Discussion thread for "important changes in the JA Templates Club"

[bossep]

mj,
I addressed this issue in 98 -99 as a guest speaker in a forum about the future of internet.
I will not bother you with the details (It was a 1,5 hour speech) but the essence was:

Jour mobile phone beeps with a message “don't forget to by. Milk, your six-pack and dog food”
When you are a mile from your grocery (Val-Mart) store and then show’s you a map with directions to go there.

When you then get home and unpack your, milk and dogfood the fridge will tell you: Your idiot you forgot that six-pack!

No one believed me at that point but it is doable today and I have done it. Not altogether but in pieces.

lets face it
your car phones home to chevy
you can be tracked via your cell phone
the cable tv company knows what you watch and sells the data to advertisers
same for that grocery store card, its tracking purchases
same for your credit card, it places you at a specific location at a specific time
how about the ez-pay pass on the expressway, uncle sam knows your traveling habits

no....all of this is pointing to bigger issues than just the template licensing.

Sir Tim Berners Lee once said "God I created a monster" and I agree with him.

BosseP

[mj1256]

markb1439
excellent, that was so eloquently stated

[markb1439]

mj,

I was inspired by your comments. :-)

[bossep]

Markb1439 and others,

I will promptly download all Templates and search them for all “call home” and other code that interact with another server than the one the template is stored on.

If I find any I will then post them in respective forum as long as I am a member in this Template club.

I can’t guarantee that I will catch everything so I urge my fellow user to help me in this quest.

I would also like to extend my thanks to mj1256 who raised the question about the registration first of all and solsikkehaven that mentioned the call-home for the first time, perdu who posted the code from the nagya template that really got me interested and and last but not least VisiGod that helped me interpret the code.

If I made a mistake or dident mentioned some one, please don burn me on a stick!

I hope this could help some people to sleep a little better.


BosseP

[mj1256]

so, did anyone see this post.
http://www.joomlart.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16791


so how does one tell if this is a legitiment use of a template. I know the JA team can check the registry.

You know, I been thinking that as much as we don't want to have the "phone home" feature, JA deos have a legitiment problem to deal with.

maybe we should try to come up with and suggest alternative solutions instead of just condemning what we think is going to happen.

so, alternatives to "phone home" that would help JA are;
1)
2)
3)
4)

[cgc0202]

"Call Home" Function

Unless I missed it, or it has been placed somewhere else, the Olivine Template does not seem to have the controbversial "Call Home" function.*** that seem to have been introduced in Nagya

If it turns out to be the case***, then this is very good news for those who want to use the Olivine Template.

[Edit: This post was from Hung. -- CGC.]

[cgc0202]

I posted this

Olivine does not seem to have the "Call Home" function
http://www.joomlart.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16810

in the Olivine forum -- for reasons that should be obvious -- as part of a first look review of the said template.

However, since I am not an expert or do not have the tools to investigate more deeply, if the "Call Home" scripts were placed elsewhere, I encourage others who have the skills and tools to investigate the issue further.

There are many ways to skin a cat. Preaching to the choir is not one of them.

Cornelio

[Hung Dinh]

Hi everyone,
After reading feedback about the upcoming changes in the domain manager, especially the automatically registered function, we decide that the so called "Call Home" feature will not be implemented in the upcoming system updates. We are searching for a better solution for the domain management and we will keep you updated as soon as we find one.

[bossep]

Hi everyone,
After reading feedback about the upcoming changes in the domain manager, especially the automatically registered function, we decide that the so called "Call Home" feature will not be implemented in the upcoming system updates. We are searching for a better solution for the domain management and we will keep you updated as soon as we find one.

I applaud your decision and if you like, the JA community is willing to work with you to find a solution!

I would, if you like us to.

Thanks again

BosseP

[bossep]

Cornelio,
I did take a look at the Olivine template and dident find anything.
I also take Hung's word for not using it.

Bosse