You may very well be right and I wasted my money. But, at the time, the tabbed interface and easy control over cookies and Java(script) was what I was looking for so the transaction took place.
What's interesting is that I actually used Adsense a few times. Only "banners" I've ever clicked. By your definition it's spyware; to me, I balanced the fact that the queries were going through Google and got a useful link. Opera and Google made a few pennies because I trust them (until either start to screw up, that is).
Oh btw, there are 3 fewer IE users in the world now because I evangelized Opera...surely that counts for something...
Well, there doesn't seem to be any spyware in the version that I paid $39 for. Imho, exchanging money for software seems to be a sensible business model.
Coincidently, Peter Jennings addressed that very question in an article I read on the web. He said that's because there isn't anything good about Republicans.
One of the main reasons I bought a Honda Pilot was because they advertised it as being 90% recyclable. Maybe all newer models are too and I got sucked in by marketing. If there isn't a comprehensive recycling program in place now then hopefully there will be in 7 or 8 years when it's time for a new one.
So it made me feel a little less guilty for buying an SUV, other environmental impacts excluded.
You'd be wrong if you added professional pool to the list. I've watched it for a long time and am convinced that there isn't a male that could consistently beat Allison Fisher in snooker or 9-ball.
There's a bevy of others, too. Try to catch the 9-ball tournaments on ESPN sometime and compare the men against the women. It's surprising what you'll see.
Respectfully disagree. After SCO is on the pink sheets, he'll fade into another corporate setting and sit on a few boards. No prosecution, maybe a token SEC fine but nothing more.
Then as time goes on this entire escapade will end up as a footnote in law classes and as fodder for an endless stream of SCO sigs on/. so folks can prove how 133t they are.
Anyway, that's my sense of reality about how things work these days.
As other posters will no doubt point out, your statement is basically a strawman. Privacy is the real issue; not that you have nothing to hide.
Lots of people I know agree with you but here's what bugs me: Replace the acronym "FBI" with "people". Picture them as a group of average Joes that are getting paid to uphold the law and we hope that there aren't any bad apples in the basket. Or at least if there are, we have checks and balances in place to counteract any abuses of the power we as citizens give to these people. Now give these individuals absolute power to look at any aspect of your life.
Acronyms, especially when applied to governments, are powerful things. Under the surface it's just a bunch of folks that are no different than the average citizen.
So, how would you feel about a person you've never met being able to look at your personal finances by simply demanding to (and without you knowing)?
I installed it and not once did it ever pop up a browser informing me how to protect my children from the internet. Needless to say I deinstalled it pronto.
Btw, anyone know of a hardware solution for this problem?
What exactly makes Gator evil? Is the spyware portion of their "service" phoning home a list of apps on the client machine? Sucking in personal info for email/IP demographics? Something more sinister?
Just trying to separate the scummy install side of the issue (how about "barnacleware"?) vs. what the code is actually sending back to their servers.
So now we know that Mr. Perens was the secret traitor. Hmmm, come to think of it, I recently saw Linus sneaking around Redmond wearing a fake mustache...
bool idealworld = true; { Imagine guis/window managers didn't exist. Then, as authors of "Linux GUI 1.0", could you argue that it would make sense to generate a set of interface standards for ease-of-use? Would it make sense to publish application guidelines for "File/Save/.." for developers to decide whether they want to follow or not? Then, what benefit would there be in not following them?
If the above are accepted as worthwhile by a group willing to expend time on the effort, then it doesn't matter whether it happens to be competing with/copying Msft or Apple or any other reason. Implicitly, it would abide by the Linux philosophy of just doing things right.
If not, then life goes on and the answer was derived without outside bias.
Disclaimer: As a Windows developer by day, I happen to prefer using Bluecurve at night. }
Or if the publisher doesn't allow an archival backup to be made.
Case in point, my GTA Vice City CD was getting scratched up so, knowing that the play disk was copy protected, I decided to read the license agreement to see how this is handled:
"Software Backup or Archiving. After You install the Software into the permanent memory of a computer, You may keep and use the original disk(s) and/or CD-ROM (the "Storage Media") only for backup or archival purposes."
No mention of a single backup copy or any other solution.
Of course the problem is that the CD is required to run the game. So there's lots of eventual wear and tear no matter how careful you are.
To bring this back on topic, after searching the web for ways to burn a backup I gave up on the idea and found a cracked copy. It works great but it gives me the willies.
So what happens if there's phone-home code in the executable? By using an obviously cracked exe, the chances are that I'd be assumed to be a pirate even though I am innocently trying to exercise my fair use rights. To take it a step further, what if the publisher is a member of the BSA?
This is old hat stuff for/. but real life examples are what "brings it home" to the average Joe.
A few months ago I was ready to open up a project based on a variation of this method but decided not to. The reason was simply that there didn't seem to be a bulletproof way for the action to *not* be interpreted as an attack from the legal/moral perspective. Yeah, in most cases the vendors are only slightly less scummier than the spammers but an acceptable solution would need to take the high road to be used widely enough.
In any case, here's the thought process I (and probably lots of others) have gone through so maybe others could clean it up and iron out the wrinkles.
It seems that one could make the method acceptible by framing the app as a way to increase traffic to the target sites. i.e. an app+site that's sole purpose is drive traffic to the vendors under the guise of a push directory for lack of a better term.
Outline mode:
- Application is a standalone executable with an embedded browser which downloads a number of "Sites of the Day" from (let's say) www.iluvspam.com.
- The "Sites of the Day" are the freshest sites gleaned from an inbox and *provably* spammed. All headers are saved and dropped emails documented. Or maybe couple it with a voting scheme for "most valuable products" at the iluvspam site. Obviously, there's lots of ironing need here to meet the high road philosophy.
- If you're really interested in making your penis larger and don't want to miss out on any late breaking penis enlargement breakthroughs, set default reload (with nocache of course) for every 30 seconds. This seems fair because if a stunning breakthrough is posted then its likely that they'd sell out of it that quickly.
- Or to be really sure that you're catching the latest breakthroughs for all of the fantastic products being offered by spam, the app auto scrolls through the list of sites and reload each.
- The application shouldn't be run as a transparent background service. Remember, its purpose is to serve as a useful tool for users to become aware of important products by reaching the sites. Otherwise it is simply a program the eats bandwidth with no other plausible purpose. So the purposes is no different than searching Yahoo and clicking on the URLs to those sites. Of course the value added feature is that it's better because it goes a step farther by reloading them so you always get fresh information on the products being offered.
- Allow disabling of the (default) auto reload setting. There might be some vendors who would complain about getting so much interest in their product so it's only fair to offer a way to disable reloading their site.
- The Sites of the day could be set for daily download. The link provided would need to be scrubbed to a raw url.
There are a number of other considerations and all of this is just a "cute" way of justifying a (insert more appropriate term than DOS here) attack. But what kept my interest in this scheme is that it could be rationalized and all it would take is 100k slashdotters running it to bring a majority of spam product sites to a halt.
Not to mention that the code would be simple and transparent; a few lines of cross platform code that could be trusted since it it's open source.
Of course the problem is that www.iluvspam.com would most likely be DOSed by some script kiddies hired by the larger spammers. Also, the maintainer of the iluvspam server will be the target of any legal mortars lobbed at them. Getting around that problem is left as an exercise for the reader:)
Slashdot Mirror
"You KNOW tomorrow will come and go and nothing will happen."
Yeah but that's exactly what Chicken Little's naysayers said before the sky ground them into a bloody pulp.
As a mater of fakt I uze the sam dikshunary emalater as /. so I dont missspel werds lik microprossesor.
You may very well be right and I wasted my money. But, at the time, the tabbed interface and easy control over cookies and Java(script) was what I was looking for so the transaction took place.
What's interesting is that I actually used Adsense a few times. Only "banners" I've ever clicked. By your definition it's spyware; to me, I balanced the fact that the queries were going through Google and got a useful link. Opera and Google made a few pennies because I trust them (until either start to screw up, that is).
Oh btw, there are 3 fewer IE users in the world now because I evangelized Opera...surely that counts for something...
Well, there doesn't seem to be any spyware in the version that I paid $39 for. Imho, exchanging money for software seems to be a sensible business model.
Coincidently, Peter Jennings addressed that very question in an article I read on the web. He said that's because there isn't anything good about Republicans.
Sorry I can't find the URL at the moment.
One of the main reasons I bought a Honda Pilot was because they advertised it as being 90% recyclable. Maybe all newer models are too and I got sucked in by marketing. If there isn't a comprehensive recycling program in place now then hopefully there will be in 7 or 8 years when it's time for a new one.
So it made me feel a little less guilty for buying an SUV, other environmental impacts excluded.
es as a atter f fact watc e rgt w
st a sec...
You'd be wrong if you added professional pool to the list. I've watched it for a long time and am convinced that there isn't a male that could consistently beat Allison Fisher in snooker or 9-ball.
There's a bevy of others, too. Try to catch the 9-ball tournaments on ESPN sometime and compare the men against the women. It's surprising what you'll see.
Speaking of idiots, I received the following spam in my inbox the other day:
...
"Subject: - : - Greetings Good morning idiot Brsw. : - : dull@FqxyTlZ1emnEB
"
First thing that came to mind was "Please kind sir, may I please purchase four of your exquisite products?"
Respectfully disagree. After SCO is on the pink sheets, he'll fade into another corporate setting and sit on a few boards. No prosecution, maybe a token SEC fine but nothing more.
/. so folks can prove how 133t they are.
Then as time goes on this entire escapade will end up as a footnote in law classes and as fodder for an endless stream of SCO sigs on
Anyway, that's my sense of reality about how things work these days.
As other posters will no doubt point out, your statement is basically a strawman. Privacy is the real issue; not that you have nothing to hide.
Lots of people I know agree with you but here's what bugs me: Replace the acronym "FBI" with "people". Picture them as a group of average Joes that are getting paid to uphold the law and we hope that there aren't any bad apples in the basket. Or at least if there are, we have checks and balances in place to counteract any abuses of the power we as citizens give to these people. Now give these individuals absolute power to look at any aspect of your life.
Acronyms, especially when applied to governments, are powerful things. Under the surface it's just a bunch of folks that are no different than the average citizen.
So, how would you feel about a person you've never met being able to look at your personal finances by simply demanding to (and without you knowing)?
I installed it and not once did it ever pop up a browser informing me how to protect my children from the internet. Needless to say I deinstalled it pronto.
Btw, anyone know of a hardware solution for this problem?
Whoa. Not a single +5 funny reply to a girlfriend comment on Slashdot.
Venus must be aligned with Pluto or something.
or does it look like some of those swallows are violating SCO's IP?
Ok, coffee time.
What exactly makes Gator evil? Is the spyware portion of their "service" phoning home a list of apps on the client machine? Sucking in personal info for email/IP demographics? Something more sinister?
Just trying to separate the scummy install side of the issue (how about "barnacleware"?) vs. what the code is actually sending back to their servers.
Ummm, no offense but you did you really intend that last part to read like it did?
/.ers drooling on their keyboards at this moment. :)
Scarily, I can envision 1000 post-pubescent
Umm, did I miss something in the Slashdot rules where special karma points are awarded for extreme retardedness?
If so then +5 to you, dude.
A couple Columbo plots revolved around those marks. Here's one episode:
Columbo: Make Me a Perfect Murder
Quick check:
SBC, Verizon, IDT, BellSouth, Qwest, no RIAA members.
So now we know that Mr. Perens was the secret traitor. Hmmm, come to think of it, I recently saw Linus sneaking around Redmond wearing a fake mustache...
bool idealworld = true;
{
Imagine guis/window managers didn't exist. Then, as authors of "Linux GUI 1.0", could you argue that it would make sense to generate a set of interface standards for ease-of-use? Would it make sense to publish application guidelines for "File/Save/.." for developers to decide whether they want to follow or not? Then, what benefit would there be in not following them?
If the above are accepted as worthwhile by a group willing to expend time on the effort, then it doesn't matter whether it happens to be competing with/copying Msft or Apple or any other reason. Implicitly, it would abide by the Linux philosophy of just doing things right.
If not, then life goes on and the answer was derived without outside bias.
Disclaimer: As a Windows developer by day, I happen to prefer using Bluecurve at night.
}
idealworld = false;
Or if the publisher doesn't allow an archival backup to be made.
/. but real life examples are what "brings it home" to the average Joe.
Case in point, my GTA Vice City CD was getting scratched up so, knowing that the play disk was copy protected, I decided to read the license agreement to see how this is handled:
"Software Backup or Archiving. After You install the Software into the permanent memory of a computer, You may keep and use the original disk(s) and/or CD-ROM (the "Storage Media") only for backup or archival purposes."
No mention of a single backup copy or any other solution.
Of course the problem is that the CD is required to run the game. So there's lots of eventual wear and tear no matter how careful you are.
To bring this back on topic, after searching the web for ways to burn a backup I gave up on the idea and found a cracked copy. It works great but it gives me the willies.
So what happens if there's phone-home code in the executable? By using an obviously cracked exe, the chances are that I'd be assumed to be a pirate even though I am innocently trying to exercise my fair use rights. To take it a step further, what if the publisher is a member of the BSA?
This is old hat stuff for
is for SCO to join the BSA.
How's that for a scary thought?
(a million obligatory BSOD references) here.
Ok, here's mine:
So everytime Linux crashes the borg is going to take me to court?
Profit!
Uh, wait a sec...
A few months ago I was ready to open up a project based on a variation of this method but decided not to. The reason was simply that there didn't seem to be a bulletproof way for the action to *not* be interpreted as an attack from the legal/moral perspective. Yeah, in most cases the vendors are only slightly less scummier than the spammers but an acceptable solution would need to take the high road to be used widely enough.
:)
In any case, here's the thought process I (and probably lots of others) have gone through so maybe others could clean it up and iron out the wrinkles.
It seems that one could make the method acceptible by framing the app as a way to increase traffic to the target sites. i.e. an app+site that's sole purpose is drive traffic to the vendors under the guise of a push directory for lack of a better term.
Outline mode:
- Application is a standalone executable with an embedded browser which downloads a number of "Sites of the Day" from (let's say) www.iluvspam.com.
- The "Sites of the Day" are the freshest sites gleaned from an inbox and *provably* spammed. All headers are saved and dropped emails documented. Or maybe couple it with a voting scheme for "most valuable products" at the iluvspam site. Obviously, there's lots of ironing need here to meet the high road philosophy.
- If you're really interested in making your penis larger and don't want to miss out on any late breaking penis enlargement breakthroughs, set default reload (with nocache of course) for every 30 seconds. This seems fair because if a stunning breakthrough is posted then its likely that they'd sell out of it that quickly.
- Or to be really sure that you're catching the latest breakthroughs for all of the fantastic products being offered by spam, the app auto scrolls through the list of sites and reload each.
- The application shouldn't be run as a transparent background service. Remember, its purpose is to serve as a useful tool for users to become aware of important products by reaching the sites. Otherwise it is simply a program the eats bandwidth with no other plausible purpose. So the purposes is no different than searching Yahoo and clicking on the URLs to those sites. Of course the value added feature is that it's better because it goes a step farther by reloading them so you always get fresh information on the products being offered.
- Allow disabling of the (default) auto reload setting. There might be some vendors who would complain about getting so much interest in their product so it's only fair to offer a way to disable reloading their site.
- The Sites of the day could be set for daily download. The link provided would need to be scrubbed to a raw url.
There are a number of other considerations and all of this is just a "cute" way of justifying a (insert more appropriate term than DOS here) attack. But what kept my interest in this scheme is that it could be rationalized and all it would take is 100k slashdotters running it to bring a majority of spam product sites to a halt.
Not to mention that the code would be simple and transparent; a few lines of cross platform code that could be trusted since it it's open source.
Of course the problem is that www.iluvspam.com would most likely be DOSed by some script kiddies hired by the larger spammers. Also, the maintainer of the iluvspam server will be the target of any legal mortars lobbed at them. Getting around that problem is left as an exercise for the reader