Though I feel sorry for anyone who accidentally downloads this unknowing of its design, the questions it poses as a whole are pretty interesting, in my opinion. I like the concept, I just would never download it.
more to the point what idiot would actually play the game if it says right at the front "killing aliens means i'm deleting random files off your computer' (or however it says it).
Interesting question. Depending on the time period, it is one that was raised against DaVinci, Nabokov, Solzhenitsyn, Lenny Bruce, John Lennon, and many others. The question may be better phrased "when can a crime successfully masquerade as art?"
i don't know about masquerade but fairly famous photographer Andres Serrano was once sued over an 'obscene' display due to one of his photos.
take a look:
kind of pretty isn't it. all soft and glowing. Well the Catholic Church didn't think so when they found out that it was created by dropping a white plastic crucifix in a beaker of Serrano's urine.
Serrano was never successfully charged with violating the obscenity laws because one of the conditions is that the item must lack any 'artistic, literary, political or social value' and he argued that the photo and the medium reflected that the figure the world holds up on his cross and deifies was also a man of human flesh in all the base and vulgar aspects of that life. thus artistic and perhaps also social value and therefore not obscene.
now my issue with this video game kid is that he doesn't seem to respect the value of what folks have on their computers. were this some stand alone display that wasn't harming anyone's private property it would be different. But the risk of actually destroying something of value, even perhaps an entire system folder by taking out the wrong file, that's just not cool in my book.
Just make a backup copy of your files before downloading/playing?
Nope, it also deletes anything it has user level permission to do so.
Running as Root, kiss OS X goodbye.
If your running as Admin...heehee Kiss you apps goodbye!
Running in your main user, kiss your files goodbye.
It will delete Library files, the Downloads folder, support files and anything else it has permissions to do so.
It doesn't need a Admin Password to run thankfully, I wouldn't have run it if it did.
I ran it in Guest, changed the permissions to Read Only for everything in Guest Home except LoseLose and about 4000 dupe files on the Guest folder level (seems to run best this way with the most kills) and let it rip.
I got 146 kills before dying and did a file check, yep 146 files were gone.
The app wants to phone home with the username and the kill results when you finally die, then the app deletes itself.
When it tries to delete permission locked files, the program hangs and requires a force quit. That might be OS X stepping in too.
It could have been deleting the program data files and causing it to hang too.
When you kill a alien, it sort of tells you what file it deletes. It burrows down in sub folders in your user Library and deletes a file there too. So backing up and restoring your files won't necessarily work in restoring your machine to pre-game state.
Guess the best way is to enable Root User and run the game in that, see how long OS X holds up.
I guess I'll be restoring from my clone tonight just in case.
Oh, you want to disconnect anything else, including Time Machine before playing.
I don't get the argument. Getting worried about a virtual enemy being killed is a stretch. Blaming games and other entertainment media for instigating real crime just doesn't fly, just because maybe it might influence one person in a million, that's not a rational reason to complain. People have scapegoated violent games in the past, but how far are you really going to go when a causal link hasn't been found?
IMHO, I think the real problem with violent games lies in their realistic imagery. It's quite well known that your body has the ability to adapt itself to a steady exposure to many things. An example would be painkillers, i.e. if 1 aspirin is effectively used for a headache and is used frequently ... soon 1 is not enough.
Our brain reacts to imagery the same way, i.e. the first exposure to graphic violence is quite unsettling but if we are exposed daily our mind starts to accept it as normal and just because it happens on a screen rather than in real life matters little. It's the reason why visualization techniques work.
I honestly think we do ourselves a disservice by allowing and encouraging media producers to keep "upping the ante" in their use of violence. ... just my 2 cents worth.
The game actually tells you what it's going to do.
And some people are actually going to take the time to back up their files just to try it out.
LOL
Like I said before, this is a bad mistake to make. Because most Mac users use the setup default user which is Admin, so applications and support files will be targeted.
Even in General User the User Library is targeted along with the other folders that come default.
Of course who knows what it places on the drive...
This is a glaring security issue obviously, as Apple is just gambling that new users won't download and run a program like this that wipes their drive.
It won't be long before someone hacks it and removes the "this will delete files" warning and passes it around.
Companies that sell 'protection' software say that a program that explicitly warns you that it's going to delete your files, using only the normal user permissions, is a security risk.
The game itself is a month old - it's not news. The news is that it's now officially considered a threat.
No one here has mentioned that loosing at the game causes it to delete ITSELF, meaning that unless you get the game to crash it's a one play art thing.
And it is possible to beat it without dying or shooting, or by shooting your way to the end.
The game itself is a month old - it's not news. The news is that it's now officially considered a threat.
No one here has mentioned that loosing at the game causes it to delete ITSELF, meaning that unless you get the game to crash it's a one play art thing.
And it is possible to beat it without dying or shooting, or by shooting your way to the end.
But way off topic. What's Apple going to do about these trojans?
I suggest a non-sudo application installation password in addition to the admin level password.
It's good to see someone asking the question. Too many people, including a lot of tech types, believe there is nothing you can do to control software that is installed, when actually there is a great deal.
This should be the next big topic for operating system design.
Comments
Though I feel sorry for anyone who accidentally downloads this unknowing of its design, the questions it poses as a whole are pretty interesting, in my opinion. I like the concept, I just would never download it.
more to the point what idiot would actually play the game if it says right at the front "killing aliens means i'm deleting random files off your computer' (or however it says it).
I disagree with you, but I don't want you dead, and I think your differing opinion adds value to a discussion.
That's quite interesting from someone who just said "Second: I suggest you ban yourself"
Sounds like you don't really value differing opinions as much as you think you do.
As someone who works with death every day... I really don't find this funny.
Interesting - you seem to be really focused on not having a sense of humor. You must be a real joy at cocktail parties.
Just make a backup copy of your files before downloading/playing?
why play at all.
The game actually tells you what it's going to do.
And some people are actualy going to take the time to back up their files just to try it out.
LOL
why play at all.
I don't know. I don't play computer games. But I'd guess, so that some kid can creep out mom/dad?
Interesting question. Depending on the time period, it is one that was raised against DaVinci, Nabokov, Solzhenitsyn, Lenny Bruce, John Lennon, and many others. The question may be better phrased "when can a crime successfully masquerade as art?"
i don't know about masquerade but fairly famous photographer Andres Serrano was once sued over an 'obscene' display due to one of his photos.
take a look:
kind of pretty isn't it. all soft and glowing. Well the Catholic Church didn't think so when they found out that it was created by dropping a white plastic crucifix in a beaker of Serrano's urine.
Serrano was never successfully charged with violating the obscenity laws because one of the conditions is that the item must lack any 'artistic, literary, political or social value' and he argued that the photo and the medium reflected that the figure the world holds up on his cross and deifies was also a man of human flesh in all the base and vulgar aspects of that life. thus artistic and perhaps also social value and therefore not obscene.
now my issue with this video game kid is that he doesn't seem to respect the value of what folks have on their computers. were this some stand alone display that wasn't harming anyone's private property it would be different. But the risk of actually destroying something of value, even perhaps an entire system folder by taking out the wrong file, that's just not cool in my book.
Just make a backup copy of your files before downloading/playing?
Nope, it also deletes anything it has user level permission to do so.
Running as Root, kiss OS X goodbye.
If your running as Admin...heehee Kiss you apps goodbye!
Running in your main user, kiss your files goodbye.
It will delete Library files, the Downloads folder, support files and anything else it has permissions to do so.
It doesn't need a Admin Password to run thankfully, I wouldn't have run it if it did.
I ran it in Guest, changed the permissions to Read Only for everything in Guest Home except LoseLose and about 4000 dupe files on the Guest folder level (seems to run best this way with the most kills) and let it rip.
I got 146 kills before dying and did a file check, yep 146 files were gone.
The app wants to phone home with the username and the kill results when you finally die, then the app deletes itself.
When it tries to delete permission locked files, the program hangs and requires a force quit. That might be OS X stepping in too.
It could have been deleting the program data files and causing it to hang too.
When you kill a alien, it sort of tells you what file it deletes. It burrows down in sub folders in your user Library and deletes a file there too. So backing up and restoring your files won't necessarily work in restoring your machine to pre-game state.
Guess the best way is to enable Root User and run the game in that, see how long OS X holds up.
I guess I'll be restoring from my clone tonight just in case.
Oh, you want to disconnect anything else, including Time Machine before playing.
This is like Russian Roulette.
Nope, it also deletes anything it has user level permission to do so.
....... etc etc......
Oh, you want to disconnect anything else, including Time Machine before playing.
You, sir, are one bold gentleman!
I don't get the argument. Getting worried about a virtual enemy being killed is a stretch. Blaming games and other entertainment media for instigating real crime just doesn't fly, just because maybe it might influence one person in a million, that's not a rational reason to complain. People have scapegoated violent games in the past, but how far are you really going to go when a causal link hasn't been found?
IMHO, I think the real problem with violent games lies in their realistic imagery. It's quite well known that your body has the ability to adapt itself to a steady exposure to many things. An example would be painkillers, i.e. if 1 aspirin is effectively used for a headache and is used frequently ... soon 1 is not enough.
Our brain reacts to imagery the same way, i.e. the first exposure to graphic violence is quite unsettling but if we are exposed daily our mind starts to accept it as normal and just because it happens on a screen rather than in real life matters little. It's the reason why visualization techniques work.
I honestly think we do ourselves a disservice by allowing and encouraging media producers to keep "upping the ante" in their use of violence. ... just my 2 cents worth.
It's both clever and incredibly stupid.
The game actually tells you what it's going to do.
And some people are actually going to take the time to back up their files just to try it out.
LOL
Like I said before, this is a bad mistake to make. Because most Mac users use the setup default user which is Admin, so applications and support files will be targeted.
Even in General User the User Library is targeted along with the other folders that come default.
Of course who knows what it places on the drive...
This is a glaring security issue obviously, as Apple is just gambling that new users won't download and run a program like this that wipes their drive.
It won't be long before someone hacks it and removes the "this will delete files" warning and passes it around.
This, and more... News at 11.
No one here has mentioned that loosing at the game causes it to delete ITSELF, meaning that unless you get the game to crash it's a one play art thing.
And it is possible to beat it without dying or shooting, or by shooting your way to the end.
The game itself is a month old - it's not news. The news is that it's now officially considered a threat.
No one here has mentioned that loosing at the game causes it to delete ITSELF, meaning that unless you get the game to crash it's a one play art thing.
And it is possible to beat it without dying or shooting, or by shooting your way to the end.
why doe's this game attack my mac ??
ans why is this ok ??
oh wait thats right
it's >> im a windows user for a day >> day .
[...]
But way off topic. What's Apple going to do about these trojans?
I suggest a non-sudo application installation password in addition to the admin level password.
It's good to see someone asking the question. Too many people, including a lot of tech types, believe there is nothing you can do to control software that is installed, when actually there is a great deal.
This should be the next big topic for operating system design.
Apps should not run with the full permissions as the user running the app.