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posted by martyb on Sunday September 24 2017, @01:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the is-your-fridge-"clean"? dept.

Walmart wants to test "in-fridge delivery" for Silicon Valley customers with August Home "smart locks":

Here's how the test will work: I place an order on Walmart.com for several items, even groceries. When my order is ready, a Deliv driver will retrieve my items and bring them to my home. If no one answers the doorbell, he or she will have a one-time passcode that I've pre-authorized which will open my home's smart lock. As the homeowner, I'm in control of the experience the entire time – the moment the Deliv driver rings my doorbell, I receive a smartphone notification that the delivery is occurring and, if I choose, I can watch the delivery take place in real-time. The Deliv associate will drop off my packages in my foyer and then carry my groceries to the kitchen, unload them in my fridge and leave. I'm watching the entire process from start to finish from my home security cameras through the August app. As I watch the Deliv associate exit my front door, I even receive confirmation that my door has automatically been locked.

While some may find the idea creepy, others have downplayed the creepiness factor:

"Five years ago consumers wouldn't have assumed they'd let a stranger drive them from the airport, much less stay in their house," said Forrest Collier, the CEO of eMeals, a platform that offers shopping lists based on recipes and loads the items into online shopping carts at Walmart and Kroger (KR) . "Now both Uber and Airbnb are billion-dollar companies."

For now, the fridge restocking service will only be available to Silicon Valley users of August Home. Customers will get a notification through their August Home app every time a delivery person drops off their food.

[...] Even though this Walmart service sounds "creepy on the front end," said Collier of eMeals, "it's really not as creepy as letting a stranger sleep in your bedroom."

Also at LA Times, Reuters, SiliconBeat, and CNET.


Original Submission

Related Stories

Amazon Wants to Deliver Purchases into Your Home 41 comments

Hot on the heels of Walmart's plans to deliver groceries directly into the fridges of homes with smart locks, Amazon has announced a similar arrangement for package deliveries, called Amazon Key:

Amazon on Wednesday announced Amazon Key, a new program for Prime members that lets delivery people drop off packages inside of customer homes.

To make Amazon Key possible, Amazon has introduced its own $120 internet-connected security camera called Amazon Cloud Cam. Customers who want to participate in the program need to purchase an accompanying "smart" lock to allow delivery people to enter their home. Combined camera-lock packages start at $250.

With the program Amazon is adding what it thinks is a more convenient option than traditional outside drop-off, while also coming up with one solution to package theft which is rampant in some markets.

The obvious questions are whether people will trust a delivery person to enter their home unattended. Amazon is trying to assuage these fears by alerting customers when a delivery is about to happen to allow them to watch it live via their phone.

This really isn't a big deal. They were delivering to the doorstep previously, and now they want to move the delivery by a couple of feet. There's almost no difference.

Also at The Verge.

Previously: Amazon Wants to Deliver Purchases to Your Car Trunk


Original Submission

Amazon Key Flaw Could Let Rogue Deliverymen Disable Your Camera 16 comments

WHEN AMAZON LAUNCHED[sic] its Amazon Key service last month, it also offered a remedy for anyone—realistically, most people—who might be creeped out that the service gives random strangers unfettered access to your home. That security antidote? An internet-enabled camera called Cloud Cam, designed to sit opposite your door and reassuringly record every Amazon Key delivery.

But now security researchers have demonstrated that with a simple program run from any computer in Wi-Fi range, that camera can be not only disabled but frozen. A viewer watching its live or recorded stream sees only a closed door, even as their actual door is opened and someone slips inside. That attack would potentially enable rogue delivery people to stealthily steal from Amazon customers, or otherwise invade their inner sanctum.

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-key-flaw-let-deliverymen-disable-your-camera/

Previously: Walmart Wants to Deliver Groceries Directly Into Your Fridge
Amazon Wants to Deliver Purchases into Your Home


Original Submission

Walmart Raises Minimum Hourly Wage to $11, Expands "Scan & Go" Program 121 comments

Walmart is boosting minimum pay across all of its stores and handing out bonuses. The CEO says that it's thanks to tax reform:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is boosting its starting hourly wage to $11 and delivering bonuses to employees, capitalizing on the U.S. tax overhaul to stay competitive in a tightening labor market.

The increase takes effect next month and will cost $300 million on top of wage hikes that were already planned, the world's largest retailer said Thursday. The one-time bonus of up to $1,000 is based on seniority and will amount to an additional $400 million. The company is also expanding its maternity and parental leave policy and adding an adoption benefit.

"Tax reform gives us the opportunity to be more competitive globally and to accelerate plans for the U.S.," Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon said in the statement.

The move comes three years after Wal-Mart last announced it was raising wages, spending $1 billion in 2015 to lift starting hourly pay to $9 and then to $10 for most workers the following year. The increase cut into profit and was criticized by some longer-tenured employees as unfair to them. Since then, many states have enacted minimum wage laws, meaning that a "sizable group" of its 4,700 U.S. stores already pay $11 an hour, according to spokesman Kory Lundberg.

Walmart is expanding a "Scan & Go" program from 50 to 150 stores. "Scan & Go" would allow customers to use a smartphone app to scan items and then walk out of the store with them. Kroger is experimenting with a similar "Scan, Bag, Go" program. These are seen as a response to Amazon, which has been trialing delivery of fresh foods and same-day deliveries. Amazon revealed an "Amazon Go" concept brick-and-mortar store in 2016, with no cashiers in sight.

Maybe Walmart's big plan is to give better pay to a dwindling amount of employees.

CEO letter to employees. Also at CNBC and USA Today.

Related: Walmart Wants to Deliver Groceries Directly Into Your Fridge
Walmart to Deploy Shelf-Scanning Robots at 50 Stores
Walmart is Raising Prices Online to Increase in-Store Traffic


Original Submission

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(1) 2
  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday September 24 2017, @01:36PM (4 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 24 2017, @01:36PM (#572309) Journal

    "drop off my packages in my foyer"

    And, what if I don't have a foyer? All I have is a mudroom, where I kick off my muddy boots.

    • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:20PM

      by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:20PM (#572393)
      Order on and they will install it for you while you are at work.
    • (Score: 4, Touché) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:40PM (1 child)

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:40PM (#572422) Journal

      Ask them to tuck the packages behind the wheels of your trailer next to your dog Spud. Dried squirrel and pickled pig's feet will keep in the heat.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @12:12AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @12:12AM (#572490)

        The fridge in my trailer was too small so I got a regular size fridge. It can't go through the trailer door so I keep it outside. I'm ready for Walmart Elite Delivs!

    • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday September 25 2017, @02:30PM

      by LoRdTAW (3755) on Monday September 25 2017, @02:30PM (#572664) Journal

      And, what if I don't have a foyer?

      Your butler should be able to deal with that.

  • (Score: 5, Touché) by wonkey_monkey on Sunday September 24 2017, @01:39PM (1 child)

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Sunday September 24 2017, @01:39PM (#572310) Homepage

    "Five years ago consumers wouldn't have assumed they'd let a stranger drive them from the airport

    Right. That never happened five years ago. We're all best friends with every taxi driver.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:34PM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:34PM (#572419) Journal

      "We're all best friends with every taxi driver."

      Are you not? Here in NYC we all know Muhammed. Says so on his badge.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Sunday September 24 2017, @02:15PM (49 children)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Sunday September 24 2017, @02:15PM (#572313)

    is pretty pictures of the thieves. That's what I got when someone broke into our residence's garage and stole my car: the police never found the car but I got a nice VHS tape with the guy's face on it, grinning and giving me the finger.

    In short, nobody comes into my house when I'm not home - especially Walmart employees, who are payed diddly squat per hour, and might just be all the more tempted to make extra money on the side with the things in the houses they visit. The camera doesn't change anything.

    • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:07PM (40 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:07PM (#572324)

      you're doing it wrong. the cameras are for you to be able to find the thief, not for the damn police to find the thief with. once you kill one of the thieves no one else will break into your house. also, the cameras do work as a deterrent for a certain class of thief, just not the most hardened. Sounds like your thief knew the cops don't do shit in your town. instead of blaming the cameras why don't you blame those useless pigs you love so much that are too busy out committing strong armed robberies themselves to find your shit.

      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:15PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:15PM (#572329)

        Edgy response. Maybe they will be in and out before you can get home and shoot em up.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:27PM (38 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:27PM (#572335)

        > once you kill one of the thieves no one else will break into your house.

        Someone played a few games too many with a Thieves Guild.

        In reality, most thieves don't participate in a hidden crime network where they can share information about potential targets.

        • (Score: 4, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:57PM (37 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:57PM (#572350) Journal

          Newspapers, television news, radio news, word of mouth - the word gets out. "Seen Rufus around? Is he in the pen again, or what?" "No, you haven't heard? He broke into a place on the east side of town, the owner came home, and shot him dead." "No shit? Rufus is dead?" "I'd have gone to his funeral, but I was in the county jail at the time." "DAYUM! Rufus dead. We've run together since we were little kids." "Yeah, well, you want to be careful on the east side. The city, the county, not even the state are filing charges against the owner. Word has it, a lot of those uppity east siders are buying firearms." "Well, shit man!! We oughtta go over the east side and lift some guns of our own!" "You can count me out of that one, boy. You never were very bright, were you? You'll be shot just like Rufus!"

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @04:48PM (5 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @04:48PM (#572365)

            ...starring Clint Eastwood.

            • (Score: 2, Flamebait) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday September 25 2017, @12:49AM (4 children)

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday September 25 2017, @12:49AM (#572497) Journal

              ...but Runaway wishes it starred Runaway. Note the subtle anti-black references in there ("we run together since we was kids" etc). This is a man who wants to shoot someone, preferably in a heroic manner, but I have a feeling anyone "disposable" will do. Fuck me, every time this guy posts he comes more and more unhinged.

              Does he think we don't notice it? Is he crying for help, or actually hoping that someone here will read his brain-vomit and think he's impressive and manly and alpha and in no way scarred for life by daddy beating his ass raw?

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
              • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 26 2017, @05:29AM (3 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 26 2017, @05:29AM (#572951)

                Save the attempt at mind reading for the magic show, Blaine.

                • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday September 26 2017, @07:30AM (2 children)

                  by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday September 26 2017, @07:30AM (#572967) Journal

                  That's hardly mind reading. It's a picture book with what little text it contains in very large, wobbly print, written in what i will charitably assume is brown crayon.

                  --
                  I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 26 2017, @09:13AM (1 child)

                    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 26 2017, @09:13AM (#572998)

                    Your continued claim at mental divining has not gone (laughably) unnoticed.

                    • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday September 26 2017, @08:19PM

                      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday September 26 2017, @08:19PM (#573467) Journal

                      It doesn't take a telepath to figure out what's going on here, pal. Cry some more for me, your tears are delicious and salty. But kind of buttery. You should cut down on the saturated fat a bit.

                      --
                      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:22PM (30 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:22PM (#572394)

            Murdering a person because they stole something (or only tried too) seems somewhat harsh, but then again I'm just a simple commie socialist liberal pussy European, so what do I know about liberty and justice.

            • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:34PM (27 children)

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:34PM (#572398) Journal

              It's only murder if a jury of your peers decides that it is murder. You gotta remember that "dead men tell no tales". The defendant only has to suggest that the burglar attacked him, so he shot in self defense. "Not guilty, your honor!"

              • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:47PM (2 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:47PM (#572429)

                Runaway's true quality comes out, a murderous psychopath with just enough inhibition to attempt getting around legal loopholes. You sir are an asshole.

                • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @08:11PM (1 child)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @08:11PM (#572439)

                  And, racist!

                  • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @01:45AM

                    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @01:45AM (#572507)

                    Bad Skippy. You left out Fascist, Nazi, homophobe, misogynist, xenophobe, and bigot.

                    Boring buzzword echo chamber fails.

                    Try again.

              • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @08:56PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @08:56PM (#572447)

                That's a textbook definition of a sociopath :/

              • (Score: 4, Informative) by requerdanos on Sunday September 24 2017, @11:42PM

                by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 24 2017, @11:42PM (#572483) Journal

                It's only murder if a jury of your peers decides that it is murder.

                In states like Texas, the castle doctrine [davidbreston.com] laws don't even go that far... If someone enters your home by force and inconveniences you, you can just shoot them and call the cops to come take away the garbage. It's the Law. The More You Know(tm).

              • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday September 25 2017, @12:42AM (14 children)

                by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday September 25 2017, @12:42AM (#572495) Journal

                Jesus. With every post you become more and more unhinged. Seek help; this is not normal. This has gone well beyond Internet-Tough-Guy and is into murderous rage territory.

                --
                I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                • (Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @01:52AM (4 children)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @01:52AM (#572508)

                  Not really. Those of us who choose not to be victimized by scumbags have a perfect moral right to do so.

                  Tell you what, if you're ever carjacked at 3 AM or Deshuan decides to bust your door down while you're watching MSNBC, just offer them a nice cup of Chi and see how far that gets you.

                  • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday September 25 2017, @02:03AM (3 children)

                    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday September 25 2017, @02:03AM (#572515) Journal

                    You...*do* know I come from, at various times, the Bronx, Harlem, and southern Queens, don't you? You're not talking to some latte-swilling limo liberal here. Check your assumptions before you dump a stinking load on the floor like that, please.

                    --
                    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday September 25 2017, @02:11AM

                      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday September 25 2017, @02:11AM (#572523) Journal

                      "southern Queens"

                      OMG, a genuine Southern Liberal!!

                    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @06:19AM

                      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @06:19AM (#572557)

                      Clearly, she meant to say "chai" not "Chi." The assumption is that you're a tea-sipping liberal, not a coffee-drinking one.

                    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @10:11AM

                      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @10:11AM (#572608)

                      So whatcha gonna do? Confront an assailant with an Al Pacino impression? That'll stop 'em!

                • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday September 25 2017, @02:09AM (8 children)

                  by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday September 25 2017, @02:09AM (#572522) Journal

                  Azuma. My name is NOT Jesus. I do not walk on water. I have no stigmata. I haven't been raised from the dead. Please don't call me Jesus. If you need to talk to him, I can give him your name though. I'll see him at work again tomorrow night, operating one of the presses.

                  • (Score: 1, Troll) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday September 25 2017, @07:24AM (7 children)

                    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday September 25 2017, @07:24AM (#572576) Journal

                    So this is what you've sunk to? Runaway, you have my pity. I don't know what's happened to you recently, if it's some sudden shock or if you just ran out of plain old humanity, but if you don't step off this path you're on it's going to end in suicide or worse. You're not fooling anyone with this forced flippancy. Something's eating you.

                    --
                    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday September 25 2017, @11:01AM (4 children)

                      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday September 25 2017, @11:01AM (#572614) Journal

                      Holy shit, Zumi!

                      YOU are the one who has admitted to being "broken" by life. Stop projecting. Have you ever heard that "what don't kill you makes you stronger"? Life hasn't broken me, it's made me strong. Would you consider an exercise regimen?

                      And, you would enjoy a good deal more credibility if you stop pretending to be a psychiatrist, or whatever brand of charlatan comes up with your kind of silly predictions. Suicide? Yeah, it's remotely possible. Like, I'm terminally ill, and in severe pain, and I know that I have months or years of excruciating suffering ahead. WTF do you think I'm "suffering" from, exactly? I've got a severe case of "contempt for the progressive left" just about sums it up. Maybe you'll feel better if you understand that I have an equal "contempt of the neo-conservative right" which Georgie Boy Bush imposed on this country for eight years.

                      Suicide, you say? You're far more likely to suicide than I am. That special other person that you're caring for may or may not pass away soon - you make it sound bad for her. When she's gone, WTF do you have to live for? You won't be needed anymore, and you probably won't find a good reason to go on living.

                      Me? I'm safe. I get a great deal of satifaction from life. If/when all else fails, I can come here and yank your progressive chain, and listen to you make up batshit crazy stuff. If I run out of reasons to live, I can become an internet troll, spending 20 hours per day "triggering" people like yourself. Meanwhile, I have some modifications to make on my truck. Few more minutes here, and I've got cool shit to do!!

                      • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday September 25 2017, @06:47PM (1 child)

                        by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday September 25 2017, @06:47PM (#572746) Journal

                        That's even less convincing. I think you've also confused Eliza with J; Eliza is my girlfriend, J is the person *both* of us are attempting to help. Thanks for admitting you have nothing in your life but trolling and the occasional bit of automotive maintenance though :) With every post you make yourself look worse and worse, and you're too far-gone to see it. Oh well...

                        --
                        I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday September 25 2017, @07:05PM

                          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday September 25 2017, @07:05PM (#572751) Journal

                          "nothing in your life but trolling and the occasional bit of automotive maintenance"

                          Now, see, that's funny. But, it's the kind of thing that would hurt if it were true, and you knew that. You're the kind of woman who goes for blood, aren't you? Well, you're gonna have to get a helluva lot smarter if you want to draw blood from me. First up - stop projecting YOUR problems onto me.

                      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @07:40PM (1 child)

                        by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @07:40PM (#572763)

                        Runway, you're weird and crazy but... what you get up to shitpost on soylent every day? You're broken by life at least as much as our weeb ladyboy if not more.

                        In 10 years you're going to troon out like the best of them and it's gonna be gross. At least Zumi jumped on the bandwagon while she had some hope of being cute.

                        • (Score: 3, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday September 25 2017, @08:07PM

                          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday September 25 2017, @08:07PM (#572774) Journal

                          Where in the hell are you getting "ladyboy" from? I'm not Thai, or male, or trans. "Ladyboy" doesn't mean "lesbian," you know? Not even butch ones. And if we're being technical the word for actual ladyboys is "kathoey," something like the Thai version of "Hijra."

                          --
                          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                    • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @03:37PM (1 child)

                      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @03:37PM (#572688)

                      Azuma Hazuki and Ass Hole have the same initials. And they even smell the same!

                      • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday September 25 2017, @07:44PM

                        by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday September 25 2017, @07:44PM (#572764) Journal

                        So you found someone who shits Dr. Bronner's castille soap, peppermint flavor? Or that particular off-brand coconut/cherry conditioner I use? Impressive.

                        --
                        I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
              • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday September 25 2017, @12:18PM (6 children)

                by LoRdTAW (3755) on Monday September 25 2017, @12:18PM (#572622) Journal

                Were you going for sarcasm or dark humor when posting this and people shit the bed? Good job.

                • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday September 25 2017, @02:15PM (5 children)

                  by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday September 25 2017, @02:15PM (#572658) Journal

                  A bit of humor, maybe, but no sarcasm. Homicides happen every day, for which no one is punished. There are pleas of self defense, charges are often reduced to negligent homicide, accidental homicide, death by misadventure, manslaughter, and possibly other things that I haven't heard of. "Murder" is a pretty specific crime, in which the defendant most definitely intended to kill the victim. Murders are further broken down into three categories - but that's really beside the point. You aren't guilty of murder, unless and until a court actually convicts you of murder. And, even then, there are myriad appeals to be appealed - just because a jury of my peers finds me guilty of murder in the third degree doesn't mean the conviction will stick.

                  Add to all of that - the Bible recognizes the difference between "killing" and "murder". The commandment in the original Jewish scripts read, "Thou shall do no murder". It most definitely does not say, "Thou shalt not kill." Killing was often justified in the Bible, but murder was never justified. I dare say that other Holy books recognize that not-very-subtle difference.

                  • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday September 25 2017, @07:34PM (4 children)

                    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday September 25 2017, @07:34PM (#572761) Journal

                    Why do you put any stock by what the Bible says? This is the same book that says kill a kid if he curses his parents, or anyone who picks up sticks on Saturday (yes, Saturday, not Sunday; Sunday sabbath is a pagan Roman invention).

                    --
                    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 26 2017, @01:28AM (3 children)

                      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 26 2017, @01:28AM (#572870) Journal

                      Stock in the Bible - because Christianity influenced almost all of the English Common Law, upon which our own laws are based. Think about it.

                      • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday September 26 2017, @02:25AM (2 children)

                        by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday September 26 2017, @02:25AM (#572898) Journal

                        Have you read the Bill of Rights recently? Compare that with the 10 Commandments and get back to me.

                        --
                        I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                        • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 26 2017, @02:27AM (1 child)

                          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 26 2017, @02:27AM (#572901) Journal

                          Yeah, I've read the bill of rights a time or more. Now, try acting like you're fucking LITERATE. I said that Christianity INFLUENCED our laws.

                          • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday September 26 2017, @03:26AM

                            by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday September 26 2017, @03:26AM (#572920) Journal

                            Indeed, and it's still trying to do so today, much to our detriment.

                            You are, once again, missing the point, and I suspect deliberately too. The US owes more to Enlightenment thought for its laws than Christianity; in particular, the First Amendment runs entirely counter to the very heart of Christianity (and Judaism and Islam). Slavery, monarchy, and warfare are the Abrahamic God's stock in trade. He is said to be fighting a war with the forces of evil...how, precisely, does an omniscient, omnipotent, *absolutely sovereign* being have enemies, much less enemies who can apparently put up a respectable struggle?

                            Face it, you're another one who doesn't know the first thing the Bible says while trying to use it as some sort of anchor point for modern Western civilization, when our freedoms arose *in spite* of our Christian background, *not* because of it. You really suck at this. Go play with your car or something, will you?

                            --
                            I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
            • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:37PM

              by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:37PM (#572421) Journal

              I'm just a simple commie socialist liberal pussy European, so what do I know about liberty and justice.

              How about if we force them to conduct a self-criticism on their departure from pure Mao thought *before* we liquidate them for consorting with capitalist wreckers and committing crimes against the proletariat?

              --
              Washington DC delenda est.
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @10:12PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @10:12PM (#572469)

              Well, if someone is in the middle of breaking into your house while you're there, their life is forfeit as far as I'm concerned. You really don't know what their intentions are, and frankly, you should be able to protect your property from thugs. If someone doesn't want that, then don't break into people's houses.

    • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday September 24 2017, @04:17PM (3 children)

      by Gaaark (41) on Sunday September 24 2017, @04:17PM (#572357) Journal

      You watch them on camera: if they go out of camera view or you actually see them stealing, you then push the button that sends electrical current to the door knob. They attempt to leave with your property, they better be ready for the jolt that sends their insides out to their underpants, leaving them flopping on your floor like a fish.

      --
      --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @10:19AM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @10:19AM (#572609)

        Wouldn't it be more fun to activate a life-like sexbot to fellate the perp into helplessness till the rozzers show up? You could have porn, a crime drama, and comedy all in one show, right there on your phone.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @03:23PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @03:23PM (#572683)

          Check your assumptions. Are all perps male?

          • (Score: 2) by fritsd on Tuesday September 26 2017, @03:51PM

            by fritsd (4586) on Tuesday September 26 2017, @03:51PM (#573199) Journal

            There once was a young man named Gene ...

    • (Score: 2) by jcross on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:11PM (2 children)

      by jcross (4009) on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:11PM (#572391)

      In this case the potential thief would be an employee of the delivery company, with their every action monitored. They could be fired and/or prosecuted if a customer shows video evidence of them stealing, so my guess is they'd go out of their way to not even look like they're doing something suspicious. It's a completely different situation from a thief who randomly enters your house.

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:42PM (1 child)

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:42PM (#572424) Journal

        The likelier scenario would be the Walmart employee cases the joint for his pals to knock over. He takes his cut, buries it in the back yard. Wash, rinse, repeat.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
        • (Score: 2) by jcross on Sunday September 24 2017, @09:36PM

          by jcross (4009) on Sunday September 24 2017, @09:36PM (#572461)

          Fucking genius!

    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:32PM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:32PM (#572417) Journal

      If I was going to go to that amount of trouble, I'd want to capture the thieves alive rather than take pictures of them. Then I could experiment on them, harvest products like adrenaline, construct a subterranean slave colony, etc. If that worked out I'd leave the doors wide open, lights ablazin', with pretty shiny things just begging to be swiped.

      Some might say that would be going too far, but then again hadn't they forfeited the moral high ground by entering my premises with ill intent?

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @02:19PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @02:19PM (#572314)

    Selling copies of your keys to the police under the third party doctrine

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by SomeGuy on Sunday September 24 2017, @02:31PM (3 children)

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Sunday September 24 2017, @02:31PM (#572315)

    How does this make sense when at the same time Walmart wants get rid of all cashiers?
    http://newstome.blog.ajc.com/2017/04/25/wal-mart-app-puts-cashiers-on-endangered-list/ [ajc.com]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @02:36PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @02:36PM (#572317)

      It's easier to automate the cashier job than the jobs of CDL-holding van/truck driver and driveway-to-fridge porter.

    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:45PM (1 child)

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:45PM (#572427) Journal

      It's an up-sell opportunity. Sign up for the grocery delivery service, and come home to find sticky notes attached to your more worn items, "Hey, this lamp seems old. Walmart is having a sale on great, up-to-date ones now!" "I notice you're almost out of lube. Walmart.com's running a great deal on a mega-tub!"

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @01:40AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @01:40AM (#572504)

        I wonder if Walmart.com can offer me in-bedroom delivery of the 55 gallon drum of lube.

  • (Score: 4, Funny) by fritsd on Sunday September 24 2017, @02:34PM (4 children)

    by fritsd (4586) on Sunday September 24 2017, @02:34PM (#572316) Journal

    I'd be worried, if I was a "Deliv associate", and the customer had ordered fava beans and a nice Chianti ...

    • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Sunday September 24 2017, @10:41PM (3 children)

      by Aiwendil (531) on Sunday September 24 2017, @10:41PM (#572471) Journal

      Good, then I won't have to worry about my fondness of ordering amontillado by the cask ;)

      • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday September 25 2017, @02:34PM (2 children)

        by LoRdTAW (3755) on Monday September 25 2017, @02:34PM (#572666) Journal

        Don't forget about your fondness for a skid of bricks and four eighty pound bags of mortar.

        • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Monday September 25 2017, @09:14PM (1 child)

          by Aiwendil (531) on Monday September 25 2017, @09:14PM (#572797) Journal

          I live at walking distance from a home improvement store and I am into BDSM so I already have shackles.. :)

          • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday September 26 2017, @03:28AM

            by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday September 26 2017, @03:28AM (#572921) Journal

            For the love of God, Montressor...!

            --
            I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @02:50PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @02:50PM (#572321)

    Years ago, we never locked doors. If a friend showed up with some food (maybe something from their garden) and no one was around, they would leave it in the fridge. Once a friend left ice cream in my freezer, a very nice surprise!

    If I move, because the nearby city is creeping out this way, I will certainly look for someplace like this...(but probably won't find it).

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by looorg on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:44PM (5 children)

    by looorg (578) on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:44PM (#572338)

    As the home owner you are in control? Being able to watch it on a camera isn't exactly being in control of the situation. Oh look the Walmarter (or whomever) is carrying off my flatscreen TV now ... Seeing is not being in control, it is just observing.

    But lets just assume the Walmart fridge-restockers won't rob you blind, yet, for as as time pass by you'll be doing it, watching them, less and less since it becomes so common, it becomes the new normal for you to have delivery people going in and out of your apartment or house that you don't even notice or care anymore. First it's the stockboys for the fridge and then it becomes all other type of delivery people and craftsmen and service people. Actually that probably already happens from time to time that various handymen come and fix things that are broken etc. You just stop noticing them since what they are doing isn't really strange anymore. Which is eventually followed by that time when they carry off with all your loot. Once you get used to something strange it is no longer strange, it is the new normal.

    But it is a bit odd how this seem almost cyclical. Stores used to deliver food and drink to your home, milk men etc. But that sort of went away over time and was replaced by markets and supermarkets etc. In stores you used to come in with a list of things you wanted and some stockboys ran around picking up all your things while you waited at a counter, then you got the "freedom" to do all the shopping yourself. A cashier tallied up your things before exit and you paid her and you went away. Now you can scan your own groceries as you go around the supermarket. Supermarkets are now offering you once again to collect all the groceries either for pickup in the store or to be delivered to your home, or in the case of the story to be even delivered straight into your fridge. What seems modern appears to just be repeating itself. While I'm not old enough to have experienced all these things my parents did and they find it funny how things are now sort of coming full circle again. As a personal preference I'm, at the moment, ok with some half-and-half method. I'm ok with them collecting and bagging things I can't do much with or actually do any kind of meaningful selection with -- things that are already in boxes or cans etc. I still like picking things I can see and touch in that regard be it fruit, vegetables and meat. I'm ok with them delivering to my front door but I wouldn't want them to restock my fridge for me when I'm not home.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday September 24 2017, @04:07PM (2 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 24 2017, @04:07PM (#572353) Journal

      Watching less and less - yes.

      A couple decades ago, I had reason to put up a security camera. That camera never recorded the people that we INTENDED to catch committing a crime. In fact, the camera was eventually all but forgotten. Months went by, when I wouldn't even think of it. The wife observed her little ritual - rewind, then FFW the recording every other day or so, to see if anything had happened that we should be interested in.

      Then, we came home one day to find a number of obviously obvious items missing. She went straight to the security camera, and in about three minutes, we knew PRECISELY who came into our home, and stole everything that he considered to be valuable.

      Without even looking, I would imagine that the interface is going to "save" the video until you delete it. That should be standard procedure with any type of security application, shouldn't it?

      You're perfectly correct that the camera doesn't enable me to exert any kind of control over the situation. But, it did enable me to recover our stuff, and exact some revenge.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:20PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:20PM (#572409)

        > we knew PRECISELY who came into our home, and stole everything ...

        Relative? Disgruntled kid??

        • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @04:05PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @04:05PM (#572702)

          Obama

    • (Score: 2) by fritsd on Sunday September 24 2017, @09:16PM

      by fritsd (4586) on Sunday September 24 2017, @09:16PM (#572453) Journal

      Stores used to deliver food and drink to your home, milk men etc.

      I remember the milk woman coming *to our door*. To deliver gossip. And yoghurt, too. And take the washed-out empty bottles.

      But if we weren't at home she'd leave it outside our locked door, and complain the next time and then we'd pay up immediately.
      This was in a time where many women were housewives who could take the yoghurt, exchange the gossip, and put the yoghurt in the cellar (there weren't any fridges in common use yet).

      What's the use of a "Deliv associate", when there's nobody at home to gossip with??
      Does it mean, that the modern day posh people don't have enough money to afford servants who accept the delivered milk products?

    • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday September 25 2017, @02:47PM

      by LoRdTAW (3755) on Monday September 25 2017, @02:47PM (#572673) Journal

      Stores used to deliver food and drink to your home, milk men etc.

      I don't think they ever stopped fully. The C-Town store in my neighborhood has and still offers home delivery of groceries. They have a small roller bed next to the registers which leads to a small steel door on the side of the building. They line up cardboard boxes and the stock boys pick and load up the boxes. A van and deliveryman then loads the boxes from the door into a van and delivers them. I know of a few others who do the same for the local neighborhood.

      I think the reason it dropped out of style was people like browsing and feeling in control. That leads to my next thought, a browsing customer is more likely to make impulse buys. An order has a set list of items. The stock picker isn't grabbing a box of cookies and a pack of oatmeal on sale on their way to checkout. Making people drive to the store also makes them buy more and waste more as they don't want to have to keep going back. Downplaying delivery makes the grocers more money.

  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:49PM (10 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:49PM (#572342)

    I get the distinct impression that Walmart is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

    Of the household chores that need doing, buying groceries is neither particularly strenuous nor unpleasant - most areas have decently good grocers or farmers relatively nearby, and this service will likely be unavailable or too expensive in places that don't. And the grocery stores are getting efficient enough that it's basically "Go through the store picking up what you want, be out in the parking lot 10 minutes later".

    Also, going out and doing your own shopping allows you to examine the produce in particular before buying it, something this service would not.

    Finally, if you still wanted somebody to handle that last mile, the other option is to pay somebody else (formally or informally) to do it, e.g. "Hey, Mike, here's $5 to go get me a gallon of milk. Keep the change."

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 2) by Hartree on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:45PM (3 children)

      by Hartree (195) on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:45PM (#572402)

      "buying groceries is neither particularly strenuous nor unpleasant "

      For most people it isn't.
      You aren't yet elderly, or in poor health. We have an aging population that often can't drive anymore, are limited in physical mobility, otherwise frail, etc. Often elderly don't have a neighbor/relative they feel they can ask to help with that.
      Though it's a niche market, grocery delivery is a definite one. People in those situations who can afford it would be willing to pay more for it. Some such services already exist.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:27PM (1 child)

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:27PM (#572414) Journal

        You aren't yet elderly, or in poor health.

        Jesus, how hard is it to open tins of cat food? C'mon!

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
        • (Score: 3, Touché) by jelizondo on Sunday September 24 2017, @11:49PM

          by jelizondo (653) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 24 2017, @11:49PM (#572484) Journal

          Jesus, how hard is it to open tins of cat food? C'mon!

          Count your blessings! Clearly you are young and have no idea (yet) of the many ways your body can betray you, may you live long enough to find out.

          I had a temporary sickness that made it extremely painful to walk, grab anything or even open a goddamned can of soda. It was over in a couple of days but it made realize how old people feel; and it’s not just the pain it is the sense of impotence and rage that it brings.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by fritsd on Sunday September 24 2017, @09:20PM

        by fritsd (4586) on Sunday September 24 2017, @09:20PM (#572455) Journal

        (...) are limited in physical mobility, (...)

        yes?

        and therefore...

        they are AT HOME when the groceries are delivered, and don't need some newfangled lock that other people can open.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @12:32AM (5 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @12:32AM (#572491)

      I have 11 kids.

      I grab 2 or 3 of them to assist me, hop in my 15-passenger van (longer in back then the typical 12-passenger vans), and head off to Publix. I fill 3 shopping carts top and bottom, packing things carefully. This takes 2 to 5 hours, probably 3 or 4. I get a receipt that is about 6 feet long. I get a bill for $1000. After bagging, I have 4 carts to push out to the van. I load groceries into every spare spot in the van, tossing things over seats and sliding things under seats. Once home, I enlist more kids to help bring things into the house. Something probably gets squished or shattered.

      Repeat that at least once a week, with extra 1-cart trips to get things that run out quickly. For example, I need 2 gallons of milk per day, but I can only spare enough refrigerator space to hold 4 gallons at once.

      The idea that this is "neither particularly strenuous nor unpleasant" is pretty funny. You should try shopping for 13 people.

      The "farmers relatively nearby" is pretty funny too. In most places that would get you exactly one thing, available once per year, in absurd quantity. Oh yes, I want 4000 cubic feet worth of asparagus! You say I have to wait 5 months? But I'm hungry now...

      It's too bad that the service would disgust me. Walmart injects "solution" or "broth" into the meat. Walmart uses pink slime. If somebody else does the shopping, I might get moldy fruit or the oldest packages on the shelves.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @01:54AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @01:54AM (#572511)

        Damn, you sound like you need Costco/Sams/ALDI.

      • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @02:05AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @02:05AM (#572516)

        The idea that this is "neither particularly strenuous nor unpleasant" is pretty funny. You should try shopping for 13 people.

        You should try a condom.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @04:10PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @04:10PM (#572703)

        Too many kids. Seriously you have too many kids. People like you are bad for the world. Why do you and the missus feel the need to create almost 6 replacement copies a piece.

        Unless of course you've adopted or fostered. In which case thank you. Either way I am guessing at least half of those are yours biologically. SO STOP IT. you pumping out that many kids is going to hurt their lives, and their kids lives.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @07:28PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @07:28PM (#572756)

          Typically in one breath we hear "stop having kids because of pollution" and in the next breath we hear "we need to import young people" or "we should save lives in poor countries". Put it all together, and it meets the UN's definition of genocide: this is a campaign to effectively wipe out specific cultures, religions, and races. (those being more-or-less "western civilization")

          If we fail to have kids, and we import the 3rd world, then America becomes 3rd world. A nation is largely a people with its culture, not merely a chunk of land and a set of changable laws. It will be a long dark age if the USA and Europe become like Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.

          My wife is hard-core Catholic. Birth control is a sin. I tried but gave up on religion; I'm an atheist. I proudly accept evolution and my role in it, desiring to win bigly. So we're compatible in a strange way, popping out 11 kids the all-natural way in less than 19 years. My wife is good for several more I think. We might end up with 14.

          Evolution is about to deal a brutal crushing blow to the sorts of people who live in a city with less than 3 kids. That mindset is strongly maladaptive in our current environment; it is strongly selected against. There will be a political impact.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 26 2017, @03:50AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 26 2017, @03:50AM (#572926)

            > ... hard-core Catholic.

            Sounds more like a throwback Catholic to me.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by theluggage on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:55PM (4 children)

    by theluggage (1797) on Sunday September 24 2017, @03:55PM (#572347)

    he or she will have a one-time passcode that I've pre-authorized which will open my home's smart lock

    Which is perfectly safe because there has never, ever been a security breach at a major corporation causing customer data to leak.

    I'm watching the entire process from start to finish from my home security cameras through the August app.

    Now that saves time - when the cop pulls you over for staring at your smartphone while driving, you can show them the video of the delivery guy helping themselves to your best scotch... because even though you're out of the house there's never a bad time to be a smartphone zombie...

    Five years ago consumers wouldn't have assumed they'd let a stranger drive them from the airport, much less stay in their house,

    uh, yes, they were called "taxis" and "Bed & Breakfast" respectively. But of course, doing something "on the internet" makes it a completely new (and patentable) thing and none of the old dangers, cautionary tales, lessons learned or even laws and regulations that applied to the old, offline version could possibly still be relevant.

    Or, how about just using all this clever AI and tracking stuff to provide us customers with accurate delivery times and useful tracking information so we can arrange to be there when the delivery arrives?

    I mean given that, when I'm standing at my door looking at the package in my hand and hearing the delivery van drive away, my phone reliably beeps with a text from Amazon telling me that the package has been delivered, would it really have been that hard to instead send me a text 30 minutes before the delivery so I knew when to hold off taking a shit and didn't need to be up and dressed at fuck-all-in-the-morning waiting for a package that was "out for delivery" at 5:30am but might not actually arrive until 9:30pm?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:24PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:24PM (#572412)

      > didn't need to be up and dressed

      I'm perfectly happy to answer the door in pj pants, same for walking the 75 feet out to the mailbox.

      Neil Cassidy (as reported by Jack Kerouac) answered the door in his birthday suit.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:48PM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:48PM (#572430) Journal

        When I was young I answered the door in my black cowled robe, holding a sickle (I had been the Grim Reaper for Halloween and found the robe comfortable in the mountain climes). It worked best with Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons. Which, now that I think about it, also might explain why my cute Mormon neighbor would never give me the time of day.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @06:32PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 25 2017, @06:32PM (#572742)

      would it really have been that hard to instead send me a text 30 minutes before the delivery

      Yes.

      For notifying when delivery happens, the trigger is when the final scan is done. They see the trigger, and then send the notice.

      What is a reliable trigger for when the delivery will be happening 30 minutes from now?

      • (Score: 2) by theluggage on Wednesday September 27 2017, @12:29PM

        by theluggage (1797) on Wednesday September 27 2017, @12:29PM (#573756)

        What is a reliable trigger for when the delivery will be happening 30 minutes from now?

        GPS location of van, number of drops to go, average time spent at drop by this driver for this area at this time of day (the system knows which packages are likely to fit through letter boxes)... sounds like a pretty modest job for modern machine learning/AI/data analysis... Google Maps does a pretty good job of estimating ETAs. Any improvement on "some time between 7am and 9pm" would be worthwhile.

        Of course, that might mean that some of their big data experts might have to spend some time on improving the customer experience rather than targeting advertising...

  • (Score: 4, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 24 2017, @04:51PM (2 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday September 24 2017, @04:51PM (#572367) Journal

    Woe unto the Walmart employee that enters my home. If they don't step perfectly in the well-worn path they would trigger any number of incipient avalanches carefully prepared by my darling children and wife. I mean, someone would find them eventually, when stoop sale season comes around again and I haul the crap downstairs to unload on other hapless Brooklynites...

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 2) by Hartree on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:38PM (1 child)

      by Hartree (195) on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:38PM (#572400)

      So...
      How much would you be selling the somewhat desiccated remains of delivery people for, and would there be a ready market in Brooklyn?

      • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:20PM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:20PM (#572408) Journal

        I'm thinking the organ trade would be the most lucrative, but the problem of timely discovery would have to be solved. Nobody wants a desiccated liver.

        Barring that I could take them to Chinatown. There are always buyers there for mystery meat, "tiger bone," etc...

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @05:08PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @05:08PM (#572375)

    They want to deliver your money directly to their bank.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Hartree on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:34PM (5 children)

    by Hartree (195) on Sunday September 24 2017, @06:34PM (#572397)

    Many years back, when refrigerators were literally ice boxes. Ice was delivered to the homes. In Chicago, for example, you can occasionally still find small doors on the outside of old buildings that let the iceman put a block of ice inside. (I'm sure they were in other cities, it's just I've seen them in Chicago.)

    You could do this in a modern setting if this sort of delivery caught on. A small door in the wall of the house/building that would unlock for delivery persons key/code and would open into a compartment in the refrigerator. The home owner moves deliveries into the main part leaving the delivery chamber ready for the next delivery.

    That way, the delivery person never enters the house, has no access to any other food stored in the fridge and doesn't gain useful information if they are also a burglar on the side. Useful info would be things like "web camera in the entry way", or "high dollar value item in the living room on the way to the refrigerator", etc."

    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:24PM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:24PM (#572411) Journal

      They have something in Manhattan called "doormen" (So I hear--I never go there). The "doormen" take delivery of packages for tenants. As long as the perishables are cooled with dry ice it should work. It still doesn't solve the last mile problem of moving it from the lobby to the fridge, but that's what personal assistants are for.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:29PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:29PM (#572415)

      Neighbor's house had a pass-through setup like this for milk delivery -- with a simple latch on the outside and inside doors. After a slender kid shinnied through and robbed the house (exiting by a normal door) they sealed it off... By then home milk deliveries were no longer available anyway.

    • (Score: 2) by crafoo on Sunday September 24 2017, @08:56PM

      by crafoo (6639) on Sunday September 24 2017, @08:56PM (#572448)

      I was going to post pretty much this. New houses will have outside access to the "refrigerator". It will have a locked access door accessible from the outside. Probably electronically locked via an encryption key system that allows revoking individual access keys. This would be an alright idea for package delivery as well.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Sunday September 24 2017, @09:18PM (1 child)

      by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 24 2017, @09:18PM (#572454)

      Milk door. My neighbor's house still has the door. Its big enough for a quart or two of fresh cow juice. Too small for ice. Maybe houses were made with "giant" ice doors. There's also the coal chute, and the heating oil pipe (extra fun if you remove the heating oil tank and the supply company dumps 1000 gallons in your basement like they do every time they're in the neighborhood.

      Another "problem" not yet discussed is the semi-rural garage freezer sometimes full of poached or even legit caught protein. Some idiot will stick your refrigerated liquids in there, blow up when they freeze, screwing up your venison and fish freezer. As a side dish some people also have a workshop in the garage with a fridge sometimes stocked with beer (depending on local neighborhood population of teenage boys, LOL) This is, I suppose, an opportunity in that the concept of "fridge in your garage" might be a good place to put the food anyway. You're gonna end up with people having three fridges in the garage, the venison freezer, the beer fridge (sometimes converted into kegerator), and the delivery fridge.

      One interesting concept is delivery usually isn't free and Walmart is known as the most downscale retailer out there. Its like asking why McDonalds doesn't offer champange with their deliveries...

      • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday September 25 2017, @12:57PM

        by LoRdTAW (3755) on Monday September 25 2017, @12:57PM (#572638) Journal

        extra fun if you remove the heating oil tank and the supply company dumps 1000 gallons in your basement like they do every time they're in the neighborhood.

        That's because the code states that a fill pipe is to be removed or capped with concrete in NYC if the oil tank is removed. I would Imagine other areas have similar codes.

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