I'm betting this is going to appear the same way as it does on Waze, which shows fast food logos along your route, as well as popup ads whenever you're stopped. Annoying, but not intrusive enough to be considered a driving distraction, IMO.
IMO they are pretty distracting. When I'm stopped is when I glance at the screen to see my next move, and these popups persist for me when I start moving unless I close them. Pretty ironic considering waze is the most fussy navigation app regarding not letting the driver get distracted, unless it's profitable I guess!
I'm so torn with how to see Huawei. The dealings with Iran seem pretty cut and dry, and the laws in China are impossible for Huawei to ignore. On the other hand, their consumer products are very different from the commercial routing and telecommunication branches. Yet, the high level US government folks are being forced not to use the consumer products. Why aren't they being prohibited from using other Chinese consumer electronics, like Lenovo, Xiaomi, etc?
> Why aren't they being prohibited from using other Chinese consumer electronics, like Lenovo, Xiaomi, etc?
I suppose it depends which "approved devices" list you're using. If I look at the US Department of Defense's approved products list I see Korean brands like LG and Samsung but I don't see Lenovo or Xiaomi:
I've done some consulting for a company fulfilling a defense contract and they had to switch their entire desktop anti-virus solution because they were using foreign made software and DISA was not happy about it. The origin of hardware/software is very much a concern for the US gov't.
There is a ban on Lenovo products. From 2013, regarding a ban imposed since approx 2005:
"Chinese PC maker Lenovo has reportedly been banned from supplying equipment for the "secret" and “top secret” networks of many intelligence agencies, due to concerns its products are vulnerable to being hacked." ... "The ban is only thought to apply to the most highly restricted networks, and Lenovo remains a significant supplier of computers for “unclassified” government networks in these countries."
(That said, I have a Lenovo X1 Thinkpad, bought partly because of all the recommendations on HN, and in particular seeing Troy Hunt using Lenovo. I'd forgotten that article when I bought it.)
I'm talking about the report from a few weeks ago banning top level government officials from using Huawei devices for personal use. At the time, they were considering banning them for all military members as well... But there was no mention of any other Chinese manufacturers. The only other one that's been in the news lately is ZTE.
For my Google Assistant, I've made it a point to select a male voice, and I always refer to it as the Google Assistant or just Assistant. The choice in voice gender was so that my wife could keep the default female voice, and we would know it's responding under her account when she talks to a Home in our house vs defaulting to my account like it does for me or guests.
Having said that, I've never heard a genderless voice (although there have been times when I'm on the phone and cannot make out the other person's sex from just their voice). I think this idea that everyone should stop considering gender as binary simply due to the apparently increase in gender dysphoria is a bit ridiculous. Creating the voice for a digital Assistant is a perfect example of this, since the big companies involved have probably done a lot of research to try to determine the best way to make one that doesn't lend itself to a particular gender but always seem to default to a female voice / character (excluding this "Leon").
> I think this idea that everyone should stop considering gender as binary simply due to the apparently increase in gender dysphoria is a bit ridiculous.
But gender isn't inherently binary, even if many but not all cultures have tended to ascribe gender from a binary pallette.
> Creating the voice for a digital Assistant is a perfect example of this, since the big companies involved have probably done a lot of research to try to determine the best way to make one that doesn't lend itself to a particular gender but always seem to default to a female voice / character (excluding this "Leon").
They probably haven't aimed for genderlessness, and in fact has e probably avoided it, because real people have genders (whether or not aligned in the stereotypical way with external sex traits) and conforming to social expectations improves receptions (and, at least in America, there is significant research that, across genders of listeners, people on average respond more positively to feminine voices, which is why the default usually is for a feminine voice.)
> But gender isn't inherently binary, even if many but not all cultures have tended to ascribe gender from a binary pallette.
You say that, but based on what? It's not a construct that makes any sense, except with regard to mental disorders (gender dysphoria). The mental disorder context is particularly relevant when you look at the wildly abnormal rates of suicide attempts among gender dysphoria sufferers.
Also missing on the multitude of testing that digital makes easier. I make no claim about true lift, but FB has built in AB testing tools for advertisers plus relationships with a multitude of 3P measurement providers.
