As long as he voluntarily signed up for the service, and doesn't cancel it, he is legally obliged to pay for it. So if he stopped payments, they would likely send him to collections and begin doing nasty things to his credit history.
Where are the ambulance chasers of the tech world?
You've already answered that without even realizing it. McAfee et al. are the ambulance chasers of the tech world. And they don't even need a jurisprudence degree to qualify.
Similar to what we have. Cisco VPN, connected to terminal server, terminal server. Cut, paste, and print disabled. External network (including home LAN) and local hard drive access disabled while connected to the VPN. Traffic between your PC and the VPN is encrypted. There's presently no way to get data from the corporate network to your home PC, and thus no risk of data loss. While there are holes in it, you need to look hard for them. They aren't the kind any user will stumble across accidentally or via stupidity.
On the other hand, people with corporate laptops don't have the same restrictions, and many people are perfectly able to use a USB key fob into their work PCs. These kinds of oversights defeat the purpose...
"It'll be a while before they have enough people skilled enough to replace indian programmers."
Surely you jest! I mean, look at this quality work I received from Nigeria just today (I've edited parts of it out, so that I can still cash in on my good fortune:
DEAR SIR:
We happily announce to you the draw of the UK
NATIONAL LOTTERY, online
Sweepstakes International program held on Saturday 17th of June, 2006
in LIVERPOOL UNITED-KINGDOM.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:
[edited out so I can still collect] with Serial
number [edited] drew the lucky numbers:
[edited] [--] Bonus Ball
which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd
category.
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
US$2,500,000.00 (Two million,Five Hundred Thousand United States
Dollars) in cash credited to file [edited].This is from a
total cash
prize of $USD 25 Million dollars, shared amongst the first Ten (10)
lucky winners in this category.
All participants for the online version were selected
randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system
andextracted from over 100,000
unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are
listed online. This promotion takes place annually.
At the time I made my post, the story did not have a link associated at all. Must've been corrected subsequently. (Glad I checked and saw it was updated, before I made my reply to your comment...)
I make fun of them because they deserve to be made fun of. That whole "culture" is about being proud of being an ignorant fool. It's about preferring "likable" over "competent"
Thus providing evidence of your own ignorance. I've got an IQ higher than 90% of the population; I make a six-figure income. I make it my business to be aware of and knowledgeable about as much as is humanly possible -- the antithesis of ignorant. Yet I'm a redneck, and proud of it. Of course, your definition of redneck and mine differ. To me, it's all about not sweating the small stuff; about not being afraid to get dirty when getting the job done; about a strong work ethic; about taking pleasure in simple things. To you, it's apparently what the television tells you it must be. Based on that world view, you must think that all men are pigs and all women are manipulative.
As to the other part of your absurd statement. "... they deserve to be made fun of...". Your sense of superiority isn't basis for making fun of anybody at all. No matter your excuses, it's generally a very small person who feels that anybody at all "deserves to be made fun of." Now don't get me wrong -- I'm far from guiltless in the 'making fun of people department. But the apparent difference between you and me is that I don't assuage my conscience by claiming that they "deserve" it.
1. Launch Open Linux 10.
2. Abbreviate to Open Linux X
3. Abbreviate further to OL X
4. Confuse Mac fans into thinking it has something to do with OS X.
5. ?
6. Profit!
A few weeks ago, I would have agreed with you. More recently, I've been doing some research and found that only rarely are there obvious 'tells' like asking for a PIN.
You see, in addition to making it look exactly like the vendor's site, they now no longer ask for anything unusual. You click on the link, and are presented with the standard, expected login page. You log in, and everything works just like normal. What really happens is that you log into their server, they capture your information, and redirect the login to the actual vendor. You never receive a hint that you were duped until the charges start showing up.
These days, a suspicious URL in your browser is often the only clue you'll get -- and if you don't have the latest patches for the popular browsers, the URL can be disguised.
This isn't to say that there is no stupidity factor. People still fall for the old style phishing scams like you described, or "validate your credit card numer" scams with startling regularity. Most people fail to realize that a simple precaution can make you essentially immune to phishing attempts (like disabling HTML in emails).
However, the newest round of phishing is a lot more sophisticated, and a lot more convincing. As it becomes more prevalent, expect mass stupidity to be less of a factor in its success.
Now I know this'll get me modded down, but here goes. Picture this imaginary conversation:
Me: "Hey, Bob?"
My neighbor Bob: "Yeah?"
Me: "There's someone walking out your back door with a TV -- and it's a TV you borrowed from me.."
Bob: "Oh, shit! I'd better call the police!"
Me: "Thanks, Bob"
Here, let me get the obvious argument out of the way:
"A TV is a physical object! Digital copies are not!"
Alright. "Hey, Bob? There's someone going into your house and making copies of your hard drive -- including that email I sent you with my account information."
To an extent, that's true. However, I would draw the line at speaking out publically, unless they did something that actually caused me substantial harm. (And even then, I'd likely litigate instead). Like I said, I agree with the sentiment; but wouldn't the same thing have been accomplished with a reply like this: "In order to ensure that we deliver the most stable system possible, drivers for your product will be removed from the kernel until the documentation for your chip is available without restriction."
Now, that being said, I'm certainly not the one who has spent hours, hours, and more hours trying to maintain a driver on behalf of an uncooperative manufacturer. In that light, I can definitely see how one would get frustrated enough to make the kind of reply he did.
Imagine you are a system administrator. Won't it be nice to be able to ssh into your server the moment you get a warning? That way you could perhaps solve the problem faster, from where you are, without the need to actually go to your portable. Unless you a such a geek that you don't have any moment you walk around without a portable (and network access)
Hmm... yes, yes, I can see it now:
user@hostname$ 222 28*****827*****56*****633777 777724337777 cat:/var/log/mesrages: No such file or directory user@hostname$ 3338822255099966688** ** **
While I whole-heartedly agree with the point Theo was making in his article, I can't help but think that engaging in hyperbole (50 questions? ~25 is accurate) and verbally abusing and threatening the vendor is going to help in any way.
Slashdot Mirror
$1k/year/voter -- make that $10/year/voter, and we're getting somewhere.
... before the chairs start flying.
INteresting, but it's a linnk to a blog that posts a strictly anecdotal story, with nothing verifiable to back it up.
As long as he voluntarily signed up for the service, and doesn't cancel it, he is legally obliged to pay for it. So if he stopped payments, they would likely send him to collections and begin doing nasty things to his credit history.
Where are the ambulance chasers of the tech world?
You've already answered that without even realizing it. McAfee et al. are the ambulance chasers of the tech world. And they don't even need a jurisprudence degree to qualify.
You forget the temperature readout, but other than that it's pretty dead on.
Maybe your toaster. I'm holding out for OSX on my toaster.
Similar to what we have. Cisco VPN, connected to terminal server, terminal server. Cut, paste, and print disabled. External network (including home LAN) and local hard drive access disabled while connected to the VPN. Traffic between your PC and the VPN is encrypted. There's presently no way to get data from the corporate network to your home PC, and thus no risk of data loss. While there are holes in it, you need to look hard for them. They aren't the kind any user will stumble across accidentally or via stupidity.
On the other hand, people with corporate laptops don't have the same restrictions, and many people are perfectly able to use a USB key fob into their work PCs. These kinds of oversights defeat the purpose...
Oh, wait.
Just Email me with your Name, Address, Social Security number, and Credit Card information and I'll take care of it all.
Sweet! What's your e-mail address?
Data storage would be a complete non-issue. Just apply the same cutting edge technology used to give this Nano incredible storage capacity.
Surely you jest! I mean, look at this quality work I received from Nigeria just today (I've edited parts of it out, so that I can still cash in on my good fortune:
DEAR SIR:
We happily announce to you the draw of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, online Sweepstakes International program held on Saturday 17th of June, 2006 in LIVERPOOL UNITED-KINGDOM.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: [edited out so I can still collect] with Serial number [edited] drew the lucky numbers: [edited] [--] Bonus Ball which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category.
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$2,500,000.00 (Two million,Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in cash credited to file [edited].This is from a total cash prize of $USD 25 Million dollars, shared amongst the first Ten (10) lucky winners in this category. All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system andextracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place annually.
So... sarcastically calling Americans fat is flamebait, but singling us out as being lazy (in a non-sarcastic manner) is insightful... Interesting.
He forgot to mention that we're all fat, too.
At the time I made my post, the story did not have a link associated at all. Must've been corrected subsequently. (Glad I checked and saw it was updated, before I made my reply to your comment...)
I make fun of them because they deserve to be made fun of. That whole "culture" is about being proud of being an ignorant fool. It's about preferring "likable" over "competent"
Thus providing evidence of your own ignorance. I've got an IQ higher than 90% of the population; I make a six-figure income. I make it my business to be aware of and knowledgeable about as much as is humanly possible -- the antithesis of ignorant. Yet I'm a redneck, and proud of it. Of course, your definition of redneck and mine differ. To me, it's all about not sweating the small stuff; about not being afraid to get dirty when getting the job done; about a strong work ethic; about taking pleasure in simple things. To you, it's apparently what the television tells you it must be. Based on that world view, you must think that all men are pigs and all women are manipulative.
As to the other part of your absurd statement. "... they deserve to be made fun of ...". Your sense of superiority isn't basis for making fun of anybody at all. No matter your excuses, it's generally a very small person who feels that anybody at all "deserves to be made fun of." Now don't get me wrong -- I'm far from guiltless in the 'making fun of people department. But the apparent difference between you and me is that I don't assuage my conscience by claiming that they "deserve" it.
The link that post contained pointed to what may well be the most informative, insightful, and entertaining read I've had all year.
1. Launch Open Linux 10.
2. Abbreviate to Open Linux X
3. Abbreviate further to OL X
4. Confuse Mac fans into thinking it has something to do with OS X.
5. ?
6. Profit!
A few weeks ago, I would have agreed with you. More recently, I've been doing some research and found that only rarely are there obvious 'tells' like asking for a PIN.
You see, in addition to making it look exactly like the vendor's site, they now no longer ask for anything unusual. You click on the link, and are presented with the standard, expected login page. You log in, and everything works just like normal. What really happens is that you log into their server, they capture your information, and redirect the login to the actual vendor. You never receive a hint that you were duped until the charges start showing up.
These days, a suspicious URL in your browser is often the only clue you'll get -- and if you don't have the latest patches for the popular browsers, the URL can be disguised.
This isn't to say that there is no stupidity factor. People still fall for the old style phishing scams like you described, or "validate your credit card numer" scams with startling regularity. Most people fail to realize that a simple precaution can make you essentially immune to phishing attempts (like disabling HTML in emails).
However, the newest round of phishing is a lot more sophisticated, and a lot more convincing. As it becomes more prevalent, expect mass stupidity to be less of a factor in its success.
Me: "Hey, Bob?"
My neighbor Bob: "Yeah?"
Me: "There's someone walking out your back door with a TV -- and it's a TV you borrowed from me.."
Bob: "Oh, shit! I'd better call the police!"
Me: "Thanks, Bob"
Here, let me get the obvious argument out of the way: "A TV is a physical object! Digital copies are not!"
Alright. "Hey, Bob? There's someone going into your house and making copies of your hard drive -- including that email I sent you with my account information."
I've got the perfect solution -- we'll swap Weird Al's songs online, and not pay a dime!
That way, the record companies get nothing for their treacherous ways, and neither does Weird Al.
Hey, waitaminute...
To an extent, that's true. However, I would draw the line at speaking out publically, unless they did something that actually caused me substantial harm. (And even then, I'd likely litigate instead). Like I said, I agree with the sentiment; but wouldn't the same thing have been accomplished with a reply like this: "In order to ensure that we deliver the most stable system possible, drivers for your product will be removed from the kernel until the documentation for your chip is available without restriction ."
Now, that being said, I'm certainly not the one who has spent hours, hours, and more hours trying to maintain a driver on behalf of an uncooperative manufacturer. In that light, I can definitely see how one would get frustrated enough to make the kind of reply he did.
Imagine you are a system administrator. Won't it be nice to be able to ssh into your server the moment you get a warning? That way you could perhaps solve the problem faster, from where you are, without the need to actually go to your portable. Unless you a such a geek that you don't have any moment you walk around without a portable (and network access)
Hmm... yes, yes, I can see it now:
Before anyone else takes glee in pointing out the obvious, I meant "his message" and not "his article".
While I whole-heartedly agree with the point Theo was making in his article, I can't help but think that engaging in hyperbole (50 questions? ~25 is accurate) and verbally abusing and threatening the vendor is going to help in any way.