The mention of Comcast could be interesting because of the Microsoft relationship [1, 2], but that's a negligible or irrelevant part. Surely there will be some skeptics out there who will call DaemonFC "paranoid" and other such words . But we already know for a verifiable fact that Microsoft hires marketing agencies (or agencies that recruit people) for manipulation of information that's presented in the press, the Web, and the journals.
Whenever people insist that it's "just paranoia", the stories above are worth revisiting. It's not so easy to rub off the past and Microsoft does occasionally get caught. It's a strategy, it's not out-of-control employees. ⬆
"Ideally, use of the competing technology becomes associated with mental deficiency, as in, "he believes in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and OS/2." Just keep rubbing it in, via the press, analysts, newsgroups, whatever. Make the complete failure of the competition's technology part of the mythology of the computer industry. We want to place selection pressure on those companies and individuals that show a genetic weakness for competitors' technologies, to make the industry increasingly resistant to such unhealthy strains, over time."
With the things many companies do, I don't think it's paranoid to wonder such things at all. Like I've said many times before, corporations like Microsoft do pay for PR firms, and those firms do put out positive publicity for their payers, and negative for others against their payers.
Proof is what is needed to really know for sure, I totally agree. Just remember Microsoft's pockets are particularly deep along with many other of the large corps. They can afford to pay for propaganda and they do.
Roy Schestowitz
2009-04-16 22:08:05
I put a question mark in the headline for a reason.
Yfrwlf
2009-04-13 18:05:23
Lol, I never said it was true, I said it wouldn't be surprising if it was, and Microsoft and especially other larger corporations with lots of money DO pay "PR firms" to spread PR in all manners of forms, and astroturfing is one of those.
It's like if someone said they were spoke to by some god, I'd probably immediately walk away knowing that that is most likely BS, but if someone said they felt the effects of gravity, then yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if that were true and they really did feel the effect of gravity.
Roy Schestowitz
2009-04-13 19:55:53
Yfrwlf,
DaemonFC said he did reverse DNS lookup.
Shane Coyle
2009-04-13 22:04:54
DaemonFC said he did reverse DNS lookup.
And?
I mean, did it resolve back to "1 Microsoft Way", or whatever their address is?
(I watched about 50 seconds of the video before I said "Yup, he sounds paranoid." and clicked stop, so I honestly don't know the answer.)
Anyhow, I had for a while been receiving some nastygrams from time to time during the early days of BN, so I can certainly {sy|e}mpathize, and it certainly does not need to be tolerated nor condoned, but I think it's a just a bit of a leap to think that MS is orchestrating it.
"Internet's fulla crazies" (including "us"), that usually explains it.
I suppose I could be wrong, I'll go ask the man with the parabolic mic parked out front in a van with Washington license plates if he's aware of anyone assigned to DaemonFC, be back in a sec... ;^ )
Dan O'Brian
2009-04-14 02:05:33
RDNS just pointed to random Comcast home IP's in Minnesota according to the video. No "One Microsoft Way", no connection to any known Microsoft partners, nothing.
Paranoius Maximus.
Yfrwlf
2009-04-13 07:39:47
Sure that's pretty vague, but the fact is that it wouldn't surprise anyone, because Microsoft and other companies do pay for propaganda, influence, and often flat out deceit/lies in every form in every way they can.
What I would like to see is someone actually taking the time to track them and try to go after them until they get somewhere. If you could track these companies down, perhaps landing some kind of lawsuit against them and their funders would be possible.
Dan O'Brian
2009-04-13 13:13:08
Yfrwlf: my point was that until it's proven that it's Microsoft, it's just libel. IMHO, that guy just wants attention. He's got no facts to back up his accusations.
The only reason you believe it to be true is because you *want* to believe it to be true, because you hate Microsoft. If you were neutral, you wouldn't believe it without actual proof. You are letting your bias influence your perception of the truth.
ml2mst
2009-04-12 15:45:22
Business as usual @ Mugabe$oft. How long does their gestapo gets away with it?
Cheers
Dan O'Brian
2009-04-12 19:08:23
So his only evidence that it's Microsoft is that it comes from a bunch of anonymous Comcast-owned IPs in Minnesota?
He basically admits he doesn't know who it is, so he concludes that it must be a Microsoft agent doing it. Wow, solid detective work there. Can't argue with those "facts".
IBM: Produce code for us till we buy the community... And never use "bad words" like "master" and "slave" (pioneered by IBM itself in the computing context)
Comments
Yfrwlf
2009-04-16 21:40:06
Proof is what is needed to really know for sure, I totally agree. Just remember Microsoft's pockets are particularly deep along with many other of the large corps. They can afford to pay for propaganda and they do.
Roy Schestowitz
2009-04-16 22:08:05
Yfrwlf
2009-04-13 18:05:23
It's like if someone said they were spoke to by some god, I'd probably immediately walk away knowing that that is most likely BS, but if someone said they felt the effects of gravity, then yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if that were true and they really did feel the effect of gravity.
Roy Schestowitz
2009-04-13 19:55:53
DaemonFC said he did reverse DNS lookup.
Shane Coyle
2009-04-13 22:04:54
And?
I mean, did it resolve back to "1 Microsoft Way", or whatever their address is?
(I watched about 50 seconds of the video before I said "Yup, he sounds paranoid." and clicked stop, so I honestly don't know the answer.)
Anyhow, I had for a while been receiving some nastygrams from time to time during the early days of BN, so I can certainly {sy|e}mpathize, and it certainly does not need to be tolerated nor condoned, but I think it's a just a bit of a leap to think that MS is orchestrating it.
"Internet's fulla crazies" (including "us"), that usually explains it.
I suppose I could be wrong, I'll go ask the man with the parabolic mic parked out front in a van with Washington license plates if he's aware of anyone assigned to DaemonFC, be back in a sec... ;^ )
Dan O'Brian
2009-04-14 02:05:33
Paranoius Maximus.
Yfrwlf
2009-04-13 07:39:47
What I would like to see is someone actually taking the time to track them and try to go after them until they get somewhere. If you could track these companies down, perhaps landing some kind of lawsuit against them and their funders would be possible.
Dan O'Brian
2009-04-13 13:13:08
The only reason you believe it to be true is because you *want* to believe it to be true, because you hate Microsoft. If you were neutral, you wouldn't believe it without actual proof. You are letting your bias influence your perception of the truth.
ml2mst
2009-04-12 15:45:22
Cheers
Dan O'Brian
2009-04-12 19:08:23
He basically admits he doesn't know who it is, so he concludes that it must be a Microsoft agent doing it. Wow, solid detective work there. Can't argue with those "facts".