[Formfiller]

More from Scroogled:

http://www.thepetiti.../?z00m=20503710

Their petition reached over 51 thousand signers. That's really odd, since just a few days ago it was lingering on around 7.000. The sudden surge appears to have happened today (21st February) and yesterday. Just look at the dates of the petitions. The 21ers go on for over 70 pages!

Looks fishy, smells fishy.

[jaclaz]

Formfiller, on 21 February 2013 - 04:11 AM, said:

More from Scroogled:

http://www.thepetiti.../?z00m=20503710

Their petition reached over 51 thousand signers. That's really odd, since just a few days ago it was lingering on around 7.000. The sudden surge appears to have happened today (21st February) and yesterday. Just look at the dates of the petitions. The 21ers go on for over 70 pages!

Looks fishy, smells fishy.

It looks the petition has been hit by spammers (or a flow of unrelated posts/contacts was added to it by mistake).
Some of the people that signed also left a comment.
Besides the normal "STOP DOING THAT" or "I want my priacy" ones.
Comments like:

Quote

The TRUST GUARDIAN IS A THIEF SO WHAT IS THE GUARDIAN FOR?

besides being apparrently senseless can be however "connected" to the topic of the petition but those like:

Quote

stop polavarm save adivasis

Quote

Please think of the wider picture, you need her genetic material to strengthen the breed

Quote

yes please. they drive me mad!!!!

Quote

I think that if in Europe we not save our own wildlife, what hope do we have of persuading the rest of the world to preserve wildlife for future generations.

Quote

I'm ready to see all circuses banished...but this is even more appalling then usual. Why hasn't this elephant been apprehended from her cruel owner and given the peaceful life she deserves?? Anyone who goes to see her perform and supports this circus is really condoning her owners cruel treatment of animals

Quote

To be using a cull as the solution on a population of less than 300 is disgusting.

Quote

We are killing whole nature... what about our sons? Will they ever see wolves, bears, whales and all the other wild animals? Or we have been killed them all?

Quote

WE HAVE TO SAVE OUR BROTHERS THEY NEED US A LOT!!!!!

Quote

Because I would love for children and their to see all the animals that roam their country.

Quote

Please save Suzi, she can help stop inbreeding problems in Sweden!

Quote

I have a whippet cross and been told by my council he has to be muzzled its a disgrace as he is a soft natured as you can get these bureaucrats need to get off there perches and stop thus bsl nonsense it's the deed not the breed

Sound pretty much UNrelated to a privacy issue.

ADDITIONALLY this comment here:
# 53,980
http://www.thepetiti...connect&fb_id=0

Quote

Je ne parle QUE LE FRANCAIS . Pouvez vous m'envoyer les message en francais ? SVP .Merci !

Seem to imply that the signing of the petition has been solicited through (mass) e-mail
Apparently that user received a message in English and BY REPLYING TO IT signed the petition and her reply was recorded as a comment.

(this is also supported by quite a few comments like "I didn't know that .... ", "I am surprised that ...." and similar, this is what you write immediately after having knowledge of something, like after receiving an e-mail pointing you to the petition site)


jaclaz

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 21 February 2013 - 07:09 AM

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

jaclaz, on 21 February 2013 - 03:19 AM, said:

SCOOP!
Paul Thurrot's kids, 14 and 11, show how they have much more common sense AND understand computers and their use MUCH better than their father!


jaclaz

Yep! Check out this later exchange of 3 comments, including Thurrott himself ...

Quote

Commenter ... As you indicate in your article, the Surface Pro is too much of a compromise. Too weak to be a 'real' PC, to heavy to be a 'real' tablet, too small to be a 'real' laptop.

Tablets are consumption devices. For that purpose, a $200 Galaxy Tab is as good as the iPad, more portable than the Surface Pro

PCs are for real work at the place where you normally work. I just ordered parts for a new PC. 2TB hard drive, 32GB RAM, some multi-threaded uber processor that is very fast, 23" monitor, etc, all for less than the price of a Surface Pro.

That leaves one category for the Surface Pro, that occupied by the traditional laptop. And I am not sure that for the price I would choose a Pro over any other smaller traditional laptop at half the price.

---

Commenter ... Maybe your kids have it right: A thin and light laptop along with a smallish tablet. Then you truly have the best of both worlds: a laptop for keyboarding and the smallish tablet for everything else. Something to think about anyway.

Do you suppose Microsoft is working on a smaller tablet device?

---

Thurrott ... Yes, Microsoft CFO Peter Klein recently hinted as much.

And yes, I think the kids are on to something. Speaking for myself, I sort of like the separation of church and state (work and play), where my laptop is "clean" (i.e. for work purposes only) and my entertainment is elsewhere.

I think they call that "a moment of clarity". He has described the antithesis of the cynical Microsoft Plan A Windows 8 OS unification.

Does he even understand that he just admitted we have all been right from the git go and he has been wrong?

[jaclaz]

CharlotteTheHarlot, on 21 February 2013 - 07:22 AM, said:

Quote

And yes, I think the kids are on to something. Speaking for myself, I sort of like the separation of church and state (work and play), where my laptop is "clean" (i.e. for work purposes only) and my entertainment is elsewhere.

I think they call that "a moment of clarity". He has described the antithesis of the cynical Microsoft Plan A Windows 8 OS unification.

Does he even understand that he just admitted we have all been right from the git go and he has been wrong?

Yes and no.
Meaning he is doing hardware device "separation", in his (perverted) mind he wishes to have (and senselessly suggest people to have) :

• a home PC (running Windows 8) <- only for work at home
  
• a notebook (running Windows 8)<- only for work on the move
  
• a surface RT (running Windows 8 RT) <- because of the superior battery life, for play on the move
  
• a surface Pro (running Windows 8) <- because it has battery life that sucks but has both touch and keyboard so you can use mixed/mode input and use it both for work and play
  
• a (nonexisting yet) smallish tablet (running Windows 8 RT) <- because of the superior battery life and being more practical (as an example to senselssly chat while boarding the plane) only for play
  
• a smaller smartphone (running Window 8 Phone) <-because none of the above have decent use as a telephone, and only for work
  
• another smartphone (running Window 8 Phone) <-as the above but only for play

Then (i.e. if people will be SO gullible and rich enough to afford all these) he will be able to say "See, you can see the advantage of a single interface common to all of these...."

I can see Paul in the morning, right after shaving himself, choose both the tie suited to the shirt he puts on and right after choosing the device(s) he will carry with him during the day.

Same goes when preparing his suitcase (where I am gonna go? To a business meeting in another town):
:
I 'll take my notebook because it is business and I will surely found a place in the meeting to plug it in the mains, or no, maybe it's better the Surface Pro, the flight is only 1 1/2 hours, and it is more practical on the plane, hmmm, I'll take both with me.
Wait, what if I want to play a bit? Better take also the Surface RT also.
Then I will get my "business" Nokia Lumia.
Wait, what if the thing is boring and I want to play a Ruzzle or two? Better bring also the "smaller tablet", it is unconspicuous enough but has a larger screen than the Lumia....

jaclaz

[Formfiller]

jaclaz, on 21 February 2013 - 07:08 AM, said:

ADDITIONALLY this comment here:
# 53,980
http://www.thepetiti...connect&fb_id=0

Quote

Je ne parle QUE LE FRANCAIS . Pouvez vous m'envoyer les message en francais ? SVP .Merci !

Seem to imply that the signing of the petition has been solicited through (mass) e-mail
Apparently that user received a message in English and BY REPLYING TO IT signed the petition and her reply was recorded as a comment.

(this is also supported by quite a few comments like "I didn't know that .... ", "I am surprised that ...." and similar, this is what you write immediately after having knowledge of something, like after receiving an e-mail pointing you to the petition site)


jaclaz

So, there is the possibility that Microsoft, or some agency working for them, has spammed people to fill-up this petiton? If yes, then they are insane. Certifiably.

Google could turn this campaign completely on its head and it would be a total massacre for MS.

This post has been edited by Formfiller: 21 February 2013 - 08:24 AM

[ciHnoN]

Formfiller, on 21 February 2013 - 08:00 AM, said:

So, there is the possibility that Microsoft, or some agency working for them, has spammed people to fill-up this petiton? If yes, then they are insane. Certifiably.

Google could turn this campaign completely on its head and it would be a total massacre for MS.

Indeed, considering Google is not a tech company but an advertising corporation. They could butcher Microsoft in days.

[Formfiller]

LOL! Another 10.000 have been added to this petition (within the last few hours)

It's at over 62.000 now.

Come on! They have lost all marbles.

This post has been edited by Formfiller: 21 February 2013 - 10:34 AM

[Formfiller]

It's now going at around 100 signs per minute! ROFLCOPTER.

[jaclaz]

And it must be some kind of "animalists" mailing list:
# 62,511

Quote

arrêté le massacre des animaux

# 62,280

Quote

Help the animals!!!! Now..

# 62,122

Quote

Abuse is ABUSE no matter animals or children , nor adults .YOU JUST DON'T DO IT

# 61,954

Quote

Soyons humain !! On ressent la douleur tout comme les animaux. Ne reproduisons pas les erreurs, d'autre alternative existe !! La science avance alors pourquoi pas sur ce point ?! Ne soyons pas les nazies de la science !

# 61,848

Quote

Temos o dever de ajuda-la, mesmo que indiretamente, é uma vida, e esta precisa ser respeitada, libertem Tania, para que a mesma possa ter dignidade

# 61,710

Quote

wild animals in their native habitats if you want to help please do the same as me

# 61,600

Quote

Molte persone sensibili soffrono difronte alla sofferenza degli animali e la crudeltà' operata verso essi

# 61,578

Quote

elephants are pack animals and should not be used for entertainment. Please find a good santuary for this elephant who has been in captiity far to long

The possible reference must be:
http://www.causes.co...om-she-deserves

BUT not only.
It is possible that some joking guy made a game or a flash thingy linking to it:
# 61,727

Quote

This game is absolute genius!

And ANOTHER SCOOP!

Quote

# 60,859
07:50, Feb 21, Ms. Laurette Lynch, NY
I had no idea of such invasive activities by Google! It better stop fast or perhaps the U.S. attorney general might have to get involved. It is disgusting to know how low these 'providers' have fallen.

Quote

# 60,759
07:48, Feb 21, Mr. Michael Gannon, NY
I had no idea of such invasive activities by Google! It better stop fast or perhaps the U.S. attorney general might have to get involved. It is disgusting to know how low these 'providers' have fallen.

Anyone going to calculate probabilities that two different people in NY will think, write and post in 2 minutes timeframe this same EXACT sentence?

jaclaz

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 21 February 2013 - 11:07 AM

[ciHnoN]

These are automated bots guys. Probably spam bots. I got a private, pretty big website (top visitor count, 19.000 unique in one day) and from time to time I get a ton of these. I do ban the IP numbers, however. Otherwise they will continue to post almost non stop.

Does not mean what Microsoft is using (and that petition website) is not a joke though. *lol*

EDIT: These are new kinds of bots. They reply to the article with somewhat related material. Sometimes they copy from other sources. A bit creepy and odd.

This post has been edited by ciHnoN: 21 February 2013 - 11:24 AM

[JorgeA]

Apropos of '1984' and Microsoft...

NYPD and Microsoft build hi-tech crime fighting 'dashboard'

Quote

"The dashboard," instantaneously mines data from the NYPD's vast collection of arrest records, emergency 911 calls, more than 3,000 security cameras, license plate readers and portable radiation detectors and aggregates it into a user-friendly, readable form in the control room.

(emphasis added)

We may say that this system is intended to deal with a problem, but IMO the cure is worse than the disease. If I had the time and the fiction-writing talent, I'd write a '1984' prequel showing how they got there from the purest of good intentions.

--JorgeA

This post has been edited by JorgeA: 21 February 2013 - 11:42 AM

[JorgeA]

jaclaz, on 21 February 2013 - 11:00 AM, said:

And ANOTHER SCOOP!

Quote

# 60,859
07:50, Feb 21, Ms. Laurette Lynch, NY
I had no idea of such invasive activities by Google! It better stop fast or perhaps the U.S. attorney general might have to get involved. It is disgusting to know how low these 'providers' have fallen.

Quote

# 60,759
07:48, Feb 21, Mr. Michael Gannon, NY
I had no idea of such invasive activities by Google! It better stop fast or perhaps the U.S. attorney general might have to get involved. It is disgusting to know how low these 'providers' have fallen.

Anyone going to calculate probabilities that two different people in NY will think, write and post in 2 minutes timeframe this same EXACT sentence?

Excellent work, jaclaz!

--JorgeA

[Formfiller]

JorgeA, on 21 February 2013 - 11:40 AM, said:

We may say that this system is intended to deal with a problem, but IMO the cure is worse than the disease. If I had the time and the fiction-writing talent, I'd write a '1984' prequel showing how they got there from the purest of good intentions.

--JorgeA

I've read all the major "dystos" - 1984, Brave New World, We, Fahrenheit 451..

In all of them (except for Fahrenheit) the big brother regime came to power after either some disastrous war or through some kind of (forceful) political revolution. The authors were not cynical enough to imagine that force is not needed at all, Angry Birds and Farmville are completely sufficient for hooking up the people to Big Brother freely!

[ciHnoN]

Formfiller, on 21 February 2013 - 12:08 PM, said:

JorgeA, on 21 February 2013 - 11:40 AM, said:

We may say that this system is intended to deal with a problem, but IMO the cure is worse than the disease. If I had the time and the fiction-writing talent, I'd write a '1984' prequel showing how they got there from the purest of good intentions.

--JorgeA

I've read all the major "dystos" - 1984, Brave New World, We, Fahrenheit 451..

In all of them (except for Fahrenheit) the big brother regime came to power after either some disastrous war or through some kind of (forceful) political revolution. The authors were not cynical enough to imagine that force is not needed at all, Angry Birds and Farmville are completely sufficient for hooking up the people to Big Brother freely!

I guess some day, the term "none of your business" will also be banned as "hate crime" or something. After all, you shouldn't have anyting to hide, so it's everybody's business!

[JorgeA]

Extra! Extra!! Paul Thurrott endorses a 'skip Metro' utility!!!

In Windows Weekly episode 293, Thurrott and program host Leo Laporte have the following exchange (starting at 1:35:28, excerpted below):

Quote

PT: One of the big issues with Windows 8, of course, is if you're using it on the Desktop, you don't want to see the Start Screen, you just want to go to the Desktop... I would never recommend anything that actually got rid of any the Metro features of Windows 8 -- I think that's kind of silly. But if you're going to work in the Desktop, to me it makes sense to sit down at the computer, log in, be at the Desktop. And so I've been loking for a tool that does this, and I found one called "WinAero Skip Metro Suite"... It works as advertised... What it does is basically just put a little startup program in there that skips by the Start Screen when you log in and goes right to the Desktop. It's great, it's free, it works well, and it doesn't have any additional UI -- you know, like I think there's a Start8 program that also offers this feature but it also gives you a Start Button in Windows 8 which I don't think is necessary.

(links added)

So, no Start Button yet for Paul, but he's come part of the way with the endorsement of a tool to boot directly to the Desktop.

--JorgeA

This post has been edited by JorgeA: 21 February 2013 - 03:09 PM

[HalloweenDocument12]

JorgeA, on 21 February 2013 - 03:04 PM, said:

Leo Laporte

I miss (the original) Screen Savers

I also miss Computer Chronicles. How come all the good tech journalism came about at a time when such wasn't mass market? The best was when Gary Killdall made company reps visibly uncomfortable with basic questions.

Not that good tech journalism doesn't exist but now you have to go to "some guy's blog" or find a hot message board thread like this one.

Getting on a rant, I loathe "journalists" that link only to themselves for argument support. That's as dishonest as it gets. SJVN is probably the worst at this. Not a slight at CharlotteTheHarlot at the least bit, but it's a bit sad seeing forum commenters offering multiple, independently written sources as evidence while major article writers can't even be bothered to track down a single 1st source, instead relying on Nth-generation summaries and blog rewrites. This problem extends to all technical writing, though. Science reporting is just as bad as tech reporting, for example.

[jaclaz]

HalloweenDocument12, on 21 February 2013 - 03:25 PM, said:

.... but it's a bit sad seeing forum commenters offering multiple, independently written sources as evidence while major article writers can't even be bothered to track down a single 1st source, instead relying on Nth-generation summaries and blog rewrites.

Try seeing the half full glass: we are d@mn good as forum commenters , and particularly clever in keeping something on topic, as an example , I am of the same opinion of poster # 68,298 to the google petition:

Quote

All animals are part of a balanced nature and the wolf as the top predator is vital to the entire system.

For the record, we are just above 70,000!

...and the winner is :
# 70,074

Quote

13:40, Feb 21, Ms. Cristina Cordisco, Italy
credo che bruciare vivo un animale al solo scopo di divertire il pubblico revochi inequivocabilmente ogni diritto dell uomo a considerarsi una "RAZZA" superiore ed evoluta rispetto a quella del regno animale che tra l altro é molto più civile e organizzata della nostra

which translates to:

Quote

I believe that setting on fire an animal with the only scope of entertaining the public definitley revokes any right the mankind might have to consider themselves a superior and evolved race when compared to that of the animal kingdom, which by the way is much more civil and organiozed than ours.

I believe Mr.Schmidt will be touched by the above and will stop putting small, tender, lovely, live animals onto the barbecue grill.....

jaclaz

P.S.: The article here (and expecially the graph ) needs to be updated:
http://marketingland...nst-gmail-33471

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 21 February 2013 - 04:02 PM

[Formfiller]

Oh man, just LOL:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/



Scroogled will be the bestest campaign in the history of advertizing!

[Formfiller]

Oh my God, they went insane completely! They are seriously claiming success with this crazy petition:

http://www.scroogled.com/TheLatest

Quote

It's been a little over a week since Outlook.com launched a campaign to educate consumers that Google goes through their personal emails to target them with ads. Let's look at the numbers. Over 1,000,000 visits to Scroogled.com and our petition has already exceeded its goal of 25,000, and counting.

Read more in today's blog.

Blog:

Quote

It’s been a little over a week since Outlook.com launched a campaign to educate consumers that Google goes through their personal emails to target them with ads.

Let’s look at the numbers.

Over 1,000,000 visits to Scroogled.com and more than 50,000 people from all over the world have come forward and said “enough” – they are asking Google Chairman Eric Schmidt to stop going through the contents of their emails to sell ads. And the momentum is growing. The goal has been moved up to 90,000 consumers on the Care2.org petition.

Videos detailing the Gmail mail-for-sale scanning practice have been viewed more than 200,000 times on the web. The petition website, in particular, is serving as a place for consumers who have been Scroogled by Gmail to make their voices heard.

In addition, hundreds of thousands daily are now signing up for Outlook.com, as the Scroogled campaign continues to educate them and the Outlook.com launch campaign motivates them.

The response from consumers on privacy has been powerful: “Stop prying into my personal life and stop scanning my email,” one user commented on the Care2 Petition Site. Another noted: “I thought Google was a company with integrity, sadly I am mistaken.” And still another: “Email should be as private as content sent through USPS.” The petition is now hundreds of pages in length and growing.

What is surprising, however, is the lack of response from Google on why they won’t change their privacy policy and stop going through consumers’ emails. Rather than address a policy that clearly is out of step with how the vast majority of Americans want their email service to protect their communications, Google instead continues to assert their email scanning isn’t being done by a human being – rather it’s an “automated algorithm.”

Google’s email privacy practices are a significant issue and have been raised as a significant point of differentiation. The petition shows that people are taking this issue quite seriously. Sensitive personal emails, whether about relationships or your finances, are reviewed by Google to target ads. Consumer engagement with the campaign and the research show that this practice strikes a responsive chord. According to a public GfK Roper study, 70% of Americans are unaware that any major email service scans the content of emails to sell ads. And when consumers find out, they oppose the practice, as nearly 90% of Americans disapprove of any email provider scanning emails to target ads. (GfK Roper Poll, 2/13, commissioned by Microsoft Corp.). See how individual Americans react when they learn of Gmail’s privacy practices in this video released today.

The Scroogled campaign will continue to help educate Americans on Google’s privacy practices. We encourage consumers to try Outlook.com - an email service that prioritizes your privacy and doesn’t go through your emails to target ads.

In the words of one disappointed consumer on the petition: “Email should not be indexed for profit. This process should stop.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Just wow! They want to present this spambotted list as success? (I wonder how they generated the "60 Million Windows 8 licenses sold"...)

Google is the undisputed master in web advertizing, they will just obliterate that "petition".. Microsoft is offering them their biggest PR gift in corporate history with it. I can't believe how bonkers they got - this is the nuttiest and most suicidal PR action I've ever seen!



Windows 8 and Office 2013 are obviously only the symptom..

[jaclaz]

This one is nice as, while being clearly a "save the wolves" vote on this other petition here:
http://www.thepetiti...connect&fb_id=0

it could be considered a "valid" entry at first sight:

Quote

# 71,670
15:24, Feb 21, Kayla bremner, New Zealand
This is solo mean . Its the cycle of life , the wolves need to eat too... the majority of people wanting to kill the wolves is over tgir stock ... what a few missing sheep going to do ...

Another one that needs a comment is IMHO this one :

Quote

# 70,348
13:56, Feb 21,[redacted to protect privacy]
I use Yahoo and have never sent anything to Gmail addresses, and now I probably never will.

Dear [redacted],
I am sorry to learn that you have no friends, nor any form of interaction with other human beings.
The good news are that if you actually never sent anything to Gmail addresses google knew NOT of your existence (till today).
The bad news are that now the evil google mail readers have been instructed to pin down one by one all the people that signed that petition and google will eventually track down your e-mail address (even if it is on Yahoo) and start sending to you ads and mails ONLY related to prostethic devices for males (and possibly also instructions/photos/videos on where and how exactly they are implanted).




jaclaz