A Reddit user has gone viral after he ordered a PlayStation 5 Slim from the quick commerce platform, Blinkit, and received ‘hing goli’ (Asafoetida) as ‘free gift’. The original poster (OP) had ordered the digital edition of PS5 alongside peanut butter when he received the rather quirky gift. “The best part was about buying it from Blinkit along with Peanut butter,” the OP captioned the post on the r/ps5India subreddit while sharing pictures of the PS5 box as well as the invoice where he received the ‘hing goli’.

As the post gained traction, users noticed the odd but amusing gift and reacted humorously to the situation. “Free hing goli is insane bro,” said one user, while another added: “This is the most funniest PS5 buying post on the server.”

Another commented: “This is the guy who orders a PS5 to get free delivery of peanut butter.”

Some users even playfully questioned the OP on how he managed to explain the grocery shopping list to his family. “Tf is this grocery shopping. How did you even explain it to your family?”

Blinkit delivery in 8 minutes

Last month, a UAE resident boasted about receiving his PS5 in only 23 minutes which led to a deluge of Indian users showcasing the sub-10 minute delivery of the gaming device in various cities of the country.

“Who is gonna tell him?” wrote an Indian user, sharing a screenshot of the PS5 being delivered in only eight minutes.

Who is gonna tell him @letsblinkit https://t.co/UtoLNn5dV3 pic.twitter.com/43TihwBCC0

— Irffan (@IrffanAsiff) November 5, 2024

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Sony and Blinkit partner

In April, earlier this year, Sony partnered with the Zomato-owned quick commerce platform to sell PS5 in India. Blinkit’s CEO, Albinder Dhindsa took to social media to announce the move, stating that customers in Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru could get the PS5 Slim editions and the dual sense controller delivered to them in 10 minutes.

The PlayStation 5 Slim is currently priced at Rs 47,490 while the PlayStation 5 Slim Digital Edition costs Rs 37,490. However, gamers in India will have to wait for PS5 Pro owing to a telecom spectrum hurdle in the country. The new iteration of the gaming console supports WiFi 7 that utilises a 6Ghz spectrum band which is yet to be allocated in India.

Social media users have been left shellshocked by a ‘dystopian’ employee “productivity monitoring” AI software that aims to scrutinise every move of the workers whilst suggesting ways they can be replaced by automation. A Reddit user claimed that during a sales pitch for such a tool, they were made aware of the software suite that not only tracks the workers minutely for efficiency on several parameters but also uses AI to create a ‘productivity graph’ that serves ‘red notices’ to employees and eventually suggests employers to fire them.

“Had the pleasure of sitting through a sales pitch for a pretty big “productivity monitoring” software suite this morning,” wrote the OP in the r/sysdmin subreddit whilst also giving a rundown of what the application could do.

“Here’s the expected basics of what this application does: Full keylogging and mouse movement tracking. Takes a screenshot of your desktop every interval. Keeps track of the programs you open and how often, also standard. Creates real-time recordings and heat maps of where you click in any program,” the user added.

Employee monitoring software has gone off the deep end with AI
byu/cawfee insysadmin

However, things got interesting afterwards as the app allows the managers to group an individual into a “work category” along with their coworkers. The AI then creates a “productivity graph” from the “mouse movement data, where you click, how fast you type, how often you use backspace, the sites you visit, the programs you open, how many emails you send and compares all of this to your coworker’s data in the same work category”.

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‘This is awful’

If an employee falls below a certain cutoff percentage, they get a red flag for review that is instantly sent to the manager and others in the chain. The worker is nudged to explain their gap in productivity on a portal.

“It also claims it can use all of this gathered data for “workflow efficiency automation” (e.g. replacing you). The same company that sells this suite conveniently also sells AI automation services,” the OP added.

As the post went viral, thousands of users commented, expressing their displeasure and concern over the implementation of such software.

“Holy sh*t this is awful. GOD FORBID someone takes a minute or two to critically think about a problem without moving their mouse or typing. All this does is encourage gaming the system,” said one user, while another added: “What kind of dystopian employer would use this kind of software? That’s just nightmare fuel for me.”

A third commented: “If this is something your company is seriously considering, find a new job.”

Automation fears have long haunted the future of work and the implementation of such software could accelerate the trend.