Ads....Ads....Ads.....They are everywhere....

[KitaYama]

China’s latest “smart” public toilet rollout is drawing backlash after videos revealed a new system that rations toilet paper behind ads and paywalls. One viral clip from China Insider shows a woman forced to scan a QR code and watch an advertisement just to receive a single strip of paper. The dispenser then offers more for a small fee—charging 0.5 yuan (about $0.07) per strip.

This isn’t the country’s first attempt to tech-police public restrooms. Back in 2017, tourist sites installed facial recognition systems that limited users to one 60-centimeter strip every nine minutes. That policy was later adjusted to ten minutes. But the newest version, tied to mobile payments and ads, has ignited fresh criticism online. Many are calling it invasive and dystopian, with some vowing to bypass the system altogether by carrying their own toilet paper.

Someone commented on social media :
If I’m watching ads for TP, I’m shit**in on the floor.

 

[moke123]

Some enterprising kid should ditch their lemonade stand and set up shop nearby.

 

[Cotswold]

They are probably switching on the phone camera as well.
All electric cars and some other newer cars have microphones and cameras inside and outside.
MG and all other Chinese cars no doubt download everything for whatever reason. So if you have an MG, apart from knowing exactly where you have been. Beijing also knows what everyone in the car looks like and what is said. You may even have an MG app on your phone to further assist them in their weird authoritarian obsession. Mind you silicone valley isn't much less intrusive.

 

[BlueSpruce]

They are probably switching on the phone camera as well.
All electric cars and some other newer cars have microphones and cameras inside and outside.
MG and all other Chinese cars no doubt download everything for whatever reason. So if you have an MG, apart from knowing exactly where you have been. Beijing also knows what everyone in the car looks like and what is said. You may even have an MG app on your phone to further assist them in their weird authoritarian obsession. Mind you silicone valley isn't much less intrusive.

We now have a mass proliferation of license plate readers so anyone can find out where you have been driving at any given time.

 

[Cotswold]

We now have a mass proliferation of license plate readers so anyone can find out where you have been driving at any given time.

I've thought for maybe ten years, nothing is private anymore.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I am reminded of the character John Spartan from the movie Demolition Man, in which Officer Spartan is brought out of cryosleep to help deal with a criminal who also escapes cryosleep. Jonh discovers that in the future, toilets don't use paper any more. Instead, they have three seashells - which are never fully explained, though we can guess. At first bewildered, he then remembers that you get a printed "public vulgarity" notice if you use bad language. So he curses up a storm, takes a fist-full of printed tickets in hand, and heads for the toilet.

Which leads to the question of whether you guys know about country outhouses that have red corncobs and white corncobs, and the proper way to use them.

 

[Isaac]

China’s latest “smart” public toilet rollout is drawing backlash after videos revealed a new system that rations toilet paper behind ads and paywalls. One viral clip from China Insider shows a woman forced to scan a QR code and watch an advertisement just to receive a single strip of paper. The dispenser then offers more for a small fee—charging 0.5 yuan (about $0.07) per strip.

This isn’t the country’s first attempt to tech-police public restrooms. Back in 2017, tourist sites installed facial recognition systems that limited users to one 60-centimeter strip every nine minutes. That policy was later adjusted to ten minutes. But the newest version, tied to mobile payments and ads, has ignited fresh criticism online. Many are calling it invasive and dystopian, with some vowing to bypass the system altogether by carrying their own toilet paper.

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Someone commented on social media :
If I’m watching ads for TP, I’m shit**in on the floor.

Wow ... I do admire countries that have a lot of public toilets, though, just out there in the streets, it's kinda cool and I wish the USA did that.
We have to lean on the good graces of a public business, a few have public restrooms thankfully.

 

[moke123]

We now have a mass proliferation of license plate readers so anyone can find out where you have been driving at any given time.

I think I mentioned in a prior thread about the license plate reader database I was demoing with some 80 billion records. You can certainly figure out a lot about the vehicle and the people who operate it. You can track down where they live and work fairly easy, roads they frequent, and places they go. We just got the quote on cost the other day and we're waiting to see if we have funding. It's a little over $60K a year.

 

[BlueSpruce]

Wow ... I do admire countries that have a lot of public toilets, though, just out there in the streets, it's kinda cool and I wish the USA did that.
We have to lean on the good graces of a public business, a few have public restrooms thankfully.

New York City used to have many public pay toilets until the 1970's. Each subway stop had 10 cent pay toilets. Several had condom dispensers. The days of pay toilets, cigarette machines, pay phones are long gone. Theft, vandalism, and maintenance were the major causes.

 

[KitaYama]

I'm pretty sure vandalism is a death penalty offense in China so they are safe there

You're going too hard on China.
If your statement was true, by the amount of Chinese vandalism clips I see in TikTok, I think their population would have been decreased by now.

I don't know the exact sentence for vandalism in China, But Chatgpt's telling me it's detention (a few days) and a low amount of fine. (you can check for more detailed result if you wish)

Administrative penalty for Minor vandalism of ordinary property (graffiti, small damage) : detention (a few days), a fine.
Damage to property in more serious cases (large value, repeated damage, risk to public safety) may rise to criminal charges under the Criminal Law; fixed-term imprisonment possible, along with fines.

Article 324 of the Criminal Law (Crimes Against Cultural Relics): “Whoever intentionally damages or destroys valuable cultural relics under State protection … shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or criminal detention and shall also, or shall only, be fined; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years and shall also be fined.”

Cultural Relics Protection Law of the People's Republic of China

It's sad to see that most people from west cultures think the order in Asian countries are because of their strict laws, and not because of their culture and understanding and respecting the law. Maybe it makes them feel better and gives them a reason to why their system doesn't work the same.

 

[Isaac]

It's sad to see that most people from west cultures think the order in Asian countries are because of their strict laws

There's "order" in China??

 

[KitaYama]

There's "order" in China??

You should visit to be able to judge. Not relying on what Fox and CNN feed you.
I hate them more than anyone else and more than you can imagine, but it doesn't mean I believe everything is told about them.
Yes, there's order in China.

 

[BlueSpruce]

You should visit to be able to judge. Not relying on what Fox and CNN feed you.
I hate them more than anyone else and more than you can imagine, but it doesn't mean I believe everything is told about them.
Yes, there's order in China.

In a country like China, which is controlled by an autocratic government, I would say it's a strictly controlled society. There's no "free speech" in China. They control the media, the internet, and communist party members closely monitor everyone.

 

[Isaac]

You should visit to be able to judge. Not relying on what Fox and CNN feed you.
I hate them more than anyone else and more than you can imagine, but it doesn't mean I believe everything is told about them.
Yes, there's order in China.

I read vociferously from every type of author from a-z, and do not rely on Fox and Cnn.
That said, we had someone from Japan on the forums a couple years ago and that person was explaining what Chinese are like compared to Japanese, which led me to believe that there was actually a fair amount of disorder in China. They say yes, you say no, Who knows - maybe some day I'll go there myself and form my own opinion about whether it's a well ordered place. Until then, agree to disagree.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Just to offer an observation...

Chris Chappell hosts a China Uncensored series on YouTube that suggests that at the moment, "well-ordered" is a relative assessment because some areas are getting a bit unruly. He has a humorous approach to some stories (favoring ironic humor a lot) but has quite a bit of info on the current state of China. That is not the only source of info on China, though, and a LOT of it points to difficult times ahead.

 

[KitaYama]

There's "order" in China??

After several hours of research in Instagram and tweeter, I take back my words.
No. There's no Order in China.
Seems that I was wrong. Apologies.

Ikea in China:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[ColinEssex]

A large part of Charlie's platform was about the importance of marriage and raising children

The problem is that parents don't bring up children. They dump them off at nurseries or grandparents or any Tom, Dick or Harry. Parents (if there is two) only think about earning money. The kid then grows up with no true values so they go off the rails (like smashing up Congress building).
If a couple have children, then the mother should do what she is supposed to and raise the child, not try to continue life as if the child doesn't exist.
You have children? then you raise them, not a series of total strangers.
Col

 

[Isaac]

Well said

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Parents (if there is two)

There are always two parents somewhere along the line. The incident in the halls of Congress was not a case of "no true values" but rather of highly conflicted values. But that is a quibble with one of your sly side comments.

You are absolutely right that if the parents can't stay together, the kid or kids have more severely limited opportunities to thrive during their learning years, thus impairing their earning years and thus making their later life the yearning years.

I agree as well with your comment that modern parents often dump the kids in schools and then expect the school staff to raise the kids. The only quibble I have with that line of thought is that parents with kids HAVE to think about earning money because kids ain't cheap. What's lacking is balance and a sense of responsibility. When you have kids, you sacrifice some of your dreams so that your kids can have a dream at all.

I saw first-hand, up close and personal, the side effects of a parent ignoring responsibility. My grandmother's personal failure as a parent forever affected my father's life. I am pleased to say that my personal success gave him a form of vindication that, for a while, I didn't understand. My father had to drop out of school in 8th grade because he became the breadwinner once my grandfather and great-grandparents died and my uncles fled her toxicity as quickly as they could. My father was a bitter old man - not mean, but sad because of the opportunities he missed when growing up. But he saw to it that I had those chances. Dad had learned to bottle up his emotions and became extremely stoic. I only saw him cry five times in our time together - and one of those times was when I graduated with my Ph.D. In his "golden" years, he was comfortable and knew that I had a good, respectable job and we made peace with each other once I understood why he had pushed so hard for me to get an education.

 

[ColinEssex]

parents with kids HAVE to think about earning money because kids ain't cheap.

Neither is the big mortgage and the fancy car or the top range iphone or the posh furniture etc etc. If you can't afford the children then don't have them, the children suffer in the long run. All because of the parents want to be one up on their neighbours. So the parents employ a housekeeper/ babysitter - who knows what they get up to in their free time.
Col