Broadband Tech > Security > Security > AIM now bundling weatherbug... ugh

AIM now bundling weatherbug... ugh

now they have nothing to lose, they are "leveraging" their assets in the "desktop space". They are selling your disk and screen space to 3rd parties. Expect more and more.

reply to Daemon
»www.trillian.cc

And that's all I have to say about that.

reply to justin
until we get an implosion of sorts, much like the recent news post about realplayer... (hopefully)

trillian is what I use- but i'm going to have to start paying attention and clean weatherbug out of the spyware riddled computers I often am implored to 'speed up'
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-Ryan

The more you know the more you know how little you know,you know?

reply to Daemon

said by Daemon:

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if you go to »www.betanews.com and click on the 'changes' for aim you'll see this:

-Optionally install certain AIM components
-AIM Games Support (by Wild Tangent) — This component is required to play certain AIM Games
-AIM/Weatherbug Desktop Weather Application

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said by AIM:

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This AIM Beta Client has an updated installer that allows users to optionally install certain AIM components. You can download this client to try out these new install options. In this client, the following components are optional:
1. AIM Games Support (by Wild Tangent) — This component is required to play certain AIM Games. If you choose not to install it, you may be asked to install it when you try to launch a game from AIM.
2. AIM/Weatherbug Desktop Weather Application (by Weatherbug) — This component provides live neighborhood weather, forecasts, and storm warnings.
This beta client allows you to choose to install or not install either component. Previous installations of either component will not be affected by this installer.

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the beef is there if it's enabled by default, since most users won't know not to check it.
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-Ryan
The more you know the more you know how little you know,you know?

It shows on the web page that you can choose not to install all that crap.

reply to Daemon

said by Daemon:

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the beef is there if it's enabled by default, since most users won't know not to check it.

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said by dburkland:

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It shows on the web page that you can choose not to install all that crap

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The problem is, most people don't know its Spyware/adware. Heck, 95% of computer users don't know what spyware even is. I also had a "customer" (I clean comps for free) get mad because I recommended that he not use p2p programs like Kazaa. His response, "my friend has Kazaa, and his computer works fine." He totally seemed to ignore the facts that I told him. (many virii with kazaa, spyware...all that junk. Not to mention the RIAA crackdown)

It's ignorance that is the problem. People install things that they dont even know what it is. I mean, how hard is it to type 'wild tangent' into google? I mean, come on.

Oh, and only after THREE DAYS, they installed Shareaza, got a trojan, and their browser got hijacked. Argh....

said by p00ter_nerd:

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I mean, how hard is it to type 'wild tangent' into google? I mean, come on.

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reply to Daemon
Although there is no such thing as "better spyware," WeatherBug has been, from my experience, not as invasive as some others. In fact, I do know people who find it useful enough that they do not mind the MiniBug application that has been bundled with it. Myself, I just check Weather.com or some similar site. I honestly don't need the current wind updated to the very second - the weather every 30 minutes or so is good enough for me.

reply to Daemon
Two sentences...

TiK is a great geek alternative (for those like me who wouldn't think of starting up without TCL onboard)...

...and : »www.erh.noaa.gov/er/ --- res ipsa loquitor...

reply to Daemon

said by Daemon:

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according to the write up on AIM 5.5.3588 (released today), aim is now bundling a branded version of weatherbug.

if you go to »www.betanews.com and click on the 'changes' for aim you'll see this:

-Optionally install certain AIM components
-AIM Games Support (by Wild Tangent) — This component is required to play certain AIM Games
-AIM/Weatherbug Desktop Weather Application

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Wild Tangents "web driver" is a particularly stubborn piece of spyware as well.

so many people in the gaming community were excited about their technology when it first came out as it looked pretty sweet (they have a game called "Sabre Wing" which, at the time, looked pretty close to a CD-based game in terms of grpahics except you can play it in your web browser). But Wild Tangent decided to go the scumware route and now they are nothing more than a minor site with "games" that are usually played by housewives and old ladies looking to waste time ("Bejewelled" type crap). They even managed to attract Paul Steed who worked at iD software (Doom, Quake etc) for a short time but I'm guessing he bailed after he realized just what kind of junk they planned on putting out.

To me, any company that needs to depend on scumware for revenue has run out of creative ideas.

reply to Daemon
»www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=aim

I won't upgrade past v.5.2.

v.5.5 is when all that WildTangent crap started.
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I am eating an apple.

reply to Daemon
Just another good reason why I stopped using AIM.

reply to Logwind
So, if I get the new AIM and install with those two check boxes unchecked, and then run Spybot...I won't find any spyware. Correct?
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"No one can be told what the Internet is...You must experience it for yourself."

reply to Daemon
The release version of AIM 5.5.3583 didn't give you the option to install Wild Tangent or not. It just installed it automatically. At least this version (5.5.3588) gives you the option not to install it. I'd call that an improvement.

Maybe a lot of people complained so they made it optional.

Edit: Does it still install the media player thing (I forgot what its called)? I always have to uninstall that after installing AIM.

--
"snmp: the standard e-mail protocol on the Internet" - LinkSys user manual (page 17)

said by Morac:

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Edit: Does it still install the media player thing (I forgot what its called)? I always have to uninstall that after installing AIM.

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reply to Daemon
I'm still using Weatherbug version 2.1 and it is doing me a good enough job. I don't miss all the "improvements" at all.