I hear repeatedly that microsoft is oh so evil.....check this out.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/interne...eut/index.html
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I hear repeatedly that microsoft is oh so evil.....check this out.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/interne...eut/index.html
*publicity stunt*
/truth
yeah yeah... do you think it will have an web front end? hahaha (kidding of course)Quote:
The software is designed to store copies of all the images police find, creating a searchable database that can help them uncover similarities among cases. It can also analyze pictures and classify those that are child pornography
Publicity stunt or not, the end result is a good project and in the end that is really all that matters.
catch
Publicity stunt.. Haha good one.
Forcing one of them "advanced-parental control" programs with anti-uninstall on each windows box would do the trick..
Why is it when M$ try do something good you bag him out? and then when they do something bad you bag him out also? he probly does alot more you dont hear about
Or he could be a father who understands the concerns presented by the police officer. And since the officer was the first to ask..
Regardless of what you think of Microsoft as a company and their actions, BG is still a human being. If you had the power to help someone, wouldn't you do it?
this is a Stunt..... man... look 1 question...... Where did the officer get BG's e_mial ?????????? 2nd Q: how did the officers e_mail get to BG's ::I am sure he uses a safe list, coz I will be damed if he read e_mail:: 3: Q; how the hell will the S/w know if the ppl in the Pic are 18+ ???? tell me it is not like they r taged.....
& lastly... I feel this prog is made to index Porn.... if u dont belive me read the article again....
As part of my job, I occasionally do some work very similar to the officer in the story, so I can empathize with his frustrations. Sometimes you go home at the end of the day feeling very dirty for having even seen these things. As a new father, this sort of crime scares me to death. I haven't had any of the nightmares yet, but any tool that can do some of the work for me so I don't have to look at this garbage is a great thing.
While I never though I'd say it, I have to agree with catch - "Publicity stunt or not, the end result is a good project and in the end that is really all that matters."
Ur right......str34m3r... so r u catch
I find it good that there is a battle against child porn. Its something very important. I find it really good that BG is actually investing in this sort of thing, and that he is helping the battle against this subject. However.... what i dont find good or right is the privacy invasion. I dont find it good that M$ has more control over your puters than the actuall owner (how owns you win pc anyways?). This is just one of the things that RAT your systems. I think i can find an "OK" for this situation. But as time goes by, the win OS itself will just be one large "BIG BROTHER" tool.
Hence, i avoid using M$ as much as possible. Not cause i wanna hide anything, but because i want my privacy.
Cheers.
I think the effort by M$ is great.
What struck me was the statement in the article regarding open source:
"The Microsoft Canada tool will be on an open standard"
I'm encouraged by that statement but wonder if they will keep to that promise given the money they're spending on it.
Again, I applaud M$'s initiative...let's see how the implementation goes and whether privacy concerns as instronics pointed out are addressed somehow.
I'll have to go with Instronics on this one. It's good that Bill Gates is helping these people in their war against Child Porn.
Microsoft understanding the meaning of open source ? :DQuote:
"The Microsoft Canada tool will be on an open standard"
Anyway unless Bill Gates' good actions, my opinion of M$ still remains the same.
Open source and Open standard are two different things....
Quote:
what i dont find good or right is the privacy invasion. I dont find it good that M$ has more control over your puters than the actuall owner (how owns you win pc anyways?).
To me, your privacy is worth jack **** compared to childrens safety. If it means that this crap will stop, that they can get at least a little bit of this kiddie stuff off the internet, I'm all for letting anyone on the the planet see what I do online. Because what I do is legal. Because I have nothing to hide. And because I have a son that pray God will never be a victim of something like that, but then (almost) every parent in the world feels this way, and it's not stopping it. Let them track my activity. Let them do what they want...as long as it leads to these scumbags losing.
I am with Debs on this one. If MS is willing to help put an end to these sick bastards more power to him.
I am sure that he sent the email not directly towards Bill Gates but to more of a public address. For example [email protected] or [email protected]Quote:
this is a Stunt..... man... look 1 question...... Where did the officer get BG's e_mial ?????????? 2nd Q: how did the officers e_mail get to BG's ::I am sure he uses a safe list, coz I will be damed if he read e_mail:: 3: Q; how the hell will the S/w know if the ppl in the Pic are 18+ ???? tell me it is not like they r taged.....
& lastly... I feel this prog is made to index Porn.... if u dont belive me read the article again....
I use M$ all the time and have no problem with their software. like deb and drunk on duvel said, if M$ is going to put an end to Chiled pornography then more power to them.
I have my complaints about Microsoft products, some of their methods and tactics in the past, but I've also been on the receiving end of Microsoft's generous and positive efforts a few times. Without Microsoft's support of education, public K-12 and colleges would not be able to survive on tight budgets. I don't know what would happen to private schools.
That article isn't a publicity stunt. Yeah, Bill Gates has a group who monitor his incoming. But these kind of things get forwarded to him directly. Believe me, he does take these issues seriously.
I don't think Microsoft is any more evil than HP (ever deal with HP Printer Warranty Support?). Or, any more evil than any other corporate entity in the US.
Homework: Read "The Prince," by Machiavelli.
What most people see of Bill Gates is that he is this richest or that richest, billions here and billions there. He built one of the largest software companies in the world, is fiercely competitive and driven. In some ways, I admire his accomplishments. In other ways, I feel sorry for him. I don't think I could every work for him. Just not in my nature. However, Gates has been out of the driver's seat of Microsoft for some time. He doesn't really operate Microsoft on a day-to-day basis anymore (Steve Balmer does that). He does run the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Just do a quick Google on that and see what they do.
Something that bugs me...
As far as corporations go, Microsoft is a very gentle and kind one.
Break out a history book and look at the tactics used by Standard Oil and JP Morgan. Or what about GE? Remember ITT? AT&T's international counterpart? No? This company actually had death squads, I kid you not genuine death squads. And when Chile attempted to nationalize their phone system back in 1972, ITT used their clout to have the CIA engineer a coup. (All of this became declassified in 1997 but was pretty much common knowledge since it happened.) What about DeBeers? Executives from there are still avoiding the US under fear of being instantly arrested for a whole slew of things. Least we not forget the more recent evil corporations like Enron, which screwed over thousands of it's own employees to make the executives more money. Or Halliburton which is currently being charged with not only crimes against humanity in Burma but was awarded large contracts to rebuild Iraq _UNSOLICITED_ which is utterly unheard of (Hmm I wonder if their executive connections had any influence on this). All of this after they were illegally selling to Iraq during the last decade of US embargos. But we elect Halliburton's CEO as Vice President and bash Bill Gates for fighting child pornography?
You've gotta be kidding me.
catch
After all, Bill Gates is the largest charitable giver of all time correct?
An interesting thread folks!
Bill Gates is an exceptionally wealthy person, and $500,000 to him is worth about the same as 50c to most people like me. Now, if there is a charity collecting for child protection on the street, I would gladly put 50c in the box.............wouldn't you?
I have personally gone to EVPs and CEOs with requests from charitable organisations that "somehow" found themselves on my desk. I just say "hey boss" this is local.............you want the Company to be part of the community?...not been fired for it yet :)
I have also had the misfortune to assist in three cases of this nature, as some contributors to this thread have also done. My scum got 18 months, 18 months and NINE MONTHS.....the last was only a few weeks ago, and it was a schoolteacher!!!!!
I was physically sick (puked up) the first time...............I would not wish it on anyone...SERIOUSLY!
I think that ANYONE great or small, who joins in the fight against this, is intrinsically good...........I will be the first to admit that I am a cynical bastard, but these people's motives I cannot find it within myself to question.
As I said, I am cynical, it was not "big" enough to be a publicity stunt IMHO. It was a gut reaction from a fellow human being.
There, thats at least £0.03 worth, and I got it off my chest
Good luck & God bless
Johnno
Yeah, but we all know how many rich bastards there are out there that wouldn't give away a dime even if you paid them to.Quote:
Bill Gates is an exceptionally wealthy person, and $500,000 to him is worth about the same as 50c to most people like me.
My thoughts.
How do people make comparisons like this? Saying that $500,000 to one person is like 50 cents to another. Now maybe they have enough money that that is a decent comparison, but just because they have more doesn't mean they value it any less. A lot of well off and rich people have worked damn hard for their money. Sure once you have money, getting more is easier but a lot of people work there asses off in the beginning and know what it's like to go without. I'm a poor starving student, I have 20 bux to my name and quite honestly I couldn't afford to put 50 cents in a collection box. However I know many people who could put in hundreds of dollars and they wouldn't bat an eye. So because they have more to give does that mean it's less meaningful? A donation of a half-million dollars is amazing in my books regardless of who gives it? Why punish a person because they are wealthy? It isn't fair. if you make $50,000 a year and give $1000 to charity does that mean a person who makes a million dollars a year should give $20000 to charity? Doesn't work out to me. The more you give the better, but you should never assume that rich people don't value their money, and that it means nothing to them, you also should assume that they _MUST_ give more than the average person. If everyone helps a little in the end we help a lot, however why should one person take a larger burden than others, because they have the means? Well boohoo, if giving a half mil. isnt' enough for you then quit your whining until you match the donation.Quote:
Originally posted here by nihil
Bill Gates is an exceptionally wealthy person, and $500,000 to him is worth about the same as 50c to most people like me. Now, if there is a charity collecting for child protection on the street, I would gladly put 50c in the box.............wouldn't you?
As for the privacy issue, I don't like my privacy invaded because some of my activities are at times questionable. However if it will help catch these bloody perverts, then all the power to them. So I agree with Deb, and Jack and others, I'll sacrifice a lil for that.
Well, giving and sacrifice for others is an important aspect of what we are as a human community.
Not to pick on HTRegz, but here is a reference:
Mark 12:41-44
:)
1> This isn't an invasion of privacy. Its a stand alone program. i didn't see anything talking about it being integrated into windows. Whoever said it was a way to index porn is basically right. it is a next generation database that will do preliminary scans on the pictures. If the person has grey hair and wrinkles, they are obviously over 18. If the person has no pubic hair, babyfat cheeks, perfect skin, and no boobs, then it gets flagged to be checked by people.
No invasion of privacy if you ask me.Quote:
designed to store copies of all the images police find, creating a searchable database that can help them uncover similarities among cases. It can also analyze pictures and classify those that are child pornography,
2> BG may be the richest person in the world. You can say his 41 billion dollars or whatever makes 50,000 look like 50cent. But he doesn't have 1 billion dollars. That is his net worth. Lets say you own a $100,000 house and have $2 in the bank. Your net worth is $100,002, but you can't buy a $4 cup of coffee from Starbucks. Most of BG's worth is in stock. Any time he sells more then x ammount of stock (don't remeber the exact number) he has to declare it to the SEC. Now lets say suddenly BG decides to sell 50,000,000 shares of stock. That is going to drop the value of the stock so quick because everyone is going to be selling because something must be wrong for him to sell that many shares. So now the stock went from $50 a share (or whatever) to $20 a share.
Thats a lot of money to be giving away. Now its not all HIS money as it is a foundation, but he has made some rather large investments into that foundation.Quote:
and his philanthropic foundation, with an endowment of $24 billion, has made large donations to global health initiatives among other causes.
you made a point that almost no one had in consideration, the fortune that they say he has is in all of he stuff to have that cash he would need to sell all his stuff(company, house, cars), but the amount they say he is worth i thinks is only for microsoft.
this is a point to ponder on....... so if he sell alot. then he will have aproblem.. since all the stocks will fall that is all his fortune will be hit by it...... so if the stock is 10% down..... he will lose 4+ billion $... nice...... but if the stock is up 10% then... that is profit... not net..... but profite
Oh smeg, did I read some people defending Bill Gates? ;-) j/k
Actually, I do agree with what many of the people in this thread have said. I do not think MS is an inherently evil organization. Are they aggressive, competetive, and ruthless? Absolutely. But any corporation of their size has to be. And rapier57 makes a very good point in that BG does not have much to do with the daily runnings of MS anymore, but is in fact mostly spending his time (and money) on his foundation.
And catch also makes a really excellent point: as far as evil empires, go MS is a pup. Stealing the Mac GUI and trying to kill Netscape is childs play compared to the stuff DeBeers and Chevron has done. Entire wars in Africa have been directly begun and funded by these corporations. Thousands upon thousands killed in the course of business.
Am I concerned about privacy and security issues regarding windows? Extremely. But at least I don't have to worry about a MS Death Squad killing me for switching to Red Hat! :-)
lol....... well
" I am ther Micronater... I will M$ u in 10seconds" :use arnold tone& voince :P
this is the futer who doesnt use M$ Will be visited by the Micronator that will M$ all the ppl :P
lol.......
but any way child p0rN is bad...... any way wt sick mind would like that stuff. dam pidophils.....
First off, the Gates's foundation gives an incredible amount of money to help people. Second, I dont hate MS, I just dont agree with its business practices.
Ok, no for the original thread. I know there is imaging software in development, especially for security to identify someones face real time on a security camera and alert the police. I think it's really cool stuff. But, it is never worth giving up your privacy for that trash they made. How can you determine age, pubes? [/Sick] You cant really. This is more like a porn finder type of thing. I consider it spyware in all aspects and useless.
I wonder... perhaps advanced facial recognition software may be the trick. Given that many countries are now going to special digital images that can be used with face recognition software, perhaps there are other advances in this biometric that may prove beneficial in stopping child pornography.
Erm, spyware? This isn't something they are installing on all windows operating systems....it is an app designed for use by police agencies to catalog and analyze the images for use in later investigations. People need to do their reading....
Hey everyone,
Well I must say this is a very interesting discussion. So here my feelings.
I feel like BG gets blamed for many things that aren’t his fault. We live in and enjoy a Capitalist economy, and BG learned how to use it to his advantage. As a person I don’t have a problem with him. I see someone who built just like many other people do in our system. And I am glad he is a good enough person to dentate and use his power to help problems like this kiddy porn. As a childcare worker I am discussed with how much is out there, and how easy it is to accidentally come across.
My feeling is we have to separate our feelings about Microsoft and BG. Sure there are plenty of things I don’t like about windows. But think about it...BG is out to make money. He created one of the largest companies. Why would he intentionally create something people don’t like or isn’t secure enough. He wouldn’t in my opinion. But their best effort isn’t always what the people want. And in our capitalist system if you don’t like a product you have all the privileges to create a better one. And I know in some ways MS has become better at least in my eyes. As some others have mentioned educational purchases and such have become cheaper and easier to get a hold of.
Well that’s my feelings. Let me know what you think and anyone who can stop kiddy porn has my acceptance.