brain barf… yum!
DiversityInc is a subscription site, so the links will probably stop working. Plus they say “Reproduction in any format is absolutely prohibited.” Well, I’m just going to excerpt, which is totally allowed.
Plus, they sent the following in their email newsletter, which was forwarded to me:
*Racist Camera? Does Nikon CoolPix Fail on Asian Eyes?*
What’s going on with the Nikon CoolPix S630 digital camera? There’s a charge that its facial-recognition software fails to recognize Asian people because of their eye shapes. Read more about how one Asian consumer’s blog post brought this to the public’s attention.
Wow. Sounds like I’m some sort of “consumer activist,” or something! Haha. Thanks, to Erin of VisualizAsian for the tip!
Racist Camera? Does Nikon CoolPix Fail on Asian Eyes?
By Lizz Carroll
Jan 25, 2010
Also read: camera, technology, Asian, multicultural missteps
Last year, when Joz Wang, a Taiwanese-American strategy consultant, decided to test out a new Nikon CoolPix S630 digital camera with her family members, she continually received an error message on the camera’s display screen: “Did someone blink?” After several tries with the same results, the Wangs tried taking a shot with their eyes open extra-wide. There was no error message after this attempt, they say.
Wang, who has a blog called jozjozjoz.com, posted one of the “blinking” pictures on her page with the title, “Racist Camera! No, I did not blink… I’m just Asian!” Bloggers and people on Twitter soon picked up on Wang’s controversial post.
But does the gadget really discriminate against Asian features or is this just a case of a technology glitch?
According to TIME, which publicized the story, Nikon says it’s working to improve the accuracy of the blink-warning function on its Coolpix cameras. Nikon has not yet returned DiversityInc’s calls and e-mails for comment.
Posting all these articles in different language is like a trip around the world– racist camera style… right?! This one is courtesy of Magyar Nemzet
Rasszista kamera! „Nem, nem pislogtam, csak ázsiai vagyokâ€
2010.01.23 08:17
MNO – NL
Amikor az ázsiai származású Joz Wang és testvére vettek az anyjuknak egy Nikon Coolpix S630 digitális fényképezÅ‘gépet, azt hitték, elromlott a készülék. Ugyanis minden alkalommal, amikor portréképet szerettek volna készÃteni, a kamera „megkérdezteâ€: pislogott valaki? De amikor a testvére nagyra nyitotta, kidüllesztette a szemeit, a „pislogó†üzenetek abbamaradtak, s normálisan működött a gép.
A kamera tulajdonosai eleinte viccesnek gondolták, hogy a gépnek nehézséget okoz kitalálni, mikor van nyitva a fotózandó személy szeme, s tapasztalataikat megosztották blogjukon is „Rasszista kamera! Nem, nem pislogtam, én csak ázsiai vagyok†cÃmmel. Az egyik kommentelÅ‘ meg is jegyezte: furcsa, hogy épp egy Nikonnak okozott ez nehézséget, hiszen azt hinné az ember, hogy egy japán cég olyan fényképezÅ‘gépet gyárt, amelyik felismeri az ázsiai tÃpusú személyeket is.
Azoknál a kameráknál, amelyek képesek az arcfelismerésre, egyértelmű az „elfogultság†a fehér emberek irányában – vélik többen. ErrÅ‘l az intelligens technikáról úgy tartják, kényelmesebbé teszi a fényképezést. Vannak olyan gépek, amelyeket úgy terveztek, hogy figyelmeztessen, ha valaki pislog; másokat arra programoznak be, hogy automatikusan exponáljanak, amikor valaki mosolyog – ez elméletileg elavulttá teszi azt a problémát, hogy valaki rosszul idÅ‘zÃtené a kattintást, s lemaradna a mosoly rövid pillanatairól.
Az arcészlelés a számÃtógép webkamerájában lehetÅ‘vé teszi, hogy egy videokonferencia alatt követhessük egy személy mozgását, de megakadályozhatja a számÃtógépbe való jogtalan behatolást is.
Nem ez az elsÅ‘ eset, hogy rasszistának minÅ‘sÃtik az arcfelismerÅ‘ szoftvert. Nemrég Texasból töltöttek fel a YouTube-ra egy videót, melyen egy afroamerikai megpróbálja rávenni a beépÃtett webkamerát egy HP laptopon, hogy észlelje az arcát és kövesse mozgásait – sikertelenül. Amikor azonban egy fehér alkalmazott próbálkozott ugyanezzel, tökéletesen működött a szoftver. „Azt hiszem, a feketeségem miatt akadályokba ütközött a számÃtógép†– mondja a videón a férfi tréfásan.
„A HP számÃtógépek fajgyűlölÅ‘k†videót majdnem 2 millióan nézték meg világszerte, Ãgy a HP természetesen gyorsan válaszolt. A cég tagadja, hogy rasszista lenne a gépük, szerintük Å‘k mindent megtesznek, hogy jó minÅ‘ségű technikát biztosÃtsanak a vásárlóiknak, etnikai megkülönböztetés nélkül. Mindenesetre a szoftvergyártók tovább dolgoznak a „rasszista gépek†probléma megoldásán.
(www.time.com)
Did you know Babelfish doesn’t translate from Hungarian? So this is a Google Translation, and it actually isn’t too bad:
Continue reading ‘Racist Camera in Hungarian!’
Hmm, it’s kind of fun seeing my name and/or picture in all these different language publications.
This one is courtesy of AmericanRU.com
Камеры Ñ Ð¾Ð¿Ñ€ÐµÐ´ÐµÐ»ÐµÐ½Ð¸ÐµÐ¼ лица обвинÑÑŽÑ‚ в раÑизме
2:08 pm, 24 ÑÐ½Ð²Ð°Ñ€Ñ 2010 года. GMT -5
Ð¡ÐµÐ¹Ñ‡Ð°Ñ Ñ„Ð¾Ñ‚Ð¾Ð°Ð¿Ð¿Ð°Ñ€Ð°Ñ‚Ñ‹ Ñ Ð¾Ð¿Ñ€ÐµÐ´ÐµÐ»ÐµÐ½Ð¸ÐµÐ¼ лица – не новоÑÑ‚ÑŒ. Ðекоторые из них предупреждают, когда кто-то моргнет, другие ловÑÑ‚ улыбку. Определение лица иÑпользуютÑÑ Ð¸ в веб-камерах, чтобы показывать лица людей во Ð²Ñ€ÐµÐ¼Ñ Ð²Ð¸Ð´ÐµÐ¾ конференций или в ÑиÑтемах «узнаваниÑ», чтобы не допуÑтить неÑанкционированный доÑтуп.
Принцип дейÑÑ‚Ð²Ð¸Ñ Ð¿Ñ€Ð¾Ñтой: у большинÑтва людей два глаза, один ноÑ, один рот, алгоритм ищет Ñти черты, а дальше выполнÑет поÑтавленную задачу.
Однако пользователи Ñтали замечать, что Ñ†Ð¸Ñ„Ñ€Ð¾Ð²Ð°Ñ Ñ‚ÐµÑ…Ð½Ð¸ÐºÐ° выказывает предпочтение европеоидному типу лица. Так, Джоз Ванг (Joz Wang) конÑультант тайвано-американÑкой компании, подарив цифровой фотоаппарат Nikon Coolpix S630 Ñвоей маме на День матери, обнаружила, что когда они пыталиÑÑŒ фотографировать улыбающиеÑÑ Ð»Ð¸Ñ†Ð° Ñвоих друзей и родных, камера предупреждала: кто-то моргнул. Она помеÑтила фото Ñ Ñообщением в Ñвоем блоге под заголовком «РаÑиÑÑ‚ÑÐºÐ°Ñ ÐºÐ°Ð¼ÐµÑ€Ð°! Ðет, Ñ Ð½Ðµ моргаю… Я проÑто азиатка!» Ð’ комментариÑÑ… к Ñнимку еÑÑ‚ÑŒ такой: «Можно было подумать, что «Ðикон», Ñам будучи ÑпонÑкой компанией, разработает Ñто, ÑƒÑ‡Ð¸Ñ‚Ñ‹Ð²Ð°Ñ Ð³Ð»Ð°Ð·Ð° азиатов».
«Ðикон» не единÑтвенный, кого обвинÑÑŽÑ‚ в раÑизме. Ðапример, в прошлом году на YouTube Ñотрудница одной из техаÑÑких компаний выложила видео, как ее черный коллега пытаетÑÑ Ð½Ð°Ñтроить веб-камеру в павильоне Hewlett-Packard, чтобы она определила его лицо и отÑлеживала его движениÑ. Ðа его белую коллегу камера реагировала корректно, а вот черного Ñотрудника игнорировала.
Производители техники обещают, что вÑкоре их техника будет раÑпознавать лица даже Ñинекожих обитателей Пандоры из фильма «Ðватар».
And the obligatory babelfish translation:
Continue reading ‘Racist Camera in Russian!’
Move over, Time Magazine… My Auntie called my Mom and says she saw the Racist Camera in the Chinese Daily News/World Journal (世界新èžç¶²).
Now I’m legit, says Mom. Haha. Thus began my evening of looking for the article for Mom. Of course, they didn’t print the picture, so I actually had to do a little bit of “reading” to find it.
Anyway, I found it, so here it is in Chinese:
相機臉åƒæª¢æ¸¬ 功能涉æ§è¦–
by ç·¨è¯ä¸å¿ƒç¶œåˆç´ç´„22日電
01.22.10 – 11:00 pm
科技日新月異的今日，許多數ä½ç›¸æ©Ÿå·²å…·å‚™ã€Œè‡‰åƒæª¢æ¸¬ã€(face detection)功能。æ¤ç¨®ç§‘技的目的在使æ”å½±æ›´åŠ å®¹æ˜“ï¼Œé˜»æ¢æ‹ä¸‹ä¸»é«”眨眼的ä¸ä½³ç•«é¢ï¼Œæˆ–幫助æ”影者æ•æ‰ä¸»é«”微笑的剎那。但是，消費者發ç¾æ¤ç¨®åŠŸèƒ½ä¸ç›¡ç†æƒ³ï¼Œç”šè‡³æœ‰ã€Œç¨®æ—æ§è¦–ã€ã€‚
æ™‚ä»£é›œèªŒå ±å°Žï¼Œä¾†è‡ªå°ç£çš„王姓女å去年買了一å°Nikon Coolpix S630數ä½ç›¸æ©Ÿï¼Œä½œç‚ºæ¯è¦ªç¯€ç¦®ç‰©ï¼Œå»åœ¨æ¯æ¬¡æ‹äººåƒç…§æ™‚，顯示幕上出ç¾ï¼šã€Œæœ‰äººåœ¨çœ¨çœ¼å—Žï¼Ÿã€çš„è¦å‘Šã€‚但她的弟弟後來å°ç›¸æ©Ÿçžªå¤§çœ¼ç›ï¼Œè¦å‘Šè¨Šè™Ÿå³å‘Šæ¶ˆå¤±ã€‚åˆå¥½æ°£åˆå¥½ç¬‘的王姓女å在部è½æ ¼ä¸Šå¯«é“：「這å°ç›¸æ©Ÿæœ‰ç¨®æ—æ§è¦–ã€‚æˆ‘æ ¹æœ¬æ²’æœ‰çœ¨çœ¼ï¼Œæˆ‘åªä¸éŽæ˜¯äºžè£”。ã€
專家指出，相機的臉åƒæª¢æ¸¬åŠŸèƒ½ç„¡æ„ä¸ã€Œå好白人ã€ï¼Œä¸åªNikon一家å“牌，其他相機也出ç¾åŒæ¨£å•é¡Œã€‚åŽŸå› æœªå¿…å‡ºåœ¨é›»è…¦ç¨‹å¼å¸«ï¼Œè€Œåœ¨æ–¼ä»–們ä¾è³´çš„演算法(algorithm)。電腦ä¾æ“šä¸€èˆ¬è‡‰åƒè‡ªè¡Œåˆ¶è¨‚辨è˜å½±åƒè¦å‰‡ï¼Œæœ‰æ™‚è¦å‰‡äº’相牴觸，導致Nikon相機無法分辨亞裔的眼ç›å’ŒåŠå¼µé–‹çš„眼ç›ã€‚當時的光線也å¯èƒ½æœ‰å½±éŸ¿ã€‚
臉åƒæª¢æ¸¬åŠŸèƒ½ç”šè‡³é‹ç”¨åˆ°è¦–訊會è°æ”影機(webcam)，而且發生åŒæ¨£å•é¡Œã€‚上個月，德州汽車經銷商一å白人女性員工把æ‹ä¸‹çš„çŸç‰‡é€ä¸ŠYouTube供大家觀賞：一åéžæ´²è£”åŒäº‹æƒ³ç”¨ä»–çš„æƒ æ™®HP Pavillion手æ電腦的內建視訊æ”影機檢測他的臉部ã€è¿½è¹¤ä»–的行動。çµæžœæ˜¯ï¼Œæ”影機湊近æ‹æ”這å白人女å，å°éžæ´²è£”毫無å應。çŸç‰‡çš„æ¨™é¡Œæ˜¯ã€Œæƒ æ™®é›»è…¦æ˜¯ç¨®æ—æ§è¦–者ã€ï¼Œé»žæ“ŠçŽ‡å°‡è¿‘200è¬äººæ¬¡ï¼Œè¿«ä½¿æƒ 普公å¸è¿…速回應，強調æ供高科技功能是為所有æ—裔æœå‹™ã€‚
© worldjournal.com 2010.
But even better is if you run that through a translator, and you get this gobbledygook:
Continue reading ‘Racist Camera hits the Chinese-language newspapers…’
(I can’t believe I have to keep saying this, but “Racist Camera” is a joke! I think it is FUNNY, not offensive!)
So the infamous Racist Camera picture is in the news today, thanks to an interview I did with Time Magazine. The story was also featured on the front page of Yahoo and is making the twitter/Facebook/digg/etc rounds again. Margaret Cho read the article and made a more serious post on her blog.
And most importantly, I gave Moye an exclusive interview and she posted it in on 8Asians.com!!!
Anyway, here’s a screenshot of the piece from Time.com
For all the people who didn’t receive the memo–
I DO NOT ACTUALLY THINK THE CAMERA IS RACIST! I DO NOT ACTUALLY THINK NIKON IS A RACIST COMPANY! < ---- LOOK AT THIS!
But whatever, if I've actually gained any traffic today, then I will put it toward a good cause. Today is the last day of the Facebook/Chase Community Giving campaign & I would encourage you to please take 10 seconds to vote for the Center for the Pacific Asian Family at voteCPAF.org!
If my asking you nicely to vote doesn't convince you, what about if Kim Jong-Il makes the request?!
Heh.
I know we all have 24 hours, but screw that! I want more hours!
Every so often I open up a browser and think to myself “I should really update my blog.”
But then I think of the giant list of other things that I really should do, and blogging is not at the top of the list.
I flew up to San Jose last night (12/30) so I could work from Yoshi’s parents place during the day and not worry about traveling up on New Years Eve to celebrate New Years with everyone up here. Thursday was still a workday for me, but after work hours, I was treated to crab cooked by Yoshi’s Dad (fresh from Half Moon Bay, as usual) and delicious aromas of osechi being cooked in the kitchen by Yoshi’s Mom.
After dinner, I tried to post a few photos up– I know I never really posted any of my photos from our trip to Asia– and I realized that I hadn’t been blogging or Tweeting since I returned from the trip (I blame it on not having my iPhone– but that’s just a lame excuse). I am not going to make any resolutions about blogging more in 2010– I wish I had been documenting more of my life as it was happening, but it’s near impossible to document my life while living it! I also want to thank Twitter and Facebook for killing my blog. Wow. Can you believe I still have a blog? It’s soooo 2005!
Anyway, Yoshi has been up here since Christmas and since I went to Scottsdale with my Mom, we hadn’t seen each other for almost a week. It’s nice to be together again, but actually all of this is pretty mundane stuff. The main thing that is new this time around is the baby in the house. Yoshi’s brother and sister-in-law had their first baby in June and they left him here since Xmas so the Grandparents could get more time with him. The baby doesn’t like to go to sleep even when he’s really tired– this is usually when Auntie Joz gets called over. Maybe it’s because I don’t like going to sleep that gives me the superpower of making him go to sleep. Either that, or I just bore him until he falls asleep… not sure which it is yet.
Anyway, this year’s New Years photo is me holding a lemon in Yoshi’s parents backyard in front of a baby satsuma tree. I had grand plans of having some better photo, but in the end, the citrus won. By the way, this lemon was yummy. I squeezed lemon juice on to my yummy crab dinner tonight– and then ate the entire rest of the lemon– peel, rind, and all!
Pictures from the last 5 New Years:
::2009::
::2008::
::2007::
::2006::
::2005::
…from the passenger seat. (I’m waiting for Yoshi to get into the
driver’s seat.)
San Jose, CA
12/31/2009
Recent Comments