Bald, Blind, and Buddies

A Million Ring Doorbells to Watch them all


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John Boland and Timothy Cordes address the Ring Doorbell Super Bowl ad, privacy controversy, and fallout.

The Buddies begin with NFL trivia and Tim take prides in his “dumb” home.

John and Tim discussed how the Ring Doorbell ad was supposed to warm hearts, but it had a chilling effect.

Tim reviews history of Ring’s troubles. John explores tradeoffs between convenience and privacy. John uses the Nancy Guthrie case to illustrate how somehow video doorbells retained images from a device that was supposedly “off.” Tim applauds people who are thinking about these privacy-related decisions and making their own choices about whether they can just answer the door.

John’s whack-jobs are two Supreme Court justices guilty of partisanship.

Tim highlights Sweden as his hero, for putting books back in students’ hands after realizing the catastrophe of screens in classrooms.

Referred to:

Ring’s Super Bowl ad for dog-tracking cameras stirs controversy

Ring’s privacy failures led to spying and harassment through home security cameras | Consumer Advice

Security Companies Could Give Video to Police Without Consent - Consumer Reports

Ring’s smart doorbell is a cautionary tale for China sourcing | Global Sources

Swedish schools said they didn’t need books. Pupils proved them wrong

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr | Goodreads

OpenAI considered alerting Canadian police about school shooting suspect months ago | Tumbler Ridge school shooting | The Guardian

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Bald, Blind, and BuddiesBy Timothy Cordes and John Boland