Revisiting the Infamous Sony BMG Rootkit Scandal 10 Years Later (networkworld.com)

alphadogg writes: Hackers really have had their way with Sony over the past year, taking down its Playstation Network last Christmas Day and creating an international incident by exposing confidential data from Sony Pictures Entertainment in response to The Interview. Some say all this is karmic payback for what's become known as a seminal moment in malware history: Sony BMG sneaking rootkits into music CDs 10 years ago in the name of digital rights management. 'In a sense, it was the first thing Sony did that made hackers love to hate them,' says Bruce Schneier, CTO for Resilient Systems. Sony's scheme was revealed on Halloween of 2005, and was followed by a botched response, issuing and reissuing of rootkit removal tools, and lawsuits. There are object lessons from the incident which are relevant today.

Comments

Rocking With My Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm currently rocking out with my Sony Minidisc Walkman.

Re:Rocking With My Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

After this I never purchased another Sony product ever again. Up until that time I'd bought countless cameras, game consoles, cd players, projection TVs, etc. But now all of that is gone. I purposefully avoid anything remotely associated with them.

Re:Rocking With My Sony

[the biologist]

Likewise. I once had a Sony rep try to get me to buy something at an office store. He couldn't fathom why I would boycott them and I couldn't fathom how to explain why. I think I shrugged and said something about bad behavior by the Sony corporation. He asked if there was anything he could do to make me reconsider. I simply said, "No".

Re: Rocking With My Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, right... Like you made any difference. When you boycott a giant like Sony, you're just one of an incredibly small number who will make no impact whatsoever. You're only harming yourself, really. These days there is nothing in which megacorps like Sony don't have a hand. You probably use their products every day without even being aware of it.

Re:Rocking With My Sony

[donaldm]

Likewise. I once had a Sony rep try to get me to buy something at an office store. He couldn't fathom why I would boycott them and I couldn't fathom how to explain why. I think I shrugged and said something about bad behavior by the Sony corporation. He asked if there was anything he could do to make me reconsider. I simply said, "No".

With that attitude it's would be rather hypocritical to purchase products from any manufacturer. I guess you wont's be purchasing any Microsoft, Nintendo or Volkswagen products any time soon.

Re:Rocking With My Sony

[Opportunist]

Actually, yes, there could have been something (and actually, there still is) that Sony could do to make me a customer again. Their products are not bad from a technical point of view. They last. They are well engineered. They still are most of what made me (and I dare say us) customers two decades ago.

There is a simple thing that would have to change to make me a customer again: Treat me like a customer, not like a credit card. Treat me like a partner, not an enemy. The main problem I have with Sony today is that I feel belittled and ridiculed, if not outright offended, by the way they treat me. With vendor lock-in and the deliberate removal of functionality for no other reason than trying to force me to buy again.

It does not work that way.

There is a very simple way to make me buy something from a brand again: Give me what I want. If I know I get what I want from Sony, you need not force me to buy your stuff next time I am in the market for something you make. I'll gladly and willingly actually seek out this brand that I was satisfied with last time.

Just like it was 2-3 decades ago. People are lazy. They don't shop around if they are happy with what they get from a brand. They don't like to experiment, especially when it comes to things that are a considerable investment. Just look at cars. This only changes after bad experiences.

Re: Rocking With My Sony

[Spamalope]

Yes, right... Like you made any difference. When you boycott a giant like Sony, you're just one of an incredibly small number who will make no impact whatsoever.

Perhaps you've missed Sony's financial situation. Pre-rootkit I had a Sony TV; camcorder; reciever; digital camera; high end artisan monitor (21 inch - used at 2048x1536 when LCDs were 1024x768); SVHS; 100 disc CD changer... I was the decision maker for purchasing computer equipment at work, and had been buying Sony products in the mix. Since that time? My career has taken off allowing for much greater toy spending. $10k+ in photo gear, but no Sony. There are no Sony TV/entertainment products in the new house, another $10k+ loss for Sony; 65 computer systems at work, with no Sony systems or peripherals. I'm asked for recommendations all the time, and never suggest Sony. Sony's rootkit cost them a minimum of $50k in direct sales, plus lost referrals. I had preferentially bought Sony before then.

There are so many folks doing the same that it has added up, and Sony's bottom line has suffered.

Re:Rocking With My Sony

[Stuarticus]

Hypocrite: noun. Someone who stands by their beliefs.

Donald where's your dictionary?

Re:Rocking With My Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

Donald where's your dictionary?

Where's yours? According to Google:

hypocrite: a person who indulges in hypocrisy.
hypocrisy: the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense.

So no, a Hypocrite is completely the opposite to what you claim.

Re: Rocking With My Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

Doesn't matter how mega they are; I just can't feel good about doing business with them. Don't wanna. Not gonna.

Re:Rocking With My Sony

[JazzLad]

Whooosh ;)

Re: Rocking With My Sony

[Gr8Apes]

I'll add to that - I negatively speak about Sony all the time. I merely mention the CD root kit as the start of a long list of bad behavior that caused me to boycott all Sony products. What's funny is that over time, the reaction I get now is "oh yeah, that's right" instead of "wow, you really believe that?".

Sony is a company full of narcissists who thought they were always right and could do no wrong and thought of their customers as chattel. They still are, and now Sony the company is imitating the Titanic. The only question is "will Sony sink?" I can't think of a more deserving major company.

Re:Rocking With My Sony

[Gr8Apes]

While Microsoft is definitely a candidate for anti-customer activities, even they don't come close to Sony (FYI - I also avoid MS products, but more for my sanity than any other reason at this point). I'm familiar with Nintendo, and Volkswagen I'm not convinced yet qualifies in the anti-consumer area. Sure, they gamed the testing, but apparently they're not the only ones.

Re:Rocking With My Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

Where's my thesaurus... Is dictionary another word for trousers?

Re: Rocking With My Sony

[JohnFen]

You're only harming yourself, really.

We live in interesting times indeed when avoiding the products of a company that intentionally and aggressively attacks you is considered "harming yourself".

Re: Rocking With My Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

You're not the only one. I've deliberately avoided anything to do with Sony ever since the incident. TVs, computers, cameras, audio equipment, you name it.

As for the "like you make a difference" comments, who cares? I have no illusions that my business, or lack of it, will make a bit of difference to their bottom line (though I'll admit to some schadenfreude at hearing that their financial results are poor). But by boycotting them I do at least have the satisfaction of not associating with people who so completely lack any sort of moral compass, and I protect myself from their next round of misbehaviour, whatever form that will take. That's worth something to me.

Re: Rocking With My Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

Same as above except since I had Minolta lenses and film cameras, I invested further into the Sony alpha line... which I completely regret.

Me too!

[fizzer06]

made hackers love to hate them

I'm not a hacker, but I hate Sony too.

Re:Me too!

[bobbied]

made hackers love to hate them

I'm not a hacker, but I hate Sony too.

But do you LOVE the fact that you hate them? See? Bad people love to hate...

Re:Me too!

[pr0t0]

I just posted this the other day, but is relevant and bears repeating:

More than a few years ago, Sony put rootkits on some of their music CD's. It was abhorrently wrong, they knew it, they did it anyway. That was the last straw for me. It came after SOE released Everquest II incomplete and broken. It came after proprietary audio formats (strong push against MP3) and proprietary media. It was during a time of suing grandmothers for music downloading. It was during a time of Sony's clear (ongoing?) campaign against its customers and fans.

Since that time, I have not purchased Sony music, will not buy Sony consumer electronics, and won't even see a Sony pictures movie. I boycott ALL Sony related products and services, and have for the last ten years. People need to wake up and exercise the only power they have by voting with their wallets. We have to keep these companies terrified that such missteps will lead to their ruin, or else sleep in the bed we made without complaint.

FYI - Here's a pretty comprehensive list of Sony's subsidiaries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re:Me too!

[sconeu]

Sony put rootkits on some of their music CD's

No, they were not CDs. They didn't not meet Red Book standards, and hence were not CDs. IIRC, Phillips made them stop using the CDDA logo.

What happened was that Sony put rootkits on silver disks with music on them.

Re:Me too!

[bigfinger76]

It's irrelevant to the discussion, however.

Re:Me too!

[Anonymous Coward]

Since that time, I have not purchased Sony music, will not buy Sony consumer electronics, and won't even see a Sony pictures movie. I boycott ALL Sony related products and services, and have for the last ten years. People need to wake up and exercise the only power they have by voting with their wallets.

I guess the only gaming consoles you have in your house (if any) are Microsoft branded then?

Re:Me too!

[silentcoder]

Well he could be holding out for a steambox next month ?

Or maybe he still plays on a WII ?

Re:Me too!

[Stuarticus]

Technically the disc is a compact disc, they don't meet the standard of an audio CD-DA which the red book defines.

Re: Me too!

[Anonymous Coward]

I like my Nintendo system...

Re:Me too!

[elvesrus]

Only up to the 360. The Xbone has blu ray.

Re:Me too!

[Anonymous Coward]

I have pretty much boycotted them as well.

Prior to that I had spent 1000s on their products (the F717 camera was good for its time).

They haven't gotten a single cent from me, as far as I know, since the rootkit fiasco.

Not the first thing

[Anonymous Coward]

Pushing Memory Stick when we already had SD Card which had the same form factor was the first thing.

Or was it mini-disc?

Pushing their proprietary formats, was the first thing.

Re:Not the first thing

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, to be fair, they've had some major success, too. 3.5" floppy disc, Walkman, Blu-ray, etc. I'd wager if you throw enough darts at the wall, eventually some will stick.

Re:Not the first thing

[plover]

Amen. Sony has been evil since they introduced DRM at the commercial level. "Copy bits" on DAT, on Minidiscs, CSS, HDCP, the list of shit Sony has secretly shoveled on the public is why I don't buy Sony, and why I recommend friends and family choose anything else.

Re:Not the first thing

[Dusthead Jr.]

ÂPushing Memory Stick when we already had SD Card which had the same form factor was the first thing.Or was it mini-disc? Pushing their proprietary formats, was the first thing.

 To be fair MemorySticks and MiniDiscs wern't the worst ar far as proprietary formats go. Talk about XD cards and Digital Compact Cassettes.

Re:Not the first thing

[Razed By TV]

Mini-discs were pretty popular for recording concerts at one point.

Re:Not the first thing

[bobbied]

Pushing their proprietary formats, was the first thing.

So wouldn't that be BetaMax if it's the first proprietary format they pushed? The lost that one too... Sony = slow learners.

Was there anything before BetaMax with Sony's fingerprints on it?

Re:Not the first thing

[houstonbofh]

And don't forget their special USB drives. http://techreport.com/news/130...

Re:Not the first thing

[Tapewolf]

Was there anything before BetaMax with Sony's fingerprints on it?

Umatic. That did pretty well - there's probably even people still using it. Betacam also. It's easy to forget now that up until about the mid 1990s, Sony was the shit - their equipment was in practically every TV studio or production house because it was top-notch. It's been said that merging with big content companies was really when things started to go downhill and the rot set in.

If I remember right, DAT didn't originally have the copy bits either. It was added because the studios pitched a fit over the idea of people being able to make a lossless CD-quality copy and did their level best to kill the format dead. Remember when the film industry sued over the fact that a Betamax machine could record their films, and tried to kill off the industry? They were going to do the same again, and it was part of the settlement over that which gave DAT and MD their copy protection garbage.

Ironically DAT was mostly used by recording studios to replace 1/4" mastering machines. Which seemed like a good idea at the time, even thought it wasn't - e.g. if you want a 24/96 master or 24/192 you'd have to go back to the 1/4" tape anyway because DAT topped out at 16/48, and that you're more likely be able to keep a 1/4" machine in working order than a DAT unit.

Oh, Sony also came up with DSD as an alternate way of archiving master tapes. As SACD that kind of flopped, but you can still get DSD mastering machines, e.g. from TASCAM.

Re:Not the first thing

[Anonymous Coward]

I remember ATRAC3 was encumbered with the silliest restrictions. Didn't help that all the MiniDisc players at the time had a serial interface and filling a Minidisc took all of a night and part of a day.

But the payback for the rootkit was truly sweet, especially considering Sony violated copyright when the ripped it off of the original authors.

Re:Not the first thing

[Bing Tsher E]

A lot of people forget the lack of openness in early digital media. In the 90's if you wanted to rip CD audio, you had to have one of the minority of CD-ROM drives that would rip Redbook content. There were websites with lists of the CD-ROM drives that allowed this. Most drives blocked ripping Redbook content in the drive's firmware.

Re:Not the first thing

[Anonymous Coward]

There are different ATRAC3 methods. I remember Sony's early MP3 players (NW-MS7), which either would transcode imported MP3 files into the native format, or put an encryption wrapper around MP3.

The software, OpenMG, would allow three check-outs. Not copies... check-outs. If you erased a device before checking in your tracks, you lost one of the check-outs. Lose all three, and you were locked out of your tracks.

Backups? V1.0 didn't allow them. V1.1 allowed backups... but you had to call Sony to get an authorization code.

Oh, and having to use Windows 98 or ME wasn't a help either. SonicStage was a bit bitter, but it didn't support some older players.

Re: Not the first thing

[Anonymous Coward]

Notice that Sony DAT was 48kbps and CD (also Sony!) is 44.1kbps. Yeah, that's intentional. No way to make a bit copy, gotta go thru analog.

FU Sony

Re:Not the first thing

[Sir Holo]

Yep. Sony used to make some really great consumer electronics in the 1980's –like my Walk-Man that was the size of a cassette tape box.

That suddenly stopped in the mid 1990's. All consumer products nose-dived in usability, durability, customer service. . . I quit buying anything SONY in the mid-1990's, for these reasons alone.

And I'm glad I did. In the following decades, Sony's love of DRM killed what could have been great platforms (e.g. mini-disc), and then later puled the rootkit stunt with music CDs around 2005.

This just solidifies my choice to avoid anything SONY. This includes custom installs for large-budget specific-need customers. Any subcontracting bid with the word "SONY" in it — I dump it in the trash without reading any specs within the bid. Any bidder thinking that a SONY product is appropriate is too stupid to have their bid carefully reviewed. I'd use a SANY or COBY product before ever patronizing SONY. Let them die.

Re:Not the first thing

[Opportunist]

You will notice that their successes had a lot to do with them not trying to create a vendor lock-in situation where you may only buy from them and nobody else.

Wonder if Sony got the hint...

Yup paving the way

[silas_moeckel]

To show that the government is unwilling to play fairly. The Rootkit should have gotten executives jailed and massive fines. Instead it was a fairly minor lawsuit and move on with business.

Re:Yup paving the way

[khasim]

Don't forget all the "anti-virus" companies whose products would not detect the rootkit.

You would think that those companies would be issuing updates to identify and remove the rootkit a day or two after it was discovered.

You would be wrong.

Re: Yup paving the way

[Anonymous Coward]

Why should they have done it? If you're a smart businessman, you don't antagonize a juggernaut like Sony.

Re: Yup paving the way

[mlw4428]

Because if your company's purpose is to provide security for your customers then your integrity means more to your customers than your business relationships. Unfortunately in today's MBA driven business culture companies are too focused on the bottom line and not focused enough on good corporate citizenship.

Schneier is not just a blog!

[Anonymous Coward]

It contains priceless discussions, too! Often more technical and polite than most forums..

In case you missed them, here is some coverage of the Sony BMG Rootkit and a few later articles which reference it:

https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/essay...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/essay...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/...

Re:We can all give thanks to... apk

[amicusNYCL]

Did you just name-drop Mark Russinovich as a "co-worker" based on the two of you having once used the same reseller?

I need to go tell my esteemed colleague Elon Musk about this, he'll really get a kick out of it.

Re:We can all give thanks to... apk

[Noah Haders]

would HOSTS have protected against the rootkit????

how to connect cause and effect?

[Noah Haders]

I wish it could be made clearer that a lot of the hacking was motivated by rage over the rootkit and the PS3 linux block. If it were more clear, companies may think twice about giving their customers the shaft.

Re:how to connect cause and effect?

[houstonbofh]

You missed the USB drive in the middle... 3 strikes... http://techreport.com/news/130...

The Object lessons

[MrKaos]

For Sony there is little doubt the object lessons were "Now how do we do this and not get caught?"

Re:The Object lessons

[whoever57]

For Sony there is little doubt the object lessons were "Now how do we do this? "

FTFY

Given the tiny fine that Sony was required to pay for the rootkit fiasco, I doubt that they really care about getting caught.

Re:The Object lessons

[Opportunist]

Why bother with not getting caught? If the Rootkit verdict tells you anything, it's that getting caught does not matter.

Whether a law is broken, especially at a corporate level, depends only on the proportion of

benefit vs. fine * chance of being caught.

If either fine or chance of being caught is negligible, a law may as well not exist. The same is true if the fine is equal or lower than the benefit, because even if the chance of being caught is 1, you still come out ahead. If the fine for accepting bribes is lower than the bribes, the fine becomes a cost to operate rather than a determent. Likewise, with laughable punishments like "oh you have to give the people you caused grief and damage a few trinkets that cost you nothing", you generally don't deter. You encourage.

Revisit the Sony Rootkit?

[Dutch Gun]

Bleh. Wasn't the first time enough?

Re:Revisit the Sony Rootkit?

[houstonbofh]

Bleh. Wasn't the first time enough?

Not for them. They did it again in a USB drive. http://techreport.com/news/130...

Re:Revisit the Sony Rootkit?

[rtb61]

No matter what Sony did it is still not as bad as default windows 10, by far a bigger rooting of your privacy than anything Sony did, the most extreme on record.

Re:Revisit the Sony Rootkit?

[aaaaaaargh!]

Yes, but Windows 10 is harder to avoid. Unfortunately.

Re:Revisit the Sony Rootkit?

[houstonbofh]

Really? Ubuntu has been called a lot of things, but "hard" is not one of them.

Re:Revisit the Sony Rootkit?

[JohnFen]

Windows 10 is incredibly easy to avoid. I'm doing it right now.

Re:Revisit the Sony Rootkit?

[rtb61]

Sorry but windows 10 will be impossible to avoid. Next time you walk in a business and they punch in your details on a windows 10 machine, you will have just been probed like it or not and if you do not like it, do something about it (keep in mind whether or not you even use a computer you will be probed and tracked every time you information runs through the windows 10 bot net, absolutely no avoiding unless you become politically active and demand a secure version).

Re:Revisit the Sony Rootkit?

[houstonbofh]

The only information most places will have on me is Andrew Jackson. Occasionally Benjamin Franklin to... The can not share data you do not give them.

Re:Revisit the Sony Rootkit?

[JohnFen]

This happens no matter how secure Windows 10 is. If you're giving information to any business whatsoever, it is almost guaranteed that information is being shared or sold to others. That's been the case for many years now.

Re:We can all give thanks to... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

You would have sucked the rootkit into the black nullhole and deposited it within a unknown region of memory.

and this is why you don't see the CDDA logo on cds

[laurencetux]

when the folks that created the standard caught on they SUED because those media discs are NOT CDDA (aka red book)

Too easy to exploit

[Xian97]

Any file that started with $sys$ was hidden from the OS, so it didn't take long for people to start hiding malicious files if you had the rootkit on your system.

Old Slashdot stories on the topic:

[Anonymous Coward]

http://it.slashdot.org/story/0...
http://games.slashdot.org/stor...
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...
http://it.slashdot.org/story/0...
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...
http://it.slashdot.org/story/0...
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...
http://news.slashdot.org/story...
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...
http://apple.slashdot.org/stor...

Re:It's why I used quotes & I floored him befo

[Anonymous Coward]

you WISH you were me, fool... apk

Honestly, I've never wished to be you.

...not apk

Autorefresh rootkit

[Anonymous Coward]

off topic, but does somebody know how to stop the damn Slashdot autorefresh? I had an adblock filter and some other trick, but they arent working anymore for some reason.

Re:Autorefresh rootkit

[Anonymous Coward]

The new rulers of /. are obviously CONservatives because they attacked you and buried your post as a troll for complaining. Their kind doesn't discuss. They just hate and attack.

Re:Autorefresh rootkit

[Anonymous Coward]

Drives me crazy when I am reading and it disappears to auto-refresh.
Net is flaky here too, so sometimes when it disappears to auto-refresh, it doesn't come back.

Re:Autorefresh rootkit

[Anonymous Coward]

We know it's you, APK.

Re: Autorefresh rootkit

[Anonymous Coward]

I've enjoyed auto refresh for a long time, but it's always annoying when a new story shifts down the page while you are reading.

I'm not sure how, but it seems possible to add content but not shift the page if the reader has scrolled down - probably requires javascript.

Re:It's why I used quotes & I floored him befo

[amicusNYCL]

He's not my "god", and neither are you, little man.

I just wanted to clarify that you two were not, in fact, co-workers. But I like how your first post seems very complimentary of him, when he was your "co-worker", and then you turn around and try and tear him down after you "floor" and "shame" him. Have some self-confidence, I'm not trying to attack you any more than I'm trying to elevate Russinovich. I do respect his work though, and I have a hard time respecting what you do based solely on your constant trollish flaming and bizarre behavior on this site.

Re:Please: You WISH you were me... apk

[bigfinger76]

No one gives a shit, APK. Not one person here gives a shit about anything you have to "say".

I used to work for SONY,,

[Anonymous Coward]

Sony, Has a bunch of briliant people working away in the engineering sections of the company,,
but once you peirce the management wall, things change..
People de-volve into their "HIGH SCHOOL" distilates..

It's like going back to highshcool with all the social cliqiues, and whos cool, bla bla, but the big difference is they all have money and can action on most if not everything that comes to mind, negative or not..

to make matters worse, my superior was a very racially charged individual with a focus on Jews and Homosexuals. It was a shame the crap that used to fall out of his mouth.. It got so bad tward the end, they moved his office next to HR, due to the sheer ammounts of complaints being filed.. They finally got rid of him once they found another individual to take his place with a 10% cut in pay for the equivalent work..
I am by no means perfect, but I conduct my self in a professional and business manner every day when interacting with my fellows at the work place..
It seems Sony has not discovered that part of the world yet..
As far as I am concerned, Sony got what they Got, and deserved it.. Although based on the series of events that has unfolded since this incident, its a shame that Sony is unwilling or unable to learn from its past mistakes.. And now various people have cropped up to challenge them on it, as you can see in the press releases over the years chronicling Sony's blunderfucks year after year..
thank you for your time.

Re:We can all give thanks to... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

yes if they used DNS

Its The Relicle

[Anonymous Coward]

Was Aeon Flux on it?

the tool that found it is now ancient + neglected

[Anonymous Coward]

now a part of Microsoft's SysInternals, the rookit detection program hasn't been updated in years.

hell, if you check Github there's "detekt.exe" but it's pretty tight lipped in it's scanning/detection.

really? are you that naive?

[Anonymous Coward]

do you people really beleive this crap? do you really beleive they hacked them because theyve been bad boys 10 years ago?
come on get real, this is like fucking detroit, everone is a bad boy and sells crack in this hood, everyone has skeletons, from ea, to microshill, from volkswagen to the gamergate involved websites. Everyone

Sony was hacked because they were a really really nice target, thats all

Plus everyone buying those terrible records deserved it, except for the ones that bought the life of agony with the rootkit, everything else was shit. Fuck the normies

Re:really? are you that naive?

[houstonbofh]

And again 7 years ago. And again 5 years ago... There was the CD rootkit, the USB rootkit, and Xbox Linux removal...

Re:really? are you that naive?

[Osgeld]

xbox?

not sure if being a wiseass or not...

Re:really? are you that naive?

[houstonbofh]

Doh! Ooops... Not like there is any difference now since you can't homebrew either one anymore.

Moral of the story...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

The only BMG you can trust is the M2. On the plus side, Sony has largely stagnated to the point where their formerly-inferior Korean rivals are markedly cheaper and at least as good, so hopefully we won't have to worry about them too much longer.

Re:Moral of the story...

[Fire_Wraith]

I also wonder if they didn't perhaps learn something, however painfully, from it all, as when Microsoft started talking about all the ridiculous DRM they were going to put on XBox One games, Sony responded by saying "Yeah, we're not doing that, share your games with friends all you like as far as we're concerned", and Microsoft had to quickly backtrack.

(Alternate lesson: Only Microsoft could wind up turning Sony into the 'good guys' in a situation.)

Re:Moral of the story...

[AHuxley]

Re "we won't have to worry about"
The other side is a new legal idea that the brand owns the media, device, software flow and the user is just along for/granted a very limited rental experience.
"DOJ Claims Apple Should Be Forced To Decrypt iPhones Because Apple, Not Customers, 'Own' iOS" (Oct 26th 2015 )
https://www.techdirt.com/artic...
Some extra special hidden software might be back in a new way on any device or OS.

Sony continue destroying PCs.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sites owned by Sony like download.com spread malware and virus down-loaders. Estimated damage cost for PC owners worldwide is tenth's maybe hundred $billions/year. I have helped many of my friends to get rid of malware like wild west coupon and hlpnowp-c malware after they download things like VLC or K-Lite-Codec-Pack from download.com. Sony's "you agree to all extras" so wee are not to blame behavior is obstruction of justice in lots of country's.

Re:We can all give thanks to... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh, this wasn't delivered online. It was on CD's stupid. DNS wouldn't stop it.

Sony doesn't own Download.com

[gweilo8888]

If you're going to snark, it helps to be right. Sony doesn't own Download.com, something you could've confirmed for yourself in seconds.

Download.com is a C|Net created site owned by C|NET parent company CBS Interactive, which in turn is owned by CBS Corp, which in turn is owned by National Amusements. Finally, National Amusements' majority owner is owned by Sumner Redstone (aka Rothstein) and family.

Hacking.

[jondeanmack]

Hack. Learn the truth. Gain guilt status. Die naturally. Use the internet, Learn the truth. Gain guilt status. Die naturally. Use the telephone.... and so on...

Please: You WISH you were me... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Especially after YOU read this (something you trolls around here will never be able to accomplish as I have) http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

* :)

(I feel sorry for you "ne'er-do-well" trolls around here - I honestly do: You have wasted your LIVES & accomplish squat in the art & science of computing, & you wonder why... lol! Keep wasting your time, trolling... it's done WONDERS for you (lol, NOT!)).

REPOSTING TO SHOW THE LITTLE TROLLING "ne'er-do-wells" around /. JUST WHO REALLY "RUNS THE SHOW" HERE BOYS - I'll easily nullify your bogus downmods & repost - so keep BURNING UP YOUR INEFFECTIVE ON ME MODPOINTS - you'll run dry & then, guess what?

I win - I always do thru SUPERIOR FIREPOWER & know how in computing - you always lose, lol... your 1 easily abused effete 'weapon'? Ineffective on me (if I wish) - I love doing it, showing who's boss (me, not you, lol).

APK

P.S.=> It's not easy being "world-class" like myself - it's work... something you have NO CLUE in on all fronts I just noted & myself doing things you can only DREAM of being able to do (which are cake & simple for me though)... apk

Re:We can all give thanks to... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're so right why'd you sock puppet minus mod apk here for then amicusNYCL http://it.slashdot.org/comment... ? It's obvious you did it after apk made you eat your words as he always does to do nothings like you. Trying to hide things that made you look dumb are only making you look dumber for it. You've done better than apk did there?

Re:It's why I used quotes & I floored him befo

[arth1]

You don't have to be a shrink to tell that apk has some issues, any more than you have to be a doctor to tell that the guy without legs has a disability.
There's never any need to enter a discussion with people like apk, Archimedes Plutonium or Ed Conrad - the most you can achieve is goading, and that's kind of cruel.

Re:It's why I used quotes & I floored him befo

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're so right why'd you sock puppet minus mod apk here for then amicusNYCL

Re:Please: You WISH you were me... apk

[Khyber]

Your shit HOSTs didn't protect my boyfriend from having his Steam hijacked.

Can you even claim effectiveness in your product with truth?

Because 5TB of hosed shit says otherwise.

Re:You obviously do (why else reply?)... apk

[bigfinger76]

if you put in a FRACTION of the energy your kind does in trolling, you'd be putting us all to shame

You're getting close to a breakthrough. So close...

Re:Ah yes - illogical off topic ad hominem attacks

[Anonymous Coward]

You just have to search /. to find apk and his minions "run, forrest, RUN" when confronted with the reality that his hosts file cannot block his own advertisements that he posts here. go on and run again! HAHAHAHAHA

Now It Is Adobe

[Anonymous Coward]

A number of machines I have reimaged have had rootkit called flex-net installed. Apparently this is a rootkit installed by certain Adobe products that infects sector 32 of the MBR for DRM purposes.

Now It Is Adobe

[Anonymous Coward]

A number of PCs that I recently repaired were infected with a rootkit named flex-net in sector 32 of the hard disk. Apparently this is installed by some Adobe software for DRM purposes.

Re: I merely told the truth 100% "ne'er-do-well"

[Anonymous Coward]

Honey, the meatloaf is ready, come out if the basement before it gets cold.

Love, Mom

Re:Please: You WISH you were me... apk

[bigfinger76]

Please tell me you didn't pay money for a hosts file.

LOA!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Hilarious to see someone mention LOA. That was how I got the rootkit, and that was the only cd that sony published that I owned.

You obviously DO (why else reply)?

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: Thanks for projecting. ANOTHER "ne'er-do-well" in "bigfinger76" another 7 digit hide behind fake names online nobody, lol....

* Gonna "dance" some MORE for me? Come on now - you know you will, lol...

(Getting "your kind", trolling do-nothing "ne'er-do-wells" to "ReAcT" is my specialty - why? Your kind makes me laugh...)

APK

P.S.=> Actually I pity you - see, if you put in a FRACTION of the energy your kind does in trolling, you'd be putting us all to shame probably... but your kind lacks the "intestinal fortitude" (otherwise you'd be able to outdo me, & you can't - only off topic loser like trolling, nothing more outta you & yours - you're pitiful!)... apk

I welcome you to write a better program

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: http://start64.com/index.php?o... but I've never programs authored by a truly Anonymous Coward (like you, & it's what you are).

(What else can I say?)

APK

P.S.=> It must suck to be you - how can you stand it? LOL... apk

SONY Removal SW borked my PC

[BeCre8iv]

Brand new Beastie Boys CD rookits my system.

Removal SW breaks IDE CDROM driver - inconvenient reinstall

Beastie Boys CD ripped to MP3 (the old fashioned way) CD made safe.

Never bought another SONY product (and very few CDS)

SONY deserves what they get for ever after. (no sympathy)

Re:SONY Removal SW borked my PC

[Locke2005]

Sounds like a perfect case of Karma to me -- you listen to Beastie Boys, you should be forced to suffer! ;-)

Re:Pales in comparison to Microsoft and Jews

[Anonymous Coward]

tl;dr

Re:We can all give thanks to... apk

[Opportunist]

Please, don't talk to him. That's worse than saying Beetlejuice thrice.

No, it s not

[treczoks]

Because not adhering to the red book standard can be interpreted as being "intentionally defective". Which was the legal way to go until SONY caved in and started to replace the CDs.

Re:Please: You WISH you were me... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, replay to him some more about how much shit you don't give.
Isn't anyone around here familiar with 'Don't feed the trolls'?

There are object lessons from the incident...

[DarkOx]

There is basically one object lesson:

Laws are for little people, and companies like Sony are to big to [effectively] prosecute because...reasons...

Lets face it if you're a teenage kid and you commit some minor mostly harmless act of vandalism with a computer in some way you go to jail. If you make some copies of journals you get relentlessly prosecuted. You make a copy of Sony's IP you get slapped with $100K plus fines on you as an individual. You write jail break for a Sony product they do everything they can to destroy your life.

If you are big company like Sony with media connections, you get a comparatively minor fine and are made to compensate victims to such a minor degree that it won't even cover their costs if they need profession assistance to clean up your hack.

If you or I did what Sony did we'd see the FBI seize or domain, and redirect visitors. Why did Sony get to keep Sony.com? Its fucking bullshit.

Sony CD rootkit?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why use them when Limewire, eMule exist?

Sony lost my business

[Anonymous Coward]

Sony lost my business 10 years ago. I had digital cameras, stereo equipment, and all sorts of other hardware. Now the PS/3 is the last Sony device in my house, and when it dies, it's not getting replaced.

Re:It's why I used quotes & I floored him befo

[Anonymous Coward]

It's really weird, but I work with a guy who writes exactly like this. On the outside he appears to have OCD, is in general an unhappy and angry person, and is extremely hard to work with. Any email he writes is filled with seemingly random bold and italic fonts, full of asides and parenthesized half-thoughts, and is barely comprehensible. It's always a chore trying to figure out what his point is. His attitude suggests he seems to think of himself as a prodigy and everyone around him just cannot think on his level. Reading APK's drivel immediately made me think of him. I would even think it was the same person, but APK's comments lack the italicized parts.

Re:Please: You WISH you were me... apk

[Khyber]

I didn't pay for or do shit.

Especially when I know HOSTs is fucking useless in the first place.

Whoops: This is NEW news?

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject & quote (I may have been misinformed): "Noted tech activist Cory Doctorow, writing for Boing Boing earlier this month, explains that some vendors had their reasons for not exposing the Sony rootkit right away. "Russinovich was not the first researcher to discover the Sony Rootkit, just the first researcher to blow the whistle on it. The other researchers were advised by their lawyers that any report on the rootkit would violate section 1201 of the DMCA, a 1998 law that prohibits removing 'copyright protection' software. The gap between discovery and reporting gave the infection a long time to spread.""

APK

P.S.=> Well, well - "Will WONDERS never cease" & I operated, perhaps it seems incorrectly now after reading that, for YEARS on that assumption (that it seems was being propogated across the internet & never corrected as far as I knew, until now)... apk

Ah yes - illogical off topic ad hominem attacks

[Anonymous Coward]

Your 1 effete abused "downmod weapon" = ineffective vs. me & I do what "your kind" can only DREAM of doing http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

&

What'd I do to NULLIFY YOUR 1 EFFETE WHIMP 'weapon'?

I repost (no limits here like most ac posters have) -> http://it.slashdot.org/comment... so everyone sees my posts you try to vainly "hide" anyhow (most do anyway as they browse below the +1 default moderation threshold view).

I even reposted this VERY POST now after the last time you blew your modpoints on it -> http://it.slashdot.org/comment... last time I posted it. You're not going to hide it. I won't allow it.

KEEP BLOWING THOSE MODPOINTS TROLLS - I'll run you DRY of them, & I'll win as usual - it's just "what I do/how I roll" vs. you PUNY trolls (lmao).

* Yes, you're MAKING me have to say this (again): YOU WISH YOU WERE ME, lol...

APK

P.S.=> Everyone's having FUN watching me make you "trolls" (probably same jealous little loser that's not a fraction of the man I am based on your stupidity now) DANCE... & man, you're also MAKING ME SAY THIS NOW TOO:

THIS?

This was just "too, Too, TOO EASY - just '2ez'" & it always IS, vs. "ne'er-do-well" trolls wasting their lives accomplishing nothing (especially compared to myself) & "trolling" as they're not capable of anything more, & certainly nothing of worth... lmao!

... apk

I told 100% truth you "ne'er-do-well"

[Anonymous Coward]

Your reactions = you wish you were me + I SHOWED I SPLATTERED HIM PUBLICLY TOO-> http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

Bring him in here - I'll do it again here publicly.

* As far as "little man"? If you call myself @ 6' 2" 215 lbs. "little man", you're out of it mentally...

(You're probably a 10lb soaking wet whimp's my guess, because big guys aren't weasels like you, "ne'er-do-well troll that you are - or did you not start up with me here? YES, you have...)

APK

P.S.=> Guess you should have trolled me, starting trouble FIRST, eh? If you don't bring it on 1st, you don't get your ass kicked & you have weasel, for being a "ne'er-do-well" done ZERO in the art & science of computing - prove otherwise (& we'll 'compare notes' where I almost guarantee I can BLOW YOU AWAY with ease... lol!)... apk

So this really got to you didn't it? LMAO!

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: A truly NUCLEAR BLAST on you via "an APK classic" truth rules over trolls proof -> http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

* :)

Logic & truth is the enemy of trolls, lol... see how easily it got YOU the troll to "dance" again?

APK

P.S.=> Keep on dancin', LOL, I love it... apk

Thanks for projecting you wish you were me

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: Whenever I use it on trolls it's ALWAYS effective (truth is that way, you aid in proving it - thank you!).

* :)

(Like I said before to "you & yours" being "ne'er-do-well" trolls all - it's NOT easy being "world-class", like me... I'm not "perfect", for whatever THAT means (purely arbitrary) but I don't start up crap with others like you & yours do to myself & many others here + I create & have created for decades GOOD TOOLS USERS LIKE & you don't (no, you can't - you don't have the skills) - you're reprehensible!)

APK

P.S.=> Again/once more - it's the WHY of why you trolls will forever languish in mediocrity being menials - you don't stick your neck out there taking on giants & flooring them, whereas I do it like it's cake. I know of MAYBE only 4-5 guys here that have written up decent programs over time that did or DO well still - they have my respect, you do not & never will (I see not many of that here - many talkers, FEW doers) & yes, I'm one of them (you're not) - that's only 1 proof thereof I have before is all which you read... apk

Re:Please: You WISH you were me... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Nah, feeding the trolls is fine. I hear you can block them with your HOSTS file.

You're not satisfying him

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: Nothing to do w/ steam. He's using porn sites masturbating vs. having sex w/ you can't BLAME him either!

Those places are NOTORIOUS for infecting others with malicious scripts content you know!

(You don't "do it" for him anymore, so he's forced to alternate means of keeping his sanity - which I can absolutely see him having to put up with YOU, troll... lmao!)

APK

P.S.=> I suspect YOU drove him to it - tell him to stay off porno sites OR to block them in the hosts file!

Like Ozymandias said in the film "The Watchmen": Even Dr. Manhattan can't be everywhere @ once vs. every nuclear bomb there is, & apparently either he deactivated the hosts file to go masturbate instead of having sex with YOU, lol, OR he never really did use it (probably the case here, you trolls are notorious liars) ... apk

/.'ers & security pros disagree + proof you li

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: Aryeh Goretsky NOD32/ESET says hosts = good security-> http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

Oliver Day (Symantec) does-> http://www.securityfocus.com/c...

MalwareBytes' hpHosts hosts & recommends my APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit-> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

---

"his hosts program is actually pretty good" - by xenotransplant (4179011) on Monday August 10, 2015 @03:34PM (#50287195)

"I like your host file system." - by Karmashock (2415832) on Wednesday September 09, 2015 @03:57PM (#50489401)

"APK is kinda right... I've given up on JS based adblocking and gone to blackholing in /etc/hosts, just like it was back in the 90s. The computational load has gotten intolerable for any ad-blocking using JS. I've tried his hosts file generating software. It works." - by bmo (77928) on Thursday October 15, 2015 @11:30AM (#50736071)

"Actually, APK is totally right on this count. Adblock Plus on Firefox mobile is a dog on older, or lower end, phones. A hostfile based adblocker makes for a much better experience in this context. Of course, your phone has to be rooted, which isn't the case with Firefox + adblock." - by chihowa (366380) on Saturday May 16, 2015 @11:40AM (#49705641)

"his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources" by alexgieg (948359) on Friday September 25, 2015 @09:57AM (#50596461)

---

Plus you're outnumbered by your peers on /. as shown as to my program + hosts efficacy as well as noted security pros above also... YOU FAIL as always.

APK

P.S.=> Besides Khyber - HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I BLOWN YOUR DOORS OUT ON HOSTS?

A classic's here in one where you said NOD32/ESET says my ware is a virus?

BULLSHIT -> http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...

Too many times, that's only 1 sample & shows you're a damned liar... I can put up TONS if you like, just ask... apkyou said NOD32/ESET says my ware is a virus?

It's why I used quotes & I floored him before

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: How? Microsoft's docs on memory optimization tech unhalting FROZEN exchange servers speeding them up when lagged @ Russinovich's Windows IT Pro magazine article "The Memory Optimization Hoax" (via MS' clearmem.exe, does same thing, except NOT GUI).

He had ZERO to say, hiding his head in shame no doubt.

I shut down ALL arstechnica with it too, especially Jeremy Reimer & Jay Little (who had their websites removed @ CrystalTech + Shaw for email harassment of myself after that - they couldn't handle having their asses handed to them!)

At sunbelt he was "upset" my wares outsold his in fact - he gave me guff then, but both our wares kept selling well (he wanted to be 'king' I guess) via SERVER EXTRAS (which I actually lived down the street from in Atlanta @ the time 1994-2000) - he finally tried again, & see the results above.

* These people YOU people seem to think are "gods" are not that @ all... this convinced me even more he's a "P.R. Machine product", nothing more -> http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

Dr. Mark Russinovich DID NOT DISCOVER THIS ROOTKIT @ ALL - but SURE ACTED LIKE IT, & I never saw him state he was NOT the first either, denying it as he SHOULD have...

---

REPOSTING this same post a 4th time vs. abused downmods from AmicusNYCL trying to "hide" it:

JUST TO SHOW THE LITTLE TROLLING "ne'er-do-wells" around /. JUST WHO REALLY "RUNS THE SHOW" HERE BOYS - I'll easily nullify your bogus downmods & repost - so keep BURNING UP YOUR INEFFECTIVE ON ME MODPOINTS - you'll run dry & then, guess what?

I win - I always do thru SUPERIOR FIREPOWER & know how in computing - you always lose, lol... your 1 easily abused effete 'weapon'? Ineffective on me (if I wish) - I love doing it, showing who's boss (me, not you, lol).

APK

P.S.=> You happy now? I make YOUR 'GODS' BLEED & when that happens? Blood's in the water - he won't talk to PROGRAMMERS anymore after it - only techs (he can 'fool' thinking he is some 'god of code' & he's not) Face facts - you WISH you were me you fool... apk

Re:We can all give thanks to... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Why not? Apk's done things trolling losers like you will never do http://it.slashdot.org/comment... that are actually interesting unlike a boring stale troll with OCD that always uses the same stale lines you do. Why not do something useful like apk has on your part? You can't since you don't have the skills for it.

Additionally: Apparently you DO

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: On what I'm able to do that you can only DREAM of doing yourself http://it.slashdot.org/comment... that "your kind", a "ne'er-do-well" troll will never be able to accomplish.

* :)

(The sheer beauty of my dealing with "ne'er-do-wells" like youself is exactly that & too easy - I know you're all products of wasting your time + lives, accomplishing nothing of worth in the art & science of computing... whereas I do so with ease & always have + will!)

APK

P.S.=> Bottom-line: Trolling FOOLS like yourself make it just "too, Too, TOO EASY - just '2ez'" to show anyone reading just what you are - wastes of life & the hilarious part is, you bring it on YOURSELVES allowing me to expose you after you troll me... apk

I'm sure it hasn't hurt them

[wseehorn]

But I returned the last Sony product I bought 10 years ago and haven't bought anything from them since.

Re:/.'ers & security pros disagree + proof you

[bigfinger76]

Thanks for the gibberish.

Proof you lie: security pros, /.'ers disagree

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: Proof you're a liar is here & you're outnumbered http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

HOW CAN YOU LIVE WITH YOURSELF? You're "BUSTED" in that link saying my program's a 'virus' according to NOD32/ESET (& I show current proof of ANYTHING BUT THAT vs. your troll bullshit).

Obviously your boyfriend can't (he's surfing porn, it had nothing to do with steam, & can't stand you so he visits gay porn sites to avoid having sex with YOU, obviously... lol!)).

* :)

(Too bad you CONSTANTLY expose yourself as a no good lying trolling scumbag "ne'er-do-well" Khyber... you ONLY DO IT TO YOURSELF!)

APK

P.S.=> I can't wait until the next time I can toss this back in your face again, lol: You don't even have SHAME (then again, it's since you have NO PRIDE since you have done zero in the art & science of computing whereas by way of comparison I've done EXTREMELY WELL in it many, Many, MANY times)... apk

Re:I merely told the truth 100% "ne'er-do-well"

[amicusNYCL]

APK, why would I want to be you? If I Google your name the first result is a post from someone you threatened to sue and then backed out of, which shows more of your ridiculous behavior and chest-puffing. The second result is you spamming and trolling another forum. The whole first page is littered with examples of you being an idiot. Why would I want that for myself? Why would I want my professional reputation to be that of a belligerent asshole?

You don't know a thing about me, but that doesn't stop you from going around and making baseless claims. I do know some things about you though, so I guarantee that my software has more users than yours. And no, in no way, shape, or form am I interested in even attempting to prove that, I don't need you spamming my boss with random bolding and punctuation to tell him that his CTO is something that I'm not. You don't know me, you don't know anything about me. You're a run-of-the-mill Common Troll, spouting baseless shit and thinking that you somehow scored some points, while making yourself look like an idiot. No, I do not want to be like you.

You're probably a 10lb soaking wet whimp's my guess

Case in point regarding your powers of assumption. I'll give you one thing about me: I'm 6'1", 190lbs. Maybe go for a nice jog today instead of getting yourself worked up online like you do every other day.

Bring him in here. I'll do it again here publicly.

I called Mark Russinovich and asked him if he wanted to come to Slashdot and "debate" you, and he said that, considering the fact that he's the CTO of Microsoft Azure now, he doesn't really have time for that. What have you done in the past 15 years? Oh, you made a utility to manage a flat text file that you spam endlessly? La-de-fucking-da. You want to compare yourself to Russinovich? How about this: he has created a professional reputation for himself wherein he is generally respected, well-liked, and well-regarded. Those are professional qualities that have managed to elude you. Your professional reputation is a troll, nothing more. No one in their right mind would load any binary coming from you on their system.

No, thank you bigLOSER76

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: For you being a "ne'er-do-well" who can only DREAM of doing what I do with ease -> http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

* :)

QUESTION: What is it like being a "ne'er-do-well" do nothing others noted as decent in computing no skills troll, & how can you STAND yourself?

APK

P.S.=> Worms like you TRULY make me laugh... lol!

... apk

Re:It's why I used quotes & I floored him befo

[Anonymous Coward]

AmicusNYCL If you're so right why sock puppet minus mod apk on this same post trying to hide it 5 times now http://it.slashdot.org/comment... ? It's obvious you did it after apk made you eat your words as he always does to do nothings like you. Trying to hide things that made you look dumb are only making you look dumber for it. You've done better than apk did there?

Its all a matter of risk assesment

[TeddyR]

Sony makes more profit as an insurance company than it does with all its other subsidiaries combined......

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05...
http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/ar...

Not the only bad thing Sony did

[Locke2005]

I bought my daughter a Sony MP3 player a few years ago, brought it home, and discovered it would only play MP3's that were wrapped in Sony's proprietary wrapper, and applying the wrapper locked it for a single device so if you lost the device, you had to repurchase the MP3! I took it back to the store and returned it with the explanation that it was defective because it didn't play actual MP3s! Sony abandoned the Sony Soundstage BS shortly after that, apparently enough other people were upset by it that it hurt their sales. Since buying a $600 Sony "Dream Machine" DVD player that was a complete piece of crap, I've pretty much been boycotting Sony (Called for warranty repaird of DVD player, it was an automated system that no matter what was said, would respond "I don't understand you!" until you gave up - way to keep those warranty repair costs down, Sony!) Problem is, now for console games we have to choose between two evils: Sony or Microsoft. Which company is worse? (I'm leaning towards buying an Xbox One.)

Keep projecting you wish you were me

[Anonymous Coward]

Thor SCHMUCK & CA? Computer Associates lowered my program's lowered to ZERO THREAT LEVELS (no threat)!

Funniest part is, Computer Associates GOT BUSTED FOR ACCOUNTING FRAUD too -> http://www.bing.com/search?q=c... and HAD TO LOWER THEIR ALLEGED "THREAT LEVEL" TO ZERO ON MY PROGRAM AND had to sell of their antivirus division too (ROTFLMAO) - who won there?

Me, as always.

(You can *try* to use offtopic illogical ad hominem attacks on me ALL DAY but I have them all covered with truth vs. their b.s., lol!)

APK

P.S.=> Face facts - I do things you will NEVER be able to do which you repeatedly TRY TO HIDE with downmods via sockpuppets (like when I publicly FLOORED Mark Russinovich ON HIS OWN BALLCOURT http://it.slashdot.org/comment... & he's a scared worm... his alleged bs proves it, lol... & me? Plus, He's still a working wageslave - I don't have to work for others anymore & RUN MY OWN BUSINESS (occasionally working consulting at VERY HIGH RATES for Fortune 100-500's like Hilton Hotels, United Airlines, various Universities, etc.) is what I do... my time is MINE, not anyone elses & so are the REAL profits)

That's a BIG reason why you wish you were me right there, IF you even have a job @ all (somehow, based on your trolling I suspect you don't as you pour all this time into this)... apk

Re:Keep projecting you wish you were me

[amicusNYCL]

Nice schizophrenic reply, I like how you avoided addressing my points and instead decided to just continue pimping yourself as some kind of OCD prodigy.

I have no other accounts on Slashdot, and I don't post anonymously unless I'm providing details on a sensitive topic that I don't want traced to me.

IF you even have a job

Sure do. I even have one of those fancy degrees. 13 years ago I was an intern here, today I'm the CTO making 6 figures. Thanks for asking. If you're curious (you know you are...) I'm buying my second house and have a new Mercedes. I've got a good woman waiting for me at home also so, no, I don't wish that I was an OCD troll trying to convince the world that I'm a prodigy. You obviously believe your own legend, but in all of my years on Slashdot (including before I created my account) I have never seen a single person validate any of your so-called "skills". No one sticks up for you. You appear to be your only believer.

Re:Keep projecting you wish you were me

[Anonymous Coward]

Fantasies aren't proof. AmicusNYCL why won't you answer my question providing verifiable proof of your words http://it.slashdot.org/comment... ? The pressure of this is getting to you. I can say I am President Barack Obama too you know. I can't back it up like you can't back up anything you say. You're a joke.

Re:I merely told the truth 100% "ne'er-do-well"

[Anonymous Coward]

AmicusNYCL what have you ever done in computing that others say is good? Answer that. I bet nothing. Apk has. Even getting the best of Dr. Mark Russinovich who is obviously afraid of apk. Why else not show up? He doesn't have a leg to stand on. I was there. Russinovich tried cutting down memory optimizers but when apk came up with Microsoft's documentation showing that technology unhalted and sped up Exchange servers it shut Russinovich right up. You can't do that. Prove otherwise. You can't make programs others like as apk clearly has shown from our slashdot fellow users here http://it.slashdot.org/comment... and you try to cut him down but you don't have a leg to stand on yourself. Poor tactics that show you're indeed what apk called you. A "ne'er-do-well".

Thank-You VERY much... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: For telling it how it really is on AmicusNYCL. He won't answer. He's a trolling do nothing that can't speak of what he's not capable of & never accomplished.

APK

P.S.=> These little trolling imbeciles on /. just don't "get it": They vainly & effetely *TRY* to:

1.) Downmod hide things I use to prove they're nothing but trolling online trash wasting their lives via things I've done in computing.

(Which I get around since I have no posting limits (which saves the rest of you their abused moderations on YOUR posts which somehow must adversely affect their OWN PERSONAL AGENDAS), nullifying that 1 single 'weapon' of theirs (easy to do since they're limited in skills in computing dolts))

2.) Then come the off topic ad hominem attack attempts when they run dry of modpoints, me doing the "drying out" of their 'whimp weapons' from sockpuppetry here on /.!

(I love when they use the Thor Schmuck + Computer Associates one - "Birds of a feather" stick together AND GO DOWN vs. "yours truly" together too -> http://it.slashdot.org/comment... ),

Then?

Then along comes somebody like you asking questions AmicusNYCL will never answer because he's a do-nothing no skills trolling "ne'er-do'well" & nothing more (which he continually proves all of the above with his antics, lol)...

Man!

Yes, I ought to THANK HIM TOO, as he makes ME look GOOD, & himself? Well... "not too good" (he has nothing good to show for himself after all in comparison to myself)... apk

Re:Thank-You VERY much... apk

[amicusNYCL]

Are you fucking kidding me? How goddamn pathetic are you that you need to anonymously reply as someone sticking up for yourself, and then reply to that agreeing with yourself? Do you have any concept at all about how transparent you are? You might think you're really clever by omitting line breaks and avoiding random punctuation but you clearly can't hide your OCD voice and tone.

This is unreal. This is why people say not to feed the trolls. I'm taking their advice, I'm done with this so-called "conversation". Feel free to rant to yourself, I'll never get a notification that you've responded.

Re:Thank-You VERY much... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Apk's right about you "forrest". You talk a lot but can't prove those fantasies of yours http://it.slashdot.org/comment... do you have any idea how pathetic you are windbag? You're proving you're a blowhard bullshitter. Nothing more. Quit foaming at the mouth and take your meds for your delusions.

Re:Thank-You VERY much... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

You trolled him first mr. cto of doesntexist inc. and now you're foaming at the mouth raging caught in the act as a blowhard windbag bullshitter? Please. Hahahahahahahahaha I can feel the hot air blowhard wind from your piehole from here. You are not only pathetic but a damn loser troll that got his ass kicked since you're too stupid to take on apk or provide verifiable proof of your utter proven bullshit.

Re:Thank-You VERY much... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

AmicusNYCL you prove you're pathetic running from a fair question you can't back yourself up on http://it.slashdot.org/comment... and the more you call any of us names is proving it all the more. Temper, temper now troll. It's not our fault you got caught with your pants down being the boy who cried wolf is it? No. It's yours.

Re:I merely told the truth 100% "ne'er-do-well"

[Anonymous Coward]

AmicusNYCL anyone can say they wrote software as you did but now prove it. What you prove is you're all lies and no proof.

AmicusNYCL, CTO of 'fantasyland' inc. hahahahahaha

[Anonymous Coward]

You're full of it & proving it constantly: "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. a fair question put to you here http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

* I LOVE IT... thanks!

(You're doing wonders for me showing everyone here what a disgusting bullshitting blowhard you are that is obviously delusional...)

APK

P.S.=> Now, is it "fantasyland inc." you're the "CTO" (yea, right, lol... not) or is it "bullshit inc."? Either way, you can't backup your BLOWHARD BULLSHIT, lmao... apk

Re:AmicusNYCL, CTO of 'fantasyland' inc. hahahahah

[amicusNYCL]

Look at all of your troll replies, look at all of the child-like thrashing. You've spent 50 years wandering this planet alone, and you have the emotional maturity of a wet tissue to show for it all. Well done. Obviously this kind of self-promotion is your therapy, maybe if you believe that you're a great person then someone else will too, right? Maybe if you declare "victory" enough times, someone else will think you've won something. I highly recommend seeing a well-qualified therapist, at your age you should really understand how to connect with people above a third-grade level. There's a therapist right across Oswego, give him a call. The computer isn't going to love you back, you know.

Re:AmicusNYCL, CTO of 'fantasyland' inc. hahahahah

[Anonymous Coward]

See AmicusNYCL "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" and you're thrashing around caught in bs you can't back up and apk can http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

Re:AmicusNYCL, CTO of 'fantasyland' inc. hahahahah

[Anonymous Coward]

AmicusNYCL can't be forrest. He can't run as his leg's broken for trolling apk to his dismay http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

Re:AmicusNYCL, CTO of 'fantasyland' inc. hahahahah

[Anonymous Coward]

AmicusNYCL I ask a question you ran from. You're a liar whose mouth wrote checks your ass can't cash http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

Re:It's why I used quotes & I floored him befo

[Anonymous Coward]

What's weird is how a fair question AmicusNYCL ran from has him foaming at the mouth being proven a blowhard http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

Re:You obviously do (why else reply?)... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Too bad apk broke you completely exposing the true you here http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

Re: Pales in comparison to Microsoft and Jews

[Anonymous Coward]

Makes apk look sane.

Re:Pales in comparison to Microsoft and Jews

[Anonymous Coward]

Everything stated here is true and accurate. I expect nobody to be able to refute a single thing.

Re: Ah yes - illogical off topic ad hominem attack

[Anonymous Coward]

It's spelt "wimp".

Providing grammatical services to trolls since 1995.

Re:I merely told the truth 100% "ne'er-do-well"

[amicusNYCL]

You seem to be having a hard time grasping this APK, so let me spell it out for you.

I already told you I was not interested in proving my claims. The reason I am not interested is because proof of my claims would necessarily require me to personally identify myself to you, and I'm not willing to do that. I'm not willing to identify myself to you for the same reason that I'm not willing to contract herpes voluntarily. Science just doesn't have a cure for that yet. I'm not willing to expose myself, my family, or my co-workers to abuse from you, and based on the behavior you have exhibited online over the past 15 years, I believe that that is what would happen if you knew who I am.

I know what I've accomplished. You don't. I'm fine with that. I don't care if you believe my claims, your opinion is not important to me. I don't have to prove anything to you. I can see a record of what you've done, all of the little "utilities" you've produced (managing a flat text file, messing with the Windows registry, etc), and I can look at what I've done, and I am confident and secure in my own knowledge that my software has had more of an impact on people than yours. Before becoming the CTO I redesigned and personally developed a brand new version of our 13-year old software, and since then it's gone through another major version change with several additional programmers, and the reach that this system has is enough proof to me that I've surpassed your so-called "contributions". This application is the reason why our 20 year old company is still around, I can look at our servers any day of the week and see hundreds of thousands of people worldwide using it to help them do their jobs. Like I just explained above, I do not feel any need or desire to attempt to prove this to you, I'm not going to identify my account on Slashdot just so I can prove a point to the most notorious man-child on the internet.

Your other taunting is completely hollow. You can post all you want how you've "beaten" me, as if you've won something, or how sad I must feel, or whatever you want to say using numerous posts where you transparently try to make it seem like you have people who support you. I'll tell you what the truth is though, I'll tell you the extent of how I felt about you after our previous "conversation".

The only thing I feel towards you is curiosity. I wonder how you came to be 50 and still behave like this, which is how you were behaving at 35 also. It's obviously a pattern. I wonder why you feel the need to make yourself sound so wonderful, like you go around online winning battles with people who aren't fighting with you. I wonder what your early life was like, your schooling, what friends you had, how people treated you, how your parents handled you, what your brother thinks of you, what your first relationship was like. I wonder if you're even attracted to people the same way others are, or if you only love yourself. Or IF you even love yourself, or if you say the things you do out of a lack of self-confidence, as if you saying those things enough will make them true. I wonder what's going on in your head that makes your behavior so much different than other people I've encountered.

I wonder if you've ever sought therapy, I wonder if you even believe that your behavior is detrimental or if you think it's desirable and beneficial (OCPD maybe?). In short, I would be curious to read a third-party biography of you to try and illuminate the events in your life that have culminated in you wandering the internet, relentlessly self-promoting, and picking fights and claiming victory with anyone that will respond to you. It's interesting to me. That's what I feel about you. I don't feel defeated, I don't feel sad, I don't feel bad about myself, I'm not running anywhere, I'm not foaming at the mouth, I'm not "raging" (I'm not even the tiniest bit angry at you).

I haven't thought about you after I went home last night, I wasn't thinking about you when I woke up this morning, or driving into work, but you're still following me around on Slashdot posting links to your other comments, so obviously you're thinking about me. Hopefully this post clears it up for you.

You're a hot air windbag bullshitter then

[Anonymous Coward]

"I already told you I was not interested in proving my claims" - by amicusNYCL (1538833) on Friday October 30, 2015 @12:53PM (#50833475)

See subject & a quote from you where I stopped reading: You CAN'T backup your claims - thus, they're bullshit obviously.

* I can EASILY back up mine with concrete, verifiable, & undeniable proof - you can't...

(& the levels you ALLEGEDLY work @? I spent a GOOD 23++ yr. long career doing it + on the side too, with software that was bought out by a certified Microsoft partner that went to a FINALIST position @ MS-Tech Ed 2000-2002, two years in a row, in its hardest category - SQLServer Performance Enhancement (for both ideas & how to apply the ware which increased EEC Systems/SuperSpeed.com's ware's efficacy by up to 40%...)).

APK

P.S.=> That's all there is to it & you FAIL... so if ANYONE HERE is "having a hard time", it's CLEARLY you - especially considering you came in here starting up with me which anyone can also easily verify...apk

Re:You're a hot air windbag bullshitter then

[amicusNYCL]

Read above, APK. It's not that I can't back anything up, it's just that I won't. Like I said, I don't care about proving anything to you. I don't care if you believe me. My achievements do not require your belief.

A finalist position? Well done. Several years ago we submitted a piece of technology to the organization that runs the awards for our industry, it was a piece that we developed in partnership with the Air Force. We submitted it in a niche category (specialized technology) that didn't have all that much competition, and the award organization decided to instead put us in the largest category (general) and then give us the gold award. We beat out teams from companies like Adobe, Microsoft, Cisco, etc, in the most difficult category that we didn't even submit our work to. Am I going to prove that either? Nope. But I know it's true. I can walk into the conference room and look at that award on the wall, and see the picture of me and my team on stage with our Air Force partners and the presenters, and I can look at the awards that the Air Force gave us. Do I care if you believe me? No, I don't. Your lack of belief will not make that award or our achievements disappear.

Are you starting to get the idea, APK? Here, I'll write in all caps and bold letters, I know you enjoy things that way:

I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT ME

I'm not willing to prove anything. If you want to throw out all of your so-called achievements from 15 years ago (what have you done lately, by the way?), go ahead buddy. If you want to know why I don't want to prove anything, again, read what I wrote in the previous post.

And enough with the posting referring to yourself in the third person as if you're someone else, it just looks desperate.

Re:I merely told the truth 100% "ne'er-do-well"

[Anonymous Coward]

amicusnycl put up or shut up. You came in here trolling apk, can't backup claims you made but expect us to believe you? C Come on. My impression of you is that you're a trolling liar at this ponit. I've never read such doubletalk crap as came from you just now and your other posts only evidence it all the more.

You can't backup your bs & you DO care... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: If you don't care, why reply? You project it AmicusNYCL! I back myself NO problem, why can't you? You're not telling the truth is why I suspect & I wager others now think the same as I do of you also by this point!

* Shouldn't have trolled me AmicusNYCL - you brought this all on yourself and now you are reacting PERFECTLY for me... thanks!

APK

P.S.=> This really bothers you & it should considering YOU CAME IN HERE GIVING ME GUFF for things I've actually done (that YOU never will obviously) - but it's simple enough for me to show everyone here just what you are... so YOU may not care what I personally think of you (not much & a lying bullshitter on your end to be honest as well as a troll I crushed with ease by showing you're a blowhard windbag bullshit artist who talks but does not walk the walk) - but I am sure by now with these evasions of yours what OTHERS HERE THINK OF YOU (not much) @ this point... apk

Additionally, I'll let others speak for me

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: Others talk for me http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

Let's put them up RIGHT HERE AGAIN for your reference blowhard:

---

"his hosts program is actually pretty good" - by xenotransplant (4179011) on Monday August 10, 2015 @03:34PM (#50287195)

"I like your host file system." - by Karmashock (2415832) on Wednesday September 09, 2015 @03:57PM (#50489401)

"APK is kinda right... I've given up on JS based adblocking and gone to blackholing in /etc/hosts, just like it was back in the 90s. The computational load has gotten intolerable for any ad-blocking using JS. I've tried his hosts file generating software. It works." - by bmo (77928) on Thursday October 15, 2015 @11:30AM (#50736071)

"Actually, APK is totally right on this count. Adblock Plus on Firefox mobile is a dog on older, or lower end, phones. A hostfile based adblocker makes for a much better experience in this context. Of course, your phone has to be rooted, which isn't the case with Firefox + adblock." - by chihowa (366380) on Saturday May 16, 2015 @11:40AM (#49705641)

"his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources" by alexgieg (948359) on Friday September 25, 2015 @09:57AM (#50596461)

---

* I don't see ANYONE on /. prior to this posting EVER speak well of wares you've written, now do they?

Nope... Some nerve to ask what I've done lately yet you can't show a damn thing for yourself (other than a LOT of blowhard hotair windbag "talk" you can't even backup!)

APK

P.S.=> For an alleged programmer you're not even logical - considering you can't backup your bs I doubt you are or any good at it... apk

Re:Additionally, I'll let others speak for me

[amicusNYCL]

APK, I'm happy for you that you were able to write a piece of software that can read/write to a plain text file. Really, it's fantastic. Those quotes above prove that you are completely capable of being able to write an application that can output to plain text. I don't want to take that away from you. Granted, some of those quotes are talking about using the hosts file in general and nothing that you've actually done yourself, but still, I don't want to take anything away from your achievement of creating an application that outputs to plain text. I'm sorry, read AND write plain text, I don't want to diminish your additional achievement of reading plain text either.

I back myself NO problem, why can't you?

I can. I just won't. What do I gain if I do? Nothing I need. What do I lose? Anonymity.

You're not telling the truth is why I suspect

100% of what I've claimed about myself is true. I'm sorry if you refuse to accept that.

you brought this all on yourself

Yeah, and boy, what a heavy burden. You're really affecting me deeply here.

YOU CAME IN HERE GIVING ME GUFF for things I've actually done

No, I CAME IN HERE GIVING YOU GUFF for trying to claim that you once worked with Mark Russinovich, which was a lie. Putting co-worker in quotes doesn't mean it's not a lie.

but it's simple enough for me to show everyone here just what you are

No it's not, you don't even know who I am, much less what.

I don't see ANYONE on /. prior to this posting EVER speak well of wares you've written, now do they?

I have not identified who I am to anyone on this site. So, no, you won't find anyone here pointing to this account and linking it with anything that I've done outside of Slashdot. You won't find links to my accounts on other programming forums, or any personal website or blog, or a company page, etc. You won't find anyone here linking my account with the work I've done, in either a positive or a negative way. The strength of Slashdot is that people can come together and discuss things without ego getting in the way, what you say here is who you are unless you choose to identify yourself. Assuming you actually bother to register an account, anyway. Without registering an account then you have no accountability at all, you have no post history. I'm choosing to allow people to go back and look at things I've said in order to get an idea about what I believe. You accept no kind of accountability for yourself, people cannot find every post you've made. I understand why, because very shortly you would find yourself always posting at -1, but still, there's no accountability for you.

but I am sure by now with these evasions of yours what OTHERS HERE THINK OF YOU

Saying that you are "sure" doesn't mean anything. If there's one thing I've learned from this episode it is that you are completely delusional. I think that you are willfully delusional, I think that you create your own lies and then invest in them fully. That's part of what makes me so curious about what made you this way. Something in your life happened to make you act like this, because you consistently do it, over and over and over again. It's not a normal way to behave, but you stick to it like stink on shit. It's fascinating.

For an alleged programmer you're not even logical

Coming from you, judging what is and is not logical is pretty rich. The foundation of any post you make is full of random assumptions. Logic has nothing to do with your posts. You're still making assumptions about me. You probably think that you're "winning", or that I'm feeling bad about myself, or ascribing any number of emotions to me that simply aren't true. You're fighting a fight with yourself and claiming victory, you don't even understa

Re:Additionally, I'll let others speak for me

[Anonymous Coward]

I see nothing from you amicusnycl yet you try cutdown someone who has a good one: What advertiser or competitor of apk's do you work for?

AmicusNycl: I'm glad ya can't back yerself up

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: You're helping me prove my point about you being a blowhard windbag trolling "ne'er-do-well" that talks the talk but doesn't PROVE he walks the walk.

It's no lie I did work for the SAME COMPANY Russinovich did, & it's WHY I used "quotes" around "co-worker" - to emphasize that.

It's NO LIE I kicked Dr. Mark Russinovich's ass all over the map here http://it.slashdot.org/comment... & that is DEFINITELY not something you've shown us you're capable of.

(... & YOU SAID YOU CALLED HIM & he said he won't show to rehash it here? "Gee, I wonder why?" (not, he knows I can hand him his ass again on it is why - anyone can read the above...)).

Note nobody ever speaks well of the 'wares' you've ALLEGEDLY written like they do about mine also -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

POINT-BLANK/BOTTOM-LINE:

You don't HAVE any - period...

(Blowhard windbag lying bullshit artists like you are everywhere - put up or shut up is the motto here as I saw another person say to you! You? Can't...)

I'll give you ONE thing (lol) - YOUR CODE HAS NO BUGS! Of course, it has no lines of code & doesn't do anything either but, lol... that's the breaks (for you).

APK

P.S.=> As to "affecting you" & "you don't care" etc.? You're CLEARLY showing us otherwise by every reply you make, lol - YOU are ridiculously EASY TO OUTSMART & MANIPULATE EASILY @ every single turn!

...apk

Re:/.'ers & security pros disagree + proof you

[Anonymous Coward]

APKware is useless, and it's a virus. We don't want APK snakeoil and yet APK keeps pushing it on us so he and his software IMMEDIATELY fall into the category of adware/malware.

We can continue to truthfully claim his shit is malware until he changes his behavior. Since he will not change his behavior, and his behavior towards others is malicious, we can safely say that APK is in fact the fucking virus and needs to be destroyed.

On top of that APK snakeoil is USELESS IN A MODERN TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT. Any program can bypass HOSTs any fucking time it wants. Microsoft already made that well-known with its telemetry, browsers have made it well-known with their own DNS to IP tables to bypass HOSTS - APK-style 'security' is flawed and any company advertising his shit is fucking flawed and stupid as well.

Destroy me? You destroyed yourself Khyber

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject Khyber by ac now & eat your words vs. security pros & slashdotters saying different http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

* Pitiful imbecile... no ring3 app can bypass the lock my app places on the hosts file, idiot (when you leave it resident)

&

MS bypassing hosts is EASY to get rid of -> http://tech.slashdot.org/comme... you moronic dolt

&

For Windows update, MS hardcoding their update server IP addresses in their code's NOT a bad idea for them to do (considering they probably pay bloody BIG money to keep a static IP address range for all of their servers @ Microsoft) & quite safe if not smart + efficient (no host/domain name resolution to IP address is needed, so no slowdowns, & NO RISK OF REDIRECTED DNS SERVERS via router infestations, rogue DNS servers, or Kaminsky redirect poisoning flaws DNS has),.

APK

P.S.=> What a total moron you are Khyber (YES OBVIOUSLY IT'S YOU AFTER YOUR ORIGINAL MASSIVE FUCK UP vs. MYSELF -> http://it.slashdot.org/comment... ) - you're truly a serious joke & I suspect also QUITE fucked in the head! apk

Re:Pales in comparison to Microsoft and Jews

[Maritz]

Jesus Christ is perfect.

Everybody's imaginary friend is perfect, buddeh, that's why you have them.

Re:It's why I used quotes & I floored him befo

[Anonymous Coward]

APK never stop posting mate you are my fave nutter. I even went and looked up your classic shit on Ars. You fall out with people everywhere you go, partly because you're mental, and partly because you're narcissistic. Healthy dose of paranoia in there too. Keep it up!!!

Re:Please: You WISH you were me... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

bigfinger76 posts ac now? No, you care. That's obvious. Block?? bigfinger76 apk knocked your block off http://slashdot.org/comments.p... hahahahaha!

Re:Please: You WISH you were me... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

bigfinger76 posts ac now? Block?? bigfinger76 you got your block knocked off by apk http://slashdot.org/comments.p... posts ac now? Block?? bigfinger76 you got your block knocked off by apk http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

LOL: "We" != YOU individually whimp!

[Anonymous Coward]

"Several years ago we submitted a piece of technology to the organization that runs the awards for our industry" - by amicusNYCL (1538833) on Friday October 30, 2015 @01:27PM (#50834355)

See subject: I asked what YOU individually did - You have ZERO!

* What a fucking DUMB ass... & blowhard loser!

(IF I showed you what I've done ON TEAMS? You'd shit your pants... my code that way RUNS ENTIRE COMPANIES LIFEBLOOD OUT THERE, & quite a few of them... how about you??)

APK

P.S.=> Your BIGGEST problem? You can't show a DAMN THING that YOU individually have done & that does more + better than just a SINGLE ONE of many small programs I've put out online since 1996 - you're no man - you can't STAND ON YOUR OWN MERITS, Mr. "We", lol... apk

Re:LOL: "We" != YOU individually whimp!

[amicusNYCL]

You're still humping my leg, are you APK?

I'll tell you what this reminds me of. When I was in college I played a lot of a game called Mechwarrior 4. I was good at it, it got to the point where I was consistently ranked as one of the top few scores for each week, if not the first. I just played it a lot and got good at it, that's all. Frequently when I was at my best other people in the matches would accuse me of cheating. I would consistently kill them and they would talk about how I couldn't be doing that unless I was cheating, you can't aim or fire that fast, etc, whatever the excuse. That was the best compliment I got from anyone while playing that game. I was beating those people so badly that they were absolutely positive that I couldn't just do that myself, I had to be cheating somehow. I've never installed or used a game cheat program in my life.

That's what I see from you now. I've given you claims about my life, and not even that great either. I've got a degree, I went from intern to CTO, our company has won awards for the projects I've developed, we've got hundreds of thousands to millions of people using our software, etc. Those aren't even outlandish claims, I'm sure any number of people on this site have similar stories. I don't consider myself any kind of superstar programmer either. I'm very good at what I do in my role as a CTO, but there are plenty of places I can improve as a programmer. I have books on my shelf like The Art Of Computer Programming or Code Complete that I haven't read yet. I've only been to a small number of programming conferences. I don't do much with open source or Github, etc. There are places where I can and want to improve and just haven't been able to take the time to make that happen yet.

Even so, look at you. You appear to be completely convinced that the things I'm telling you can't possibly be true. I've already told you that I'm not going to identify myself, but here you are, demanding proof of my claims. You can't let it go. You're convinced that the things I'm telling you are lies.

I appreciate the compliments, although it's kind of sad what that says about you and your self-confidence.

As for individual work, if you're going to ask for more claims then I'll be happy to give them to you. The company I work for right now runs all of its bookkeeping and project tracking from a system that I personally designed and developed 12 years ago, and all of our clients interact with the same system. There's another company that I was working with briefly who also runs software that I personally designed and developed to do similar things, to interact with all of their clients. Their clients can log on to their site and have access to all of their records and data that would otherwise stay in another third-party proprietary system running on the servers. My software is a link to that data for the customers, and that company has remarked several times that this system is what sets them apart from all of their competitors. The company that the software interfaces with also was interested in getting my software to bundle with theirs but I didn't have time to try and make that happen. And, like I've said before, the main application that our company sells was in fact originally designed and developed by me. I was working on that version for 3 years supporting 30 corporate/military clients using it all by myself before we got another programmer to start helping me. We currently employ 1 additional programmer other than me (good help is hard to find). I'm in charge of all of the company's internal systems and tools and multiple versions of our major application, personally. And yes, I'm also good at working on a team.

Let me know if you have any other questions that you'd like me to answer, or if you just want to keep spending your time throwing out random insults and otherwise spinning your wheels. Like I said, I'm flattered that you find the reality of my life so unconvincing, but again there are many other people li

Merely defending myself (you started it)

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject & again: What have YOU done, not "we", individually? In programs that even fellow slashdotters speak well of (like pulling teeth getting praise from the crowd here - they're tough to please):

---

"his hosts program is actually pretty good" - by xenotransplant (4179011) on Monday August 10, 2015 @03:34PM (#50287195)

"I like your host file system." - by Karmashock (2415832) on Wednesday September 09, 2015 @03:57PM (#50489401)

"APK is kinda right... I've given up on JS based adblocking and gone to blackholing in /etc/hosts, just like it was back in the 90s. The computational load has gotten intolerable for any ad-blocking using JS. I've tried his hosts file generating software. It works." - by bmo (77928) on Thursday October 15, 2015 @11:30AM (#50736071)

"his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources" by alexgieg (948359) on Friday September 25, 2015 @09:57AM (#50596461)

---

It's doing well!

SO WELL that Malwarebytes' hpHosts admin had to MOVE TO AMAZON "Un-DDoS'able" servers as demand for it exceeded their regular server setup capacity in the 1st 6 months since I've "p.r.'d" it here!

IF I put out all I could, slashdot couldn't FIT the post!

E.G.-> I gave you 1 TINY sample of code Microsoft Certified Partners BOUGHT ME OUT ON that did extremely well... how about you?

"That's not a problem for me, why is it such a big problem for you?" - by amicusNYCL (1538833) on Tuesday November 03, 2015 @12:07PM (#50856589)

It's not - see above! I wanted reader to see the DIFFERENCE between someone like me (who spent 23++ yrs. doing what you are & then some on the side that did well) vs. you who attacked me.

APK

P.S.=> As to my question? You answered it - NOTHING I CAN SEE by comparison & slashdot especially ("citation" anyone?) is a "show me world" - Perhaps you're NOT such a "bad guy" but, you DID "troll" me, so I had to defend myself... apk/b/b