Also, our Alexa will not shut up. I have never liked her, but my husband likes a toy…now she is irritating him. He finally agreed to cancel Prime. Between the nonsense at the Post and the Alexa who talks too much, it was bridge too far even for him.
Listening to this discussion with the First Ladies really made me miss having a competent, compassionate, inspiring leader in the WH. It’s been a really, really long time and our country is in desperate need of one.
Late to the convo here.... We travel often & for years I have been thinking about the fact that myself & my family are probably in hundreds of videos & pictures taken by other tourists and it really creeps me out 😬
Re: the difference between bipartisanship and nonpartisanship.
Thank you for highlighting the amazing work of bipartisan membership organizations like the National Governors Association (NGA). And so appreciative to hear First Lady Ludgate highlight that her organization is *bipartisan* and not just nonpartisan.
As an employee of another bipartisan, state-facing organization (the National Conference of State Legislatures), that distinction is important because it reflects that the governance of the organization is shared across the partisan landscape and the mission is centered around common goals, regardless of partisan affiliation.
While nonpartisanship is important, it's often framed as "we work with anybody who wants to work with us on our priority issues" rather than true outreach and alignment across the partisan landscape. And that serves a purpose. But in this heightened political climate, I truly believe that de-escalation of our partisan divides requires dedicated organizations that intentionally bring people together across the aisle. We hear that from our members that this is an extraordinary value, that it forces them to consider where they can work across the aisle in their own states and rethink issues of overlapping interest.
It also brings issues like political violence and civic engagement into sharp perspective. NCSL has also been supporting state legislatures on issues related to safety and security, which is an increasing priority to keep people running for and in office.
So thanks for elevating the work.
Sincerely,
Your friendly neighborhood state legislatures zealot.
My 68-year-old dad recently told us about some rumors going around about him running for mayor of their (small-ish) Twin Cities suburb (I...don't know. He's not!), and all I could think was THANK GOD he's not. He's not on any social media and would have no idea how to handle all of it and I sure as heck don't want to! One "off" comment by a guy of a certain age and I could just picture him becoming the next social media sensation. And how SAD that this was my first reaction to him even maybe hinting at running for a minor-ish office. What have we come to?
I liked the suggestion to ask your kids how they feel about their art. I also like to focus on the kind of people my kids are being-not what they produce. So I ask things like, “Did you give 100%?” “Where you a good teammate?” “What did you learn?” “What will you do next time?”-I really want my kids to know that I value their attitudes and how they treat others-not their performance.
I just want to jump in to say that one HUGE benefit of deleting your social media accounts is getting anything you’ve ever posted about your kids (comments pictures all of it) off the internet. It was a major relief for me. I got all those old photos downloaded and put into albums and am so happy my kids privacy is protected and not being used to train AI!
Whooo the MIL is a you are the prettiest, the bestest/smartest, you made the most gorgeous piece of art person. And my kids are definitely more comfortable with my mom. I have always been the how could you have done better? parent. And thank goodness. My kids don’t think they are God’s gift, and let me tell you the boys that my son played baseball with as he improved? They all thought you should be happy you were on a team with them and they got that from their parents. I was relieved when he said he didn’t want to play anymore. Didn’t have to deal with the kids or the parents anymore. Also I volunteer in the middle school library. Yikes! You can most definitely tell the kids that are never told no at their house.
I grew up in Massachusetts and didn't realize that most states have executive residents until I moved away. This seems really stupid because it makes it very difficult for people who own homes outside of the Boston area to become governors. I can't even imagine how it can feel safe in the current environment.
I listened to this episode an hour or two after I read this article on how generative AI platforms manipulate you for more engagement for a variety of reasons - more revenue, to improve their metrics, to justify the computational costs of running the system, etc. I wonder if that is similar with Alexa. https://cardcatalogforlife.substack.com/p/when-your-ai-asks-how-youre-feeling
I have a notepad with a magnetic back on the side of my fridge that has been my grocery store list for all of my adult life (turning 48 tomorrow). Yes, I take a piece of paper to the grocery store each week. My husband is not anti technology as he works in the field but is against having any type of Alexa device in the house. We do have cameras but they are not connected to a larger service. The two inside the house are aimed at the front and back doors.
Your husband is smart. When these were first introduced, I was working with a team that was interested in voice controls, so we all wanted to study the Echo. I ordered one but it was on backorder. I also played around with one that maybe one of my coworkers brought to work or something, and I quickly found that you could see your interaction history in the app on your phone. Somehow, I was doing research where I was having people send me screenshots of their Alexa history before I had one, and I just mentioned as an aside to my husband that I thought it was so cool that I could actually see what the voice commands really were, and my husband went a bit loco saying we were never getting one. I had to gently remind him I already ordered one. When it arrived the Echo went immediately to the basement, where I used it to play music while I sorted laundry for a while and then unplugged it because I became increasingly uncomfortable with it myself. BTW, at least for the first generation, you had to say the wake word, and then it would store what you said after that. There were instances in these histories of the Echo picking up conversations that it couldn't quite detect a command. These were representing with some generic text with a link to a brief recording on the cloud. I listened to one of these from my own device, but it was unclear what was being said. I didn't see anything in the written Echo histories where people said something that wasn't obviously an Alexa command.
Listening to the ring camera conversation made me think of baby monitors. When I was researching what monitors on the market I came across an alarming number of personal stories where WiFi monitors had been hacked and people could watch inside your home/use the microphone feature. That always turned me away from doorbell cameras. Plus I see so much doorbell footage online that I’m not entirely sure has been uploaded with owner consent? I guess I’ve never been particularly concerned about government spying but rather creeps, although lately those seem to be pretty similar.
So much Ring camera video online. For instance, "This person was in my neighborhood and looks suspicious. Does anyone recognize him." Reply: "Yeah, he works for the city and his jobis to check people's meters. He needs to go onto your property to do this. You should have gotten a notice." Geesh.
Right? I walk in the neighborhood and can see all the lit up rings and been thinking for years that anyone could use that to know I left my house at a certain times every day. Wasn’t there a time when you weren’t supposed to aim it at the road because people who passed by didn’t consent to being on your camera? Obviously, I do not have one. I have enough neighbors that do and can see my front door and backyard.
Joy and Confidence! Yes! My old boss used to say that Jesus led with humility and confidence so we can too. Love the addition of joy in there - joy, humility and confidence!
To Sarah’s last point about the disclaimers and caveats… I heard the hosts of the podcast Yo, Is This Racist? once say, “If we’re not talking about you, we’re not talking about you.” Changed my whole life in navigating hard stuff and listening to/participating in conversations about really sticky societal issues.
I don’t know how much this is related to the last segment, but it’s where my brain went. I work as a Spanish interpreter in the Twin Cities and the company I work for has not had a lot of work available in the past couple months because people are afraid to go to medical appointments. I finally got an email from the company about it this week and it felt very unsatisfying, like there was no recognition on an emotional level of what people are going through. I showed it to a friend who said it was probably written by AI. I don’t want to always get information like I’m a robot, sometime I would like to sense a human connection.
Also it has been bugging me lately that it feels like a lot of political posts have the same tone to them like they are written by AI. I don’t think I’m that good at telling what is AI but I don’t want everyone’s voice to sound the same.
I think the surveillance situation is a double edged sword. On one hand, ring cameras, etc can be used to show accidents, misuse of authority by officers, porch pirating, etc. That surveillance can be good and helpful. But the government using it with the entire apparatus that it is against citizens is scary. The same surveillance that the people are using to seek accountability for ICE is the same surveillance that can be used against citizens. I don't know the answer but it does feel like there's no going back. Cameras are everywhere.
As a personal story, I will likely always have a camera on my front door and here's why: In 2020, my house was broken into....while I was in it. My partner and I both work from home. Our house is built into a big hill. Both of our offices are downstairs. So, we had lights off upstairs. Two men broke in assuming the house was vacant. My partner was on a call and I heard feet upstairs. I was so confused...trying to convince myself that a delivery person got in and was confused. Don't even get me started on the level of mental gymnastics going on there. I started up the stairs to see someone in a mask make eye contact with me, yell for their partner in crime, and they both ran for it. Luckily, nothing was taken and there was no damage, but it was scary and the feeling of having my personal space violated has lingered in ways I didn't expect. I know this could have turned out so much worse if they'd opted for violence rather than running. I am so incredibly lucky. But it turns out, these people drove around neighboring houses looking to see who had a camera. Our house was selected because it didn't.
I'm so glad you're safe and the intruders left. That's so scary.
I've written here a lot about the drug-related crime we had in our Seattle neighborhood. Almost everyone had cameras, and we shared footage with each other all the time. It's the modern way for neighbors to look out for one another.
Oh wow. I think I'm the only one in my neighborhood without cameras. We have intentionally not bought cameras because of this lack of privacy, but it does worry me for the situation you described. I'm glad you were/are safe.
Also, our Alexa will not shut up. I have never liked her, but my husband likes a toy…now she is irritating him. He finally agreed to cancel Prime. Between the nonsense at the Post and the Alexa who talks too much, it was bridge too far even for him.
Listening to this discussion with the First Ladies really made me miss having a competent, compassionate, inspiring leader in the WH. It’s been a really, really long time and our country is in desperate need of one.
WALL-E. Over and over again WALL-E haunts me.
Late to the convo here.... We travel often & for years I have been thinking about the fact that myself & my family are probably in hundreds of videos & pictures taken by other tourists and it really creeps me out 😬
Re: the difference between bipartisanship and nonpartisanship.
Thank you for highlighting the amazing work of bipartisan membership organizations like the National Governors Association (NGA). And so appreciative to hear First Lady Ludgate highlight that her organization is *bipartisan* and not just nonpartisan.
As an employee of another bipartisan, state-facing organization (the National Conference of State Legislatures), that distinction is important because it reflects that the governance of the organization is shared across the partisan landscape and the mission is centered around common goals, regardless of partisan affiliation.
While nonpartisanship is important, it's often framed as "we work with anybody who wants to work with us on our priority issues" rather than true outreach and alignment across the partisan landscape. And that serves a purpose. But in this heightened political climate, I truly believe that de-escalation of our partisan divides requires dedicated organizations that intentionally bring people together across the aisle. We hear that from our members that this is an extraordinary value, that it forces them to consider where they can work across the aisle in their own states and rethink issues of overlapping interest.
It also brings issues like political violence and civic engagement into sharp perspective. NCSL has also been supporting state legislatures on issues related to safety and security, which is an increasing priority to keep people running for and in office.
So thanks for elevating the work.
Sincerely,
Your friendly neighborhood state legislatures zealot.
My 68-year-old dad recently told us about some rumors going around about him running for mayor of their (small-ish) Twin Cities suburb (I...don't know. He's not!), and all I could think was THANK GOD he's not. He's not on any social media and would have no idea how to handle all of it and I sure as heck don't want to! One "off" comment by a guy of a certain age and I could just picture him becoming the next social media sensation. And how SAD that this was my first reaction to him even maybe hinting at running for a minor-ish office. What have we come to?
I liked the suggestion to ask your kids how they feel about their art. I also like to focus on the kind of people my kids are being-not what they produce. So I ask things like, “Did you give 100%?” “Where you a good teammate?” “What did you learn?” “What will you do next time?”-I really want my kids to know that I value their attitudes and how they treat others-not their performance.
I just want to jump in to say that one HUGE benefit of deleting your social media accounts is getting anything you’ve ever posted about your kids (comments pictures all of it) off the internet. It was a major relief for me. I got all those old photos downloaded and put into albums and am so happy my kids privacy is protected and not being used to train AI!
Whooo the MIL is a you are the prettiest, the bestest/smartest, you made the most gorgeous piece of art person. And my kids are definitely more comfortable with my mom. I have always been the how could you have done better? parent. And thank goodness. My kids don’t think they are God’s gift, and let me tell you the boys that my son played baseball with as he improved? They all thought you should be happy you were on a team with them and they got that from their parents. I was relieved when he said he didn’t want to play anymore. Didn’t have to deal with the kids or the parents anymore. Also I volunteer in the middle school library. Yikes! You can most definitely tell the kids that are never told no at their house.
I grew up in Massachusetts and didn't realize that most states have executive residents until I moved away. This seems really stupid because it makes it very difficult for people who own homes outside of the Boston area to become governors. I can't even imagine how it can feel safe in the current environment.
I listened to this episode an hour or two after I read this article on how generative AI platforms manipulate you for more engagement for a variety of reasons - more revenue, to improve their metrics, to justify the computational costs of running the system, etc. I wonder if that is similar with Alexa. https://cardcatalogforlife.substack.com/p/when-your-ai-asks-how-youre-feeling
I have a notepad with a magnetic back on the side of my fridge that has been my grocery store list for all of my adult life (turning 48 tomorrow). Yes, I take a piece of paper to the grocery store each week. My husband is not anti technology as he works in the field but is against having any type of Alexa device in the house. We do have cameras but they are not connected to a larger service. The two inside the house are aimed at the front and back doors.
Your husband is smart. When these were first introduced, I was working with a team that was interested in voice controls, so we all wanted to study the Echo. I ordered one but it was on backorder. I also played around with one that maybe one of my coworkers brought to work or something, and I quickly found that you could see your interaction history in the app on your phone. Somehow, I was doing research where I was having people send me screenshots of their Alexa history before I had one, and I just mentioned as an aside to my husband that I thought it was so cool that I could actually see what the voice commands really were, and my husband went a bit loco saying we were never getting one. I had to gently remind him I already ordered one. When it arrived the Echo went immediately to the basement, where I used it to play music while I sorted laundry for a while and then unplugged it because I became increasingly uncomfortable with it myself. BTW, at least for the first generation, you had to say the wake word, and then it would store what you said after that. There were instances in these histories of the Echo picking up conversations that it couldn't quite detect a command. These were representing with some generic text with a link to a brief recording on the cloud. I listened to one of these from my own device, but it was unclear what was being said. I didn't see anything in the written Echo histories where people said something that wasn't obviously an Alexa command.
Listening to the ring camera conversation made me think of baby monitors. When I was researching what monitors on the market I came across an alarming number of personal stories where WiFi monitors had been hacked and people could watch inside your home/use the microphone feature. That always turned me away from doorbell cameras. Plus I see so much doorbell footage online that I’m not entirely sure has been uploaded with owner consent? I guess I’ve never been particularly concerned about government spying but rather creeps, although lately those seem to be pretty similar.
So much Ring camera video online. For instance, "This person was in my neighborhood and looks suspicious. Does anyone recognize him." Reply: "Yeah, he works for the city and his jobis to check people's meters. He needs to go onto your property to do this. You should have gotten a notice." Geesh.
16 minutes in. I am beyond confused. What did people think a Ring doorbell camera was for?
Right? I walk in the neighborhood and can see all the lit up rings and been thinking for years that anyone could use that to know I left my house at a certain times every day. Wasn’t there a time when you weren’t supposed to aim it at the road because people who passed by didn’t consent to being on your camera? Obviously, I do not have one. I have enough neighbors that do and can see my front door and backyard.
Joy and Confidence! Yes! My old boss used to say that Jesus led with humility and confidence so we can too. Love the addition of joy in there - joy, humility and confidence!
To Sarah’s last point about the disclaimers and caveats… I heard the hosts of the podcast Yo, Is This Racist? once say, “If we’re not talking about you, we’re not talking about you.” Changed my whole life in navigating hard stuff and listening to/participating in conversations about really sticky societal issues.
I don’t know how much this is related to the last segment, but it’s where my brain went. I work as a Spanish interpreter in the Twin Cities and the company I work for has not had a lot of work available in the past couple months because people are afraid to go to medical appointments. I finally got an email from the company about it this week and it felt very unsatisfying, like there was no recognition on an emotional level of what people are going through. I showed it to a friend who said it was probably written by AI. I don’t want to always get information like I’m a robot, sometime I would like to sense a human connection.
Also it has been bugging me lately that it feels like a lot of political posts have the same tone to them like they are written by AI. I don’t think I’m that good at telling what is AI but I don’t want everyone’s voice to sound the same.
I think the surveillance situation is a double edged sword. On one hand, ring cameras, etc can be used to show accidents, misuse of authority by officers, porch pirating, etc. That surveillance can be good and helpful. But the government using it with the entire apparatus that it is against citizens is scary. The same surveillance that the people are using to seek accountability for ICE is the same surveillance that can be used against citizens. I don't know the answer but it does feel like there's no going back. Cameras are everywhere.
As a personal story, I will likely always have a camera on my front door and here's why: In 2020, my house was broken into....while I was in it. My partner and I both work from home. Our house is built into a big hill. Both of our offices are downstairs. So, we had lights off upstairs. Two men broke in assuming the house was vacant. My partner was on a call and I heard feet upstairs. I was so confused...trying to convince myself that a delivery person got in and was confused. Don't even get me started on the level of mental gymnastics going on there. I started up the stairs to see someone in a mask make eye contact with me, yell for their partner in crime, and they both ran for it. Luckily, nothing was taken and there was no damage, but it was scary and the feeling of having my personal space violated has lingered in ways I didn't expect. I know this could have turned out so much worse if they'd opted for violence rather than running. I am so incredibly lucky. But it turns out, these people drove around neighboring houses looking to see who had a camera. Our house was selected because it didn't.
This makes me want to get a fake camera just for deterrence... we don't have one either.
I'm so glad you're safe and the intruders left. That's so scary.
I've written here a lot about the drug-related crime we had in our Seattle neighborhood. Almost everyone had cameras, and we shared footage with each other all the time. It's the modern way for neighbors to look out for one another.
Oh wow. I think I'm the only one in my neighborhood without cameras. We have intentionally not bought cameras because of this lack of privacy, but it does worry me for the situation you described. I'm glad you were/are safe.
Woah!!!!!!