[HN Gopher] Automated shusher keeps conference loudmouths in line
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       Automated shusher keeps conference loudmouths in line
        
       Author : gumby
       Score  : 34 points
       Date   : 2023-04-14 13:32 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (hackaday.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (hackaday.com)
        
       | astockwell wrote:
       | My years on this blue ball have repeatedly taught me that
       | technical solutions meant to "correct" human interpersonal
       | problems don't usually work out how they're intended. They
       | initially _work_, but humans rebel against them and the problem
       | ends up compounded. Reminds me of traffic cameras.
        
         | halfnormalform wrote:
         | On the Log Ride at Knott's Berry Farm they have infrared light
         | beams above the log flume that trigger a loud pre-recorded "Sit
         | down!" message if you raise your hands up too high.
         | 
         | It was so much fun in Jr High to try and set them all off.
        
           | frebord wrote:
           | Makes me think of the digital speed limit signs that start to
           | flash red and blue when you hit 10 mph over the limit. Like
           | of course every 16 year old kid ever is trying to make them
           | flash red and blue and also me at 32.
        
             | sixstringtheory wrote:
             | I especially like do that on my road bike!
        
             | Veen wrote:
             | In the UK, we have signs that show a happy face when you're
             | under the limit and an angry face when you're over. It's
             | hard to resist the temptation to go a little over to make
             | it frown.
        
               | closewith wrote:
               | In Ireland, they used to show the actual value in
               | flashing red when speeding, but getting the "highest
               | score" became a goal amongst the youth, so now they just
               | say "TOO FAST" when more than 10km/h over the limit.
        
           | toast0 wrote:
           | If you do it enough, the attendant yells at you over the PA,
           | as I recall.
           | 
           | Sadly, they got rid of the box car racers elsewhere :(
        
         | yowzadave wrote:
         | What's the problem with traffic cameras? They seem fairer and
         | more effective than discretionary police enforcement.
        
           | peyton wrote:
           | The goal is safety, not effective enforcement. Cameras have
           | increased accidents in many areas.
        
             | JoeAltmaier wrote:
             | That seems an exceptional claim. Where I live folks obeyed
             | the speed limit scrupulously where traffic cameras were in
             | use. That has to reduce accidents, as expected?
        
               | SoftTalker wrote:
               | Any road has a "natural" speed that ~80% of drivers will
               | drive at if not otherwise restricted. If you limit the
               | speed below that, you have a lot of annoyed, frustrated
               | drivers and that is a recipe for more road rage and
               | accidents.
        
               | SketchySeaBeast wrote:
               | My objection to that is that the "natural" speed may not
               | be taking into account unexpected conditions. For
               | example, it may drive by a school or playground and the
               | speed limit is there because of the danger of children
               | running out. The "natural" speed isn't going to take that
               | into account.
        
               | IceyEC wrote:
               | The correct solution here is road engineering so that the
               | natural speed of the road is slower, rather than
               | artificially slowing down traffic via a posted limit.
               | This can be done by adding curves or thinning the road
        
               | version_five wrote:
               | Hes probably talking about cities shortening yellow
               | lights after they install red light cameras to make more
               | people into "offenders" and cause accidents as a side
               | effect
               | 
               | https://ww2.motorists.org/blog/6-cities-that-were-caught-
               | sho...
               | 
               | https://www.salon.com/2017/04/05/this-may-have-happened-
               | to-y...
        
               | JoeAltmaier wrote:
               | Ah. We only have speed cameras.
        
           | treeman79 wrote:
           | https://nypost.com/2012/10/08/citys-gotcha-traffic-
           | cameras-u...
           | 
           | Lots of stories of yellow light being shortened to create
           | more tickets.
           | 
           | They are a revenue source for a city above all else.
        
             | amadeuspagel wrote:
             | Maybe cities should explicitly charge for using roads
             | instead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congestion_pricing
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | Buttons840 wrote:
       | I've had a related idea. I'd like it if political debates allowed
       | the candidates to talk to each other directly more, and I want a
       | timer above each candidate that shows how long they have been
       | talking and an interruption counter. This way, if one politician
       | frequently interrupts or talks more than their fair share it will
       | become obvious to both them and the viewers.
       | 
       | Of course, this will probably never happen for several reasons.
       | And political debates don't often change people's minds, but they
       | are good theater -- actually, something like this would add the
       | the theatrical nature, so maybe there's some slim chance it could
       | happen.
        
         | amadeuspagel wrote:
         | I think it would be fun to have a debate using a chess clock.
         | Last time I researched this there was some podcast were two
         | people did this, but of course if two people already know and
         | like each other the chess clock isn't necessary.
        
       | TheRealPomax wrote:
       | It'd be even cooler with _several_ microphones and a parabolic
       | speaker so that it can actually shush only the offenders, with
       | most of the rest of the audience left blissfully unshushed.
        
         | gumby wrote:
         | I wonder if the public shaming of one person by the machine
         | will encourage the others to be more reserved. And I wonder if
         | that would be a good or bad thing.
        
           | TheRealPomax wrote:
           | nice thing about a parabolic speaker: just put it on a gimbal
           | and yell at everyone who needs it. People who don't talk
           | during a conference talk don't need discouraging.
        
       | nealabq wrote:
       | In conference/zoom calls I'd like a slider to express my boredom-
       | to-fascination level. And I'd like the average value prominently
       | displayed, to discourage droning -- the scourge of meetings.
       | 
       | I'm talking about status/discussion/brainstorm meetings. Not
       | presentations, altho maybe they could also use some kind of
       | feedback mechanism.
        
         | fellowniusmonk wrote:
         | It would be great if once a certain threshold of people were
         | interested vs bored it would automatically kick out all the
         | bored people into a different room.
         | 
         | In highschool I moved to a place where if you weren't talking
         | about people magazine gossip or football no one was interested,
         | I'd like to know who those people are in my remote org/club,
         | etc.
        
       | silentdissenter wrote:
       | Sort of like these:
       | https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/rac674/traffic_l...
        
       | krisoft wrote:
       | But wouldn't that also shush the presenter?
        
         | gumby wrote:
         | Wouldn't that be good? Sometimes I talk too much in my own
         | meetings.
        
           | krisoft wrote:
           | > Sometimes I talk too much in my own meetings.
           | 
           | That is a problem indeed, but this doesn't solve that. You
           | can talk as much as you want as long as the volume is low
           | enough.
        
       | standardUser wrote:
       | It always seems the people with strange noises in the background,
       | or audible phone alerts, or making comments to their pets, or
       | chiming in when someone else is talking, are usually a boss.
        
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       (page generated 2023-04-14 23:02 UTC)