payne1000

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has banned Microsoft products from Russia and placed Bill Gates on a Federal Security Service watchlist.
Citing "concerns over security and reliability," Putin has ordered the removal of Microsoft software to begin immediately.
Government spokesman Sergei Zheleznyak explained that Microsoft had been caught carrying out
"minute-by-minute surveillance" on millions of Russian citizens – as well as citizens of other countries."
http://www.drudge.com/news/204006/putin-bans-bill-gates-and-microsoft

Those "citizens of other countries" Microsoft is spying on includes us.
I watched the Microsoft updates flash by on my screen recently.
The descriptive type for each update only flickers on the screen for a fraction of a second.
One of them was clearly labeled "blackbox."
Isn't that curious?

Little Ball of Hate

I have banned all Microsoft products from my life years ago. It meant giving up one of my favorite video games, but I will have nothing to do with Bill Gates. And before anyone asks, I don't use Windows. I don't use the Apple OS either.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

Not curious at all. Who do you think invented "cookies", which routinely imbed keystroke collection along with tracking data? This isn't the Government doing the spying, it is big business spying on you - and they've been doing that long before computers were even invented.

Your anti virus software? It tracks everything you do, which websites you visit, your bank account info ( if you do any online banking ) and examines everything on your hard drive. The company you buy your software from, sells some of that information to others, despite any "privacy statement" you may have read to the contrary. Google makes most of it's money selling tracking information, what you like to look at, what you buy, how often and the like.

I often type in some random word in my search engine, just to change the adds I get. See the ads change here on OPP lately? They seem tailored to you don't they. I once got in trouble with the wife when I typed in "car bra". When she used the machine after me - it was full of Victoria Secret adds.

payne1000

Microsoft has us by the balls and they know it.
Good for Russia for throwing them out.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

It was easy too - Russian computer geeks just copied all the code, so they get it for free.

emarine

Ah yes comrade payne... Russia Putin good...America bad...it's always good to know your enemy's

payne1000

In your mind, mass murderer Netanyahu good, Putin bad.
If you take time to listen to Putin, he has the kind of wisdom this country needs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=932K6tZ5Ea4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBTBBNOtbhM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KHCNk9BYy4

payne1000

Does Microsoft make their code that easy to copy?
I can't imagine Gates letting anyone have anything for free.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

Of course it isn't easy, but nothing is hack proof - and I think the Russians have proven their competence. Russia has never shied away from intellectual property theft or corporate espionage, who do you think taught the Chinese?

Look at Russian aircraft designs starting in 1950 or so and see how closely their newest designs resemble our aircraft designs. Theirs were revealed within months of ours - and that weren't no coinkydink. Remember the Russian "Bear" bomber? They took an interned B29 and reverse engineered it, and, viola! the Bear was born.

Russia's space shuttle was a smaller version of ours, I'm sure that was accidental. Speaking of theft, the Chinese have taken it to a whole new level. Their new stealth fighter is a near duplicate of our F35 Lightning II. That weren't no coinkydink either.

Our dumbass high tech gurus, can't seem to figure out the simple solution for data theft - stop putting shit on computer networks. NO network is hack proof. Let people go to work at a real place, no more telecommuting, put sensitive stuff on paper or even external hard drives if they can't write, and keep everything locked up in a safe. At least Chinese and Russian spies will have to work harder and use some old school spy craft to get our stuff, instead of a 15 year old computer geek working on a weekend.