United Devices... What is their agenda?

[Calum]

I just downloaded the United Devices program which utilises unused clock ticks on yr machine to either search for extraterrestrial life, or find a cure for cancer. I want to do the cancer one.

Anyway, i downloaded the program (windows only although a mate tells me there is a linux version) and closed source, even though i can see no reason for it to be since it is a free download.

Anyway, now i am running it. What happens is you download about 800kb of info, it uses your CPU ticks to process them, then uploads the results.

Now this is fine, but if it's closed source, how do i know what it is uploading? i may have shrugged this issue off, but on first run, i notice not only the United Devices logo, but the Intel logo and the Microsoft .NET logo as well, on my screen! horrors!

I will be looking into this myself, but does anybody know if the United Devices distributed metaprocessor software is spyware?

If anybody is interested in either the spyware, or how to get the program, the website is at http://ud.com/home.htm

[choasforages]

if it be a legite prog, it would process the data and send it back. i never knew microsoft was looking for the cure for cancer, think of the monopoly they would "try" to get on that /*patants patants patants, i say phuck em*/, well, the reason it would be closed source is so that people can't mess with the results, they have an article on setiathome's site. i prefer to run seti myself, it is very multiplatform, and is run by the univeresity of berkeley /*hmmm BSD!!!*/ if they are actually looking for the cure for cancer, would you want microsoft to know this info given their track record.

[Calum]

well, i think Microsoft supposedly only sponsor the thing not actually see the results but you never know, but i do want to settle whether that is the case or not. Given that i am using a Win9x is there any way to sniff out whether it's spyware or not?

[Gooseberry Clock]

No, trust me, http://www.distributed.net/ is much better, AND it's available for just about every platform under the sun.

[choasforages]

ok thats not the point, i didn't think that I.Q.'s could be negative numbers. ok he wants to help find a cure for cancer, he is actally trying to do something good, why would i want to trust a sack of putrid shit like you FUCK OFF, and wingate can suck your dick cuase i kinda'd like mine to be healthy unlike your millie-meter peter that your dog ugly mom burys for you

now for calum, there should be some way to use a router or fire wall could log where it would be going and get what it was sending, i don't know how, sorry if i just messed up this thread but i think he should be banned. owell.

[Calum]

he should be banned,

i have only got this machine, can i use some software  to do it, in windowsME? or what? looks like hope is fading fast for figuring it out...

[Master of Reality]

Zone Alarm should tell you where the packets are going.

[Gooseberry Clock]

Or you could just do NETSTAT -n

[Calum]

what's netstat do? (i presume it's a dos thing and we all know how good the docs for dos are...)

Also, zonealarm, i don't see a lot of options in there, will i get to do this with the free home version? if so maybe i am missing how?

[voidmain]

netstat is a TCP/IP utility that should be included in every OS that uses TCP/IP.  It gives you connection/socket information.  It will tell you what machines are connected to your machine, and what ports they are on.  It will also tell what machines your machine is connected to and on what ports.  And more...

[sporkme]

ms probably implemented it for them in exchange for rights to info of some kind.

[iustitia]

quote:Originally posted by Calum:
what's netstat do? (i presume it's a dos thing and we all know how good the docs for dos are...)

Also, zonealarm, i don't see a lot of options in there, will i get to do this with the free home version? if so maybe i am missing how?

The fucked up thing is that you still have to use netstat to get all the network statistics, but there is no dos in windows2k, me, xp!  They use a dos emu for netstat.  What a joke.  Anyway, I used to use 2k serv. before my father decided he wanted a p2p rather than a client serv network,  and the documentation for it was in the windows doc, even though it was a console program.  :eek:

-Justice

[Master of Reality]

quote:Originally posted by sporkme / bob:
ms probably implemented it for them in exchange for rights to info of some kind.

they got it from FreeBSD

[Calum]

i just used netstat in a DOS box in winME (i have heard it is real DOS disguised as a virtual machine, because it sure doesn't use the NT kernel) and it seems to work. I must now wait ten more CPU hours before it is ready to upload to see where the upload is going... still can't see how to do it in zonealarm though.

thanks for the info guys, as usual you all are very helpful.