Slashdot Mirror
Gator Examined
Ben Perry writes "News.com.com has a story about a Harvard researcher's study on how Gator operates. The report 'provides some data as to how much advertising Gator is showing and to whom it is targeted' and focuses on where Gator replaces a site's ads with Gator's ads. Gator is facing several lawsuits because of this technique."
"Eighty percent of the magic is what he'll never see," Eagle said of Edelman and his findings in a phone interview. "He's only touching a part of the elephant."
Wow. Now that's clear, easily understandable logic. I guess it was just too much to refute the study's claims on actual facts, rather than dredging up tired cliches.
I thought this was going to be some floridian biology course.
"Eighty percent of the magic is what he'll never see," Eagle said of Edelman and his findings in a phone interview. "He's only touching a part of the elephant."
Touching magic elephants?! What do they have in the coffee at Gatpor HQ?
I checked Freshmeat and SourceForge. It seems that the Linux coders are far behind the technology curve. Just another example of the superiority of closed source software.
- - - If the sun is a star, why can't I see it at night?
There are some times when I hate how many programs esp. on the internet wont work with Linux. Then there is Gator.com and everything is put back in to perspective.
It's nice not getting those popups, "Would you like to set your homepage to gator.com"=]
500 dollar reward for tip(s) leading to the arrest of the person(s) who stole my sig.
Gator is crap. Gator is being sued by many people who think the product is crap. Gator has several competitors who are equally as shady and crappy as Gator. Gator spies on you, reports to an unknown authority about your habits and tendencies, and people still use it. These people are not quick to show themselves because they know they are idiots for using this crap. Then the author proceeds to compare this crap with the success of a legitimate company like Google. How is this helpful article? It only states the obvious. Gator and its ilk are crap and now there is a crappy article about it all.
"Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle drugs" - George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)
Gator is everywhere.
It is all around us even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television.
You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes.
It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Companies like this exist for one reason : loopholes. Much like how spam operates. And when it comes down to the legality of it, they claim "you signed up for it!" Right... No, I signed up for the program that came bundled with YOUR spyware. And they say it has easy password forms, etc? What browser does NOT include these features? Password forms? Sounds real secure, let some internet-capable program saving cached passwords to sites you've purchased items on! On windows XP no less! Horray for you, smart end user.
Go punch an internet marketing executive in his face, today. You'll feel better, and I'll mail you a dollar.
Did you have a hard time uninstalling it? :-)
Advertising works exceptionally well on the stupid, uninformed and lazy which is exactly the demographic for Gator's users.
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Your Servant, B. Baggins
I've come up with an innovative alternative to Gator. I just memorize my passwords. Fortunately, companies haven't yet figured out how to advertise on the inside of my eyelids. . .
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
I hate myself for doing it, but I have once in a while clicked on an X10 camera ad.
I was truly amazed at how much quicker the system ran after that was cleaned out.
[*] The application was actually a fairly useful image editing package, which they were using to create fliers and stuff.
Your Servant, B. Baggins
Last Name: Doe Full Name: John Doe Sirname: Sir John of Mimsy-Poppington Bobblewith Doe, Esq. ABC CTA ASAP RSVP, Duke of Earl Works like a charm for me.
Haha, I was thinking the same thing. Its like saying, I love stabbing my face with a fork, it leaves such nice impressions on my face..
"What Truth?"
"There is no Gator."
Damn, if I was going to admit that, i'd at least do it anonymously.
Imagine if Microsoft had a name that suited them as well....
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
There has to be a DMCA violation or a potential lawsuit in there somewhere....
"Your honor, by memorizing his passwords, PhsBlue is depriving us of potential income!"
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
Imagine the horror I faced the other day. As I approached my computer, I saw a co-worker sitting at my desk, his finger on the left-mouse button. Eyeing the screen, I screamed "NOOOOOOOoooooo!" as I ran to take control of the mouse. But it was too late - the button was already pressed down, and he - like a suicide bomber waiting to blow up - had only to release his finger. It was a hopeless situation, and my computer was doomed.
PRESS RELEASE: MICROSOFT INNOVATES IN NEW VERSION OF INTERNET EXPLORER
Store all your passwords, financial data and other personal information on a central server! Never again will you have to remember a password or PIN, since you can conveniently access all your data from a Microsoft server*! Microsoft have made it so easy for you by uploading all your data automatically, no questions asked! In addition, we use our patented Malware(TM) advanced artificial intelligence to analyse your movements online and offer services tailored just for you! To make this as pleasant an experience as possible, we even share your data with third parties so that you are only offered services that suit your interests.
"Microsoft has always strived to deliver the best value for money in the industry," reported Tom Rort of The Gartner Group. "Microsoft products pay off big time for me! I'd give this release a rating of five dollar-signs," said Mary Swindle of The Aberdeen Group.
Once again, Microsoft has shown its commitment to looking out for the best interests of its customers.
* cost of retrieval is $US9.99 per transaction, and since Microsoft already have your financial data, we conveniently deduct the money from your bank account automatically.
OLPC Australia