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Observant software hacker Nadim Kobeissi stumbled upon an interesting observation today while running a network packet analyzer under Windows 8. It appears, by default, Microsoft's latest operating system is sending information to Redmond servers each time a user installs an application. Before the hearts of our readers are aflutter with panic though, allow me to stress this point: this behavior is simple to disable.
This behavior actually keeps you safe!
I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.
Stephen Hawking
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Could you not unplug the network cable? What happens then?
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Data is cached until there is a path to the internet again.
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Can you block outgoing packets to Microsoft on your router?
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Sure. Why would you want to?
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Don't you think it's rude for software to dispatch any information from your box without first asking politely (hell, even asking periodically is annoying/irritating)
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Come on! Do you really believe this is the first time Microsoft has done anything like this??
Did you know that Windows has been silently sending information back to Microsoft on how you use Windows for the last 8 years or so?? Like Windows items you've used, features installed, service packs installed, updates, system crashes, ...
It's all used to improve Windows.
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yes i know it's not the first time - but it's still annoying they try sneak out information without your consent. In fact, asking for a consent in the first place too is annoying, except perhaps during initial installation. And i really care less what the intention is
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I would think that would be an invasion of privacy?
Not like every one else is not doing it.
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This is simply an extension of IE's SmartScreen filter, and I personally think this is actually a good security measure, as it helps prevent the installation of malicious software.
I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.
Stephen Hawking
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I recently has some virus manage to install itself on my computer, and it wiped out my personal folders. Maybe not such a bad idea. My problem was that I had an application that I had a hell of a time downloading because of Microsoft IE, so could not install, and it was an application I paid for.
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Many have tried to challenge Google’s dominance of the search market over the past few years, from small startups to big-name players with deep pockets. But perhaps with the exception of Microsoft, which has poured billions into its search efforts, all have failed to gain any significant traction. A relative newcomer to the search market, DuckDuckGo isn’t shying away from the monumental task, however. Here’s what he had to say about his four-year-old search engine startup and his competitors.
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As developers who realized that no one will care about our product or clients more than ourselves, we took the design of our new product iteration onto ourselves. These are the 15 things we learned about user interface design in the process. Color is a communication tool... but did you know 9 percent of men are color blind?
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Terrence Dorsey wrote: Color is a communication tool... but did you know 9 percent of men are color blind?
I'm red/green color blind, which means I have a really hard time discriminating between various shades which use these colors (reds/greens/browns, blues/purples, etc.).
To all developers/designers: Please stop using JUST color to communicate something. If you must, please use shapes with the color. Example: You want to show a quick glance status of something, so you have a circle that changes color, Red, Green, Yellow. Rather than a single shape showing multiple colors, have a Red square, a Green circle, and a Yellow triangle.
As of late 2008, 10% of Code Project respondents are color blind: http://www.codeproject.com/script/Surveys/Results.aspx?srvid=850[^].
Be The Noise
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I remember 20 years ago when people would throw color into web pages, and it was horrible. Still see web pages with horrible contrast.
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Karl Sanford wrote: As of late 2008, 10% of Code Project respondents are color blind
Most people start using Code Project with normal vision, but the longterm exposure to orange / green forces them to become color blind.
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Orange and Green you say? Huh, learn something new every day. 
Be The Noise
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It's not so much blindness as ignorance of every other color.
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No 9: Visual Studio 2012 Explained
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"If people are doing a difficult task, decrease the level of arousal by eliminating any distracting elements such as colors, sounds or movement."
What? What type of interface are we on about here? 
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The Visual Studio 2012 interface?
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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- Your application will receive about 10% of the attention of a typical user.
- You are not a typical user.
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Visual Studio 2012 is absolutely the best IDE in the world and, with the latest version, it has sorted most of the big problems (from my point of view the previous version was a bit slow). I’m not a big fan of extensions because they often make Visual Studio unstable and/or slow, but I’ll make an exception because in this case it’s incredibly cool! What are your favorite extensions?
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What I would like is something that would create UML diagrams. The class diagram that Microsoft provides with Visual Studio is only of limited usefulness (almost useless). Would like some free add-in. Getting my company to pay for it, ha 
modified 24-Aug-12 12:58pm.
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