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Microsoft Caught Rigging ZD Net Poll
Dj writes "Microsoft have been found to be rigging a ZDNet
poll". Apparently they didn't dig on the idea of .NET losing.
Of course as anyone knows, never trust an online poll because this
sort of stuff is obviosly happening all the time. I just wonder how
many comments posted around the net are posted with the same
goals in mind.
This sounds very typical of M$ to do. They hate the idea of losing any sort of competition. They are cheap fighters and will do ANYTHING to stop themselves from losing.Next thing they will sue Ziff-Davis for mentioning their product, using their software and breathing the same air as them...am I wrong?
"Fight The Power"
This is what their marketing department does all day ...
Figures.
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I see CowboyNeal getting way fewer votes than I think he should in /. polls.
Many addled Microsoft employees mistakenly voted for Pat Buchanan
Wow, M$ must be really hurting for cash! They usually just buy a good rating!
"The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away" -- "Step Right Up", Tom Waits
Acually, ZDnet is sure in .NET won, Florida's votes haven't came it yet......
pronoblem
We'll I guess I can assume that I am the only one that finds this funny... Companies do this stuff ALL the time.. and just because some over vealous programmer or marketing rat thought to send all his buddies over to vote, doesnt mean that this is further evidence of some kinda pro-monopolistic attitude... its just people who like their products... ...not that i dont think they ARE a monopoly (I think that has been effectively proven) but....
The two rules for success are:
1) Never tell them everything you know.
They'll be trolling slashdot and having dead people send letters to their congresscritters.
Best Slashdot Co
Grimlock.
:-)
It worked. I actually hacked into a Microsoft server and set up a script to vote for .Net on zdnet from MS with hopes they would get caught and have an awful story written about them. HAHAHAHAH!!!!!
As show recently on the website www.ZDnet.com online polling is often subject to massive fraud and inapropriate uses. Microsoft has again chosen to lead the way in this expanding market with an extention to the Hailstorm initative called "Zeitgiest".
"Hailstorm.Zeitgeist.net will allow content creators new abilities to track online poll submitions and ensure acurate results", says Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. "With this technology available our marketing departments will finaly be able to track down those whiny little.. Oh, wrong one." *FUMBLE* *FUMBLE* "This technology will will allow webmasters to do neat stuff with authentication", continued Gates.
When asked for his input CEO Steve Balmer added "DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS!"
In possibly related news 1337 script kiddy Dr3am!D3m0n on the IRC channel #hax0r5 commented, "Oh cool. That dwarf thing was funny but I guarantee RMS is gonna be on People's 25 Sexiest Celebrities this year."
I imagine. After all, ZDnet is SUPPOSED to do this kind of thing for them.
Johnny Quest has two Daddies.
When I asked "What do you get if you cross the Cult of $cientology with Steve Ballmer?", I was being rhetorical! I didn't want to find out!
The poll is still available here. It carries no warnings or disclaimers that the poll has been massively rigged by Microsoft
Sounds like it's time to put the Slashdot 31337 h@x0r sk1llz to use and swing the poll back the correct way. I mean, are we really going to let some MS-scripting-language-based ballot stuffer beat out a good ol' PERL ballot stuffer??
I think not. :) Let's get to work.
-jdm
He has to be, he's getting way too many votes
http://www.kubuntu.org/
This only goes to show how amazing a product .NET is! Can't argue with those statistics.
John Q Public
research@microsoft.com
You saw nothing. This thread does not exist. Go back to playing Solitaire. Sincerely, Microsoft Public Relations
I'd say it must not have been a planned move on the part of MS simply because as of when I post this comment, the pro-MS astroturf is not being posted on slashdot. It must just be some random employee stuffing the box. On most MS stories there are plenty posts on MS's side, here there are only pot-shots, a few notes about how bad online polls are and some genuinely concerned opinions.
Bill: Damnit, blocked again.
Steve: Bill, if it didn't work the other 226 times you tried to reclick, what makes you think it will work the 227th?
There is a very high incidence of people attempting to cast multiple votes, even though the poll script blocked out most attempts at multiple voting. The one that wins the prize made 228 attempts to vote. This person was from within the microsoft.com domain.
Clearly they have once again violated the law, and will again be promptly slapped sternly across the knuckles. This time TWICE.
That should teach 'em to fear the law!
-Styopa
There will soon be a poll on the Microsoft web site where 90% will indicate that Microsoft did nothing wrong and the allegation is completely unfounded.
Har! 'Bout time!
I can see the fnords!
But at least they are *incompetent* bastards....
Obviously, but that isn't illegal, that's simply backing your company. What is illegal, however, is when a person votes 228 times for his company. I'm not sure (no one is) if the email from MS to its minions, erm, employees specifically said, "Hey vote 300 times or you're fired." --But you never know, it might have.
...it just might have.
We dance to all the wrong songs.
--Refused.
Your competitors are probably doing the same thing, so don't bother.
I found it highly amusing that yet another Microsoft "feature" recklessly ignoring users' privacy and security has turned around and bit them in the ass.
Damn, I was going to say that. Screw it I will any way.
THAT
I can see it now:
PHB: We have to use Java for our next project.
Dilbert: Why?
PHB: According to this ZDNet poll, 99% of IT Professionals say it's the best choice.
Dilbert: Ummm... 1,234,243,324,234 votes for Java vs. 98,234,242,123 for .Net. Doesn't that tell you something?
PHB: Don't bother me with the technical details, just get to work. We have a client in London with a trillion customers who need it by next Tuesday.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Does this mean I won't be getting the $20 CowboyNeal promised to send to my PayPal account?
"You're never ready, just less unprepared."
Yes - there are just no limits to how far the opensource movement will go to make CowboyNeal win..
...Bernard Shifman to pull this off.
English is not my first language, so cut me some slack -: Om du kan lasa det har sa kan du Svenska
I think that most serious IT managers will listen to the analysts like Gartner, etc.
Who we *know* are 100% honest, trustworthy, and unbiased. Completely uninfluenced by vendor lobbyists or other sources of information.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
So let me get this straight. The people (windows users) who can't stop clicking on attachments that say "this is a virus, don't click" can write perl scripts? Wow.
My other car is first.
>
>I may be right -- maybe some employees read the "PLEASE STOP AND VOTE FOR
But if the original poster was right, for God's sake, show us the video!
This explains the one vote for Whizzo Chocolate Company Spring Surprise.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I don't know, if I had a rather pesky and hard-to-find bug that needed fixing, I might call up the guy that tried 228 times rather than the guy that gave up after 3 or 4.
Mine has 126k+, but we produce bombs and delivery hardware as well as software. Guess that it wouldn't be fair to have all of our employees voting all the time, now would it?
Turn to cnn.com for more info on the use of our products.
Blarf.
...or suffering from severe schizophrenia; and all working on the same project.
I heard a report that microsoft is innocent!
Apparently, the same dead guys that sent the DOJ letters have whipped up some jscript and vbscript to throw off the zdnet poll!
This proves 2 things:
1) Microsoft isn't the devil (or presumably they would be controlling the undead).
2) The undead can't resist a good prank!
And while I agree that the manager who makes the boneheaded decision to use X based on an online poll deserves something nasty
I don't think most people really decide to use X. It's big and slow and it's a bitch to program. OTOH it's what comes with Unix.