Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft
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One day, a while back, Windows 10 popped up a notification
"Check out the new album we created for you"
It was a collection of random pictures that I have on my computer. WTF is this shit? I didn't ask for this. Jeez, another completely pointless, useless "feature".
I had completely forgotten about this until I got an e-mail from a friend of mine. We had recently been talking about Windows 10 and I told him that I had given up and gone back to Windows 7. Maybe someday Microsoft will get their shit together. Maybe.
Today he sent me this e-mail::
So, Microsoft took the liberty of creating a "new album" full of my porn and displaying it to my entire family
I signed on to the family PC to a big alert from Microsoft. "Check out the new album we created for you!". You guessed it. Like 20 pictures from my porn folder that somehow they figured needed to be promoted today.
I have a very modest porn collection. A few hundred amateur pics, mostly just soft core stuff, discreetly hidden on the computer. Nothing really bad in there.
Why? Just why? I mean who the fuck thinks these things are a good idea? The kids have their own computers and rarely use this one, but I mean just what is the fucking point is all I want to know?
In no way, shape or form did I do anything to indicate I wanted MS to make a new album for me, much less put a big alert advertising it.
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Stop complaining, luddite!
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@el_heffe Android does it and is wildly successful. But when Microsoft does it, here comes the bitching.
Note: I'm not endorsing this feature, I think it's stupid too. But I think it's more stupid to ask "wildly successful product X does this, why does Windows do it now?" Well duh. Why wouldn't they? The market has shown people want it. Apparently.
Anyway the solution to idiot's problem there is: don't share your user account with other people. Also well duh. Solving problems like this is why user accounts exist.
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My question is: Why was the porn in a Pictures folder in the first place? It's not like the Photos App goes out of its way to find pictures after all...
I mean, this is the sum total of the default albums on my PC:
If I asked it to, it could add more folders that apparently have pictures in them:
So, I call on this guy.
The real solution would be an encrypted volume that doesn't get unlocked automatically.
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@tsaukpaetra It occurs to me when he "discretely hid them" he probably did it in a folder owned by "All Users". Which would make it fair game for this feature.
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Boy, that'll sure teach him to sign in using a shared local account instead of his personal Microsoft passport account!
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@anotherusername said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Microsoft passport
Wow, haven't heard it called that in a while...
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They are just copying what android and ios are adding. It's a harder sell since they don't have a phone anymore, but MS will do what MS does.
Also, who the hell has softcore porno pictures these days? Ever heard of pornhub? You can also get rid of your cache of hidden nudie magazines too, it's ok dude.
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@tsaukpaetra said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@anotherusername said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Microsoft passport
Wow, haven't heard it called that in a while...
Is it not called that now?
I've been paying attention, obviously.
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@blakeyrat said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@el_heffe Android does it and is wildly successful. But when Microsoft does it, here comes the bitching.
@cartman82 said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
They are just copying what android and ios are adding. It's a harder sell since they don't have a phone anymore, but MS will do what MS does.
The problem is they did it badly. Android:
- Only looks in DCIM (the camera folder, which Facebook for some stupid reasons saves pictures to),
- Doesn't provide a pop-up notification of it with the pictures involved, and
- Isn't typically used on a device everyone around you can see easily (unlike computer monitors)
All of which work to prevent the event described above from happening.
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@dreikin said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
- Only looks in DCIM (the camera folder, which Facebook for some stupid reasons saves pictures to),
Yeah, Facebook saving to that folder is very annoying. I got sick of it eventually and (after a bit of searching) made a .nomedia file to stop the Google Photos app from mixing the family and friends pictures I'd saved from Facebook with the pictures I'd taken with the camera.
ObTopic: The Photos app is pretty bad. It's not as bad as it was when Windows 10 launched (auto-created albums you couldn't change and all) but it's still changing directions all the time. Don't tell it where your photos are; you'll be glad you didn't.
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@blakeyrat said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@tsaukpaetra It occurs to me when he "discretely hid them" he probably did it in a folder owned by "All Users".
Not necessarily. His complaint is:
He's sitting at the computer, logged in under his account
Porn is in his "My Pictures" folder (that's where you put pictures, right?)
Since it's under his account, nobody else can see it
There's a notification "Hey we created a new album for you"
He clicks on it to see what it is
He's not expecting porn
It's porn
There is someone nearby who can see the screen (wife, kids, whatever)
SurpriseSame thing happened to me once, but in my case it wasn't porn.
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@el_heffe said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Same thing happened to me once, but in my case it wasn't porn.
What's worse than porn?
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Sometimes can happen from both sides! Microsoft adds a half-assed feature because everyone else has it, but without any sort of intelligence to it. User puts his naughty pictures in the My Pictures folder, which is indexed by pretty much every picture-handling application by default. The outcome is... as expected.
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@el_heffe Hopefully he may have learned a few things:
- Why you should treat random notifications the same way you'd treat pop-up ads.
- Why you might not want to use "Documents" and the other predefined profile folders for things you don't want others to see.
- That "others" includes programs that are installed, whether you installed them or not.
- Why you should be able to uninstall the Photos app (or not install it in the first place).
- How to change which folders Photos searches for images.
- That there's also a program called "Movies and TV" he might want to check out.
"Now I know!"
"And knowing is half the battle!"
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@stillwater said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@el_heffe said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Same thing happened to me once, but in my case it wasn't porn.
What's worse than porn?
Evidence of the murder.
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@tsaukpaetra said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Evidence of the murder.
A mafiosi was sitting in his cell, awaiting trial, when he received a letter from his aged mother, in which she complained about how it was getting harder each year to dig up her garden in preparation for planting, and she really wished he was around to help.
He wrote back to her,
Mom,
Please, no. Not this year. Under no circumstances should you dig up the garden. That's where I hid the bodies!
A few days later he got a reply letter.
Thank you for sending the nice police officers to dig up my garden for me this year. They did a very thorough job and I didn't have to lift a finger!
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@parody said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Why you should treat random notifications the same way you'd treat pop-up ads.
Always the same cycle
Company: "We've created an API that lets you notify the user of important messages"
Developer: "I'm gonna spam the shit out of those notifications"
User: "I'm ignoring or blocking these notifications because they're all spam"
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@stillwater said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@el_heffe said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Same thing happened to me once, but in my case it wasn't porn.
What's worse than porn?
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@el_heffe LOLcats?
I actually miss them.
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@anonymous234 said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Company: "We've created an API that lets you notify the user of important messages"
Developer: "I'm gonna spam the shit out of those notifications"
User: "I'm ignoring or blocking these notifications because they're all spam"That's certainly how it worked on Android. Misuse of notifications is one of the main reasons apps get uninstalled on my phone, and I've removed notification privileges from some of those that remain on general principle.
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@parody said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
and I've removed notification privileges
The lack of an ability to selectively give access to resources is another thing that apparently only desktop computers suffer from. If that feature existed, either the Photos app wouldn't be able to give notifications, or Microsoft would have been at fault for granting programs permissions without user input.
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@ben_lubar said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
The lack of an ability to selectively give access to resources is another thing that apparently only desktop computers suffer from.
Settings, System, Notifications & actions, scroll down to the list of applications. The problem is knowing what the application is going to do with its powers. :(
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@anonymous234 said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
LOLcats
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@ben_lubar said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Microsoft would have been at fault for granting programs permissions without user input.
They are. Everything is allowed to do everything unless the user opts out. The Store page for apps lists the permissions that they require but upon installation they are automatically granted.
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@el_heffe said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@stillwater said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@el_heffe said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Same thing happened to me once, but in my case it wasn't porn.
What's worse than porn?
Some random trashy pussy? Isn't the the very definition of porn?
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@el_heffe said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@stillwater said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@el_heffe said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Same thing happened to me once, but in my case it wasn't porn.
What's worse than porn?
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@marczellm said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
The Store page for apps lists the permissions that they require but upon installation they are automatically granted
You'd think they'd have learned from android making exactly that mistake and the backwards compatibility issues in fixing it retroactively
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@jaloopa said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
backwards compatibility issues in fixing it retroactively
I don't think they apply in this case; you can opt out of any of those permissions individually after installation, so apps must handle those cases already.
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@anotherusername said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@tsaukpaetra said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@anotherusername said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Microsoft passport
Wow, haven't heard it called that in a while...
Is it not called that now?
I've been paying attention, obviously.
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@parody said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@el_heffe Hopefully he may have learned a few things:
- Why you should treat random notifications the same way you'd treat pop-up ads.
- Why you might not want to use "Documents" and the other predefined profile folders for things you don't want others to see.
- That "others" includes programs that are installed, whether you installed them or not.
- Why you should be able to uninstall the Photos app (or not install it in the first place).
- How to change which folders Photos searches for images.
- That there's also a program called "Movies and TV" he might want to check out.
"Now I know!"
"And knowing is half the battle!"I think for less technically capable people who don't know how to set up ACL for folders, those "personal folders" provide default protection from other user accounts, and therefore make it desirable for people to store things that they don't want others to see there.
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@cheong said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@parody said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@el_heffe Hopefully he may have learned a few things:
- Why you should treat random notifications the same way you'd treat pop-up ads.
- Why you might not want to use "Documents" and the other predefined profile folders for things you don't want others to see.
- That "others" includes programs that are installed, whether you installed them or not.
- Why you should be able to uninstall the Photos app (or not install it in the first place).
- How to change which folders Photos searches for images.
- That there's also a program called "Movies and TV" he might want to check out.
"Now I know!"
"And knowing is half the battle!"I think for less technically capable people who don't know how to set up ACL for folders, those "personal folders" provide default protection from other user accounts, and therefore make it desirable for people to store things that they don't want others to see there.
Until Microsoft makes a nice little "Get Access" button you can click on.
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@cheong said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
I think for less technically capable people who don't know how to set up ACL for folders, those "personal folders" provide default protection from other user accounts, and therefore make it desirable for people to store things that they don't want others to see there.
Make a folder in your Users subfolder named "Stuff Apps Can't See". Same protections, but programs won't look there by default. (I don't know if that's actually any protection as the last few Windows installs I've seen had everyone with Admin rights, but whatever.)
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@jaloopa said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
You'd think they'd have learned from android making exactly that mistake
Nobody in this whole damn industry likes to learn from others' experiences. “It'll be different this time because I am doing it!” is a brainworm.
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@dkf said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Nobody in this whole damn industry likes to learn from others' experiences. “It'll be different this time because I am doing it!” is a brainworm.
More like "I bet no one's done this before. I's a genius."
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@parody said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@cheong said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
I think for less technically capable people who don't know how to set up ACL for folders, those "personal folders" provide default protection from other user accounts, and therefore make it desirable for people to store things that they don't want others to see there.
Make a folder in your Users subfolder named "Stuff Apps Can't See". Same protections, but programs won't look there by default. (I don't know if that's actually any protection as the last few Windows installs I've seen had everyone with Admin rights, but whatever.)
Since WinXP, the individual users folder of Users (Or "Document and Settings") folder have had "Administrators" taken away from ACL by default. You need to "Take ownership" to get the folder contents. (That's one of the FAQ for people who upgrading Windows by fresh install and then want to move their old stuffs to new system)
You can verify this by clicking other users' folder inside Users, say DefaultAppPool.
And with BitLocker enabled, users on the system can choose to encrypt their user folder with their personal certificate in their certificate store. Unless that is a domain user, even if you're local administrator you will have no way to access the folder contents.
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@cheong said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Since WinXP, the individual users folder of Users (Or "Document and Settings") folder have had "Administrators" taken away from ACL by default. You need to "Take ownership" to get the folder contents.
Yes, and Windows will helpfully ask you "Hey, you can't see this, want to see it?" if you try to open the folder and have Admin powers.
@cheong said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
And with BitLocker enabled, users on the system can choose to encrypt their user folder with their personal certificate in their certificate store. Unless that is a domain user, even if you're local administrator you will have no way to access the folder contents.
Home users are unlikely to have BitLocker, much less know how to turn it on.
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@cheong said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
And with BitLocker enabled, users on the system can choose to encrypt their user folder with their personal certificate in their certificate store. Unless that is a domain user, even if you're local administrator you will have no way to access the folder contents.
Wait, hold up, aren't you the one supposedly talking about
@cheong said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
less technically capable people
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@tsaukpaetra said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@cheong said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
And with BitLocker enabled, users on the system can choose to encrypt their user folder with their personal certificate in their certificate store. Unless that is a domain user, even if you're local administrator you will have no way to access the folder contents.
Wait, hold up, aren't you the one supposedly talking about
@cheong said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
less technically capable people
There are lots of people who think BitLocker is cool and enabled it when installed Win7, then try "fresh install" Win10 to dual boot without knowing to "suspend" BitLocker first (this will write the encryption key to harddisk, and enable the other Windows system that has BitLocker to use the same key to encrypt/decrypt the drive)
What should I call them?
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@cheong said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@tsaukpaetra said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@cheong said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
And with BitLocker enabled, users on the system can choose to encrypt their user folder with their personal certificate in their certificate store. Unless that is a domain user, even if you're local administrator you will have no way to access the folder contents.
Wait, hold up, aren't you the one supposedly talking about
@cheong said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
less technically capable people
There are lots of people who think BitLocker is cool and enabled it when installed Win7, then try "fresh install" Win10 to dual boot without knowing to "suspend" BitLocker first (this will write the encryption key to harddisk, and enable the other Windows system that has BitLocker to use the same key to encrypt/decrypt the drive)
What should I call them?
Dangerous.
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@marczellm said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
@jaloopa said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
backwards compatibility issues in fixing it retroactively
I don't think they apply in this case; you can opt out of any of those permissions individually after installation, so apps must handle those cases already.
You can?
On an un-rooted phone?
Please tell me more.
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@medinoc https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/6270602?hl=en
"See all permissions for each app"
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@medinoc said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
phone
I thought we were talking about Windows 10 universal apps there?
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Control your app permissions on Android 6.0 and up
Maybe the OP was about something else but pre-6.0 apps just had one set of permissions when you installed, and it was all-or-none.
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@jaloopa Huh. Somehow, I misinterpreted marc's post as "Android does it".
@bb36e Good new is, I recently updated to Android 6.0 and up.
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@medinoc My "shoudn't they have learned from Android" post was about how old Android apps had the option of accepting all permissions or not installing the app (or rooting and messing with the permissions via another app, but things would crash badly then since they assumed they had the permission), and when they introduced more iOS-like granular permissions in 6.0 there were backwards compatibility concerns.
Apparently Win10 does allow switching off permissions though, so there must be APIs to check if you have the permission in question. It's just that they're all enabled by default unless you go into the settings and switch them off.
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@jaloopa I didn't even know, before reading marc's post, that Android had finally, finally, moved to not letting applications dictate what they can do on your phone once installed. It always bugged me that the OS of "Evil Apple" was the one that let users choose what apps could do whereas Android didn't.
Next question: Do apps have a trigger that happens "on install" so they can do whatever they want before you have a chance to deny permissions?
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@medinoc said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Next question: Do apps have a trigger that happens "on install" so they can do whatever they want before you have a chance to deny permissions?
There's no Intent that I can see for that.
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@medinoc The permissions that you can grant/deny individually are done in a sane way, where it pops up the confirmation box before letting it do whatever. So even if an app wanted to take a picture of your junk and send it with your location to somewhere in China, you would need to grant it those permissions first.
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@medinoc said in Windows 10 and another brilliant idea from Microsoft:
Do apps have a trigger that happens "on install" so they can do whatever they want before you have a chance to deny permissions?
For Windows, I don't know, but I'd like to.