Re:sa.microsoft.com and other domains
on
XP, Phone Home
·
· Score: 1
Don't be such a little sarcastic punk.
RTFM yourself.
Where in that doc or in the configuration panel for the search assistant, am I able to change the option of NOT having it send my search stats to MS?
I was looking for a registry hack or DLL removal, or something.
sa.microsoft.com and other domains
on
XP, Phone Home
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Interesting article... just installed XP on a computer at home. I've looked around for any way to disable that Search Assistant's behaviour with no luck. I guess the quickest way in dealing this, is to block the domain on your firewall. It's probably the fifth or sixth domain I've had to add to the FW at home due to some app wanting to phone home.
At work we discovered that the Inktomi search engine was trying to e-mail itself some info about our company searches. Inktomi claims that that the program only sends information about the top-level domain queries? Has anyone else seen this?
It seems that the/. folks were hammered when they thought of this idea. I don't feel they added any substance to the whole subscription notion at all.
Man,/. has thousands of daily visitors and has a name that's recognized throughout the net. You're definately blowing it.
You could provide the corporate world a lot of things: - some sort of *nix forum were/.ers can post their resumes (charge companies for the ability to search it) - give developers/consultants a platform to advertise their services (charge a flat fee for the entry) - provide links to new products via a software portal of some sort - recommend books/software (perhaps at a/. discount) and make an arrangement to get commission
For the/.ers you could: - allow them to view all rejected/pending stories - give them the ability to approve/reject stories - hire an editor!!! - drop Jon Katz, he just doesn't appeal to the majority of the readers - offer a slashot mail account, t-shirt, mug, sticker, etc
I still would consider donating money since I have gotten enjoyment from/. in the past, but the ad blocking option is definately not a motivating factor in sending cash. In a way, I'm almost insulted that they offer that since 90% of the/. community would be able to block ads easily enough.
Stop drinking/smoking for a minute and act professionally about this. If you want money, you need to offer something of value (to readers or advertisers). If you intend to keep running it as a hobby, then deal with the hassle or scale back. "I dunno" just doesn't cut it.
Hm, wouldn't Intellivision's Utopia be a RTS as well? I mean it was still turn-based but that was really only for scoring purposes. But you goy to build your structures, and control the boats.
Utopia started the Sim-genre IMHO.
http://www.intellivisionlives.com/ used to have a PC version of Utopia, but it seems the site is down.
First of all, I'd like to say that keeping IIS4/5 secure and patched takes effort. All those "net admins" being churned out by those tech schools are useless or don't care enough to do a good job. That in my experience sums up about 90% of the IIS webmasters out there.
Replacing IIS in the corporate environment? Not going to happen any time soon. Why? Here's why:
organizations like ours have invested quite a bit of money in third-party solutions which want IIS. My manager is not going to get himself fired by saying "Let's drop that $250k document management system."
staff, too easy to get MS monkeys nowadays, but UNIX folks tend to avoid large corporations and corporate management find them "strange"
most corporations run a MS-only shop, it will be hard to convince them to use Apache or iPlanet
I try to keep an open mind and I have been actively working on getting most of my apps working under Apache/Red Hat Linux.
I hate the fact that my IIS boxes are such easy targets and I hate the fact MS doesn't give a shit (if they released SP7 for NT4, it would've helped a lot of people out there).
I don't have a choice, but I'm keeping my options by playing around with Apache. Who knows what tomorrow may bring?
I'm not a MS-flunkie and I'm not going to rely on a corporation who doesn't security seriously.
The one thing that bothers me about the damn "losses" that the recording industry reports, what happens to the "profits" that they collect from the surcharge that we consumers pay when we buy CD-Rs, blank audio tapes, or blank VHS tapes?
I don't even use Napster, Gnutella, etc, but what is the difference between a file sharing service and making a mixed tape and giving it to your friend? I've made mixed CDs in the past and gave copies of them to my friends.
Off-topic zone coming up
Of course it's copyright infringement but in my little mind I justify it by
my friends wouldn't have bought the different CDs anyway
the artist/label got paid by me
I may be promoting the artist/label
I paid more for the CD-R because of the surcharge
I wanted to show off my new Yamaha burner
The only different with the filesharing is the magnitude of the mixed-tape scenario. Lots of friends all over the globe. Similar to me standing on a corner in downtown Toronto and giving mixed tapes out to strangers.
Of course artists/labels will lose a sale or two, so did I when I wrote a computer game and sold it as shareware. People registered and ended up giving copies to their friends. I think I would have lost a lot of sales if I started going after people and preaching them that not paying for my work is bad. Those people most likely would not have bought my game anyways.
Your point is valid, of course I don't like having my boss or someone listen in to my phone conversation. They probably could do that if they wanted.
If you are using my phone with my consent, yes it should give me the right to record your conversation. It's my phone. What I should do before you use is say, "Jake, sure you can use my phone but I'll be on the receiver in the other room because last time I think you said some nasty things about me." You can then spit in my face and/or use a payphone.
In regards to the cop, there are guidelines for him to follow. Even a technician monitoring the traffic has to follow rules. He can't mock up a top ten list of porn sites visited by Fred on the intranet. If his boss who wants to know who's canine fornicating and wasting bandwidth, and needs to monitor the network 24/7, then that's what he has to do.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not in love with any of the policies at work. I rather download MP3s on a T3 at work than at home on 56k. But my boss pays for it, so if he says I can't, I better not. I can get a warning, not get that raise, or just get fired. I have to be a corporate whore to pay the mortgage and pay for my kid's puffer.
In another posting they mentioned the whole thing about NY Times going through everyone's computer. Of course everyone would be pissed and offended. But how is that different from a virus scanner going overnight through your files and deleting infected ones? They scan their workstations whenever they want especially when they a justifiable cause (most times in their eyes not ours).
They own it and we work for them. If we don't like we can use our (digital) cells for personal calls, surf at home (or use safeweb), find another job, or become a consultant.
Anyways, as a citizen I'm entitled to certain rights but also have to follow the law. As an employee I get a paycheque but I also have to follow the rules. Since I'm a corporate whore and need to pay the mortgage and my kid's puffer, it's downside of my job that I can't download warez.
I do think my boss is reasonable and in turn they should be able to expect a sensible use of their computer systems. No one is going to get fired for visiting ESPN to get soccer scores (hell, I do). They most likely won't even get a warning. But they will get fired if they download crazy-as pr0n.
I do see your point. It's pretty crappy having the feeling that big brother is watching you. But frankly this is nothing compared to what the mess the bank's pigs make of your credit rating. Or what the FBI is doing with carnivore. And I don't even work or even owe them anything.
So therefore, you violate your own company policy by using your company computers to verify that an employee is downloading porn.
It's like a law-enforcement officer. Here in Canada (and probably in some states) it's illegal to walk around with a gun, yet the cops do so. It's the "tool" with which they require to do their job. In order to investigate if someone has broken a company policy of course the technician has to open the file or visit the site to verify. But he/she is not breaking the company policy since that's what they were hired to do and have the authority. So they use the "tool" that employee is not allowed to use. If they don't like it, they can find a more liberal workplace. Like the first poster stated, they signed the document and could end up fired or reprimanded.
They are always abuses with people in positions of power. The technician could surf questionable sites all day and no one would be the wiser. Until the boss checks her monthly bandwidth bill and brings in a consultant to see where the traffic comes from.
Regarding the strip searching and searching someone's car, obviously your employer can't do that. But they can look through everything that they own. Your computer, the URLs of sites visited, the numbers that you dial, what's stored in your file cabinet. They own it, they paid for it, and they can do what they want with it.
The line starts getting blurry when people ask for blood tests, genetic evaluation, etc when there's no point. Exception would be jobs where certain attributes are necessary to do a job properly, say a vision test for a pilot, a daily sobriety test for a bus driver, or certain a physical stamina for a fireman.
Most places I've worked at common sense prevails. If I'm hired to do a job I shouldn't spend all my day surfing. If my boss is paranoid to check on me, let him. If they are paying me they have the right to expect a certain code of conduct.
Looked at his site and came across his resume. In 1983 he assisted in the development of Vectrex games for DataScan? I wonder what he really did? "Made sure lines had accurate shade of blue/green." or "Made sure coffeee pot was warm at all time" didn't sound as impressive.
I'm surprised he didn't claim that he programmed the AI for the 2nd ghost in Ms Pac-Man as well.
The one thing I always liked about the Activision designers of old (i.e. Atari 2600 games) is that they were amazing programmers that knew the console in and out. Yes, gameplay is always number one, but to have an outstanding game, you have to add something new. David Crane did his platform thing with Pitfall and Carol Shaw (?) did River Raid. With those games, they pushed the limit and added something completely new. I wonder what innovative things Tom did?
The CD-buying experience changed for me in regards that when I walk into a store I have no urge to buy 2-3 CDs like I used to.
Heck my actions probably haven't even affected the HMV, I'm just one person. I do know of a bunch of friends and colleagues who have similar attitudes. The average consumer couldn't care less about lawsuits and such.
My motivation is to spite the record industries. Not the price of CDs, not the current standard of music, not the music stores, but RIAA/MPAA barging in and makes choices for me without consulting me. Kind of like the government actually, except without the appearance of elected officials.
Like most people here I work hard for my money, and I don't my money directly hitting corporations/organizations who I stronly disagree with.
You can scorn and think that I'm "all pumped up on/." but I can truthfully answer by saying that's not the case. I use Win2K for heaven's sake!;>
I'm just one person, but my money still talks the language they understand. Plus if I can non-instrusively tell my family, friends, and colleagues about the lawsuits and hurt their business in the long run, so be it.
Not that I'm sort of idealist/anarchist but the whole RIAA/MPAA crap has turned me off a lot. I used to go to the HMVs and Tower Records here in Toronto and buy at least 5-6 CDs per month.
Their lawsuits and their paranoia has rubbed me the wrong way. So I personally send the companies a message that they will hear, by not buying their products.
I've never used napster but I have fished for mp3s on the web when I wanted to hear a song. In the past I'd shell the $20 (CDN) for a CD even just for one song. Now I can't be bothered.
I do respect artists and I still buy CDs of music that I think is worth it. But I will never again buy a CD unless I really want it. Or a DVD for that matter.
Now I just rent from blockbuster if I really want to see a movie, instead of considering buying it. Or grab a MP3 from the actual artist's site. I even let my friends borrow my CDs/DVDs and make copies or VCDs. We have some sort borrowing-circle going on. All I care now is affecting the record/movie companies' business.
Companies have to realize that consumers will only take so much and they start walking away.
I was a legitimate and good customer for CDs and I've stopped because the bullish antics of the RIAA. Hell, I'm Canadian, isn't the RIAA an "American" organization which affects my choices?
Man, oh man... this corinthians.com thing does have me worried. I own/leased atletico.com, I am the person who registered the domain many moons ago and have been working on-and-off on an online version of my shareware soccer manager game, Football Fanatic. Actually there would be a ton of teams that would be after my domain. BUT... I'm not about to give up on my domain name for a project that I've been working on for the last two years. If I need a lawyer, that's fine. I have some money and I definately would make some waves in the media. I have no intentions to give up atletico.com, especially when I have been working towards something big. I cannot believe that a Brazilian entity was able to claim a.COM domain name from someone else. Luis de Barros
Slashdot Mirror
Don't be such a little sarcastic punk.
RTFM yourself.
Where in that doc or in the configuration panel for the search assistant, am I able to change the option of NOT having it send my search stats to MS?
I was looking for a registry hack or DLL removal, or something.
Interesting article ... just installed XP on a computer at home. I've looked around for any way to disable that Search Assistant's behaviour with no luck.
I guess the quickest way in dealing this, is to block the domain on your firewall. It's probably the fifth or sixth domain I've had to add to the FW at home due to some app wanting to phone home.
At work we discovered that the Inktomi search engine was trying to e-mail itself some info about our company searches. Inktomi claims that that the program only sends information about the top-level domain queries? Has anyone else seen this?
I second Dan's thoughts here.
/. folks were hammered when they thought of this idea. I don't feel they added any substance to the whole subscription notion at all.
/. has thousands of daily visitors and has a name that's recognized throughout the net. You're definately blowing it.
/.ers can post their resumes (charge companies for the ability to search it) /. discount) and make an arrangement to get commission
/.ers you could:
/. in the past, but the ad blocking option is definately not a motivating factor in sending cash. In a way, I'm almost insulted that they offer that since 90% of the /. community would be able to block ads easily enough.
It seems that the
Man,
You could provide the corporate world a lot of things:
- some sort of *nix forum were
- give developers/consultants a platform to advertise their services (charge a flat fee for the entry)
- provide links to new products via a software portal of some sort
- recommend books/software (perhaps at a
For the
- allow them to view all rejected/pending stories
- give them the ability to approve/reject stories
- hire an editor!!!
- drop Jon Katz, he just doesn't appeal to the majority of the readers
- offer a slashot mail account, t-shirt, mug, sticker, etc
I still would consider donating money since I have gotten enjoyment from
Stop drinking/smoking for a minute and act professionally about this. If you want money, you need to offer something of value (to readers or advertisers). If you intend to keep running it as a hobby, then deal with the hassle or scale back. "I dunno" just doesn't cut it.
I'm with phantom, give me the online CC option and I'll sign up as well.
Slashdot is definately worth a few dollars of my income, even though I like the ads (only site where I do).
Cheers.
All the best in your new life.
Cheers!
Hm, wouldn't Intellivision's Utopia be a RTS as well? I mean it was still turn-based but that was really only for scoring purposes. But you goy to build your structures, and control the boats.
Utopia started the Sim-genre IMHO.
http://www.intellivisionlives.com/ used to have a PC version of Utopia, but it seems the site is down.
Good point, but it would be considered a God-game in the same vein as Populous or Black'n'White.
I guess for RTS, the "Strategy" tends to be synomous to battles with several different units under your control.
Replacing IIS in the corporate environment? Not going to happen any time soon. Why? Here's why:
I try to keep an open mind and I have been actively working on getting most of my apps working under Apache/Red Hat Linux.
I hate the fact that my IIS boxes are such easy targets and I hate the fact MS doesn't give a shit (if they released SP7 for NT4, it would've helped a lot of people out there).
I don't have a choice, but I'm keeping my options by playing around with Apache. Who knows what tomorrow may bring?
I'm not a MS-flunkie and I'm not going to rely on a corporation who doesn't security seriously.
The one thing that bothers me about the damn "losses" that the recording industry reports, what happens to the "profits" that they collect from the surcharge that we consumers pay when we buy CD-Rs, blank audio tapes, or blank VHS tapes?
I don't even use Napster, Gnutella, etc, but what is the difference between a file sharing service and making a mixed tape and giving it to your friend? I've made mixed CDs in the past and gave copies of them to my friends.
Off-topic zone coming up
Of course it's copyright infringement but in my little mind I justify it by
The only different with the filesharing is the magnitude of the mixed-tape scenario. Lots of friends all over the globe. Similar to me standing on a corner in downtown Toronto and giving mixed tapes out to strangers.
Of course artists/labels will lose a sale or two, so did I when I wrote a computer game and sold it as shareware. People registered and ended up giving copies to their friends. I think I would have lost a lot of sales if I started going after people and preaching them that not paying for my work is bad. Those people most likely would not have bought my game anyways.
If you are using my phone with my consent, yes it should give me the right to record your conversation. It's my phone. What I should do before you use is say, "Jake, sure you can use my phone but I'll be on the receiver in the other room because last time I think you said some nasty things about me." You can then spit in my face and/or use a payphone.
In regards to the cop, there are guidelines for him to follow. Even a technician monitoring the traffic has to follow rules. He can't mock up a top ten list of porn sites visited by Fred on the intranet. If his boss who wants to know who's canine fornicating and wasting bandwidth, and needs to monitor the network 24/7, then that's what he has to do.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not in love with any of the policies at work. I rather download MP3s on a T3 at work than at home on 56k. But my boss pays for it, so if he says I can't, I better not. I can get a warning, not get that raise, or just get fired. I have to be a corporate whore to pay the mortgage and pay for my kid's puffer.
In another posting they mentioned the whole thing about NY Times going through everyone's computer. Of course everyone would be pissed and offended. But how is that different from a virus scanner going overnight through your files and deleting infected ones? They scan their workstations whenever they want especially when they a justifiable cause (most times in their eyes not ours).
They own it and we work for them. If we don't like we can use our (digital) cells for personal calls, surf at home (or use safeweb), find another job, or become a consultant.
Anyways, as a citizen I'm entitled to certain rights but also have to follow the law. As an employee I get a paycheque but I also have to follow the rules. Since I'm a corporate whore and need to pay the mortgage and my kid's puffer, it's downside of my job that I can't download warez.
I do think my boss is reasonable and in turn they should be able to expect a sensible use of their computer systems. No one is going to get fired for visiting ESPN to get soccer scores (hell, I do). They most likely won't even get a warning. But they will get fired if they download crazy-as pr0n.
I do see your point. It's pretty crappy having the feeling that big brother is watching you. But frankly this is nothing compared to what the mess the bank's pigs make of your credit rating. Or what the FBI is doing with carnivore. And I don't even work or even owe them anything.
It's like a law-enforcement officer. Here in Canada (and probably in some states) it's illegal to walk around with a gun, yet the cops do so. It's the "tool" with which they require to do their job. In order to investigate if someone has broken a company policy of course the technician has to open the file or visit the site to verify. But he/she is not breaking the company policy since that's what they were hired to do and have the authority. So they use the "tool" that employee is not allowed to use. If they don't like it, they can find a more liberal workplace. Like the first poster stated, they signed the document and could end up fired or reprimanded.
They are always abuses with people in positions of power. The technician could surf questionable sites all day and no one would be the wiser. Until the boss checks her monthly bandwidth bill and brings in a consultant to see where the traffic comes from.
Regarding the strip searching and searching someone's car, obviously your employer can't do that. But they can look through everything that they own. Your computer, the URLs of sites visited, the numbers that you dial, what's stored in your file cabinet. They own it, they paid for it, and they can do what they want with it.
The line starts getting blurry when people ask for blood tests, genetic evaluation, etc when there's no point. Exception would be jobs where certain attributes are necessary to do a job properly, say a vision test for a pilot, a daily sobriety test for a bus driver, or certain a physical stamina for a fireman.
Most places I've worked at common sense prevails. If I'm hired to do a job I shouldn't spend all my day surfing. If my boss is paranoid to check on me, let him. If they are paying me they have the right to expect a certain code of conduct.
I'm surprised he didn't claim that he programmed the AI for the 2nd ghost in Ms Pac-Man as well.
The one thing I always liked about the Activision designers of old (i.e. Atari 2600 games) is that they were amazing programmers that knew the console in and out. Yes, gameplay is always number one, but to have an outstanding game, you have to add something new. David Crane did his platform thing with Pitfall and Carol Shaw (?) did River Raid. With those games, they pushed the limit and added something completely new. I wonder what innovative things Tom did?
Cheers,
Hooky1963
Heck my actions probably haven't even affected the HMV, I'm just one person. I do know of a bunch of friends and colleagues who have similar attitudes. The average consumer couldn't care less about lawsuits and such.
My motivation is to spite the record industries. Not the price of CDs, not the current standard of music, not the music stores, but RIAA/MPAA barging in and makes choices for me without consulting me. Kind of like the government actually, except without the appearance of elected officials.
Like most people here I work hard for my money, and I don't my money directly hitting corporations/organizations who I stronly disagree with.
You can scorn and think that I'm "all pumped up on /." but I can truthfully answer by saying that's not the case. I use Win2K for heaven's sake! ;>
I'm just one person, but my money still talks the language they understand. Plus if I can non-instrusively tell my family, friends, and colleagues about the lawsuits and hurt their business in the long run, so be it.
Hooky1963
Their lawsuits and their paranoia has rubbed me the wrong way. So I personally send the companies a message that they will hear, by not buying their products.
I've never used napster but I have fished for mp3s on the web when I wanted to hear a song. In the past I'd shell the $20 (CDN) for a CD even just for one song. Now I can't be bothered.
I do respect artists and I still buy CDs of music that I think is worth it. But I will never again buy a CD unless I really want it. Or a DVD for that matter.
Now I just rent from blockbuster if I really want to see a movie, instead of considering buying it. Or grab a MP3 from the actual artist's site. I even let my friends borrow my CDs/DVDs and make copies or VCDs. We have some sort borrowing-circle going on. All I care now is affecting the record/movie companies' business.
Companies have to realize that consumers will only take so much and they start walking away.
I was a legitimate and good customer for CDs and I've stopped because the bullish antics of the RIAA. Hell, I'm Canadian, isn't the RIAA an "American" organization which affects my choices?
Hooky1963
Man, oh man ... this corinthians.com thing does have me worried. I own/leased atletico.com, I am the person who registered the domain many moons ago and have been working on-and-off on an online version of my shareware soccer manager game, Football Fanatic. Actually there would be a ton of teams that would be after my domain. BUT ... I'm not about to give up on my domain name for a project that I've been working on for the last two years. If I need a lawyer, that's fine. I have some money and I definately would make some waves in the media. I have no intentions to give up atletico.com, especially when I have been working towards something big. I cannot believe that a Brazilian entity was able to claim a .COM domain name from someone else. Luis de Barros