Root Access

bwDraco

12:27 AM

!!/tumbleweed

ChatBot John Cavil

bwDraco

12:42 AM

Spam: superuser.com/questions/1070617/adware-plague-in-the-apartment/…, superuser.com/questions/954398/preventing-anti-virus-conflicts/…

Extremely hard to confirm this time.

Confirmed as spam on the final link (promoting uninstaller applications). The author of this post is clearly trying to cloak it in seemingly high-quality content in what is one of the sneakiest spam posts I've ever seen. See also superuser.com/questions/954398/preventing-anti-virus-conflicts/… — bwDraco 4 mins ago

Things like this will fool the vast majority of reviewers but they won't get past the Dragon...

First link is spam (blog post promotes uninstaller utilities) in a highly concerted effort to deceive reviewers. See also superuser.com/questions/1070617/adware-plague-in-the-apartment/… — bwDraco 2 mins ago

Faheem Mitha

@bwDraco Those answers are still there, though.

bwDraco

Flagged. The community has to do its job, too.

Faheem Mitha

@bwDraco Are multiple flags useful?

Ben N

@FaheemMitha Yes, six spam flags cause a post to be auto-deleted

Faheem Mitha

@BenN Ok.

bwDraco

12:54 AM

Six spam or offensive flags will cause the post to be deleted with a -100 reputation penalty against the post author.

Ben N

Also, it looks like that user is trying to promote his/her own blog

bwDraco

...and a mod (most likely @JourneymanGeek) has destroyed the user.

Ben N

I poked around a bit in the linked site and there doesn't seem to be a product being pushed, just a blog

Still spam, but perhaps that was correctable with a link to "How to not be a spammer"

Journeyman Geek

@BenN pretty standard spammer trick tho

Ben N

Also, I checked for plagiarism (in the answer text) with Google, and it seems to all be OC

Faheem Mitha

12:56 AM

It is clear that those answers are spam? They look a bit borderline.

Journeyman Geek

Notice the affliate links on the blog?

Ben N

Not sure user destruction was the best course of action - it very well might have been a well-intentioned person trying to get traffic on their blog in addition to adding good SU content

Faheem Mitha

I mean, I can imagine myself posting an article to my blog. Does that have to automatically be bad?

@JourneymanGeek If you mean me, I didn't go to the blog.

Ben N

@FaheemMitha It's all good if you say it's your own, and as long as not all of your content here is promoting it

Faheem Mitha

@BenN Ah, you mean be upfront about it?

bwDraco

12:58 AM

I had zero doubt the posts were spam once I examined the linked blog posts.

Faheem Mitha

Ok

Journeyman Geek

@BenN i.imgur.com/hJ05tKa.png

This is why I nuked the account

bwDraco

^^^ Yup. This is spam.

Ben N

@JourneymanGeek Ah yes, those are affiliate links. Spam indeed. It looked like they put some effort into the SU answers at least, maybe a mod message with a link to HNTBAS would have been good

Journeyman Geek

1. That sort of link is typically a sign of malware.

bwDraco

1:00 AM

13 mins ago, by bwDraco

Confirmed as spam on the final link (promoting uninstaller applications). The author of this post is clearly trying to cloak it in seemingly high-quality content in what is one of the sneakiest spam posts I've ever seen. See also superuser.com/questions/954398/preventing-anti-virus-conflicts/… — bwDraco 4 mins ago

> promoting uninstaller applications

Ben N

True.

Journeyman Geek

In this case, no, but it was still a sign, to me, that someone was trying to game the system.

And what about all the people who won't be able to join the community because they're terrible at making helpful and constructive co-- ... oh.

Maybe we're getting close to hitting that point?

Ben N

I'm (100 - (1 * 10^-10))% sure that the same human who wrote the blog also wrote those posts

Probably somebody who knows at least a little about the area and is trying to make some money in a dubious fashion

Journeyman Geek

erf. I probably should have checked the ip address too

Michael Frank

What if it wasn't spam and someone genuinely thought that article was helpful? :O

Bob

1:13 AM

@JourneymanGeek Eh, if posting links to the blog isn't all they're doing and they disclose affiliation then that technically satisfies rules.

IIRC HowToGeek did that.

Are they profiting? Probably. As long as the link is completely relevant, not overly promoted, and any affiliations are disclosed? ...technically not a problem. Is the answer good? Then overall it's a good thing...

Journeyman Geek

@Bob and affliate links. A normal user only posting blog links would get a suspension

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Affiliate links from the linked blog post are no different from standard ads...

A direct affiliate link in the answer would be more problematic but I didn't see any there.

Basically it looks like the reaction was "they're profiting, bad!"

But as long as the standard conditions are satisfied (answer good, link relevant, affiliation to link target is disclosed, not overly spammed) then whether they're profiting or not is pretty irrelevant

In this case, affiliation was not disclosed - but that could've been fixed with a comment telling them about that rule.

Put another way - say a Microsoft employee answers a question with a good (technical) answer and links to MSDN as a source. MSDN has products available for purchase. Microsoft profits from it. Is that inherently a bad answer?

As far as I know, this was never considered a problem. And I'm not aware of any rule changes making it a problem.

So the whole response looks a bit knee-jerky - it's technically justified by the lack of disclosure but rather disproportionate to a first-time 'offence' with an otherwise-good answer (at a glance).

Ok, on a closer look the blog links are somewhat lacking in relevance.

Still disagree about the existence of affiliate links on the blog being a factor at all.

bwDraco

1:35 AM

It's a matter of intent. The user was trying to game the system.

The blog links did not relate to the answer and had anchor text that was selected for SEO rather than to tie in with the post.

On one of the answers:

> Take the install of SymbalooEDU as an example here, the app would read your personal data once it is installed.

Link on the anchor text "SymbalooEDU". The program was never mentioned in the question.

Bob

@bwDraco In this case, the issues I see are lack of disclosure (easily fixed) and lack of relevance (problematic).

Journeyman Geek

@Bob and more than one link on the same pattern

Bob

@JourneymanGeek More than one link is not a problem at all.

It's just the lack of relevance.

Journeyman Geek

s/link/answer

bwDraco

The other link was to a different and legitimate website. That's an attempt to make the answer look legit.

Bob

1:38 AM

@JourneymanGeek Even then. If they were relevant, all you'd really need is a bit of prompting to disclose affiliation.

Least, last time I checked SE rules on self-promotion.

bwDraco

I've seen this enough times to know there was a conscious, explicit effort to evade detection.

Legitimate posts do not go to these lengths to appear neutral in the presence of a blog link.

Bob

@bwDraco You can use that as a factor in being suspicious all you want, but that would not be a concrete reason to call it spam.

It's not a relevant link here, so... yea. That's the problem.

Journeyman Geek

@Bob I go by 'balance of probability'

bwDraco

Nor would they include content (e.g. SymbalooEDU as mentioned above) that isn't relevant to the question, especially with anchor text that is optimized for SEO rather than a natural or relevant part of the answer.

Bob

If it was relevant? shrug unless there was excessive amounts it's not really an issue (with same assumptions of disclosure, good answers, etc.)

!! s/that would/that alone would/

ChatBot John Cavil

1:42 AM

@Bob @bwDraco You can use that as a factor in being suspicious all you want, but that alone would not be a concrete reason to call it spam. (source)

Journeyman Geek

'Roughly generic username' + 'pattern of official link + blog + in many cases 'location of ip address' + using a blog that links $tool is all red flags for ne

The affliate link seemed dodgy as well

I did not follow the link but I don't know if cleverbridge actually redirects to mbam

Ben N

I didn't follow it either, but VirusTotal said the site was clean

Journeyman Geek

removeunwantedprograms.wordpress.com/about

Does this look/feel legit?

bwDraco

> Take action NOW [...]

Scare tactics; affiliate link.

Not legitimate.

Ben N

Sketchy for sure

bwDraco

1:47 AM

Very aggressive SEO, too, well beyond what is typical.

Link placement is not natural at all.

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Cleverbridge itself is legit afaik

I've seen it used before as a billing provider

bwDraco

Excessive use of "money words" like "vga.dll/hal.dll error" and "surfing, downloading and/or installing".

I can tell when a site is overoptimized. Text written with aggressive SEO in mind has a strikingly unnatural tone.

Bob

Ah, that was the one.

@JourneymanGeek Cleverbridge is used by Acronis

Journeyman Geek

@Bob ahh. That was something I was unaware of

bwDraco

SEO overoptimization is a pretty strong indicator of spam.

I write for my readers first, not merely to drive traffic.

I've seen plenty of keyword stuffing and spamdexing.

Mar 18 '15 at 6:47, by DragonLord

PSA: Be suspicious of posts that contain a link or otherwise mention a product or service, and have repetitive wording or containing long lists of items such of file formats. This is keyword stuffing, and it's almost always an indication of spam.

Bob

2:04 AM

Hm.

I just used a USB cable to screw my glasses back together.

Journeyman Geek

2:31 AM

arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/04/…

ooh

(HTC needs that boost badly, and I tend to love their hardware and hate their software...)

bwDraco

That'll be fun. Perhaps they'll make my next phone...

Journeyman Geek

amusingly, it might make sense for me to buy it in india...

bwDraco

I am not into replacing a mobile device this soon, though.

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Bleh. Problem with Nexus is certain Googleisms in the hardware.

Journeyman Geek

@Bob lack of SD card?

Bob

2:40 AM

@JourneymanGeek Ya :P

Journeyman Geek

Yeah, that's something I'm thinking about

Bob

Also no softkeys allowed...

Journeyman Geek

no softkeys?

Bob

I mean, I coped with the on-screen keys on the G4 (it wasn't bad), but more vertical screen real estate is nice.

Journeyman Geek

ahh

Bob

2:41 AM

@JourneymanGeek Keys off the screen.

Journeyman Geek

Yeah, I guess there's that, but I'm ok with that on my moto G

Bob

OTOH, on-screen keys can be configured :P

G4 let you add one more, and rearrange them.

@JourneymanGeek TBH I also don't particularly like Nexus/AOSP software.

The quick settings panel is annoying.

Journeyman Geek

@Bob heh, I do!

Bob

Much prefer the Samsung and LG implementations.

They (Google, Nexus) do some things right, but others oh so very wrong.

Rahul Basu

2:58 AM

My PC just died... :(

It wont boot

bwDraco

@Bob How so? (On CyanogenMod so it's close to stock with some tweaks.)

Rahul Basu

when it does, it crashes befor I can log in :(

Bob

@bwDraco My experience with "stock" is CyanogenMod :P

bwDraco

I have no serious complaints about the experience.

Bob

Mostly don't like the notification/settings panel. Some other things like SD card support are iffy too.

The quick settings thing is tedious to use.

You might not notice it until you use modern TouchWize/LG UI for a while.

I can pull down the notification area and straight up toggle settings.

My experience with CyanogenMod involved having to switch to a different panel.

Minor? Yea.

Daily annoyance? Also yes.

The lack of SD support is more severe.

On the software side, I don't particularly like the amount of Google integration.

bwDraco

3:09 AM

Comcast data caps are being raised to 1 TB

Up from 300 GB, which is too low for regular video streaming.

Can still be too low for many users.

Unlimited data option will be $50 rather than $30-35 (depending on region).

Bob

7:48 AM

!!learn tumbleweeds <>http://i.stack.imgur.com/KPW6P.jpg

ChatBot John Cavil

@Bob Command tumbleweeds learned

Bob

!!tumbleweeds

ChatBot John Cavil

Journeyman Geek

8:02 AM

o0

Tom Wijsman

10:20 AM

I knew it! Of course tumbleweeds don't roll by themselves. There are cars in them...

Journeyman Geek

10:42 AM

naw

Tumbleweeds eat cars

bwDraco

11:47 AM

roar

My availability for today and the several days is going to be very limited due to an extremely busy schedule—lots of academics to catch up on. I may need more time than usual to respond to pings or other inquiries.

Bob

12:42 PM

Ugh. Can't set a female TTS voice in Win10 :\

Without registry edits anyway.

And can't set the speed.

DavidPostill

@Bob Hmm.

To get the Hazel voice back you will need to download the Windows English Language Pack (Great Britian).

To do this go to Settings>Time & Language>Region and Language>Add a Language.

Select English, then Great Britian. Let it download and install and then check to see if Hazel's Voice is availiable.

Someone reported this as working ...

answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/…

Bob

12:58 PM

@DavidPostill Nah, I already have Zira installed (by default) but toggling it in TTS settings doesn't work for third-party apps as it did in Win7 :\

Had to change the default reference in a registry value

Boris_yo

@Psycogeek Have you seen DSLR simulator? Check this out: camerasim.com/apps/original-camerasim/web

Now this one is for Windows too: camerasim.com/apps/camerasim

Would they help me understand how f/ stop, shutter speed and exposure work and their correlation?

bwDraco

1:19 PM

0

A: Why did Canon come up with APS-H and why did the top-of-the-line 1D's *still* use it and 1.3x crop, when FF existed for four years (the 5D)?

Actually, the reason lies in the manufacturing process. Pages 11-12 of an old Canon whitepaper detailing their full-frame sensor technology describes the economics of manufacturing image sensors of different sizes. Image sensors are semiconductor devices, like the CPU in a computer or the SoC in...

Sep 23 '14 at 20:02, by DragonLord

@Bob The Intel HEDT parts (i7-990X/995X/3960X/3970X/4960X/5960X) are produced from much larger Xeon dies, which alone dramatically increases manufacturing cost

Sep 23 '14 at 20:03, by DragonLord

Larger die = more room for manufacturing defects = higher cost

Exact same underlying reason.

Journeyman Geek

1:56 PM

also, on a single wafer, fewer chips, so lower yield for the same number of failures.

Daniel

2:57 PM

@Bob

Rahul Basu

3:19 PM

aloha!

Journeyman Geek

lo

Faheem Mitha

What happened to that chap with the weird name starting with q or something who liked to post pics? Haven't seem him around lately.

He used to like fox pictures too, I think.

Journeyman Geek

qasdf ?

Rahul Basu

He's now @Caterina'Catty'McCatface

DavidPostill

@FaheemMitha That was qasdfdsaq. Changed her name to @Caterina'Catty'McCatface. Currently on holiday.

jokerdino

3:23 PM

@FaheemMitha he went through 2 different names by now

Faheem Mitha

@DavidPostill Her? And yes, that was the one.

If I had that user name, I doubt I could even remember it.

Rahul Basu

@DavidPostill I never realized it was a 'she' :/

Faheem Mitha

Caterina'Catty'McCatface? You have got to be kidding.

jokerdino

may or maynot be

Faheem Mitha

Then again, no more weird that q<whatever it is>.

jokerdino

3:26 PM

qasdfdsaq is palindromic.

Faheem Mitha

@jokerdino Oh. I never noticed. But is that relevant? Does it mean something in Vogon, perhaps?

jokerdino

it's q+ first 4 letters of home row and then in reverse.

I doubt it had any meaning.

DavidPostill

3:46 PM

She was also kerbalspacebecky

Mar 30 at 10:53, by kerbalspacebecky

@Burgi Because I got tired of people automatically assuming I'm a he

Faheem Mitha

4:17 PM

The "she" bit is definitely a bit surprising. But I also frequently commit the common error of assuming everyone online is male.

djsmiley2k

people online aren't people to me D:

they just voices in my head

Faheem Mitha

Hmm. As long as you don't do what the voices tell you to. :-)

@djsmiley2k Speaking personally, I'm definitely not a voice in your head.

DavidPostill

4:42 PM

7 hours to go and out of close votes yet again :/ Please can we have more close votes!

djsmiley2k

4:55 PM

@FaheemMitha u sure?

Andrew Myers

5:06 PM

Does anyone know when the Windows 10 upgrade will stop being offered for free?

djsmiley2k

5:25 PM

I heard 'July ...' and a year mentioned, but can't tell you if it was 2016 or not

I personally don't think it ever will

djsmiley2k

5:47 PM

thank the lord the boss has left

That Brazilian Guy

6:06 PM

/me looks at the star wall

/me sees all the flag mentions

Oh, dear. AGAIN?

> I think my Granny might agree to a VPN

Good luck explaining what a VPN is to a granny.... ;-P

jokerdino

@ThatBrazilianGuy nothing happened.

That Brazilian Guy

6:28 PM

@jokerdino ...says those with the power to rewrite history. ;-P

jokerdino

na, JMG quoted something from Pulp Fiction without a powerful word.

Developer

Hiya

is this chat room for super user ?

DavidPostill

@Developer Yes

jokerdino

yes @Developer.

Developer

thanks for confirming

I used disk to vhd, and converted my windows 10 into a vhd, I moved it to another machine now, trying to boot it as virtual machine, but keep getting boot failure

I suspect my partition is not bootdisk anymore

DavidPostill

6:39 PM

yesterday, by Journeyman Geek

@Michael hm. While its handy, its not really good chat etiquette on root access to, well, essentially use it entirely for live support, or asking questions

@Developer ^^^

Please ask your question on the main Super User site.

Developer

0

Q: DiskToVhd generated VHD is not bootable

I had windows 10 laptop, I used disk2VHD to convert disk into VHD. Now I am trying to mount it to virtual box on another machine, but it seems be not booting. I used windows 10 ISO and through CMD I think non of my partition has property bootdisk = yes. Please guide, how can I convert this VHD ...

vhd

@DavidPostill i just did

for some reason my image is not displaying properly

jokerdino

You need to inline the image.

@Developer I made that change but you need to approve it.

Developer

Thank you, i just did

Hope someone could help me, been playing with it since 3,4 days

with no luck

bwDraco

8:42 PM

!!/tumbleweed

ChatBot John Cavil

Nick Alexeev

9:25 PM

I probably shouldn't migrate this to SU in the spirit of "don't migrate carp".

0

Q: How to power a HP mini desktop 200-010 using two 12V batteries?

I am aware I have to use a DC jack to do this. I don't know how. Please help me.

power batteries

Michael Frank

@DavidPostill superuser.com/posts/1071028/revisions

The edit is fine.... but you left the tag :P

@NickAlexeev Or keep it and turn it into a good question! The fact that it's a computer shouldn't matter. He's trying to run something off two 12V batteries.

Maybe migrate to DIY instead? :P

DavidPostill

@MichaelFrank Oops. Fixed ;)

Nick Alexeev

@MichaelFrank As an aside. They should not have called Home Improvement stack "DIY.SE". There are lots of DIY things outside of Home Improvement (DIY appendectomy, for example).

Michael Frank

@NickAlexeev Indeed!

@DavidPostill I'm still trying to wrap my head about how they managed to upgrade to Win10.

DavidPostill

@MichaelFrank Indeed

Michael Frank

9:32 PM

I'm wondering if perhaps they have a Dell XPS model laptop, and have mistaken Windows 7 or 8/8.1 for XP since that's what it (kinda) says on the box.

DavidPostill

Ah. Could be.

@MichaelFrank I would VTC as unclear but

5 hours ago, by DavidPostill

7 hours to go and out of close votes yet again :/ Please can we have more close votes!

Michael Frank

I feel bad when I VTC people that are genuinely stuck though :<

DavidPostill

They get plenty of chances to improve the question ...

Michael Frank

10:12 PM

Wouldn't this be nice? :o

Canadian Luke

11:30 PM

You know what's kinda awesome? When a software company listens to their client's suggestions. A suggestion I made for PDQ Deploy back in version 6 is now in Version 9. Kinda nice!

Journeyman Geek

Nice

ChatBot John Cavil

11:57 PM

I have just been restarted! This happens daily automatically, or when my owner restarts me. Ready for commands.

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