It's finally happened: Bloke builds BOFH-style goofing-off cattle prod Maneesh Sethi, a developer and blogger who rose to fame after hiring a woman to slap him whenever he wasted time on Facebook, has unveiled a wearable device designed to administer electric shocks to users. The “Pavlok”, as the device is named, “uses instantaneous triggers, like vibration, beeping, and even electric shock (up …
When you look for more info on this, there's nothing.
There are some websites that show two different 3D images of what it might (or might not) look like. There seems to be a press release which forms the source for all the media "buzz" - and that's your lot.
Apart from the obvious question: why wouldn't users simply take it off? It's difficult to see how you'd program this gizmo about what constitutes "punishable" activity. And where the battery is supposed to go. If this is merely meant to modify the behaviour of computer users - and assumes that wearers only have access to a single computer, but no tablet, or smartphone then it would be much simpler to either have the 'pooter switch itself off when the aberrant behaviour is detected, or to build the user-shocker into a mouse and electrify the buttons.
Plus: every stick needs a carrot.
I mean, inspired by The BOFH I acquired a handy cattle prod* which lies in my office drawer, ready to be deployed whenever need be. So far, I only used it once, against a colleague, in a long running workplace vendetta. But wouldn't it be right out of my mind to use it against myself?!
Yep, mine's the one with the prod...
*In case you wonder, it's the model "magic shock", ordered from an agriculture store in Germany, under a disguised name.
"Ordered from an agriculture store in Germany"
"Cattle Prods" for getting the cattle to react.....
"Vacuum pumps" for sucking on teats.....
"Pointed nose rings" which can be inserted into orifices...
"Large vibrating sticks" apparently for stimulation during the insemination periods.
"Whips" all the good cowboys had a whip n'est-ce pas.
And which is actually a front end for the largest S&M distributor in Europe...
I am sure that there are others but not being a daily "Skins" mag reader I must admit to lacking the finer details of aforementioned hobby/lifestyle/choice/fantasy.
If it's a saturday morning, you forget to reset the devices alarm, sleep through the initial warnings and are.....exercising your wrist...(don't look at me like that, you all do it)...
Well. some might enjoy it, but I think I'll stick to paying by the quarter hour for that stuff where I can have a safe word.
Computers don't have safe words....
I work in IT, I'm legally not allowed to have a missus.
Hold on....eh? What's that you say...When the hell did that change? When were you all going to tell me? THAT'S NOT FUNNY*.
Steven "certifiably single" R.
*I knew I nicked that from somewhere - futurama clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgwlJIo0In0&feature=kp
wowfood, I understand your requirement for I'm one who fought regularly against sleep in said meetings. As I grew older I realised to futility of such a fight and what's more, I realised the insanity of staying awake. So nowadays I either simply leave or don't hesitate falling asleep. Mind you, I'd still consider snoring (which I don't) as rude behaviour, maybe not as rude though as organising a pointless waste of time meeting.
wowfood,
You're showing a lack of critical thinking here. You don't want to be administering any more pain to yourself. You give this product to the boss, "here, wear this wristband, it's linked to the Powerpoint PC, so you just wave your arm and the slide changes."
You then either program it to do this, or simply operate the thing yourself, every time he waves his arm. Any presentation that lasts longer than say 5 minutes, elicits a shock.
Reward for good behaviour is by far more powerful at creating the habit pathways in one's brain than punishment for bad behaviour is. That's essentially why this thread has digressed onto self-gratification, and the BOFH is never able to put is prod down. A wrist band that somehow hooked into a trigger for, or supplied endorphin like rewards would potentially work, though we are a smart species - it wouldn't be long before someone was able to hack it to self-administer at will completely losing the value. Therefore the best course of action is usually measured recognition and reward from peers and (not being able to find the right word, this one will do) elders, be that parents/guardians or managers.
This guy pays someone to slap him, he wants to self-administer electric shocks (he could easily take the thing off and I would wager that most people within a few shocks would learn to do so without ever properly waking up as soon as they hear the beeping)... he's got it the wrong way around.
> Reward for good behaviour is by far more powerful at creating the habit pathways in one's brain than punishment for bad behaviour is.
COMPU-TEACH: Good morning life-form.
PUPIL:Hi teach.
COMPU-TEACH: Are you sitting comfortably?
PUPIL: Yes.
COMPU-TEACH: Then stand up! Harsh Economic Truths, Class Seventeen. You are standing up?
PUPIL: Yes.
COMPU-TEACH: Good. Posit: you are living in an exciting, go-ahead civilisation. Where are you looking?
PUPIL: Up.
COMPU-TEACH: What do you see?
PUPIL: The open sky. The stars. An infinite horizon.
COMPU-TEACH: Correct! You may press the button.
PUPIL: Thank you.
[Button is pressed. A surge of energy]
PUPIL: Wow! That feels nice.
- The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Billa Bong is on the right track here - rewards are far more effective than punishments. This chap needs instead to base his device on those electric probes they use to harvest bull semen for artificial insemination. Worn conveniently out-of-sight up the jacksy, it would cause you to ejaculate every time you scored a point in the office power struggle.
Now I feel dirty for upvoting you...
I'd much prefer it if electric shocks were built into the downvoting button instead.
Although, come to think of it, that makes me sound like a massochist. I might have commented less on El Reg if I'd had 1,000 electric shocks for my pains. I'd certainly have learned to be nicer about Julian Assange, Bitcoin and Google...
New keyboard needed please.
Oh, and some screen wipes.
I have always told tut' management, that "The Register" is in-depth, demanding research, keeping up with industry trends, cross market infussion of ideas, peer-to-peer networking, and just taking the piss out of stuff............
Gadgets like this show just how desperate some people are to suffer. Other than that, what's it for? Making people into robots? The corporates will love that. Then they'll start stamping numbers on the robot's heads. '666, we want you as the new CEO of Dehumanization, Inc.'
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