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MSN Search Blocking Results For XFree86?
Peacefire writes "Thomas Shaddack spotted this on http://www.root.cz/ (in Czech) -- if you go to http://search.msn.com/ and
search for 'XFree86', it tells you that you've 'entered a search term that is likely to return adult content', and directs you to the porn search engine NightSurf.com, which lists a bunch of porn sites that ostensibly match the term 'XFree86'. If you search for 'XFree86' on Google, however, it's clear that the top matching terms returned by a normal search, are XFree86 sites, are not a bunch of porn sites. MSN is apparently blocking the specific term 'XFree86' and not just filtering on something stupid like the 'X' or the 'Free', since you can search for 'XFree85' and 'XFree87' with no problem. And search terms like 'Linux', 'AOL' and 'Macintosh' are allowed, so at least MSN hasn't simply blacklisted all competitors' keywords as 'porn', but why would they be blocking 'XFree86'?"
Since it's about to get Slashdotted, here is the mirror list section from the xfree86.org site:
Web Mirrors
Our web site is very busy and often causes timed out connections. The following sites have been verified as being both accurate and reliable in their mirroring process, and so we recommend these for the best access:
Costa Rica
Copenhagen, Denmark
Paris, France
St. Denis, France
Berlin, Germany
Dortmund, Germany
Athens, Greece
Seoul, Korea
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Bucharest, Romania
London, United Kingdom
Not posting as AC 'cause the troll potential would be too high...
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
6 is a terribly, terribly dirty number...
Something has gotta be wrong with that.
XFree85 seems to work
And so does XFree87
Here's a search for a possible culprit - just x86. Seems fine, although notice how the first 9 results are all AMD, with some impostor Intel claiming #10 spot (and it's not even Intel's site, it's Solaris on Intel document).
But back to searches for XFree86. So it wasn't the X86 part, how about
free86 - oh, look, XFree86.org is listed with Microsoft search engine after all. You just don't search it by name, search it by keyword that's reasonably close.
where is linux on their enemies list? they don't need someone else coming up and stealing more market share.
Perhaps they are blocking it because anything that uses the term "Windows" they consider to be a threat. Just look how "Lindows" Has had to change it's website to l---ws.com in several European countries
Not to beat the dead horse, but how many people using MSN as a search engine would know a thing about XFree86?
new name?
Well, it's decided... I'm sticking with MSN search... pr0n me !!
Maybe they meant to ban XFree69, but just made a typo.
otherwise searchinf for Free86 would have been blocked... right now it returns xfree86.org
1. Linux with Xfree86
2. ???
3. porn
I mean come on, can't you see that?
404
It is there free service ... if you don't like it use somthing else like google or yahoo.
... you keep doing what your doing and they keep doing what there doing.
Let MSN do what they wish
Just my 2 cents
Solosoft.org - Your Online Resource to Nothing
This is a use of market share to gain market share, which could easily be seen as an antitrust violation. The question is, does it count as hindering a consumer's capability to investigate competitors in this unique situation, where users would be attempting to do so via the infrastructure of the original company. Interesting indeed...
Of course the fact that such mistakes can be made, and left undiscovered for so long, speaks against closed blicklists like MSN's.
"The worst tyrannies were the ones where a governance required its own logic on every embedded node." - Vernor Vinge
Maybe they don't like the new license and are blocking it for our own good?
XFree69, XFree85 and XFree87 appear to work though...
goates
You better believe it. Google for something, then use MSN Search. You'll get vastly different results (always poor results on MSN).
Google is the ticket. MSN Search blows.
There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
Has anyone tried variants on "X Box"?
I continued to nightsurf and i found another side of XFree86!
Live Now: Free cams with 'xfree86':(Click to zoom)
Get 'xfree86' at the Websites of the Hottest & Naughtiest Webcam Starlets, Hunks, Couples & Groups in the World. Click any star to visit!
Looking for xfree86? I deliver, and I'm live right now.
It sure it convenient with a graphical user interface but this is TOO MUCH.
Note to self: get smarter troll to guard door.
Odd enough .. search for XFree 86 .. and bingo the first result if XFree86.org
Then why not XFree85 or XFree87?
-buzz
Anyone know who's behind NightSurf.com (other than WebPower, Inc)? I'm not used to this high profile a company not even having an address, etc. I searched "all the usual" places. I'm not sure which state WebPower is incorporated. I guess I could start with Delaware, most sneaky companies use Delaware.
True. If you have reached a level of cluefulness where you need to find information on Xfree86 then you are using Google as well.
MSFT is going to block all websites containing the letter "X", which will be all of their competition.
I.e. Linux, Mac OS X, Unix, hot XXX grits, etc.
That's "Mr. Soulless Automaton" to you, Bub.
XFree works, yet XFree86 does not.
That wouldn't explain why the 85 and 87 variants don't come up the same way.
Don't tell me I'm the only one who asks my wife if she wants to XFree86 tonight?
You know what?
"how many people using MSN as a search engine would know a thing about XFree86?"
Apparently none, given the MSN results.
its weird though, because a search for xfree yields non porn results including xfree86.org
Hotmail blocks my best friend's last name, which is Raper, because it's "offensive"...
MSN returns all sorts of hits, it does not say anything about likely to return adult content.
Regards,
Ryan Pritchard
Fun Extends All Basic Life Expectancies
Perhaps they are doing soundex/metaphone type matching on the words to see if they are sex-related. Perhaps "xfree86" sounds like something you might find on a porn site.
Either than or it's X FREE 86 where 86 is some position that involves finding a woman with two heads.
John.
Chances are you ware lookin for porn, not an open source GUI.
Doesn't seem to work like that.. if search terms Xfree85 and Xfree87 are behaving normally.
- FreeX86
- XFree87
- XFree 86
- X Free 86
As you can see they are clearly only blocking "XFree86", and not other combinations. Not the site itself, which is clearly listed, but searching for XFree86 works.
xfree86-4 also works. This is truly interesting.
If you search for X-Free, it works PERFECTLY.
There is no "blocking", it is just a glitch in their algorithm, obviously.
... to think about it "Microsoft" is quite ambiguous. If XFree86 has some resonace with porn then Microsoft could allude to: moist asians, paedophilic content, unlucky sized guys having the ride of their life... hell, even XP alludes to "spandex", "Windows" to exhibitionists and Windows me so self-sex... har, har!
who wants to be some microsoft cronies set that up so they could do that
If you cannot keep politics out of your moderation remove yourself from the Mod Lottery.. NOW!
No No No... If it is free then it is called art. If you have to pay for it then it is Pr0n.
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
I really just can't get over how obviously shameless Microsoft is in their business practices. This is a blatant and obvious attempt to mislead searchers, and potential users of XFree86, and what _REALLY_ pisses me off, is that stuff like this never seems to make it into the news. Why isn't this stuff taken to the masses via TV / News networks to show the rest of the world (eg: not just /. reader) how completely screwed up the business practices at Microsoft really are?
java guy, tech blog...
Blocking web pages whose titles include a word starting with X would block the Super Bowl, which for the last few decades has used the letter "X" in the name of each event as part of the Roman serial number.
Little kid told me that an "XXX" movie means you have to be thirty years old to get in.
In my (admittedly limited) use of MSN, top non-sponsored results are vaguely comparable to what Google returns.
I bootleg Fizzy Lifting Drinks.
The general populous uses Microsoft products, if those products prohibit you from looking at alternatives...well...that's a big damn problem.
google for 'xfree86', ~2440000 hits
google for 'xfree86 porn' ~12300 hits
google for 'xfree86 sex' ~3900 hits
Clear proof that the XFree86 people need to work on their sex lives. And Microsoft is evil.
Michael
Login Free since Chips-n-Dips
... especially if it sucks.
Guess what a search for XFree87 gives you as its top result? This slashdot article, talking about Xouvert (an XFree Fork)!
Honestly, this seems more like incompetence than censorship.
We all know XFree86 is commonly referred to as just "X". Perhaps MSN's porn filter just stupidly associates that X with XXX.
-Uberhund
None of the links in the story even come close to the xfree site. Worst karma whore ever.
You went searching for XFree86 and got back pr0n. I had a good day too. While you're at it, go to google and search for "miserable failure".
Oh those wacky guys and their search engines.
perhaps a better question to ask is: Who the hell is using search.msn.com instead of google?
From the movie, JFK, spoken by Mr. X:
"Everything's cellurized. No one has said "he must die," there's been no vote, there's nothing on paper, there's no one to blame. It's as old as the Crucifixion: the Mafia firing squad, one blank, no one's guilty because everyone in the Power Structure who knows anything has a plausible deniability. There are no compromising connections except at the most secret point. But what's paramount is that it must succeed. No matter how many die, how much it costs, the perpetrators must be on the winning side and never subject to prosecution for anything by anyone. That is a coup d'etat."
"This isn't a study in computer science, its a study in human behavior"
Not that I believe that Google is really doing their service out of the goodness from their hearts - they're doing it to make money.
But people wonder why I don't want to see a Micorosft Internet Search built into Windows (oh, and made so you can't remove it without damaging the operating system, like you can't remove IE or Media Player or anything else Microsoft decides is essential).
Call me crazy, but MS seems to have this weird habit of shutting down things they don't like. Is this just a stupid mistake? It could be - I mean, block things starting with X to keep kids from porn, right?
Oops - but Xfree85 works, so that can't be it.
MS gives away IE to shut down Netscape. That wasn't the crime that I thought was terrible - it was going to their OEM partners and threatening them with extra high cost of Windows if they put on Netscape.
So if they should take over the search world, can we really trust it to reflect accurately? I'm all for giving something a fair shake, but if before the game really starts they're already blocking alternate product possibilities I think "trust" is something that won't apply to MSN search.
Of course, I could be wrong. Could just be a simple misunderstanding.
Sadly, even if it is, based on their past history, I don't think I could believe that's it.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Finally a viable competitor to Google. I have been looking for XFree86 adult content for quite some time. Google could just never bring up what I needed.
Thanks MSN!
usually 40 feet in length or over with three cabins and two toilets, or heads in nautical terms...
ai, i am talking ships captain!
This space is intentionally staring blankly at you
Darn, I just did a search for slashdot on MSN and it seems MSN wouldnt let me because it was likely to bring up a very violent anti MS website.
MSN lists itself first, and google is fourth - higher in the rankings than it is on google itself.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
My question is why was the author using MSN as a search engine in the first place? Shouldn't any self-respecting geek be using google? ;-)
Are you just _asking_ for trouble?
the search for xfree on msn works and turns up the xfree86 home page as the first entry
Ahem. Well, I challenge you to come up with a better theory then.
it's time to get www.free6.com as first result when searching for microsoft on google!
That's a stupid assumption. Didn't you read the story? XFree85 AND XFree87 work. Your theory is flawed. RTFA.
MSN isn't responding ( maybe it's just me )
Top story on TheRegister tomorrow "MSN goes down amid a torrent of Linux/Firefox HTTP headers, obviously a Linux geek community attack."
Slashdot sucks
Girl1 : Who are you going out with ? ....
Girl2 : Raper
Girl1 : What ?
Girl2 : It's pronounced rAp`er..kinda french
Girl1 : Oh, Cool
# whereis microsoft /sbin /bin /usr/sbin /usr/bin /usr/ccs/bin/ /usr/games /usr/local/sbin /usr/local/bin
microsoft:
# which microsoft
no microsoft in
# uname
SunOS
Ok all joking aside, here is a nice article. Search Engine Watch editor Danny Sullivan's Keynote speech yesterday was entitled "Search Wars."
MoFscker
I bet a bunch of porn sites have xfree86 in their meta information because everyone knows people who want X Windows want porn in 'em.
Just a coincidence, but people born in 1986 will be 18 this year...
This sig is only here so people stop skipping the last lines of my posts.
Notice that a search for "X Free 86" returns xfree.org, the XFree86 website, as its first hit.
If you think about it, it's unlikely their adult filter is catches pornographic searches by the query text alone. I can think of any number of queries which would give porn but which it would be difficult to computationally distinguish from non-pornographic queries.
My guess is that MSN performs the search in any case, probes the first hits in their cache with some porn-detection algorithm, and redirects you if the algorithm thinks it might be porn.
This would suggest that, for whatever reason, the first few hits for XFree86 (as opposed to "X Free 86" or XFree85") pass the porno test.
On the other hand, the notice says "You have entered a search term that is likely to return adult content" which suggests strongly that only the query is being studied. So I don't know.
Anyway, I'd be more inclined to think it's a crappy test than to think they've explicitly coded this as some incredibly obscure means of spiting XFree86.
if you search for X Free 86 (with spaces), it returns almost the same results as a google search for XFree86.
because they can?
I hope I didn't brain my damage.
Seems like the XFree86 project has been getting alot of publicaty because of the licence change, and now this? Whatever...
FuckTheFuckingFuckers.com - Post your th
How the fuck is this interesting? It says right in the post:
"...since you can search for 'XFree85' and 'XFree87' with no problem. "
WTF? And obviously even the mod didn't read the post. Jesus, this adds a whole dimension to RTFA. At least read past the title.....
ymmv
Thats not too surprising. My neighbor is a director in MSN, though on the NBC side so none of the news trickled down to him. Its kind of interesting someone just contacted me about a new position at MS. It is a non-publically advertised position for a LINUX sys. admin for the new hush-hush linux test lab just set up. Apparently there looking for people. The manager of the lab needed linux right away just to be productive , so I was told while he learned MS. I heard they have a lab, but can never find any information on it. From what there looking for, heavy linux knowledge and lots of shell scripting in bash. And from my friends at MSN, Linux is usually not ever mentioned in the worlplace, but is the top thing on everyones minds. I dont know, working as a linux admin for MS? Sac-religeous?
Maybe the servers gouverning the webserch blocking thingie were rooted bij some kid disgrunted with the new licence?
Or Maybe MSFT does not like the new licence because thay will have to add more credits in their docs?
This space is intentionally staring blankly at you
Good thing M$ was unable to purchase Google. The effort to remain free is endless.
-Twitter at work
Friends don't help friends install Microsoft Junk
``You have entered a search term that is likely to return adult content.''
Yes, so what? Just give me the results! I asked for it, now I want to get it!
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
It's funny that "xfree86 + desktop" appears to work fine as well.
If you do a search on msn for "Freebsd" it comes up as a top pick.
Read what it says when you search for SCO.
Let's break it down ... X, as in XXX (porn), free, as in beer, and 86, as in people who have been 86'ed. I certainly wouldn't want my children seeing that :-o
(Score:-1, Wrong)
...Google didn't get sold to Microsoft. That's all I have to say. Yeah, I guess if things got bad enough, people would turn to other search engines, but it would be painful waiting for (1) the general public to get a clue and (2) for other search engines to reach Google's present level of functionality. Thank God.
You may remember from a few months back, Microsoft wanted to buy Google. I think now we can see the dangers of such a company getting hold of the world's #1 search engine. The more conspiracy minded could find the desire to block competitors as the primary reason for Microsoft wanting to buy Google.
Who knows? M$ is so screwed up, it probably has to do with a buffer overrun... These guys are sad. What is even sadder is that they haven't made a good product of their own since Gate's basic interpreter and Flight Simulator. Everything else has been a reverse engineer or an outright purchase... It just goes to show that for the average person, pathetic is good enough providing you get Michael Dell to cram it down their throats.
Searching for "x free 86" works too, and the first link is to xfree.org.
I think we're overthinking this. This could be a subtle way for Microsoft to block information about OSS, but I think it's because their search engine kinda sucks. Isn't it more likely that we're so used to engines like 'google' and 'alltheweb' that we assume that Microsoft must be up to something. Now, I don't believe that this would be beyond their scruples, just that this seems like a screwup. Anyway, how many of us use msn.com anyway? Try hitting 'alt-home' and you'll get my point.
-
Tech News, Reviews and Tutorials
I was going to `submit a site' - www.XFree86.org - as they obviously don't have it when I am confronted with `Please Upgrade Your Browser'
` You are using: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040207 Firefox/0.8'
They tell me what browser I'm using which is all well and good...
`To view this site you must use:
Microsoft(R) Internet Explorer or Netscape(R) Navigator 4.0 or higher'
And have the CHEEK to suggest it's not good enough.
`Click here to find the latest free browser from Microsoft'
They already know I'm running `Linux i686' so are they saying IE 6 works under Wine? Or maybe they have a GNU/Linux version.
Or maybe they're just big monopolistic meanies!
(I had to go and check if Netscape was even available for GNU/Linux and it is. Their website is so wonderful that I had to type `download Netscape' into their search bar to find where to download it.)
Exactly my first thought!. Kinda like AOL keyword c++
"I wasn't using my civil rights anyway...."
Took me less than a minute to do this...
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
The simple, conspiracy-free answer to this riddle is that MSN just has a crappy search engine that DOES return porn sites when you search for XFree86.
I may be blind, but after reading many posts here I think there is just a little too much Microsoft conspiracy paranoia running amok on this site. I would imagine that this is as deliberate as when Microsoft included the swastikas as a character in one of their fonts.
Microsoft must be supporting white supremacists!
A silly statement, but arguably not much more of a logical leap than assuming a plot to derail XFree86.
for purely scientific interests (honest) I went onto the first site recommended by NightSurf for "xfree86" and hit the source code. A quick search revealed that the word xfree86 isn't mentioned ANYWHERE.
I just sent a email to MSN and pointed them to this page, it will be interesting to see if and how they reply.
Well, if we let them continue to provide misleading information, and only the vast majority of Internet users use it, we might end up with a situation where Americans are really bad spellers, who can't tell when they should use (for example;) "their" instead of "there" or "you're" instead of "your."
These tactics by Microsoft to steer people away from it with browser incompatibly and search engine blocks isn't helping them at all. If the person is using MSN or IE already, and suddenly those tools stop providing something the user is already asking for it can only have one result. The user will switch to another tool.
If I know enough to know what Xfree86 is, and want to search for it, and MSN won't provide the info, then I go to google.
If I want to browse a web page, and it renders wrong in IE, then I try Opera or Mozilla.
I honestly doesn't don't understand what they hope to gain from this kind of behavior. All it does is breed bad will against a company is already reviled by a large percentage of it's user base.
And the irony is that their motto is "more useful everyday." I mean, that's obviously true if one day they're as useful as a stab wound in the kidney, and the next day they're as useful as a heat lamp to a burn victim, but wake up here, people. It's all an obvious attempt to associate porn and other "morally wrong" materials with the open source movement.
...Consumer deception....
at a level I believe is illegal...
Odnfoi sks oosdv ocoisnfc ijjsd xsl. Jlkjdfjk si ojdfld djfdl. Bhci sdh hk s sdvdfd hc, hcvkjdf jdsfh xh kjdc qcovhd.
- Hkjdf
*whispers* You searched for XFree89, this topic is about XFree86.
To be honest as far as I know the only difference between the two is XFree3 but then I'm no professional geek.
...that Microsoft's search engine is just crap? I mean, just look at their track record ;-)
Code, Hardware, stuff like that.
I bet it's just a hash collision in their search engine. They're rare, but they happen.
This is Slashdot... does fantasising count? ;p
take for instance the synonym Licentious
Look.. Someone(s) at microsoft looked at common searchwords. Saw XFree86, did not know wat it was and labeld it as porn because he did not, nor did he try to find out, wat it was.
It explains free86, xfree87, xfree89, linux and the rest. He/they knew what that was or the term wassn't a common searchword.
And while XFree86 gets blocked on MSN, let's see how a search for "SCO" fares on the two engines. (Top 11, "Because it's one more, you see".)
Hmmmm. Yep, no surprise there.
MSN Search Results "SCO" (Top 11):
1. SCO www.sco.com
2. California State Controller Kids Site www.kids.sco.ca.gov
3. Newsgroup: biz.sco news:biz.sco
4. Reuters - MyDoom Worm Aimed at SCO Web Site
5. DealTime - Sco Product www.dealtime.com/xGS-sco~NS-5320
6. InfoWorld - SCO: IBM Cannot Enforce GPL
7. Computer Business Consultants, SCO Unix Sales, Service & Support
8. Calibex.com - Simple Tech SCO-QUBE3/256 256MB for Sun
9. Bagpipe Marches & Music of Sco CD - Amazon.com
10. Northern New Jersey Council - Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco www.nobebosco.org
11. Northern New Jersey Council - Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco www.nnjbsa.org/camps/nobebosco
Google Search Results "SCO" (Top 11):
(Note: Includes the Google News "teaser" links just added.)
News:
1. SCO posts $2.3 million loss - InfoWorld - 2 hours ago
2. Perth firm files complaint against SCO - The Age - 9 hours ago
3. User group hits out at SCO - VNUNet - 11 hours ago
4. www.caldera.com
5. SCO | SCOsource www.caldera.com/scosource/
6. OSI Position Paper on the SCO-vs.-IBM Complaint
7. The SCO Group | SCO Grows Your Business sco.com/
8. the SCO v IBM info website
9. Analysis of SCO's Las Vegas Slide Show
10. California State Controller's Office www.sco.ca.gov/
11. GROKLAW www.groklaw.net/
Of course I'd love to hear the conspiracy theories on why MS is banning XFree86, and not any other open source projects.
And they aren't even competition (well, ostensibly they are, but Microsoft's a UNIX licensee - does that mean they got all of these threatening letters, too?).
Either they are blatantly "blocking" some search terms
:)
or this is just clear evidence of a shoddy search
engine.
Perhaps Microsoft is capable of both.
Never assign to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity....
;)
But hey - since when has Microsoft adhered to any standard? Its their search engine, and by golly they'll do whatever they feel is best for them with it.
But that is not what you would search for. XFree86 is the name found in Articles and such. Somebody wouldn't type in XFree89 because there search might misunderstand typing XFree86.
That was the point of the post. It states if you search for 87 or 84 it works. The specific term XFree86 doesn't work.
Scott Carr
If you have reached a level of cluefulness where you need to find information on Xfree86 then you are using Google as well.
Not necessarily.
If you start out as an MS user and hear about this other operating system, what is the first thing you need to do to BECOME clueful? Look it up. Right?
So you look it up, using the tool you know. And the tool refuses, and tells you it's something pornographic.
So you decide somebody's playing a joke on you and forget about it.
And you never DO become cluefull enough to download it and try it out.
And thus you never wean yourself from MSware.
And you keep buying upgrades from MS.
Multiply by millions.
Multiply by hundreds of bucks each.
Sounds like a GREAT marketing ploy.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
It's just like Micro$oft to try to pull something like this. Xfree86 is what really makes Linux a Threat to them, because lets faces folks, most people can't hack the CLI.
"bondage" returns lots of results, mostly porn. I don't see a search engine trying to block "adult content."
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
Browser Lockout
link to MSN 3rd party Browser issue
Disrespecting Privacy
link to Bad MSN Bot
Now building a search engine that removes our ability to choose?
I seem to remember a few years ago jokes about what would happen if M$ provided searches....
I take it you haven't heard of the technique known as the '86'? That's like a 69, but the female partner's overweight.
(As a lady of mature years, these days my husband and I mostly prefer the '96'. Zzzzz...)
It is a woman's prerogative to change other people's minds.
Sudbury General Hospital is in England
btw. your grammar is appalling
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
not to defend msft
Everything MS can do against competitors without getting sued, they will do.
Here is a workaround. Search for the term "XFree86+Unix http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=XFree86%2BUni x&FORM=SMCRT. This will pull up the most relevant sites related to the X Windowing system.
Get your free Dropbox account with 2 GB Free storage!
Like many other slashdotters, you are paranoid and making up bullshit "theories" to explain your suppression by society. Get a psychiatric!
If you start out as an MS user and hear about this other operating system,
Argh! I was THINKING BSD while TYPING about X. Guess I'm not being cluefull today. B-(
But the point is still valid - finding out about a windowing system that's portable across other operating systems could help lead to conversion to the other op systems - and weaning from MSware.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
isnt blocked either. Something odd here. for sure
Umm, I wasn't trolling. I thought the reference to Richard Nixon's enemy's list was funny.
This guy is way out there
1986 being the birthyear of 18 year olds would though. Porn is restricted to 18 years and over, and lots of sites advertise 18 year old women.
duh.
lose != loose
n/a
Funny... xfree86 returns adult content while "xxxfuck69" doesn't.
I remember the very same engine at 8bits, C64 as well as ZX-Spectrum, with the same errors in maps (nav positions) as years later on IBM XT. So they used to buy a fully succesfull product to stamp it with their logo. BTW, the same happened with Dungeon Siege and Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds.
There you are, staring at me again.
MSN is apparently blocking the specific term 'XFree86' and not just filtering on something stupid like the 'X' or the 'Free', since you can search for 'XFree85' and 'XFree87' with no problem.
I don't consider this unusual behavior at all.
If I were creating a high-performance search engine that expected a lot of traffic and still wanted to block results that might be porn, I would want to optimize the matching process. I wouldn't want to consider every search term that raises even the smallest porn flag, that would take a ton of processing power and will block a lot of otherwise non-porn terms.
So, I would want to set up a system where I would only have to match a term against a database of search term porn scores. The actual scoring could be scheduled, and would only take up massive processing time once a week or so. This makes the search processing more efficient because instead of generating a porn score with every term it only has to collect the search for future processing, and retrieve any currently existing score. This also lets me optimize the scoring based on a larger data set.
So what data would I optimize the match with? Search frequency. Porn is without question the most searched for topic on the internet. So the best indication that something is porn is a ton of requests! I would create the porn score from a balance of possible porn triggers (such as 'X' and 'Free') with the frequency of the search term.
So my search engine would probably yield the same results. 'XFree86' has porn triggers -- just like 'XFree85' and 'XFree87'. But what the others don't have is frequency. 'XFree86', by virtue of its own popularity, gets blocked by the system.
Punctanym: alternate spelling of words using punctuation or numerals in place of some or all of its letters; see 'leet'
i guess they are shooting themselves in the foot now
A whole bunch of adult content as results.
(Well, it gives you Xfree86 results, but since Xfree86 has now been declared pornographic..)
Do any of you people think this could be a simple mistake? The possibility of their search engine blocking it due to some data that isn't good spoiling it for the rest. You guy sall talk about open mindness and freedom yet when it comes to your enemies, these values are thrown out of the window. Not everything in this world is the result of a conspiracy bent on destroying your movement.
Never attribute to malice that which can adaquately be explained by stupidity.
Get off my lawn.
None. They don't want to use a windowing environment that requires knowledge of monitor resolutions, vertical and horizontal hz, interlaced or not, number of keys on keyboard, what kind of connector their mouse has, how many colors can their video adapter display, how much RAM their video adapter has, whether your video adapter is accelerated, opengl, glx, whatever, who is the manufacturer and what is the model number, how many buttons are on your human interface device, do you want an emulated third button, how the hell do you change the font in xterm, what window manager to use, how do I get true type fonts, how do I print, how do I do god damn anything with this piece of shit, why does mozilla screw up the font whenever I scroll the screen, why do I have to recompile a kernel to hear sounds, why do all the games look like they were written in 1990, why do I have 50 clocks and card games but no word processor, what the fuck is a netmask, dhcp, why do I have to write a script to dial my fucking modem, etc etc etc.
Yes, I deleted the Linux partition and I've never regretted it!
Holy shit! It works here, too!
If you search for X FREE 86 with spaces you get the correct website on top. Strange?
try to search for "fuck" for example, or such stuff.
it will give you the same output like xfree86
what kinda world is this, where huge companies who have monopolies restrict you from certain parts of this world.
jeezuz, when will they own the search engine market, and then simply block everything else that they want to.
now i call this a really threatening process.
have fun in this damn world.
Paranoids,
Blocking XFree86 is not an indication of concious effort by Microsoft to divert traffic. Perhaps their blocking software has the following algorithm:
For terms that have been searched for more than 10,000 times, block the term if the first letter is X and the second letter is a consonant.
As you can see, this search doesn't consciously target XFree86. And XFree85 and XFree87 probably wouldn't meet the 10,000 criteria.
Wouldn't you think that anyone who knows what XFree86 is would not be detered by MSN anyway?
This is non-news. Hey everybody, the dots on acoustical tile above my cube spell out "Microsoft rules!" oh no!!!
LS
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
Perhaps they are doing soundex/metaphone type matching on the words to see if they are sex-related. Perhaps "xfree86" sounds like something you might find on a porn site.
Maybe it does, but "xfreee86" sounds the same, and returns real search results, and "xfree66" has more "six/sex" sounds in it and returns real search results. They're not filtering by sound.
Paranoia will destroy ya.
Jamey Kirby
So, fellow slashdotters, let's try a msn search for more open source & linux stuff and make some public affairs to the official press out of those silly results!
There you are, staring at me again.
Not to be cruel, but let's face it - it's certainly a last name which, for an otherwise anonymous email user, seems conspicuous even though I realise it's totally legit.
This wasn't just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it. - Dorothy Parker
...to tell the powers that be at MSN that the search is producing 'erroneous results'? It might just be that they're overlooking a problem they don't otherwise know exists.
Of course I haven't done this either... but frankly, I could care less.
Cheers!
...a search for XXXFree86 turns up a result. Better try harder next time, MSN.
Man good thing I got a lot of tinfoil hats around, becuase I'm selling them like hotcakes right now and making a ton of $$ off all the fools.
I'm also stocking up on clingfilm in case Roy Orbison ever starts posting here.
Fell for it. Clicked it. LOL.
Nightsurf.com must be a paying partner with MSN search. I bet they bought the keyword "xfree86" from MSN search, such that any searches on *precisely* that keyword will reroute the user to their search engine.
My theory is backed up by the fact that if you search for "xfree86 xfree86" rather than just "xfree86", you get back the right results.
I bet MSN Search would like to be notified of Nightsurf.com's trickery...
Moderator hint: a comment is neither "Flamebait" nor "Troll" if it is true.
Interestingly XFree*^ (SHIFT+86) returns the correct site listed as number one (xfree.org). Yeah, I did it by accident.
I think I'll stop here.
Microsoft browses slashdot too, you know. So they probably know where the spike in bandwidth is coming from even if they don't have one of those big screens.
Strange that this isn't porn:
bill gates gay porn
xfree86 is blocked, but seXbox, is not. just what is "adult content" to microsoft anyway?
Interestingly, if you search for xfree86 xfree86"you get the xfree86 home page
No sign of porn.
The best part is that searching for xfree86.org works just fine. Evidently the website isn't porn but the product is.
Goto http://search.msn.com select "Advanced Search" put in XFree86 then click on search.
You'll get a page with a box that has "Sponsored Sites" at the top and a link to NightSurf.com
Now click on the link below that box that says "Go Back to MSN Search"
OMG.... it's the results of the search for XFree86.. perhapse their "BETA" search engine is having problems with the basic search and sponsored links code. Overall the original article is BS since they rushed to slam Microsoft and didn't double check everything.
With MSN's censorship, Yahoo's commercialist priorities, and Google's waning dominance, is it time for the open source community to design an open source search engine of their own? A search engine free of commercial goals, a search engine dedicated solely to its own performance? Or is this the goal of Google, but it's just not keeping up with companies' improving their web site's rank by illegitimate means?
Clearly Microsoft objects to XF86's new license as being restrictive to the growth of Free Software worldwide!
Turns up a result, and doesn't trigger the porn filter. Add "babes fuck breast" if you like.
I used these two terms: XFree86 porn
If any search combination containing XFree86 as a term should be blocked for returning too high of a percentage of porn links that would be the one. After all, this search should clearly increase the proportion of porn related sites. However, that search works fine.
I must admit, however, that the search did not return XFree86.org as the first result. Instead, the first result (and the fourth) were both Slashdot, which some people might argue, while not porn, does provide numerous goatse.cx and associated links.
There is nothing morally wrong with pr0n! dagnabbit, papa needs his fix! Better go search for some eXtra FREE 86 year old honeys on msn. They always let ma searches through to the honeyfields!
and the trash carachters (differs according to what kinda language/region/keyboard you have) doesnt get searched or it still give the most hits for xfree
F ORM=SMCRT
in german keyboards it would for example search for
http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=xfree%28%26&
but its the same result as if it would only search for "xfree"
http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=xfree
But the assumption that there is 'evol' going on here seems pretty silly. XFree86 isn't one of the sexier OSS pieces, its important, sure, but its much to deeply nested a component for it to a popular search string for new users. If they blocked/rerouted 'Linux' it would pretty much go without saying that they were being petty, but this certainly looks like a stupid error (or if intentional, a stupid joke).
Quack, quack.
Does that include ActiveX, ASPX, DirectX, or XBox?
Yes the Eye Of Bill is watching. I can sense it's Evil gaze.
We talked about doing the full investigation, and suing, etc. and even called the district attorney since this seemed to be criminal behaviour to us. We decided we were too small and too poor to pursue the matter as a civil case, and I don't know what happened w/ the DA.
I thought it was pretty foul play, it was one of a number of incidents that helped turn me into a bitter Microsoft-hater.
Thank goodness we all watched Austin Powers, or we'd have no idea what they're talking about..
Simple enough, anything to do with Free Microsoft has blocked.
$>man woman
$>Segmentation fault (core dumped)
Try surfing to Free6. I bet most pornsurfing Swedes now about that one. 6 is "sex" in Swedish, thus free6 --> free sex. I guess its use is more widespread now.
Hey, atleast you have another source for porn now... D'oh!
X free 86 seems to work ok, they can't be too cunning.
Well thats funny a search for linux on msn brings up only 414 results, I WONDER why? http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=Linux&FORM=SM CRT
"It's so convenient to have a system where everyone is a criminal" - A. Hitler
Don't be so closed minded. They could easily be both evil and stupid.
Wh47 d1d j00 541, 31337 15n't t3h r0xor5 ne m0r3???
Well... searching for something like
:)
xfree86 a (most pages contain the letter a somewhere
will return valid results. My guess is that this is just some sort of fluke. Microsoft wouldn't do anything to block the pages of their competitors... that's just ASKING for another DOJ lawsuit. They're not iditots, and they're not necessarily evil.
I'd actually expect this to be the other way around ---- Konqueror blocking MS's site, or something. Microsoft's not childish enough to do this...
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
I did a search for "teen shemales fisting watersports anal toys"[msn.com], and got www.xfree86.org as a result...
Catholic Schoolgirls
Hot teen sluts
upskirt shots
pictures of women licking my balls
sexy XFree86 girls
So, even if XFree86 was unintentional, what content do they think they're protecting us from?
"x free 86" returns xfree.org as the first search result. Something funky is going on..
This is probably just the handiwork of some lone engineer at MS who found this amusing. Now he's out of a job. (Ever heard of an easter egg? This is a slightly nastier equivalent.)
I seriously doubt Bill sent around a memo to MSN directing them to block searched for XFree86....
...Windows is becoming more Unix like but just using friendlier terms. I recently discovered in XP that the display manager and audio server in XP appear to operate in a very similar way to Gnome on XFree86 and esound. What led me to this discovery was that I started up a Cisco VPN client session and it hosed some of my network connections to my internal LAN. It also broke sound to where I couldn't listen to any media. When I disconnected from VPN, the sound came back. And if you think about it, the "Fast User Switching" feature in Windows XP is basically a nice GUI interface to switching between multiple display servers. Just like running multiple X servers each on a different virtual console and pressing Alt- to get to each user's desktop. Anyone think some of the improvements in the Windows GUI have anything in common with XFree86?
Un-news
Where would they get that idea?
I'm a fairly competent internet programmer, so here's my analysis: follow the money. First thing to examine is the url that MS presents. I've split it into multiple lines for readability. Notice that it contains two other urls as parameters.
r ch.dll6 R .gif
_ TR.gif
e al code=msn&src=1&key=xfree86
o m
http://search.msn.com/adpassthru.aspx
?ADTARGET=http://ads.msn.com/ads/adredir.asp
%3F&TARGET=http://apps.NightSurf.com/~wsapi/nssea
%3Fdealcode%3Dmsn%26src%3D1%26key%3D&QUERY=xfree8
&IMG=http://ads.msn.com/ads/IMGWB3/004400170001_T
This url takes you back to the msn search site so that it can record your click. The search site responds with a code 302 (Document moved) and redirects you to ads.msn.com. Here is the url for that. Notice the similarity.
http://ads.msn.com/ads/adredir.asp
?url=http%3a%2f%2fapps.NightSurf.com
%2f%7ewsapi%2fnssearch.dll
%3fdealcode%3dmsn%26src%3d1%26key%3dxfree86
&image=http://ads.msn.com/ads/IMGWB3/004400170001
This ad site responds with another redirect that finally takes you to nightsurf. Here is the url for that.
http://apps.NightSurf.com/~wsapi/nssearch.dll?d
Now here's where it really gets interesting. Notice the dealcode and key parameters in particular. They would seem to imply that MSN has some kind of deal with NightSurf.
I have to conclude that NightSurf paid MSN to feature it's ad (that's what it is, not a search result) when users type in 'XFree86'. I had difficulty understanding why a porn search site would want to do something like that, so I started investigating. First stop, betterwhois.com. Here's what they have to say about NightSurf.com.
Registrant:
WebPower Inc.
ATTN: NIGHTSURF.COM
c/o Network Solutions
P.O. Box 447
Herndon, VA. 20172-0447
Domain Name: NIGHTSURF.COM
Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Inc., WP av4xg8hq3ck@networksolutionsprivateregistration.c
ATTN: NIGHTSURF.COM
c/o Network Solutions
P.O. Box 447
Herndon, VA 20172-0447
570-708-8780
It seems that this is a private listing from Network Solutions and any further investigation will have to include sending an email to the listed address.
So the question remains, why is NightSurf.com (A.K.A. Web Power, Inc.) paying Microsoft for the XFree86 keyword? Did Microsoft knowingly accept that or was it more automated? Do I or do I not have a hole in my hat?
No matter how many of my rights are taken away, somehow I still don't feel safe. -Frigid Monkey
So, if they are fixing their position for search engine, I guess we can assume they did the same for operating system, eh :)
Or maybe they're trying to tell us something? ;-)
.02
cLive ;-)
-- Trinity in high heels carrying a whip: The donimatrix - there is no spoonerism
X=universally accepted as a symbol for porn.
Free=free porn! (all porn sites are "free" right?)
69 (mutual buccogenital intercourse) + 17 (17-year-old horny russian teens boobs blowjob sex cum adult hot lesbian)=86
Therefore XFree86=triple combo adult content! w00t! Thank you Microsoft Search!
(Posting drunken. HARAM!)
Hello! I'm a disaster waiting to happen!
They're suggesting something illegal too! IE 6 isn't free. You're only allowed to run it on a legal copy of Windows.
They've portscanned all you porn-downloading turkeys, and noticed that
1) you have XFree86.
2) you only ever use it to look at porn.
And by the way, isn't there a porn-centric linux distribution yet, with tools for downloading huge tracts of porn from usenet etc?
I've never heard of this before...and it doesn't seam improbable!
> Don't tell me I'm the only one who asks my wife if she wants to XFree86 tonight?
Really? I can understand you asking her for X Free 69, but X Free 86 means something quite different. It means:
"To refuse to serve (an unwelcome customer) at a bar or restaurant. To throw away."
(see http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/meanings/128100.html )
If you ask your wife to 86 you, you're definitely too kinky for slashdot.;-)
No. I don't stink AC.
I got the adult content warning and tried:
xfree86 bullshit its adult content...
for a laugh, which for some reason bought back a bucketload of Slashdot stuff (!?). Conspiracy against xfree86? No, it's just a really bad search engine.
of course it's a conspiracy! that's how m$ was built. got clue?
It's odd that XFree86 is apparently a porn term, but the query XFree86 porn works fine...
...Anna.
You're being paranoid.
i search for X11 ... i actually got valid results
You can search for "XFree 86" (note space). Foiled again!
I've got Google defaulted to 100 results per page and there are no porn sites on the first page of results. You sound like a shameless M$oft apologist (or a Republican.)
In the interest of full disclosure however, MOST of my Google searches have porn sites in the results.
According to http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/meanings/128100.html it means:
"To refuse to serve (an unwelcome customer) at a bar or restaurant. To throw away."
So MSN must think that XFree86 is some kind of restaurant fetish. Oh waitress.....
Look, "X" and "Free" together generally have something to do with porn. It's not a great search engine. End of story. This is the most paranoid, totally unfounded, ridiculous, asinine article I've ever read on /. (and let me tell, you, I've read a LOT of them).
> So to me it does not look like "some porn sites plastered
> the term "XFree86" all over themselves", but more like a
> suspiciously blocked search query.
A "friend" (cough) told me that there is a porn site with xfree in it's URL.
BTW, a search for "latex" comes up with Mac TeX second down but with the Windows port MiKTeX nowhere to be seen. I wonder why....
The Machine stops.
You're right!
That means that XFree86 is all fucked up, so of course it's porn!
Recently at a client site I tried to get GNU make, but was informed that the Microsoft proxy server was blocking my access to GNU.org. I doubt it was the client configuration doing it explicitly because I can't think of a single reason for it. How evil is that??? Anyone else had this experience?
Here's what "XFree86" shows for two more search engines. Really is interesting graphical results.
Yahoo vs. Google
XXXFree86 movies!
Do a search for 'Microsoft' on /. and see what happens. The returns are BLATANTLY anti-Microsoft! It must be a conspiracy! Those people at /. are OBVIOUSLY out to get Microsoft! They are evil, and must be STOPPED!
See how silly it sounds when you turn it around? Next story, thanks.
In Soviet Russia, Chuck Norris will still kick your ass.
You search for xfree86 on search.msn.com
A warning page says it is probably adult.
Click on Advanced search at the top of the page
Click on Search to redo your search for xfree86 as an advanced search.
When it gives the warning about adult results,
look below for a link that says "Go back to MSN Search". Click that link.
There are your xfree86 search results with xfree86.org at the top.
This is nitpicking but interestingly if you search for Y Windows Y MSN Gives you this and Google Gives you this. Google finds it without problems.
I've tried a few other terms like Microsoft loses lawsuit and they don't seem to be filtering results. Interestingly searching for Microsoft Warez IS being manipulated pointing to microsoft.com/piracy. Don't blame them. Just interesting to compare the results with other search engines.
While I can possibly see this as some form of censorship, especially when searching for Xfee86, what I'd like to know is what other terms they have manipulated which might be interpreted as a conflict of interest. What would happen if the US government had a Goolge like search engine - what kind of censorship would occur on their site? At what point will NBC (of MSNBC) become involved - if ever - to filter out searches whose results are not in their favor. Does CNN, the BBC the CBC and other media do the same thing on Internet searches on their websites?
Ah. But if you search for XFree86 MS idiots!!! you bypass their pr0n warning and get a slew of links to Slashdot.
How not-so-strange...
It could be argued that the true enemy of MS is a free(license gripes aside) windowing system. Linux CLI is "just another Unix" system without a pretty GUI for mom and pop user.
Q.
PS. Darl McBride - I was kidding about the "just another unix" bit...
Insert Signature Here
I've had a look at the msn search engine, it seems that "xfre86" comes up with the correct results. When you search for xfre86, the xfree86 homepage is the first result.
Microsoft will defeat themselves in the huge Google vs. MS search engine battle of the future. They have already jabbed a fork in their eye, and will not be able to build a reputation for fairness or accuracy with this kind of behavior. People use search engines for legitimate research nowadays, and if MS chooses to shut off itself as a viable source of data, they will suffer for it.
I think that they've not embraced search engines long enough to start extending in this manner. There are too many competitors with better reputations to battle for these tactics to be successful.
To continue with my fork analogy, "Rupert, genital clamp!"
Search for free 9 year old os in Google, you get a result set mostly of links about Mac OS 9. (Not what I wanted, but understandable).
Searched for free 9 year old os on MSN. The first result is a link to search Dictionary.com for "free 9 year-old nude girls". When clicked, Dictionary.com offers a link to search for "free 1 year-old nude girls", which thankfully yeilds nothing.
Although I don't think MS is beneath filtering XFree86 out, I think I know how they'll explain this (if they so bother).
;-)
XFree86 does something that XFree69, XFree87, "X Free 86," etc. do not:
It returns 2 million hits in google.
(I quote figures for google since, obviously, msn's filters prevent us from measuring how many results their engine returns)
I think MS will claim (again, if they decide to respond at all) that their algorithm notices the suspect strings ("X" and "Free") as well as the fact that the number of hits is similar to those for truly naughty searches.
"XFree86" is a single 'token' that raises all three of these hypothetical red flags. If you enter "X Free 86" (including the spaces) into a search engine, the search string decomposes into three tokens that each raise no more than two red flags.
Evidence:
Search_Term, Google_Hits, MSN_Flags_as_porn
XFree86, 2.4 Million, yes
XFree87, 7, no
XFree85, 181, no
XFree69, 0, no
X, 300 Million, no
Free, 600 Million, no
freesex, 2.2 Million, yes
However, I should point out that the number of google results may not be a reasonable indicator of the frequency of occurences within MS's own database. If you search for "86" on both engines, google indicates 44 million hits, while MSN claims to have only 36 (that's thirty-six, not thirty-six million).
(I still think they're doing it on purpose, though
I was a bit skeptical myself, so, in order to prove that they were specifically blocking "XFree86" and categorizing it as being pornographic, I did a few experiments. Here are the results:
86FreeX - passed
FreeX86 - passed
X86Free - passed
XFree96 - passed
XFree69 - passed
Free69X - passed
Based on these tests performed *by hand* and by yours truly, we find that the exact string "XFree86" is being purposefully blocked and categorized as pornographic. The other strings I used passed fine, even the *blatantly* pornographic "Free69X".
It is obvious that the filter in question is not scanning the string for objectionable componants but forming an exact match as a whole.
So much for your defense.
Funny, searching for Xfree85 or 87 brings results. Why just XFree86? Is that a popular porn serving platform? Hmmm...
Out of curiosity I just tried this, searching for xfree86 returns no results and a link to nightwatch. However searching for free sex returns a link to nightwatch, without the "You have entered a search term that is likely to return adult content" wessage plus 19 results including some potentially adult content. I would love to know what they are playing at here!
If "XFree86" is supposed to bring sex results, and "sex" is supposed to bring sex results (yes, it is blacklisted just the same way), shouldn't
"XFree86 sex" bring all the more sex results?
Well, it doesn't. Most of hits are slashdot though.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
X FREE 86 also returns the correct Xfree86 homepage, and XXX free 86 doesn't generate a warning.
Never confuse volume with power.
MSN was launched by Microsoft to be the end-all of ISPs in the genre of CompuServe. This was BEFORE Microsoft acknowledged the Internet boat had sailed without them (see "The Road Ahead", version 1.0).
Anyone that uses MSN should expect massive pro-Microsoft censorship. Why in the hell is anyone surprised? It's run by a CONVICTED MONOPOLIST.
I don't go to AT&T asking about VoIP.
1. search.msn.com
2. www.searchenginewatch.com
3. www.dogpile.com
4. www.google.com
5. www.altavista.com
etc...
If you see something different the Internet is broken, just as I have suspected all along.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
I would never trust search engine that didn't return
google.com as the number one search for google. It would have to be one fcked up algorithm if it didn't
You know what's fun? Search for "GNU" or "GPL" on MSN, and compare that with Google. The GNU website is the first hit on Google, but doesn't even appear on the first page of MSN. The first MSN result is an African safari thing... The first MSN hit for "GPL" is: "InfoWorld - SCO: IBM Cannot Enforce GPL". Insane.
An all-seeing eye, wreathed in flame...
who uses msn search engine, to start with?
Try search for adult. So these are not adult content?
Next week MS will put another easter egg in their search engine to keep Slashdotters busy for hours while MS programmers hammer out Longhorn and Sheephorn and Horned-owl and take over the WORLD!!!
A search for XFree86 Linux returns legit results, with no porn mentioned. And one gets a slightly different list searching for Linux XFree86. Odd.
See my followup to the post after yours to see the top 5 I see.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Has someone tried searching for freshmeat ? Oh, and don't forget to clear your form autocompletion cache to avoid trouble with your girlfriend.
keith packard's x xerver and freedesktop x server seem to work just fine. And that thing is alpha and it doesn't even do accelerated video yet, right? Microsoft has a strange taste in X servers. Apple has slightly more logical taste. =)
That's just life for you. I am always seeing example s like this of "the man" putting down unix and linux users. They know that open-source is the future, but they don't want it to be that way, so they try to keep us doewn like this. If this keeps up, they'll be asking what OS we use when we apply for jobs, and that is not something I want to see.
and yes, they did it on purpose. You have to realize that the paranoia runs deep. It is very much a part of their behavior. They are essentially a reacitve entity.
It is a successful model because it works. Simple minded but true. Have you ever been attacked by a competitor who will take a huge pile of insignificant crap and try to use it to leverage an advantage? It takes lots of your time to explain that the tower of shit is just a tower of shit and not advanced technology to the client.
Meanwhile the compeitior has gotten the client to join an association of like minded people who sit around blowing smoke up one another's anuses. They believe it because they *want* to believe it and it comes with lunch and a 100 dollar bill under the plate once a month. Of course it doesn't make sense. It isn't supposed to.
To summarize, this is just one of the turds in the pile. Small, but they do pile up when you have lots of people piling them. And it probably didn't cost the company anything but a double latte.
Any preoccupation with ideas of what is right or wrong in conduct shows an arrested intellectual development. (Wilde)
> So MSN must think that XFree86 is some kind of restaurant fetish. Oh waitress.....
You've been a *BAD* customer. A really *BAD* customer. You need to be spanked.
I tried to submit similar article on Jan 22 but it was not accepted. Evidently Microsoft responded to the complain and Apache is not blacklisted anymore. Below is my original one month old post. Sorry URL show proper results now and I did not saved the original search results.
A few days ago I noticed that every time I use Internet Explorer (i.e. MSN search) to look for apache related projects I never got a reference to apache.org websites.
Examples: jelly script , maven apache , cocoon framework .
*.apache.org sites never came up. I am not even talking about listing it as "featured web site". It never came up as the link at all!!! The best you would get is a reference to XML.com website discussing the technology but not to technology itself.
Even search for "apache web" got the reference www.apache.com as the featured site instead of www.apache.org Only "apache" got "apache.org" as the featured site at the second place after oil related Apache corporation. Yahoo and Google as you would expect did proper job.
why do all the games look like they were written in 1990
1982 man, 1982.
Linux is not for the average user. Its basically designed for the hobbyist/developer/administrator who need the kind of power to totally customize their environment for specific tasks, work, programs, fun, etc. If you want to use it as a general desktop system with no prior experience you need to reach at least...level 22 geek or enjoy computers enough to want to learn the OS.
Ok nobody can say that the porn site might not have a "the" as a keyword (if it's not omitted automagically) http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=Xfree86+%22th e%22&FORM=SMCRT
XFree69??????
& FORM=MSNH&v=1&q=&q=XFree-86&cp=125 2
hehehehe
On the other hand, if you entered "XFree-86" it will return relevant results.
http://search.msn.com/pass/results.asp?RS=CHECKED
Ain't that interesting?
Try doing a search for "Xfree", it actually pulls up "Xfree68" as the first result!
now thats odd.
....move along....nothing to see here....
My search for "web browswer" comes up with something called "MSN Explorer" in the number one slot on all platforms.
[Just in case you were wondering, I have lots of computers, and they all suck.]
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
So Microsoft has finally openly admitted it supports the porn industry??? That's what I take from this. Anytime you redirect a web surfer's request to a site that you support(in this case porn), well you decide...
Either they're getting kick backs for re-directs or are openly supporting the site. Take your pick.
That 699 number seems familiar. Conspiracies anyone?
By the way, Google produced 3,120 hits on the same string.
If it's not Consolidated Lint, it's just fuzz.
Do you mean this eye? (Dollar Bill Great Seal)
Note that the search term Microsoft Sucks isn't blocked.
this is the new search technology that Bill is going to innovate next.
it is going to the best technology ever and take over the web.
I tried xwindows, which worked, and the 3rd item listed was www.xfree86.org.
Searching for Xfree86 porn works, too! Strangely enough ...
Dlugar
Computer Go: Writing Software to Play the Ancient Game of Go
XFree86 +msn yields something useful
/troll comment:
XFree86 -msn yields the adult content redirect
Xfree86 -"Bill Gates" something useful
XFree86 -hotmail yields the adult content redirect
XFree86 +hotmail yields something useful
XFree86 -mozilla yields the adult content redirect
Xfree86 +mozilla yields the adult content redirect
mozilla +XFree86 yields useful stuff
WTF?
Obligatory
What kind of lame OS is this worthless search engine running on anyway?
Users in the United States don't need no steenkin' "rights under this supplemental EULA" because they have 17 USC 117, which provides a defense against copyright infringement to the owner of a "copy" (a "copy" being a physical medium, such as a hard drive, on which a work is fixed).
Interestingly (or confusingly), searching for 'xfree86' works properly, but double quotes "xfree86" gives the adult content warning.
And the adult filtering is exactly the kind of desultory beauracratic list you would expect, 4305 terms that somone must have pulled from one day of sampling 2 years ago, with a {0,2} wildcard slapped on the ends. One of the terms is 'XXXFREE'.
QED.
That's just fucking retarded. Why would XFree87 work, then? 17 year olds. You are just REALLY reaching...
You follow the link through to "NightSurf.com", the blurb on one of the results contains;
Looking for xfree86? I deliver, and I'm live right now.
Classic.
...on the same site...
Check out this picture.
Irony strikes again...
The real litigious bastards...
are you familiar with the term "stinking, lying, mealy-mouth cunts"?
Sacred cows make the best burgers.
If you search for "XFree86(TM)" or even simply "XFree" you get a long list of relevant sites.
I'm surprised there aren't any post from people who have told your wife as well...
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I know the reason -- it's "serious stuff" and for they have no other section they put it there. Must have been reading too many powerpoint presentations :-))
:-))
Could be "serious stuff" => hardcore => porn as well, but that's third stage between
c
btw: "xfree" works
MSN Search is the worst search engine on the planet; any doofus that uses it gets what they deserve.
I searched nightsurf.com for xfree86, and it just turned up a bunch of porn sites -- clearly vindicating MSNs adult-content warning. It is plain that slashdotters are paranoid when it comes to speculating about Microsoft's motives.
Does anyone know the number to the MSN search engine help desk? I know that Microsoft always only has our best interests at heart (if you don't believe me, just look back on Windows 3.11. Even though you might not have noticed the difference, I know in my heart that the good people of Microsoft wouldn't have released it just to break OS/2 for Windows. They *must* have had a good reason). Anyway, I'm concerned that they're not protecting us adequately. Seems to me that "XBox" is probably a lot more likely to return adult results than "XFree86". I just want to give them a call to make sure they know about this possible breach. I'm sure they'll listen and get right on it, right?
So now that Microsoft should know about this error, when are they going to get around to fixing it? I expect it will take them a long time, if they ever fix it at all, given their track record as an archetypical software company.
If you search for "XFree86 1", it works fine. Seems they're only blocking searches for solely "XFree86"...
XFree and XFree 86 returns the right results !
MSN SRCH for XFree 86
XFree
This might be a wierd bug in their system.
Python script to convert photos into "artsy" portraits: http://p2pbridge.sf.net/pyPortrait/
Does /. have a fucked up perception of the term 'right' or what? How is it any person's right to any specific quality of search results?
"Orthodoxy means not thinking--not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." --Eric Blair
Exactly, and MSFT is gonna keep it that way. Remember, little things matter. Microsoft does little things like block terms in its search engine, secretly back SCO, campaign against free software in Congress, incorporate more and more features into Windows to kill competitors, etc. Look for them (and Hollywood AND Big Business) to lobby congress to require that all computers comply with a Microsoft proprietary standard for "inherently secure computing" that requires DRM for all data and software without a special government licence, that is if they (and Intel) can ever get "Palladium" to work. All these little things add up to maintain and extend Microsoft's absolute monopoly.
NO way.
yes but they dont specify who its "useful" to. Remember you got to think like a lawyer when dealing with them.
30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
Score:5, Troll
.. went something like this:
MSNsearchthingyprogrammer1: "Hey I've invented a totally new function...
MSNsearchthingyprogrammer2:"Yes number one?"
MSNsearchthingyprogrammer1:"Yes and we can make money out of it too!
MSNsearchthingyprogrammer2:"Well that IS good news number 1"
MSNsearchthingyprogrammer1:"Ok here is the idea: We make some kind of pr0nfilter so that some keywords trigger a pr0nsite search site (which we own of course).
MSNsearchthingyprogrammer2:"Sounds good!"
MSNsearchthingyprogrammer1:"Do you want to test it? Then just give me a name to add to the pr0ndb"
MSNsearchthingyprogrammer2, who uses linux at home, is just reading the new licenses to XFree86 4.4:"Uhm, Xfree86?"
MSNsearchthingyprogrammer1:"Clickety click"
MSNsearchthingyprogrammer2:"K3wl it works!!!"
IIRC, MSIE by default does an MSN search for anything that name resolution fails on.
So if people are used to just using the MSIE location bar to locate something, this will prevent them from reaching the xfree86.org site.
May we never see th
x free 86 = 586526
x free86 = 384
xfree 86 = 3496
xfree-86 = 1160
x-free86 = 216
x-free-86 = 33
The results list valid sites that actually have material on the search topic. The huge discrepancy in number of results (some sites appear as results in several searches) is interesting, but I do hesitate to accuse M$ of malicious intent, this time.
By way of comparison, Google also gives varying results: "about 2,320,000" results for xfree86 and "about 4,440,000" results for x free 86. I know which search tool I prefer.
---------------
"If 50 million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." -- Anatole France
They all pointed to an Xfree86 page. Kinda funny how just "XFree86" doesn't work. No wonder they want to own the search engine world. I'm not even anti-M$, but that's crap!
try "xfree86 xfree86"!
He's refering to XFree86 (all one word; no spaces)
Linux: When reboots are for upgrades.
The users of MSN (search engine) are mostly those who have a windows box and dont know about the alternatives (microsoft customers). IE brings up msn as the default home page. These people are usually in the same demographic group as those who install GATOR and HotBar et al.
Usualy such windows software that spies, snoops or hijacks your browsing experience, to be legal, has to have a written disclaimer that you must click through. Gator for example, does warn you (if you read the microscopic print) that it will distort your browsing experience.
I would say that MSN is as much of a browser hijacker as that in terms of manipulating the sites you view, but without the legality of the click through agreement.
MSN's lack of any such statement or click through combined with it's default homepage status has to be ripe for an anti-trust suit I would say. You just can't get more incriminating evidence than this.
while sco {
wget -O
}
No Text.
Show of hands: how many people think this should be pronounced ESS'-COCKS?
I just put a space between the 'Free' and '86', and the first link was Xfree86.org. I'm not a Linux user, but I know about the program and always thought that it used logical english and had a space in the name, wouldn't the general population as well? Or those that just don't care about being exact?
MSN search for "goatse guy", raw results:
TSN Message Board :: View topic - NEWS FLASH: Goatse Guy is no more ...
seinman.uzipp.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=363
Stern but Groovy Master Joined: 25 Apr 2003 Location: Williamsburg, VA Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 7:34 am It's a sad, sad day in Internet history. www.goatse.cx has been shut down by the people who
Goatse
Rarely do I archive shit I find on the internet. However I had heard too many people talk about goatse.cx that have never even seen the full photo gallery of the goatse guy. www.hektik.org/various/goatse
TSN Message Board :: View topic - Which is worse: Goaste guy or Tubgirl? :: Which is worse: Goaste guy or Tubgirl? (Click on View Results for links, if you haven't seen them yet) Who are you kidding? I like them. Stern but Groovy Master Joined: 25 Apr 2003 ... ... I've seen the Goatse guy before, that isn't that bad compared to that fat chick shitting in her face. ...
seinman.uzipp.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=326
Poll
Live Journal Review: The Tao of Goatse
... sure to be trolled, especially on Livejournal, but think of the goatse guy. Was he afraid to post his anus to the ...
www.livejournal.us/archives/000426.php
Gaters.net - Goatse planet ... He ( goatse guy) should be in the guinness book of records! ...
gaters.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3732&highlig ht=goatse
This is a discussion forum powered by vBulletin. To find out about vBulletin, go to http://www.vbulletin.com/ .
after searching for xfree86, and getting the porn warning, instead of goign to night surfe you can click "Go Back to MSN Search" and it will return with a message saying
Sorry, no results were found containing "xfree86"
O_o
1. Microsoft is blocking other operating systems so that windows customers won't know anything else will work on their computers...Since they hate Macs....this is a good place to start.
2. Their programmers are so stupid that this term will always produce a "porn code".
3. Their content labeling algorithms don't work or were badly designed.
4. You deserved this because you used MSN for your search in the first place...Google is king, baby!
It has to be one of those four.....Windows zealots, which one will it be?
....searching for XF86 ( http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=XF86&FORM=SMC RT ) works.
Both "X Free86" and "XFree 86" work. Gotta be deliberate.
it was 9 years ago. What harm could it do now to name the company?
use "Xfree86 Xserver" and it bypasses it.
you nailed it
If that's the case, then who found out that Xfree86 is blocked on MSN, and had the cluefulness to post it on /.? Apparently your argument does not hold water.
Waiting for ad.doubleclick.net...
n/t
If I type the following right now:
find / -name win.ini -print
I get back:
(root) bacchus#
So it seems kinda symmetrical to me.
and note the space between Xfree & 86. This will return xfree86.org link as desired.
Looks more like a (stupid) bug, but then again bugs always cause undesired results.
So you found a buffer overrun that allows unrestricted access to their search engine code....big deal....
Just like the rest of their software......
XFree86 is trademarked. Trademarks are valuable. Having MSN dilute it through saying its porn when in fact it isn't is diluting the trademark. Looks like its time for XFree86 to issue a demand to MSN to stop what they are doing and not redirect people to some porn search engine.
...the first thing you check when somebody comes out with a new word-division algorithm: Do they break therapist correctly?
If they don't, you see if it can automatically overridden. If it can't, you never, ever use that software. The risks of lawsuits are just too monumental.
Eternal vigilance only works if you look in every direction.
One of their employees simply couldn't get Xinerama to work on his (covert) Linux installation. Frustrated, he gives up and with his special skillz he forever BLOCKS ALL access to XFree86 from msn.com. In a flash of brilliance he diverts it to an adult site, but his excuse to his PHB is, Oh, I was just looking at how they implement multimonitors in XFree heh heh
While I hate Microsoft for all the same reasons most of you do, I think in this case there's a non-malicious explanation. That redirection is probably triggered by the following conditions:
(1) The search term contains certain things that tend to find X-rated content. The algorithm might look for dictionary terms and try to form seperate words out of the serch phrase (so if you looked for hothornybabes it would notice that it contains the words "hot" and "horny" and "babes".) So, "Xfree86" probably gets flagged because it's "X" followed by "free" and some irrelevant number. But, wait, you say 'Xfree87" and "Xfree85" don't trigger, so that can't be it, right? Well, it still could be because of the next point:
2) It probably *also* only triggers the redirection if the search result returns a lot of hits.
So 'Xfree86' triggers a lot of hits, and contains red-flagged terms, while 'Xfree87' has the same flagged terms, but triggers few hits, and so isn't assumed to be porn.
Anyway, that's one possible explanation. I'd attribute this to stupidity on the part of the algorithm before attributing it to maliciousness.
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
your wife sells belly-dancing costumes?
You, sir, must be a very happy man.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
Yes, but the question is will XFree69 will return adult content!
"Xfree86 farm sex penis nude xxx hardcore" does not bring up the filter
N$ does the same with IE6 and does not allow one to download any .tar , .gz or gzipped files ...so what next ??
I can search pr0n with any other pr0n word, and search.msn.com will show it's best bet. Even, you can add any word or letter to 'XFree86' (like 'XFree86 linux'), and search.msn will do a correct search (for 'XFree86 linux', first result is Xfree86 website).
They are desesperated, or they are really stupids :-D
drmad
try searching 'the xfree86', you'll quickly see what a bunch of noobs the world is up against!
-- I was raised on the command line, bitch
The MSN search isn't biased against Linux at all!
For proof, just go here and read what it says in the title.
For the lazy: "MSN Seach: linux -- More Useful Everyday"
"This is stupid even for microsoft standards."
Please refrain from excessively pro-Microsoft statements.
XFree86 fuck me up the ass Bill returns a page on pricing for Windows XP
and make it something dirty. Their search engine is so weak. Xfree86 and any other term does not redirect to the porn search engine. Is that what they're going to dominate the web with? No wonder they are trying to buy Google. They don't have anyone capable of writing their own.
For a little recursive humor, trying searching "XFree86 adult" on MSN.
The porn sites are just using well-chosen keywords. They know who (cough-slashdotters-cough) look up porn and are just trying to tempt them even more so.
"Watch me hack X lib while f----g myself with this USB keydrive! OH XFREE86! OH XF86!!!! UGH!!! XLIBS!! XLIBSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I would like to see Bill Gates Dead
Highlight it and click thesaurus, and it spits out something silly... The older version's reply (pre-office2k) was better than Office 2K's, which includes
it's no trouble
I think this whole thing is just an error in their search logic, similar to the way this thesaurus trick works... although it is strange that only xfree86 has issues, and not xfree85 or any other permutation of it.
Tm
Support TBI Research: http://www.raisinhope.org
perhaps because notepad and calc offered no features that made them any sort of threat to businesses who sold real editing and calculation programs? IE and WMP on the other hand, remain fixed towards feature creep and competition.
maybe your examples were just bad, but there's a world of difference between them and their relationship to alternative vendors.
however, i agree with the grandparent post as well. netscape's fate was largely in their own hands and they fumbled. their flagship browser went untouched for years (four?) during a huge techological boom in web rendering methods, for one. for another, they repeatedly tried to take the netscape name and move into areas of content delivery and diluted their own trademark. microsoft positioned their browser as internet explorer while netscape's browser was netscape (regardless of their attempts to dub it 'navigator'). as the netscape name was stretched thin, so was their image and identity.
At the time of this writing, the single search result from clicking on that link is... the parent of that post!
I must say they indexed that page pretty damned quick. I almost wonder if someone at MSN is having fun with this comment page, and thought, "Man, I gotta get that page indexed so we can all have a good laugh."
one hundred twenty
is just enough characters
to write a haiku
I can see this it's much more dificult to veiw porn without a GUI :)
I realize reading one whole paragraph is an awful lot of work, but you might try reading the article sometimes.
It was clearly stated that the search works fine with 85 and 87, generating no error. Or do you have a theory to explain that away too?
All I can guess is that with your head stuck up your ass, the traditional "69" position takes on more of an "86" configration, so for you that seems dirty.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
Did you try searching for XFree69...
I tried teh search on Google, Lycos, AlltheWeb, Yahoo,
They all seemed to be pretty close to me (if not exactly the same). The German site was the only one that was really all that different.
"I was raised by a cup of coffee" -Homsar
XFree finds the XFree86 site as well... I think some porn sites plastered the term "XFree86" all over themselves so a majority of the search results are for porn sites.
I tried the search on Google, Lycos, AlltheWeb, Yahoo, and Altavista. The first 4 give expected links and no warnings. HOWEVER, Altavista gives a big warning:
Clicking "continue" and the same technical links appear. I paged through the first 6 pages and no porn.Linux?
*****
Dear Mary,
I yearn for you tragically,
A.T. Tappman, Chaplain, U.S. Army.
seems like they just found an easy way to get a million users to test their search engine and provide them with search data. brilliant.
No, XFree85 and XFree87 doesn't give you the porn-message.
Martin
All I can guess is that with your head stuck up your ass, the traditional "69" position takes on more of an "86" configration, so for you that seems dirty.
Is there any particular reason you're being so insulting? You come off as a basement-dwelling, anti-social troll.
All it had to take was "The article said other numbers work." Yes, I did read the article. I must have missed that part. Thanks for the info.
I was standing up for the greater honor of Slashdot, about which you were equally insulting.
This is Slashdot. I get it out of my system here so I can be a lovable cheerful teddy bear in real life. For all you know, we work together, so you ought to be thankful. Heck, maybe I'm your mom. Or even you, during those mysterious blackouts.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
Apparantly, a company paid for that right.
6 &F ORM=SMCDA&adv_f=all&adv_sort=&adv_rgn=&adv_depth=& adv_dt=html,pdf,ppt,msword,xl&adv_cf=&ar=1
Going here:
http://search.msn.com/advresults.aspx?&q=xfree8
Works just fine. You just need to click "Go Back to MSN Search" rather than "Click here for search results on 'xfree86' at NightSurf.com" to see them.
Given the quality of spelling on slashdot, are you sure you haven't just mistyped XFree86 as "XXXFree69"? :p
Free as in mason.
As others pointed out, searching for most things on NightSurf engine returns the same set of results. When searching for XFree86, result #3 always is:
3. Free Live Cams Looking for xfree86? I deliver, and I'm live right now
Searching for just about anything else, including "XFree85", #3 result is:
3. Free Live Cams Looking for iFriends? I deliver, and I'm live right now
It replaces X86Free with iFriends? I wonder.. Search msn.com for iFriends, and we get our favorite NightSurf warning!
Searching for iFriends on google returns www.ifriends.com, some sort of web-cam chatroom site, with many adult sponsored links.
The question is, what is the connection between xFree86 and iFriends? Could someone looking for adult web cams want to search for xfree86? I don't know.
Try: "Looking for xfree86? I deliver, and I'm live right now"
This is the text to introduce one of the porn webcams.
But when did xFree86 become a porn term?
The only use of xfree86 as porn is on this microsoft affiliated website.
The Christian Colition/700 Club has a habbit of rewriting english to get what they want.
One populare example is to redefine "Religion" as a synonim for "Christanity" IE "If it's not christianity it's not a religion".
So if xfree86 becomes a sexual refrence there is justification for adult filters to screen it out when kids installing Linux go looking for GUIs.
I don't actually exist.
A search for either of these terms now returns this article as the first result. That's just rich.
XFree86 hashes to the same value as some search term they don't like? Remember, even "XFree86 XFree86" avoids the warning. And terms like "Linux", "AOL" and so forth are fine.
Or maybe the top hit on "XFree86" is a page where someone is really, *really* rude about the new licensing terms.
Xenu loves you!
So... what does the general pornographic license stipulate? You must offer for download the script for the implausible dialogue as a text file and the cheesy background music as an ABC or lilypond source file?
Er.. not that I know anything about porn.
-- What do you need?
-- Gnus. Lots of Gnus.
It is more likely that NightSurf.com added the term xfree86 to their database and that msn simply uses this database as a service. So it is NightSurf.com "fault".
My guess is that since 'X/Freee/86' is a plausible keyword combo for a porn site, *and* a popular search term for that other reason, those running porn sites would be tempted to submit a lot of sites optimized for that keyword. If the web crawlers that feed MSN's index pick up a lot more porn sites for "xfree86" because the keyword is being targeted more by porn sites, then it shouldn't be surprising that searches for xfree85 or xfree87 don't set off the message.
Then again, I typed "xfree85" into nightsurf.com, and got the EXACT SAME 162 RESULTS, in the same order, with only the keyword changed...
well.....I was doing a little microsoft bashing myself.... but just check this if you search for free and 86 as separate words....it's the first one that comes up....shady yes....worth anything..... nope
haha ... I know ... and also no it's in Ontario Canada ... prolly now known as "St.Josephs" or somthing ... also I spent 5 minutes on that site ... atleast it works and better then some apache page
Solosoft.org - Your Online Resource to Nothing
When searching for it on msn.be, it returns the correct results (with xfree86.org being the first of them). So the chances that it is human "error" are rather large.
Anywayz, it's stupid
At least not on the first 2 or 3 hundred results.
Okay, kicking a truly lousy search engine is a lot of fun, but... come on, exactly why would they block 'XFree86'?
People who already know Linux would not only NOT use the MSN search engine, but they'd be directly linked to XFree86 info from their Linux distro sites.
Poor SOBs who recently decided to dare to look over the Winows horizon will search for 'Linux', not 'XFree86'.
Free PC version of ChipWits at http://www.breueronline.de/klaus/chipwits/
Windows XP?
Is this not simply because MSN search system is worse than google's and that porn sites littering themselves with keywords trick MSN but not google? It's a pretty old trick to put popular but spurious words on your page. Or am I missing something?
Posters recognized by their sig,
FREE: Get 'xfree86' at the Websites of the Hottest & Naughtiest Webcam Starlets, Hunks, Couples & Groups in the World. Click any star to visit!
searching for XWindow will find a link to the XFree86.org site: http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=XWindow&FORM= SMCRT
Keith
that's it.
hosts: ... ...
127.0.0.1 www.msn.com
127.0.0.1 search.msn.com
127.0.0.1 www.msn.co.uk
x/p
presumably that's why they have this ridiculous porn warning system.
but the stupidest thing about this is that it gives you no choice of results *other* than porn - it redirects you to a whole other, porn specific search engine for fuck's sake!
at least if you had the choice, you mite actually find what you are looking for (xfree86) or, if you are a little kid, you may at least have other urls to choose from *besides* porn.
Why would anyone be using msn search? Are you glutons for punishment?
this is my sig, there are many like it, but this one is mine.
Could it be possibly because of fear?
You know XFree86 4.4 has a different licence which creates additional obligations for those who use it... could possibly M$ be afraid?
(M$ was on purpose, idiot, f* off)
They load your search query into the results in MULTIPLE PLACES! I did a search for 'satellite pictures of osama bin laden', and guess what?!? Nightsurf managed to find two results in the top 10, which both claimed to have exactly what I typed in. And ... both were from the same porno-webcam site. Great.
...
How much did NightSurf pay M$ to get all that adult traffic? Any adult webmaster would KILL for a chance at that
...what can be adequately explained by Microsoft's search engine being shit.
It also doesn't complain if you put Xfree by itself either.
MSN Search sucks!
move along now...
If you search for XFree86 it does take you to porn. I have seen that it is SPECIFIC to XFree86 as if you search for "XFree 86" (with the space) the FIRST item is a link to Xfree86.org!
I posted to slashdot well over a year ago regarding a simple linux search at cnn.com and msnbc.com. Well I just repeated that search. Cnn found 791 items with linux...and they were mostly linux stories. Msnbc found 174...(last time I did this over a year ago I found less and almost none were really about linux)...and the top stories are about SCO. Repeat search of linux at msn and you get a WHOPPING 418 hits. The same search at google, 92,800,000 hits. Hearing that they block terms like xfree86 from their searches is no suprise. Hopefully you figured out a long time ago that you have better options than msnbc, msn and the folks at microsoft.
p.s. I first tried to hit the msnbc page with mozilla. It didn't work. So warning! YOU MAY HAVE TO USE IE TO REPEAT THIS TEST! =P
It doesn't always return that it's adult content. I searched for "XFree86 is not adult content you fucking monopolistic tards!" and I got 0 results instead.
We all know that even Google eliminates common words from its searches, things like "the", "how", etc. So removing useless words from the search has precedent. It's more efficient.
Likewise, "free" gets mapped to NULL on MSN's search engine. You can see their reasoning behind this:
"After all, software certainly isn't free, is it? No reason to help people find warez sites or useless "free" vi4gra."
"Provided by the management for your protection."
XFree86(TM) works ya bunch of dorks!
When was the last time you saw pr0n at the command line?
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
I think this is because google filters on relevance of the site.. I mean .. the first 1000 searches on google on xfree86 'ever' maybe also showed the porn search engine, but then users just scrolled past them and clicked the xfree86 links they needed. Google is 'smart' enough to know that those are the links it should put first, because it has most searched-for/link-clicked ratio.
MSN probably doesn't have such a function (they didn't buy it from google yet), or maybe too few searches are done on xfree86 for the relevance to kick in ..
or maybe u r just right ;)
Some two years ago when MSN delivered wrong code to Opera Browser. Considering the amount of manipulation, how much can you "trust" in their news?
And they return a URL that MSN MAKES MONEY OFF OF when they effectively force an otherwise innocuous search to return pure porn when searching for something innocuous like Xfree86.
. If there was ever a reason to tell people to not use MSN search, I'd say that this is a good one.
What other innocuous terms are going to find our kids facing down a porn search engine? What happens if they decide that Mr. Rogers is competition?
Sorry -- If I want porn at least I'll go to someplace honest about it like autopr0n.com.
On the other hand, if you ever wanted a good excuse to look for porn....
guh!Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
I'll vote for Bush becuase I'm prolife even though I'm prolinux.
I suspect MS thinks XFree86 is the biggest threat to their flagship product, Windoze.
Republicans for Linux! Hurrah!
Or, you're just patently insane and have probably never touched a female in your life. It's okay. "Get it out here" on Slashdot.
A search on MSN Search for "Microsoft CRAP" returns Microsoft's own Palladium project in second position. Heh.
"Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect" -- Linus Torval
A relatively complete list of terms that bring up that idiodic site: nightsurf.com
xfree86
porn
porno
pornography
fuck
fuckin
fucking
sex
cum
cumming
cum shot
double penetration
bdsm
anal
analingus
rim job
rimming
orgasm
fellatio
blow job
cunnilingus
the following is interesting since it gives a link to nighshift but also gives other links the above terms do not:
pussy
Hope this helps show which words msn is re-directing to this idiotic site...
Spatch
Every rule has an exception, and this is the only rule with no exceptions! Huh? -- Spatch
d =507961>Original comment</a>
With msn of each country It investigated.
The site guided is Japan. U.S. (English/Spanish) Canada (English) Britain Australia France Italy Spain Countries in Latin America Mexico Belgium (French) Czechoslovakia Arabia.
Israel cannot be searched although not guided.
Notes are displayed although Germany can search.
In Canada (French), although it can search, advertisement of MSN8 is displayed.
Although Belgium could not be searched with French, it has been searched with German.
It can search in other countries, such as the Asian blocs, such as South Korea, and Scandinavian countries.
Ill Drink to that
Tm
Support TBI Research: http://www.raisinhope.org
> mod parent up!
Mod parent down, since grandparent is horribly, horribly redundant.
Could have something to do with the year? 2004-1986 = 18 years old. Sounds right to me for porn..
Mod +5 Drunk
"X", "free"... both dodgy on the keywords, but if you go to the BBC website, under the health, sex, oral... category, you will find 68 under you do me and I'll owe you one... maybe change that round.... not getting a little bit tenuous at this stage is it?
The Ministery of Trust Search Engine is better in one thing than Google. It's the crowling and indexing speed.
Right now (23:44 GMT+01), about 23 hours after the parent posting (00:22 GMT+01) MSN returned exactly one search result for "Xfree69": this one and Google still says: "Your search - Xfree69 - did not match any documents."
Sure it is, but that's just because the parent of my message missed that whole thing.
Martin
hi.0 6/
/LosManos
I too thought it just was a mistake until I read about an obvious hostile action against Opera.
http://my.opera.com/community/dev/articles/200302
So how was this discovered?
"Spelling was corrected! Do not correct my spelling. Search for "porn porn" Results 1-15 of about 348 containing "pornporn""
The spell checker removed the space and searched for popnporn, not porn porn. Hmm.... You'd think, if M$ had such a commitment to internet purity, that they'd stop the developers from stuffing the spellcheck database with smut...
-nuff said
"Can there be a Klein bottle that is an efficient and effective beer pitcher?"
This is their reply for my complaint about this issue:
Thank you for writing to MSN Search regarding your search for "XFree86".
We are currently investigating your issue and will respond with a resolution or suggestion on how to resolve this matter.
If you have any additional information you can provide to us or if there is anything else we can assist you with, please feel free to write us back.
Sincerely,
Beth
MSN Search Customer Support
Looks suspiciously like an automated reply, the "suggestion on how to resolve" kinda gives it away. I mean, how am I gonna fix it? Hmm, I'd guess I could just use a different search engine (not that I would ever use MSN search anyway, I was just curious, heheh).
I wonder if they'll ever follow on...
This is the email I received from them:
So, whether you like Microsoft or not, or whether their search technology is inferior or not, they did do a good job in correcting the problem.
-Teemu
Blocking and redirection is quite common. I have visited many customers and suppliers and amazingly there are fundamental differences in freedom between different labs. I remember visiting a major x86 silicon vendor which we worked with at the time, 2 years ago. In the lab I saw a lot of pro-Linux stuff like the penguin doll and posters with penguins crushing windows logos etc. However using some spare time between meetings trying to connect to slashdot trough their LAN I was blocked! All other sites tried were no problem. This added to my suspision that their Linux commitment was not 100% solid throughout the organisation. No wonder we have another supplier for the next generation of products!