M$ Windows XP Professional Bugging Device?
Mark McCarron, 07.10.2004 05:33
Mark McCarron, 07.10.2004 05:33
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Something for the paranoid? 2
- Thread starter linney
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Oh Michael, you drive me insane.
There is no question as to whether Microsoft can return private information under XP.
Yes it can.
The better question is "does it do so?"
For copywrited media files, yes.
This is demanded by the RIAA and the MPIAA.
Microsoft with its new "Genuine Advantage Program" has become much tougher about your XP license, but even with that ActiveX control (which I have ripped into piecs) I do not see a privacy violation.
All sorts of things could be done. But are they done? I am pretty confident that they are not done. I would join your crusade in a second if I thought otherwise.
Bill
There is no question as to whether Microsoft can return private information under XP.
Yes it can.
The better question is "does it do so?"
For copywrited media files, yes.
This is demanded by the RIAA and the MPIAA.
Microsoft with its new "Genuine Advantage Program" has become much tougher about your XP license, but even with that ActiveX control (which I have ripped into piecs) I do not see a privacy violation.
All sorts of things could be done. But are they done? I am pretty confident that they are not done. I would join your crusade in a second if I thought otherwise.
Bill
gpalmer711
IS-IT--Management
In my earlier days when I used semi-ligitimate (cough cough) versions of software then I tended to be paranoid about what the O/S might be sending back.
Some of the things this guy touches on are just plain stupid.
Come on mate - if someone wants a simple word processor then they can use wordpad, which doesn't have the limitations of notepad. Just imagine the lawsuits if Bill Gates decided to bundle Office with Longhorn. It was bad enough with a simple Internet Browser.
Greg Palmer
Freeware Utilities for Windows Administrators.
Some of the things this guy touches on are just plain stupid.
Come on mate - if someone wants a simple word processor then they can use wordpad, which doesn't have the limitations of notepad. Just imagine the lawsuits if Bill Gates decided to bundle Office with Longhorn. It was bad enough with a simple Internet Browser.
Greg Palmer
Freeware Utilities for Windows Administrators.
gpalmer711
IS-IT--Management
I've just read through this properly after stopping at the notepad quote last time.
This guy has serious psychological problems that need to be looked at by a qualified medical practitioner.
I have never consciously or sub-consciously thought that Microsoft Works was supposed to imply that Microsoft "Works".
French Fries are so called because that is how they are made in France - People from the UK if not other countries will appreciate the TRUE chip. A nice big chunk of potato deep fried - not this thin rubbish that the french decided on.
Greg Palmer
Freeware Utilities for Windows Administrators.
20. Microsoft Works
Breach of trade descriptions act? Microsoft 'probably' Works.
Really, it is an 'implied' suggestion based on the play of words. It can be described as 'psychologically misleading', human psychology is extremely complex, even if most humans are not.
This implied statement is registered at a deeper level of the brain and assigned its true meaning. Otherwise, you would have never considered the relationship in the first place.
One way of describing this is, 'marketing', the accurate description is 'subliminal programming', it does not matter how slight the incident.
This is very, similar in style, to the 'French Fries' and 'Freedom Fries' incident in the US, used to blind the US citizens from war opposition, through manipulation of patriotic beliefs.
Shameful.
Done by design.
This guy has serious psychological problems that need to be looked at by a qualified medical practitioner.
I have never consciously or sub-consciously thought that Microsoft Works was supposed to imply that Microsoft "Works".
French Fries are so called because that is how they are made in France - People from the UK if not other countries will appreciate the TRUE chip. A nice big chunk of potato deep fried - not this thin rubbish that the french decided on.
Greg Palmer
Freeware Utilities for Windows Administrators.
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How astonishingly gifted the man must be! Myself, I don't always remember things I must have thought consciously about., never mind monitor my subconscious thoughts. And while I have a clear memory of learning various programming languages, I must have picked up the complex rules of English grammer in the first few years of life, by a process that I have no recollection of (just like every native speaker of any language).
Seriously, there are plenty of well-documented cases of companies going to great lengths to choose a name that will resonate nicely. It's not certain how important it is - Pratt & Witney do nicely, and so do Standard & Poor. But intent to influence is a reasonable suspicion.
![[yinyang]](/data/assets/smilies/yinyang.gif "[yinyang] [yinyang]")
Madawc Williams (East Anglia, UK)
gpalmer711
IS-IT--Management
I take exception at that comment.
The sub-conscious is just as controlable as the conscious mind - either by the individual or a company such as MS to try and sell you products. This is not really the place for a debate on whether I can or cannot register in my conscious mind something that I have seen in my sub-conscious mind.
No matter what MS's intentions at calling their application "Microsoft Works". It does "resonate nicely". However reserching for a name that sounds nice and is very memerable is, in my opinion, alot different to trying to control a persons thoughts.
Have you ever brought a copy of MS Works? I know of no-one that has activly purchased a copy of the software. I know people that have the software bundled with their computer.
So if MS really wanted to plant a subliminal message it would seem that it did not work, again IMO.
Greg Palmer
Freeware Utilities for Windows Administrators.
Hola, too true about the 'Works', I've seen it also only bundled with OEM PC's, and frankly threw it out as soon as possible...
about the 'French Fries', only in America, ie. McDonalds too thin and sogy... the 'Chips' in the UK are equal to the 'Country Fries' stateside... in Germany they are called 'Pommes Fritz' a mangled warped wording from the French 'Pomme tu Terre' (potatoe) and Fritz (frying)... but alas they too are sometimes just too thin and sogy, depending on where they are purchased, ie. McDonals...
btw. as it seems, Microsoft does 'Work(s)' otherwise they wouldn't have the big cash...
ps: @Madawc - My Native language is not English, it's German, but due to unforseeable circumstances (my mother married a GI (American Soldier for those that do not understand the term GI), I was thrown into a foreign language at the age of 11, with hardly any understanding of the English language at all... but thank god somebody invented TV and Comics/Cartoons...
Big Grin and a happy New Year to you all and your families...
Ben
If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer...
about the 'French Fries', only in America, ie. McDonalds too thin and sogy... the 'Chips' in the UK are equal to the 'Country Fries' stateside... in Germany they are called 'Pommes Fritz' a mangled warped wording from the French 'Pomme tu Terre' (potatoe) and Fritz (frying)... but alas they too are sometimes just too thin and sogy, depending on where they are purchased, ie. McDonals...
btw. as it seems, Microsoft does 'Work(s)' otherwise they wouldn't have the big cash...
ps: @Madawc - My Native language is not English, it's German, but due to unforseeable circumstances (my mother married a GI (American Soldier for those that do not understand the term GI), I was thrown into a foreign language at the age of 11, with hardly any understanding of the English language at all... but thank god somebody invented TV and Comics/Cartoons...
Big Grin and a happy New Year to you all and your families...
Ben
If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer...
gpalmer711
IS-IT--Management
My system certain works a lot better without it ![[bigsmile]](/data/assets/smilies/bigsmile.gif "[bigsmile] [bigsmile]")
Greg Palmer
Freeware Utilities for Windows Administrators.
Greg Palmer
Freeware Utilities for Windows Administrators.
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haha thats very very funny, but you know what, it also has some truth in it.
There is no question as to whether Microsoft can return private information under XP.
Yes it can.
The better question is "does it do so?"
exactly, but this question has more then one answer; also, an even better question is,
"will it begin doing so given a reason?"
its never wise to allow one authority to have that much personal access, some thing the U.S. (i dont mean to be nationalistic) is founded on, and most democratic countries. In particular when this authority is some lame untrustwhorthy corporation.
An even more obvious concen is, does MS have back doors in its versions of windows? you know how many secure organizations buy MS software and especially OSs? what is MS professionals can access "secure" servers with specially crafted usernames and passwords? i once emailed MS and asked whether they have back doors, and they havent answered. So theres always a possibility. But as this guy points out, hell you dont need a back door to access a PC when every program reports back to you personally.
There is no question as to whether Microsoft can return private information under XP.
Yes it can.
The better question is "does it do so?"
exactly, but this question has more then one answer; also, an even better question is,
"will it begin doing so given a reason?"
its never wise to allow one authority to have that much personal access, some thing the U.S. (i dont mean to be nationalistic) is founded on, and most democratic countries. In particular when this authority is some lame untrustwhorthy corporation.
An even more obvious concen is, does MS have back doors in its versions of windows? you know how many secure organizations buy MS software and especially OSs? what is MS professionals can access "secure" servers with specially crafted usernames and passwords? i once emailed MS and asked whether they have back doors, and they havent answered. So theres always a possibility. But as this guy points out, hell you dont need a back door to access a PC when every program reports back to you personally.
Well,
Let's be honest about it. If you code it or a portion of it, then you know ways around the standard access rules and bugs that may not have been discovered that allow you access to the system and files.
So yes, it is always possible that there is a back door and a secret cult of overpaid programmers is sitting somewhere with plots for world domination.
Realistically, I doubt it. Even if this was something that MS was considering, that empire has already come under heavy assault, as of the past few years. Would they truly risk an all out attack by the public to put a back door into a system? I doubt it, there are to many literate (PC) people in the world today. And to many people that sit in front of their system for hours on end, doing nothing more than looking for those backdoors.
It's all risk vs reward and there's to great a risk to try and sneak undocumented backdoors into a product used by millions (if not more). Conspiracy theories are fun, but this one really doesn't hold water for me.
Wake me when we get to the little green men...
Let's be honest about it. If you code it or a portion of it, then you know ways around the standard access rules and bugs that may not have been discovered that allow you access to the system and files.
So yes, it is always possible that there is a back door and a secret cult of overpaid programmers is sitting somewhere with plots for world domination.
Realistically, I doubt it. Even if this was something that MS was considering, that empire has already come under heavy assault, as of the past few years. Would they truly risk an all out attack by the public to put a back door into a system? I doubt it, there are to many literate (PC) people in the world today. And to many people that sit in front of their system for hours on end, doing nothing more than looking for those backdoors.
It's all risk vs reward and there's to great a risk to try and sneak undocumented backdoors into a product used by millions (if not more). Conspiracy theories are fun, but this one really doesn't hold water for me.
Wake me when we get to the little green men...
gpalmer711
IS-IT--Management
Some would say that some of the vulnrabilities that are found in the o/s that allow hackers to run malicious code on your machine - such as the many buffer overrun problems of the last couple of years, could be the said back doors.
Were at more of a risk from our governments, they already have a system in place that intercepts most of not all electronic transmisions - it's called Echelon.
Microsoft have also released the source code to Windows to several governments
Greg Palmer
Freeware Utilities for Windows Administrators.
Were at more of a risk from our governments, they already have a system in place that intercepts most of not all electronic transmisions - it's called Echelon.
Microsoft have also released the source code to Windows to several governments
Greg Palmer
Freeware Utilities for Windows Administrators.
![[tiger]](/data/assets/smilies/tiger.gif "[tiger] [tiger]")
from the UKThis may be of some concern, although it happened with mail and exchange many years ago. The company I was consulting for was asked to migrate a large Gas company from mail to exchange. We had to open each mail box with a username and password and then use a small program that behaved like a macro and migrate the users mail box to exchange then move to the next. Microsoft handed us a program and we ran it as instructed and we never knew the password or user name used to open each mail box. But as we watched it work it used some "unknown" user name and password to open each box and migrate it and move to the next...it was cool to watch as it made a huge job doable but quite scarey as well. I'm fairly certain that microsoft has ways into an O.S. and all of its programs as well. I am also sure that microsoft is run by the not very bright and wouldnt know what to do with all the information ayway.
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