Windows Genuine Advantage Phone Hoooome….
Jun 15Windows genuine .. erm … Genuine ?
A few days ago, it was discovered that the Windows Genuine Advantage program (that little tool that checks if you have a real or pirated version of Windows) actually 'phoned home' to Microsoft. Although this was far from a big surprise , it still caused a bit of an uproar in the cyber community. On the techpodcasts mailing list we were talking about this subject , so I thought , I would give you my take on all of this.
( Source )
Et Phone Hooome.
Windows Gen. Adv phones home ? What a surprise. I didn't like the program in the first place. Don't get me wrong, i'm not one of these 'if its MS : Kick-it' kind of people. Thanx to uncle Bills and Grandpa Steve's software I make a living (i'm an IT consultant). BUT .. I think WGA ( win.gen.adv)
is flawed in two ways :
First of all : What it does. : If you don't have a legit version of windows, it won't let you upgrade. An unprotected (legal or illegal) copy of XP connected to the internet catches some horrible virus faster then you can say 'WillyWonka" and before you know it this little unprotected machine is becoming another oompa-loompa drone for virusmakers who just love to turn it onto a little Zombie Pc to make sure a virus like for example the BLASTER virus will be around for years to come. (if they don't select your unprotected machine to become a viagra-promo spreading spam-canon). So no genuine windows ? Sorry dude .. you'll get hacked. Now I would not mind that if the machine just died then and there , its because of these unpatched zombie pc's we get even MORE viruses out there. (and more spam)
And second of all : I don't like WGA for what its does not do ! Shut your Windows down for-good if you don't have a legitimate version. I mean : If you can write a peace of code that can see wether or not an operating system has been copied illegally .. why in hells bells leave that operating system running in the first place. I mean .. if somebody walks by my house and steals my garden gnome.. I'll run after him .. i'll catch him .. And then i'll put a pink sticker on his back saying : This man stole my garden gnome.. and send him on his merry way. If Microsoft was TRUELY serious about pirate control they would let WGA shut the illegal copy of Windows down right away.
Shut it down !
But they don't .. Why ? Because if they have to subtract the number of illegal copied versions of Windows from their total market share they would NOT be having 90 percent of the market anymore. They would have shutdown 40 percent (and i'm being mild here) of all the Windows versions out there and would FORCE people to pay for their product. And that is where the fun begins. At that moment people have to choose. 200 euros forjust XP , 85 euro's for macOSX, and any distro of Linux .. for free. Sure they would have some adaptation problems switching to the other os'es but actually having to PAY for xp would make them give it serious thought.
So instead of going the full mile and shutting down the non genuine xp's , WGA just leaves them running.. unpatched and annoying the rest of us.. And they leave WGA running.. just to phone home as-well.. You never know what they could use the info for.
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hot weather + Airco = No show :(
Jun 13Hot hotter .. Haaaatchoo !
Just great ! One day of hot and steamy weather and guess what ? I have a cold. A cold ? yep ! My voice sounds like Barry White the morning after his bachelor party. My throat feels like the inside of a death star trash compactor in full swing and my eyes feel like they can just about destroy a small passenger plane when they will pop out.
Yep , A combination of warm weather, happily switching between cold air conditioned rooms and hot sweaty NON air conditioned rooms and having an air conditioner in the car and not knowing how to deal with it … has left me in this petty full state. Just proves that too much integration of technology in your life (and poor climate control in using it) can be a bad thing. So unless you want a one hour podcast of the headless-hoarse man ( haha , get it ? Hoarse-man..) i am going to have to pass on doing a show this week. But no worries mate (as Dave sais)
There will be plenty to talk about on the next show as I'm momentarily preparing 2 more shows full off yummy good content. Meanwhile if I look at the over cluttered living room table ( Bless you for putting up with me Nyana) and the Satanic Six are staring back at me. Nono, I haven't gotten a devils spawn on the day of the beast. These are just 6 final essays that I have to rate and grade by next week Thursday. (i'm in the Jury). So I've been digging down in them pretty hard (lotsa pictures makes for fast reading) and understand why in MY college days jury’s where begging students to keep papers as light as possible .. And despise students who want to impress jury's with endless 'paper-filling'. ( Page size screenshots of error messages, useless banter etc).
Techroundtable and more.
On a Final note (and preview on the next show) I'm fighting with a Ubuntu 6.06 install and must say : "Aaaiii – Candeyyyy " (go suck on that). Surprise surprise it does need LESS mega’s of ram then the Vista beta two (hogging up to a gig for starters) but still looks pretty slick and pretty fine. After install Ubuntu looks like a beautiful Nigerian-exchange student girlfriend popped up on the edge of your bed. Indeed indeed : Dapper drake looks mighty fine.
BUT ! I have good news. Be sure to check out the techroundtable webcast next saturday on the "techpodcast network ' where you might just hear a very familiar voice.
Ok , its gulp-down coffee, dash off to work crunch time again… Darn.. its too darn hot.
