonalds locations in New England. Basically, owners of McDonalds don't own real estate, so that if McDonald's corporation doesn't like the owner they can make the owner out and change owner through an auction. McDonald's can send undercover people to check quality of service at any time, and if they don't like something - number of checks double and warning to owner is given, so that if owner doesn't improve, the headquarters will change the owner. McDonalds is very very dependent on its reputation, because if there are problems with one location, other locations suffer as well. So, spreading this case more would allow him to get remedy. I believe that it is possible to sue McDonalds headquarters for such shit. One woman successfully sued McDonalds for a few millions for spilled hot coffee. Please look for a free consultation from a good lawyer, who might want to work for a percent from the case remedy.

1056 points by balnaphone 14y ago

charonn0 14y ago

The Parisian Police did nothing?!

angelbob 14y ago
An American tourist was harassed but not physically injured. He has evidence (some hearsay/unverifiable) that random McDonalds employees destroyed property, but it's going to be annoying and difficult to prove anything. I wouldn't expect a lot of help. Imagine if a random Albanian had a similar problem with NYC McDonalds employees and called the NYPD. The police don't support the assault, but they're not going to leap to attention over it.
- grecy 14y ago
  This has always been my experience with Police in foreign countries. They are polite, friendly, and genuinely wish the incident didn't happen. Once they ascertain nobody is really injured, etc. there is not a whole lot they can do.
- cgh 14y ago
  Small correction: Steve Mann is Canadian. Also, he has photographic evidence of his documentation being destroyed.
- sli 14y ago
  His eyewear appears to record or take pictures, so he likely has evidence of them destroy the documents.
conradfr 14y ago
French police sucks. Usually they will try very hard to NOT take your report (bad statistics).

richardv 14y ago

This is a really disturbing story. I hope you get a satisfactory resolution. Anyway, there has been a trend recently with regular HN'er saying that people should stop using HN as a way to get justice. "HN is not your mommy". I strongly believe that this is exactly the time that HN should step up, upvote this story, and ensure to it that a guy who creates the technology he wears see's some kind of justice.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
InclinedPlane 14y ago
These things are also more than just justice. It's helpful to get some insight into the nature of a big company, so that you can make your own personal decisions on whether you want to continue to do business with them in the future.
rosser 14y ago
I'm the person who wrote the "HN is not your mommy" comment, and I'd like to take a moment to clarify a bit what I was trying to say with that. Most importantly, I definitely wasn't decrying all instances of people bringing a situation that has gone some flavor of shitty to the attention of HN. In fact, it's in no small part the fact that the HN community is so willing to help one another out that keeps me here — particularly among the alumni, but I think their conduct just sets the example for the rest of us. That said, I've started to feel a few times lately like that willingness to be helpful is being taken advantage of — or at least people are trying to do so. The "I didn't win the contest! Waaaah!" was just the most egregious example I'd seen in some time, and I felt the need to call it out. Given that it was the highest rated comment I've ever posted on HN, I'm clearly not alone in that. This situation isn't remotely the same. This is a clear-cut case of ignorant idiocy escalating into physical assault, and the louder and more forcefully the fact that that kind of thing is fucking wrong gets shoved in McD's face, the better.
- swang 14y ago
  Do you have a link to the I didn't win the contest article?

richardjordan 14y ago

I would imagine a lawyer at any of a number of the nations larger law firms would take this on for you on contingency given the rather large sums that McDonald's might be forced to spend settling this with you. These firms are pretty approachable - don't go the local small-fry ambulance chaser, they won't know what to do.

cargo8 14y ago

WHAT?! I can't believe this happened and truly hope you can find these people. From the sound of your story, it sounds like those three were probably not actually affiliated McDonalds. Were you confident that even Potential Witness 1 was a true employee? Sounds like a scam and heist, but very strange since multiple people involved were wearing (seemingly) legitimate McDonalds clothing. Although, I would note that they were not wearing the uniform that the cashiers were wearing, which may give more weight to the conjecture that they were just lurking in plain site waiting to mug or rip someone off. I hope you find these guys and they get whats coming to them.

0-_-_-_-_-_-_-0 14y ago
Since we're throwing out conspiracy theories, I'd like to take a stab; that this is a mafia run McDonnalds working as a front.
citricsquid 14y ago
Here in England the managers of a McDonalds wear different clothing items to the peons, it's plausible that the people involved were either managerial staff or possibly security? The fact that perp 3 is carrying janitorial equipment would indicate he is indeed part of the store.

ojbyrne 14y ago

Random tidbit from the article - HDR photography is patented.

heyrhett 14y ago

I find it really hard to believe that Steve Mann would have some kind of medical condition that would lead a normal Dr. to prescribe that Steve Mann wears the computer vision glasses that Steve Mann invented. I'm sorry he was harassed, but this story really smells of one of the oldest ways to gain media attention on the internet: Step 1: Get screwed by a big company (this is the easy part) Step 2: Write a blog article documenting how you got screwed Step 3: Submit story to slashdot, digg, reddit, etc. Keep in mind people, before you start blowing up about this "injustice" that we're only hearing one side of the story. And frankly, I'm of the opinion that cases of assault are better handled by police and courtrooms than blogs and internet mobs. Also, the fact that the retribution Steve Mann is demanding, is that McDonald's repairs the glasses that Steve Mann invented is, well, a fantasy to say the least.

potatolicious 14y ago
From the post: > "I tried on many occasions to contact McDonald's but have not received any response." > "I also contacted the Embassy, Consulate, Police, etc., without much luck." IMO going to the court of public opinion is acceptable when nobody who should be dealing with the issue is actually doing so. This is practically why we have modern media, blogosphere or otherwise.
- Zenst 14y ago
  Not good is it, quick google yeilds this site: http://www.contact-the-ceo.com/mcdonalds.html http://www.contact-the-ceo.com/mcdonalds.html Which highlights how he can be contacted though has no email address, but that is: jim.skinner@us.mcd.com
reso 14y ago
I think he's well within reason. If you were assaulted by a cashier at McDonald's, would you just ignore it and continue on? I'm pretty sure I would try and get the perpetrators fired and possibly charged, and have the company pay for any damages to my property.
- 14y ago

AsylumWarden 14y ago

Wow, sorry to hear about the assault and damage to your property. That is quite a way to wreck an otherwise pleasant vacation. I will say that I am glad to hear that I am not the only one to have been treated in a rather hostile manner at a McDonald's in Paris. My wife and I went there on vacation a few years back. My wife was filming my clumsy handling of the french language as she made me order (she is actually quite good at french) and an "employee" took her camera, shoved us out of the restaurant and then smashed our camera on the side walk. I'm not sure what they think they are hiding.

waffle_ss 14y ago
There must be something in the water there because we had eggs thrown at us from an upper floor apartment walking down some sidewalk in Paris (I guess our speaking English to one another was offensive?). We always spoke French when interacting with francophones. Visiting the more rural places in France was pleasant though, and the people were more friendly.
- chris_wot 14y ago
  Parisians are famed for their rudeness. Whether that is fair I cannot judge, when I went there we didn't seem to have any problems!
  - Natsu 14y ago
    Except for one rude shopkeeper, everyone I met in France was nice.
    - AsylumWarden 14y ago
      Were you in Paris? Seriously, we had no problems anywhere else we went. It was just Paris. We visited Nice, Lyons, and Toulouse on our trip and had lots more fun in those places.

franzus 14y ago

> visit Paris > go to McDonald's

lazugod 14y ago
He was traveling with his kids.
- inoop 14y ago
  ... which is probably one of the best reasons you shouldn't go to MacDonald's.
saraid216 14y ago
As someone who has actually done this (I was with my parents), I can tell you that the Parisian McDonald's is, in fact, different from the American one. I think that the one in Beijing was different, too, but I didn't get to go into that one.

Zenst 14y ago

Complain to the Olympic board as McDonalds are a sponsor of the Olympics and the Para-Olympics. In parallel write/email to the newspapers etc. Also talk to your embassy who can advise how to proceed in other ways. You have a vision problem and need a visual aid to combat that disability. McDonalds not only commited assualt but also did it systematicaly and premeditated way indicating they are not a suitable sponsor for the para-Olympics. If they won't deal with this issue responsibly, then sod em and shame them as publicly and in as many ways as possible; you have done nothing wrong, nothing and they are all to blame so shame them. Also few links on FB and twitter with liberal abuse of #mcdonalds #imlovinit #mcd and the like will soon garner this issue the attention it needs and deserves. You could see a lawyer, but it's hard to find one who can deal with this. I'd go the press/PR route (then a good lawyer will come to you) as your doing but with a few nationals who will happily run this story. Now is a good time given there large marketing event called the Olympics, leverage this time and educate McDonalds. Last time I went to McDonalds security told me the toilets were for customers only too which I pointed out that in a civilised World we wash our hands before we handle our food and I had no desire to take my food into the toilet or leave it unattended as I had no confidence on the security being able to saftly protect my food/possesions. He appologised and I left to eat elsewere.

grimboy 14y ago
Drifitng off topic, but the Paralympics are already sponsored by ATOS, the company the UK government has put in charge of taking social security from the genuinely disabled. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/21/paralympic-games-organisers-defend-atos-sponsorship http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/21/paralympic-games...
- writetoalok 14y ago
  > social security from the genuinely disabled And what might that percentage be? Seeing a number of moochers feigning disability for unearned dole outs, is surely the most common disgust of our times. And if one is disabled, they should not expect to be given free handouts from money forced out at gunpoint. They need care and consideration and all volunteer help they can get. Its time to realize that Government should be the institution for one thing and one only. Protection of individual freedom. And nothing else.

saboot 14y ago

Can someone illuminate why a recording device would illicit such a harsh reaction? I can understand businesses wanting to avoid someone stand there with a video camera, but does France take this more seriously?

facorreia 14y ago
He's not telling the whole story.
petercooper 14y ago
There are (sadly) thousands of such stories, YouTube videos, etc. about photographers getting assaulted and intimidated when legally taking photos in certain areas. This is basically the same thing at an even more technological level. My speculation on this: A lot of people in security have such boring jobs that even if they don't feel intimidated by photographers, they relish a chance to play big, get a buzz out of the day, and look like they're "doing their job."
jlgreco 14y ago
Security personnel often react irrationally to photographic equipment. The only unique thing here is that in this case the equipment was attached to his head.
DanBC 14y ago
Try it sometime - just take a video camera and point it at someone and see what their reaction is. Now do this for everyone you ever meet, all day every day, in a strange country, and you see that although violence is rare you've increased the number of opportunities for violence to happen.

bobotom 14y ago

The actual assault description is extremely lacking in detail. Are we to believe someone walked up unannounced and tried to rip the eye glasses off!?

sukuriant 14y ago
That's what I ascertained, so ... yes.
jlgreco 14y ago
That sounds like a fairly standard security overreaction to cameras, so yes?

pg 14y ago

No one at an ordinary McDonald's would even notice such a device. Ergo this was not an ordinary McDonald's, but one with security people looking for cameras. Why would a McDonald's have security people looking for cameras? Possibly because it was a mafia front. If you wanted to launder money, a fast food restaurant in a popular location would be a good place to do it. The way the employees behaved is consistent with this explanation. Edit: I should have said no more than that the excessive reaction of the security people suggests there may be something dubious happening at this McDonald's that they don't want filmed. But there are other less dramatic things they might be doing besides money laundering: using undocumented labor, for example.

richardv 14y ago
Are you enacting Poe's law? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poes_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poes_law I seriously cannot tell, and you didn't wink at the end? Since McDonald's are easily franchise-able, I suppose they could legitimately be used as a Mafia Front... But really, Poe's Law? wink ;)
- chao- 14y ago
  This is what came to my mind as well. I can't decide whether or not the comment is supposed to be serious. On one hand, I can't think of many above-board reasons that a restaurant employee would tackle you for having a tiny camera, or rip up medical documentation. On the other hand, the jump straight to a mafia seems a leap too far. Yet if we are going to speculate, I don't see a criminal explanation as significantly more plausible than others. To demonstrate one of my own: Perhaps they'd recently had a bad rating/inspection from the French/Parisian health department (replace with proper name), and were really worried about some undercover story by local news stations. A bit extreme to use physical intimidation, but perhaps the manager is on the verge of losing the place?
  - SilasX 14y ago
    Most sensible explanation so far. It accounts for why they would be worried about hidden, automatic cameras much more than the ones regular tourists have, where you can see when they're taking a picture or getting a good video angle. Also, most tourists don't take pictures of what's going on behind the counter, so you can catch someone trying to overtly do that, but a hidden camera would make that harder to spot, leading management to be more paranoid about built-in cameras. On top of that, "concern about the health department" has a much higher prior probability than "mafia collusion with major fast food chain".

corford 14y ago

Upsetting but I don't think there's much that can be done about it. The local police or gendarmes are unlikely to have the time to pursue it and I doubt any witnesses will come forward (from the staff at least). Just a case of three "beuf" (as the French would say) taking a dislike to a geek. Sadly, there's a sub-section of young(ish) male French society that is extremely macho and very closed minded when it comes to people not fitting the mould. They're the same jerks that will harass a girl if she's wearing a short skirt (because obviously that means "she's up for it!")

guard-of-terra 14y ago
In Russian, this kind of person is called "gopnik". Feel free to use. Not directly related to one of two USA main parties.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

hastur 14y ago

Can't wait for the Anonymous to hack and publish McDonalds' mail systems. As a side benefit, we might learn what kind of turd they're feeding to people.

gcb 14y ago
they will not move a finger. unless you say perpetrator 1 proceeded to kick a cat.

ackackackack 14y ago

> The computerized eyeglass processes imagery using Augmediated Reality, in order to help the wearer see better, and when the computer is damaged, e.g. by falling and hitting the ground (or by a physical assault), buffered pictures for processing remain in its memory, and are not overwritten with new ones by the then non-functioning computer vision system. The computer broke and accidentally took these handy photos of his perpetrators? Yeah I don't believe that for a second. I'm betting that it was always recording video and in order to release these images publicly or in a courtroom, he needs a story about how it "malfunctioned" when he was roughed up. Side tangent, that's exactly what's creepy about this glass technology. There's no physical indication that a picture/video is being recorded, like someone reaching into their bag, pulling out a camera, and pressing a button. Will someone be recording me as I'm talking to them? I'll never know.

enneff 14y ago
It is plausible that the software stores recent imagery in a circular buffer for processing purposes and that the assault caused the software to crash, leaving the data in the buffer. Besides, Steve's work is university funded research so it wouldn't be hard to have the code analyzed if it came to that. Regardless, your paranoia about such devices filming you unawares is misplaced. There are many off-the-shelf recording devices that are far less conspicuous; you have probably already been photographed hundreds of times by such devices. At least with these head mounted devices you have a definite visual cue that a camera is pointed at you. A reasonable practice is to assume you're being filmed when not in a place or around people you trust.

obilgic 14y ago

What is wrong about taking pics at mcdonalds, Im confused..

guard-of-terra 14y ago

I believe in the future it would be legal to film everywhere 24x365, and it also will be legal to shoot the bad guys (with weapons, not video) if they did some bad thing AND you film it. And then everybody will behave, because if they don't they might get shot. Sort of a high-tech wild west. (and you don't have to be a hard ball, just trigger the wearable fire response system).

commandar 14y ago
>and it also will be legal to shoot the bad guys (with weapons, not video) if they did some bad thing AND you film it. You can already do this in nearly any jurisdiction in the US as long as you're justified in using deadly force. It might make it easier to prove you were justified, but it wouldn't be anything new. If the suggestion is that you'd need video to prove you were justified, that's a huge can of worms. You'd effectively be forcing people to choose between filming 24x7 and dealing with the potential privacy and self-incrimination issues there or being stripped of their right to self-defense.
westicle 14y ago
There is a difference between filming in public and private spaces. In most common-law jurisdictions filming in public is completely legal, even filming an event put on by a private entity (ie a sports game - there is no property in a spectacle). Note also the proliferation of CCTV in public spaces in many countries. On private property you have the right to set rules and effectively dictate who is welcome and who is trespassing. Hence you can't take a video camera into a theatre etc. There is a grey area when your public filming infringes on the reasonable expectation of privacy of another person. I doubt anyone here would take too kindly to a stranger following them 24/7 with a video camera.
- guard-of-terra 14y ago
  Stranger following you with a cam is not much worse than stranger following you 24/7, period. But now you would be able to film that fact and then sue him for annoying behavior.
- 14y ago

kghose 14y ago

A few people have voiced concern that this is a made up story. I have to admit that I belong to that bunch. I would imagine that if a store had a concern that this was an ... odd individual, carrying a video recording device, recording customers, employees and the store itself, I would send out security to escort the person out. But I would do so with a great trepidation, because of lawsuits. There MUST be something missing in this story. It would take great recklessness and lack of ethics to completely fabricate the story, but it is possible. More likely is that there were some leading events that we have not been told about.

akoumjian 14y ago
The biggest red flag for me is how he is suddenly assaulted without any warning or prior dialogue taking place. That doesn't mean that any assault was justified, but it means we are not being told something.
forgottenpaswrd 14y ago
"...I would send out security to escort the person out. But I would do so with a great trepidation, because of lawsuits." This is what they did, but he did not want to go out because of the letter from his doctor(as his doctor's letter is something in France). So they waited until they could suddenly remove the device from him, they not realizing it was permanent connected to the skull. He wants it his way or his way.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

ppod 14y ago
You should delete that right away. What good do you think is going to come of putting his home address, phone number, and wife's name (!?!?!) on the internet?
- scarmig 14y ago
  Flag the comment, moderators should delete immediately. Perhaps the most inappropriate thing I've seen posted at HN before.
  - Zenst 14y ago
    I deleted it. happy now?
- Zenst 14y ago
  It is already on the internet, blame google and bing for making it easy to find. EDIT ADD It is also on facebook, and so many other places. Googling his for i email address is a hard one to find but pulls up that address alot. So write him a letter saying that attacking a disabled person infront of his family is just not acceptable.
  - Zenst 14y ago
    Oh you bunch of drama lama's - I deleted it though I'll repeat his email address: CEO's email address jim.skinner@us.mcd.com But seriously his home address along with the other mcdonals executives are a 5 year olds googling efforts away. I reveled nothing new that was not liberly plastered all over the internet. Maybe if they handled complaints better then people would not have to write to them directly and or sue them directly, food for thought.
    - chris_wot 14y ago
      If its so easy to find the information, there was no real need to post it here then.

drrotmos 14y ago

While this incident is terrible, there's one thing Dr. Mann doesn't make entirely clear in the article. The contact information for McDonald's France is quite easily found at http://www.mcdonalds.fr/contacts http://www.mcdonalds.fr/contacts. It's not an e-mail address, but rather a phone number, but the way the article is written it's not at all clear if he's tried to contact them by their publicly available phone number?

alister 14y ago
He says that he tried to call, and his statement looks clear to me: > I also tried calling the main number, at mcdonands.com: 1-800-244-6227, but got a voice recording that was totally unintelligible (very loud and distorted), and it appears this number does not work. I tried the number just now, and in fact, it is exactly as he describes: you get a loud distorted unintelligible message for a 3-4 seconds and then it hangs up. As Dr. Mann is likely calling from Canada, as I also am, it occurred to me that this particular 800 number might not work from Canada. Some USA-based 800 numbers work, and some don't -- it depends on the calling area that the 800-number subscriber wants to pay for. Listening to the message a second time, I think that I can make out words about the "calling area", which would indicate why it's not working.
- deadmansshoes 14y ago
  Except that number is for the US McDonalds. The French numbers would be +33 1 30 48 65 28 or +33 1 30 48 60 00 as stated on the contact page. "I don't have the resources to take on a branch of a large multi-national corporation operating in a distant country" - doesn't really cut it when the contact page and number can be found on the Internet in 2 seconds of searching.

supervacuo 14y ago

Surely the only take-away from this is that McDonald's is a terrible place. Didn't we all know that already? It's still helpful to try and do as much damage as possible with this story (ideally getting some money or at least an apology for the victim), but make no mistake that the company structure will make this vanish into the æther in no time. The long-term solution: just don't go there.

enneff 14y ago
Do we all know that? Is it true? I have had hundreds of meals at McDonalds and never witnessed anything like this. The staff have been pleasant and helpful, the environment clean, and the food as advertised. "Terrible," seems ridiculously hyperbolic to me.
- justinatjustat 14y ago
  'as advertised' - there's ya terrible.
scarmig 14y ago
Regardless of whether MacDonald's is the salvation of the human race or the reincarnation of Nazi-ism... I think it's pretty obvious that this wasn't some plot from corporate to beat up guys weiring eyeglasses that are medically integrated with their body. It's the unordered work of some violent thugs, though their motive remains to be seen (or even if they're actual employees or something else).

disappointment 14y ago

A number of companies seem to have policies against in-store photography. Supermarkets don't want their competitors getting accurate data about their pricing. Usually, it's the ones that offer loyalty cards so they can track their customers more effectively. I have no idea how a branch of McDonald's in the centre of a major tourist city expects to be able to keep any secrets but it may simply be a company wide policy. Someone should update them on just how small, cheap and effective actual spy cameras are these days. Not to mention phones.

truxs 14y ago

I think they were not afraid of terrorism or cops but rather journalist. This past few years several documentaries showed how bad hygien can be in some french restaurant (fast-food or not) wich in the worst case led to the death of customers. http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/quick-d-avignon-benjamin-14-ans-est-bien-mort-intoxique-18-02-2011-1321649.php http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/quick-d-avignon-benjam... One of this documentary was involving macdonald but was only broadcast on the internet once it was leaked cause the channel didn't want to lose one of the biggest advertiser. http://www.slate.fr/story/19421/mcdo-kfc-le-reportage-censure-de-m6-reapparait http://www.slate.fr/story/19421/mcdo-kfc-le-reportage-censur... So i would bet they were afraid of bad publicity ... Oh the sweet taste of irony

MichaelApproved 14y ago

Why are we discussing this on HN? If you were assaulted, file a police report. If your private property was damaged, hire a lawyer or file a small claims lawsuit.

robomartin 14y ago

> but I could use some help and advice as to how to resolve this matter This is bound to not be popular on HN, but, so be it. First bit of advice: Don't be such a dork. Respect others, their space and privacy. People don't want cameras pointed at them all the time. You might. I certainly don't. You can't just walk-up to people wearing a bunch of hardware and not expect a variety of reactions. If someone asks you to take it off and you can't, then you leave. You are the transgressor, not the people in front of you. Second bit of advice: Ask for permission when walking into a private establishment -like a restaurant- with such a rig. It isn't their job to accommodate every nutcase that comes through the door. You are not a nutcase, but your actions may have telegraphed otherwise. I would expect people to react very differently to an actual blind person wearing some hardware than an obviously sighted person under the same circumstances. There are also details that are not being revealed. Does he "scan" the place and do a bunch of stuff with the hardware when entering a new environment? I find it hard to believe that someone would outright attack him without prior motive. People just don't do that -not even in France- unless they are seriously provoked or are criminals. We know nothing about the interaction and actions of the cyborg propr to the "assault". Let's say he was "scanning" people at the restaurant and generally acting in an intrusive manner, well, that's just not acceptable behavior in most parts of the world. Finally, the las bit of advise might be: Be aware of cultural differences when traveling to other countries. While in Canada and parts of the US people might generally go out of their way to be polite, that is not the case around the globe. In some parts of the world you'll gen man-handled and even beaten-up if you act like an idiot and show a general lack of respect. Just because you think what you are doing is OK it doesn't mean that everyone around you agrees. Times do change. When I was in college I'd walk around with my HP calculator hanging off my belt. Outside of college I'd take it off. Today people walk around with computers in their pockets and little devices with blinking LED's in their ears all day long. That's just the way the world works. Be smart enough to use Aikido, not Karate. Finally: Get someone to help you with industrial design. When comparing the photos on the linked page, your rig looks intimidating, while the Google rig is almost invisible. Also, turn the damn thing off when dealing with people so your eye looks normal. I respect the work and dedication immensely, what I think is off-base here is the assumption that it is OK to stick a camera in everyone's face (or within a private establishment) without permission. If you decide to down-vote please have the courtesy to explain your reasons so that I and others might learn from contrasting points of view.

akamaka 14y ago

Coming from Steve Mann, I'm a little bit hesitant to take this story at face value. A while back, he had a run in with airport security about his equipment: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/14/technology/circuits/14MANN.html http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/14/technology/circuits/14MANN... While I don't deny that the security guards could have acted more respectfully, it seems like Steve went out of his way to put himself in a situation that he knew would be problematic. Why couldn't he have removed the equipment before returning to the airport? Also, some of his claims seemed exaggerated, like that his equipment couldn't be x-rayed or that he became disoriented in the airport with having his wearable computer. If he's looking to make a point about cyborg rights, fair enough, but my opinion of him is that he doesn't come into these situations with an attitude that avoids misunderstandings. I think that another person in this same situation would have at least been able to communicate with the McDonald's staff and determine what the problem was.

scoot 14y ago

"when the computer is damaged, e.g. by falling and hitting the ground (or by a physical assault), buffered pictures for processing remain in its memory, and are not overwritten with new ones" This sounds bogus. The stills presented in the post suggests they were taken by design rather than some random stills "remaining in memory" after the alleged assault. There are frames from earlier in his McDonald's visit that it would not make sense to still exist in memory for "processing". I'm not questioning the alleged events, but wondering why he would give such an unlikely explanation of the existence of these stills? Is it illegal to video in a retail establishment in France?

antoinevg 14y ago
What he is trying to explain is that he is NOT making a permanent video record of everything he sees. Any computer vision system is going to have an image buffer. When you break the system it's going to stop overwriting that buffer with new images. If he had been left alone the images on his blog would have been overwritten with new images. Does it make more sense to you now?
- betawolf33 14y ago
  Consider how long ago these events are in his narrative. He gives a still of 'Possible Witness 1' who he met and talked with as he entered the store. Presume that that image is at the end of their conversation (as it will have been pretty long). He then describes going to the counter and ordering food. That is to say, his daughter ordered food in French. That's a minute or two of activity, at the least. Then he goes and sits down to eat his food. Assuming really prompt service and that he was attacked almost as soon as possible in the narrative, that's at least another half-minute to take a seat and unwrap your sandwich. There are then a series of images and a description of him trying to reason with several people who 'deliberated on [his documentation] for some time' before pushing him out. That, to me, is at least five minutes of confrontation. I can't see why his image buffer would be over seven minutes long.
ajanuary 14y ago
The earlier frames can be explained by having a larger buffer than is strictly necessary for typical use and rather than removing them as soon as they're processed, just leave it to get overridden. Why you would have a buffer that large for realtime processing, I'm not too sure, but there probably is a reason.

anigbrowl 14y ago

I find it strange that there's no mention of a police report or a complaint to the Canadian embassy.

ww520 14y ago

This is an outrageous assault and battery. This is a criminal act. I hope the police are involved and arrests are made. Steve Mann is the father of wearable computer. I remember seeing him as a undergrad in MIT wearing those clumsy camera and computer at the belt. He is the pioneer in real cyborg tech.

LargeWu 14y ago

The real crime is that he went to Paris and ate at McDonalds.

TheAmazingIdiot 14y ago

Complete aside - Comment about posted pictures from Digital Eye Glass I noticed from his posted pictures (labelled as Possible Witness 2) http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RnoG7dHRDjY/UASnGzPFkSI/AAAAAAAAADA/8zPAI5x2Cm0/s640/cashier.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RnoG7dHRDjY/UASnGzPFkSI/AAAAAAAAAD... There's some nasty spherical lensing effects there. I'm noticing that from the signboard on the right middle side. The menuboard should be flat across, with perhaps a deviation of where the signage isnt exactly flush to each other. Also in other pictures, you can see spherical lensing distortion from the corners of walls and ceiling tiles. I know of libraries that take low compute overhead that compensate for this. And all you need for calibration is a checkerboard of white and black waved around.

strstr 14y ago
This could be intentional, as it may increase his peripheral vision through the Eye Glass.
- vacri 14y ago
  It may also be corrected when the image is projected into his eye.

tokenadult 14y ago

The link in the submitted article, referring to an earlier incident in which a cell phone camera caused a physical confrontation with a McDonald's customer in France, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-49140976/mcdonalds-messes-up-how-not-to-handle-service-mistakes/ http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-49140976/mcdonalds-me... is probably important context here. It appears that there is some systematic misunderstanding among the company managers about how to train their employees to avoid overreacting to cameras in the store.

datalus 14y ago

Go to Paris. Eat at a McDonald's. o_O

petitmiam 14y ago
I love eating fast food in other countries. It's always different from home and that fascinates me. Sure, I'm much more keen to enjoy 'proper' food from the country I'm visiting, but there's still a place for experiencing fast food.
- pbhjpbhj 14y ago
  Why not Quick then? http://www.quick.fr/ http://www.quick.fr/
tspiteri 14y ago
Maybe it's a fast meal at midday when there are still places to go, and a good meal in the evening to wind down.
- datalus 14y ago
  I spent sometime in Lyon last summer, the cafes aren't too slow when you want to grab a bite to eat. However, I can only assume one would go to McDonald's to get a Royale with Cheese ;)

lnanek2 14y ago

What will be really interesting is when he brings his recording device into somewhere people get naked, like a locker room...that isn't going to go well with a lot of people.

foxylad 14y ago

Anyone else have alarm bells going off about the statements about buffering? He's very careful to represent storage of the images as an accident caused by the incident, which is slightly odd in itself - why not simply say it records everything it sees and that that was very useful in this case? Then if there was no storage, how come there are images for several minutes before the assault? It must have been at least a ring buffer, so there WAS storage (albeit temporary). I'm not condoning the violence that was done to him in any way. But this dissembling makes me want another witness before I take this at face value.

EvilTerran 14y ago
He's very careful to represent storage of the images as an accident caused by the incident, which is slightly odd in itself - why not simply say it records everything it sees and that that was very useful in this case? Probably because he either believes French law forbids recording people without their permission, or doesn't know one way or the other (I'm in the second camp) -- so he has to emphasise that it was not his intention to take these pictures, to make it clear that he wasn't doing anything wrong in that regard.

lsc 14y ago

Seems to me like he needs to implement a Stephenson style panic button - In Snow Crash, at one point YT used a special button on her phone to summon help from other couriers. It'd be easy enough to implement technically; when I hit the panic button it notifies all listeners of my location; listeners configure how far away they want reports. (perhaps taking reports from further away from people with higher reputation or from people you manually configure as more important...) I mean, in the case of Mann, it's easy; if I was nearby and knew he needed physical help, I'd be happy to show up. The problem is for the rest of us, the unknowns, there would need to be some sort of sense of community or something.

ktizo 14y ago
It would be fantastic to be able to summon the MIT wearables division in an emergency. Surely one of them has built a Gundam by now. http://www.wearcam.org/computing.html/borgs_outside_medialab.jpg http://www.wearcam.org/computing.html/borgs_outside_medialab...
- lsc 14y ago
  hah. yeah. but I think the most powerful thing (and this could be implemented with cellphones) is just being able to summon witnesses, esp. witnesses with cameras. It seems that these days wars are more about how it looks in the media than about killing as many of the other guys as you can. Just knowing that they are being watched, I think, would prevent most violent crime.

springishere 14y ago

What about simple sale of illicit goods ? That would warrant a response like this. With so many people in and out it would be easy to slip something in with the orders. It isn't the first time it's happened, either. http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/police-say-mcdonalds-drug-buys-lucrative-333133/ http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city...

obilgic 14y ago

"The computerized eyeglass processes imagery using Augmediated Reality, in order to help the wearer see better, and when the computer is damaged, e.g. by falling and hitting the ground (or by a physical assault), buffered pictures for processing remain in its memory, and are not overwritten with new ones by the then non-functioning computer vision system. As a result of Perpetrator 1's actions, therefore images that would not have otherwise been captured were captured. Therefore by damaging the Eye Glass, Perpetrator 1 photographed himself and others within McDonalds. " Dude, this makes no sense...

pbhjpbhj 14y ago
This is the bit, as it appears, where the guy treats the readers as idiots and tries to make out that he wasn't really recording the whole visit just in case that mitigates against his claim of unfair treatment. Those are not "buffered pictures" they are captured and purposefully stored images of the entire visit - which must be more than 10 mins. A transient store that simply enabled immediate viewing would likely be of the order of [far] less than a second; comparable with the buffering in an LCD screen. What we'll probably find is that McD asked him not to take pictures in their outlet and he claimed he wasn't taking pictures at all that it was solely a medical device. It looks about as bogus as it comes to me - is it some sort of PR stunt.

tuananh 14y ago

Stop watching Breaking Bad, people.

ams6110 14y ago

McDonald's has a policy of not allowing photography in their stores. Clearly in this case there seems to have been an overreaction, they should have just politely but firmly asked him to leave. McDonand's does not publish any direct contact email information So do it the old fashioned way. Get out a pen, paper, and stamp. Probaly have better results anyway. Here are the people in charge: http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/leadership.html http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/leadership.htm.... Their address, from their "contact us" web page, is McDonald's Corporation, 2111 McDonald's Dr., Oak Brook, IL 60523

chrismetcalf 14y ago

Anybody else notice that this is blocked as "spammy" on Facebook?

andri 14y ago
Getting the same thing here. I did find an acknowledgement from Facebook regarding blocking imgur.com 8 hours ago (http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/wo8ej/facebook_has_blocked_imgurcom/c5f2pv0 http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/wo8ej/facebook_h...), but blocking EyeTap seems suspicious.
- adv0r 14y ago
  same thing here

madethemcry 14y ago

I can`t accept the story without questioning the part with the buffer. I looked at the pictures and thought, this buffer must have been very huge to record all those images. Watching the full buffer content would be interesting.

madethemcry 14y ago
It seems that he removed or never stored related images on his glogger profile. http://glogger.mobi/u_noscript.php?u=mann&y=2012&m=7 http://glogger.mobi/u_noscript.php?u=mann&y=2012&m=7

digitalengineer 14y ago

I've been to Paris many a time and have friends there. The French cab drivers and people working in restaurants are known for their extremely rude behavior. Even the French hate them! I've been called a faggot by one waiter for ordering tea instead of coffee. (I was dining with two girls). Another waiter in the freaking LOUVRE MUSEUM tried to buy drugs from me. You know, just because I'm from Holland I must be carring pot. I don't know why but don't judge France and the French by visiting only Paris.

jack-r-abbit 14y ago
Worst two weeks of my life was two weeks spent in France. And only about 8 hours of that was in Paris. And that was actually somewhat pleasant. Aside from the people at the host company I was doing work for, nearly every human interaction I had in France fit the "Rude French" stereotype to the letter. But I doubt they care (or even know) they were all rude asses.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

sathishmanohar 14y ago

I can't help but think, anonymous is the right kind of people to deal with this incident. Given he is willing to publish photos without masking faces.

leke 14y ago

If the normal channels of bureaucracy don't find this man justice, I'm sure the internet will. All hail the internet!

forgottenpaswrd 14y ago

The reality is that you are assaulting other people's privacy if you wear this glasses. It does not matter that you have a letter from your doctor, you have to provide a way of switching the thing off. Me, me, me. What about others? What happens if people don't want to be stalked?. This man does not realize what he is doing is not only for good, but is going to be used for the bad, to control other people. This has serious consequences for the people. Very serious , you know what John was doing from 6:00pm to 6:16, where he was, with whom. The good thing about cities was the personal freedom to do anything without gossip like in a rural village. In the future you will have central databases with information about what every person is doing on real time, just sending the video feed and using facial recognition technology.

capitao 14y ago
honestly I don't care about their privacy. They work at mcdonalds not fucking NASA, it no secret what a big mac is
- vacri 14y ago
  NASA is publicly funded and its mission is to extend human knowledge. Why should anything there be more secret than at McDonlads?

sball 14y ago

Well, you can't blame them since they're working for McDonald's (and are therefor somewhat retarded).

adv0r 14y ago

guys, did they blocked the link on facebook ? http://www.lize.it/up/blockedOnFb.png http://www.lize.it/up/blockedOnFb.png

michaelfeathers 14y ago

Sadly, I predicted this would happen years ago. Fear of Photography vs. Next Generation Prosthetics. The way technology and society work, I expect that visual prosthetics will eventually have built-in recording restrictions and classified as medical devices, thus making people with photophobia feel safe, or they will jump into the mainstream so fast (ala Google) that society will get used to it. Having an unobtrusive appearance would help, but I don't hold much hope for the latter.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

pferde 14y ago

A bit off-topic, but I couldn't even get to the linked article, even after allowing all javascript I could find. Web really has gone to hell.

bborud 14y ago

This is really simple: don't eat at McDonald's. If you don't want a hysterical society where people get beaten up while minding their own business, then please do not reward them with your money.

florent_k 14y ago

Facebook don't allow to put this link in a comment, it's strange

feralchimp 14y ago

If you think McDonald's is liable for assaulting you, bring a suit. If you lack the resources to bring a suit, by all means complain and stop shopping at McDonald's. But how much else is there to say, really?

arjn 14y ago

Assuming everything the OP says about the incident is true, why would the French police not help ?

helen842000 14y ago

This particular McDonalds has been at the centre of SO many protests turned violent, anti-americanist attacks & incidents that I'm pretty sure the staff are permanently suspicious of anything or anyone out of the norm. I too have been to this particular McDonalds & the sheer volume of people that pass through the doors I'm surprised they don't have a more professional security team with the intelligence to differentiate on a customer by customer basis. I also totally agree that any form of photography in Paris (either close up to an individual store front or inside) will cause immediate confrontation. There is some irony in this story, that McDonalds' objection to recording images in their store actually gave the Eye Glass wearer a reason to use the images captured. An incident was caused by them trying to attempt to viciously stop what they perceived as a threat.

tripzilch 14y ago

There's no question that Perp-1 and Perp-2 were assholes and had no right to do whatever they did. But the sheer naivety and entitlement in this story really makes me shake my head in disbelief. Maybe he just doesn't have any experience travelling abroad? What about his travel insurance? He doesn't mention that at all. He got assaulted and his expensive medical equipment broken. He even got photographic evidence! Sounds like a clear-cut case that any decent travel insurance would cover. He did check with his insurance agency whether they cover his eyeglasses, right? And if they did not, he must have surely insured them separately before travelling abroad, right? So, what is this "I'm not seeking to be awarded money. I just want my Glass fixed" about then? Did he really bring an expensive piece of medical equipment on your vacation abroad, without properly insuring it? And what about this "letter from my doctor"? Anyone notice how his excruciatingly detailed report is rather quiet on this matter, he doesn't even mention anything like "which explains that I require these glasses for health reasons" (which would be the only time when a "letter from my doctor" would carry any weight). Or whether it includes a French translation. I know this because I have, on occasion, had to bring certain medications over the border (to Turkey, a non-Schengen country). It's not "a letter from my doctor", it's a multi-lingual form you need to request at the embassy of the country you're going, which your doctor fills in, signs and stamps--I was informed that in Turkey, the bureaucrats won't accept forms that are not stamped, and I assume that every country has its peculiarities like that. I brought three copies to be on the safe side, one for in my suitcase in my hotel, one for in my wallet to always have with me, and a third one for "just in case" I gave to a travel companion. Overkill maybe, but it's those little details that can make the difference between a minor inconvenience and a disaster, when on holiday. As far as his description is concerned his letter might as well have been a postcard with "Hi Steve, have fun on your vacation! Hope your glasses don't break. Greetings, your friend the nameless Doctor, MD.". There's a few other parts of the story where details are somewhat lacking. (I'm mostly noticing because he's being rather tediously detailed about all sorts of irrelevant things, such as the meal he ordered) What exactly happened when things turned bad? His story makes it seem like Perp-1 came out of the blue and "angrily grabbed my eyeglass, and tried to pull it off my head", really? And he later states "struck my Eye Glass, not a direct hit like a punch in the face, but a side-swipe, grabbing motion", a separate event implying that he and his family actually stuck around after having been assaulted from behind to see if they had any more where that came from? You're in a cheap "restaurant" in a foreign country, people are being aggressive, you get the fuck out. It's a McDonalds, not a US Embassy. The meals may be molecularly identical, but you're not in the US. And, apparently, uninsured. He also does not mention whether there were any words exchanged as things got heated. Did they ask him to leave? Did Mr Mann say or explain anything? His daughter speaks French, did she step in and try to mend the situation? French people do have a habit of speaking rather fast and incomprehensible as they get more annoyed, so maybe her French did not suffice. In which case, you're a tourist in a hostile situation, not speaking the language, and it's probably smart to leave. Also it seems pretty obvious that Perp-2 was not a McDonalds employee (notice the shades in his hair and the "meal" in front of him). The most logical explanation would seem to be that Perp-2 was a (minor) celebrity, complaining about a possible paparazzi tabloid photographer (who are known for doing weirder things than wearing silly cameraglasses). Doesn't make it right, but tabloid photographers sometimes get treated very similarly. What about "I also contacted the Embassy, Consulate, Police, etc., without much luck". Sounds like that aspect adventure should have been at least half of his story. No word about contacting his travel insurance agent. They should have a 24/7 world-wide hotline, especially when it concerns, er, "medical emergencies", such as, you know, damage to your expensive highly specialized medical equipment that you really need to carry on you at all times as your properly filled out, stamped and translated paperwork clearly shows. I can't believe he actually spent more words on how he tried to contact McDonalds than what the embassy, consulate, police and his travel insurance agent had to say. He actually called a US 1-800 number to speak to a McDonalds rep?! What good did he expect that would do? Is that how you do it in the US? "Take on a branch of a large multi-national corporation operating in a distant country", take them on about what? You can't possibly expect them to take responsibility for this, that is why other countries also have police and laws and such, and you go to them. For example, let's say you go to Somalia (in case Mr Mann is reading: please don't actually do this), it's practically anarchy there, not much of a state to speak of. Say you find a McDonald's restaurant, you go there, and you get beaten up and mugged by the staff there. Would you then also call this US 1-800 number and complain to the US branch of McDonald's and say "I went to one of your establishments in Somalia and I got mugged!" ? What I would do in his case: 1. As soon as I get out of the restaurant, call the travel insurance hotline, who would probably tell me to: 2. Go to the police, file a report of physical assault and property damage. There is no "luck" involved. File the report, you get a piece of paper, and that is your only business with the French police. There is very little you can do about bringing justice to the McD employees, so forget about them. 3. The piece of paper report is the evidence you need to make the claim with your travel insurance agency. Those photographs will also come in handy. 4. They either pay out or not. If not, consider getting better insurance and try reading your insurance policy to see if they cover damages done to your eyeglasses in cases of physical assault. But if they don't cover even that, I really wonder what they do cover. The biggest question is probably whether the glasses are more expensive than a certain maximum limit coverage. But that's really something you should take into account before leaving abroad with really expensive and fragile medical equipment on your face. 4b. There is a possibility where your travel insurance company will want the details of whoever assaulted you, to see if they can make a deal with their liability insurance, if those are mandated in France. The police report should also help with that. This will make things quite a bit more tedious, but still relatively straight-forward, as you know who it is and where he works. 5. End of story. Notice how nobody needed to "take on a foreign branch of a multi-national corporation" ...

student12383947 14y ago

part of the problem might also be McDonald's nazi-like controlling strategy - in our business class a McDonalds owner came in couple months ago and told a lot about his 2 McDonalds locations in New England. Basically, owners of McDonalds don't own real estate, so that if McDonald's corporation doesn't like the owner they can make the owner out and change owner through an auction. McDonald's can send undercover people to check quality of service at any time, and if they don't like something - number of checks double and warning to owner is given, so that if owner doesn't improve, the headquarters will change the owner. McDonalds is very very dependent on its reputation, because if there are problems with one location, other locations suffer as well. So, spreading this case more would allow him to get remedy. I believe that it is possible to sue McDonalds headquarters for such shit. One woman successfully sued McDonalds for a few millions for spilled hot coffee. Please look for a free consultation from a good lawyer, who might want to work for a percent from the case remedy.