I admit it, I find Asian ladies (Chinese especially) very attractive. So about 4-5 years ago, I decided to give the asiandate.com website a go. Before spending a penny, I had done a fair bit of research on the company behind this, and it had 'shady' written all over it - so I knew from the get-go that this setup was probably a scam. They are also behind anastasiadate.com which uses the very same system, and is the source of many scare-stories of guys who got more than they bargained for when they went to meet their "model-quality" Russian bride. But those lovely Asian ladies looked oh so cute - so I decided to give it a shot anyway!
The first thing you cannot possibly fail to notice is that this 'service' is outrageously expensive. Their text 'Chat' is $1 per minute. Including a 'premium smiley' in your text will cost another $1 per-inclusion. Viewing a photo, or sending the lady one of yours costs an absurd $15. Even worse, sending her a "Virtual gift", which consists solely of a tiny little picture/jpg, of a teddy-bear for instance, will cost you a whopping $15. 'Letters' seem better value at $10 per letter - until you realise that you are charged for both sides of the conversation, so in reality it's $20 per letter-exchange. Video-chat will cost you $2 per minute where only the lady's cam is on, whereas 2-way video costs a gob-smacking $6 per minute! All with audio disabled - naturally, they do everything in their power to prevent the exchange of any sort of off-site contact information.
These are their main-stays when it comes to fleecing customers, but they have a few other 'tricks' up their sleeves. One infuriating one is that if you click on a "Start Camshare" popup button, either by accident or design, you are immediately charged $2, even if you cancel before the lady's cam comes online. Back then, there were relatively few "Start Camshare" popups, whereas now, that figure is up to at least 50% - so it's obviously a nice little earner for this outfit. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of these pop-ups from ladies begging to chat are fake, just randomly generated by the site from women (supposedly) online. Another one I fell foul of more than a few times was clicking a part of the site I shouldn't have - the reason? well, their site is positively littered with ways of extracting yet-more cash from your account. My Nemesis was in the Letter's section. It contains multiple buttons/links to letters & photos, that the unwary can unintentionally click upon. It's like a mine-field of sorts that needs to be tip-toed through, and given the number of times that I ended up paying for letters that I accidently opened, I guess it's designed that way on purpose.
And the majority of these letters are not even genuine - something that these gangsters readily admit to, though in the small print! Many of the letters sent seem to be from ladies who haven't been 'live' on the site for years, yet you are still charged the same amount for reading these randomly-selected letters from long-dormant accounts. Of course, no doubt there may be genuine women included as well, but how do you tell the real from the fakes? Another issue I occasionally came across on asiandate.com was where apparently genuine ladies were unable to get their profiles removed from the site. These were invariably pretty/beautiful. Here is one example that I took a screen-grab of at the time - read the ladies 'Character' text. This seems to have been a last-resort ploy to get her profile removed, which worked - less than a week later, her profile had been deleted!
And when it comes to charging you, there is absolutely no confirmation asked for with this crowd - your credits are instantly debited, you are not even told after the fact, that your account has just been charged! Up until recently, it was in fact necessary to 'trick' the site into revealing how many credits you had remaining in your account. Now, there is literally no way of seeing what your account balance is - these scammers apparently want you to remain blissfully unaware of what you are spending, right up to your last 10 credits, whereupon you will then be prompted to buy some more! There is also no invoicing of any sort in place, you just have to take their word for it that they are charging you what they say they are!!! How can this be legal???
Speaking of legality, during my research 4-5 years ago, this company rated an abysmal E-rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Were you to check now, you would find that the BBB has no record of them!!! Apparently they have declared bankruptcy since then - even though they have never been off-line in the interim - and reputation-wise, now have a clean slate! Also back then, there was a Youtube video from a guy well-known in the website-dating industry that had done consultancy work for asiandate.com, as well as its main rival. One of the things he said both companies were guilty of was the buying of 'Catalogues' of models - yep, that pretty lady you think you are talking to could very well be some fat bloke that is working as many as a dozen of these profiles from the 'Catalogues' and charging you for the privilege! I also remember him saying how he had tried to convince the management of both companies to offer a more value-oriented service, rather than their then 'in-for-a-quick-buck' business model, but they did not want to know.
My time with them as a paid-up member was relatively brief. I opted for one of the ladies that was not a 'real-stunner', figuring that she would probably not be 'Catalogue material'. No such luck! After over 10 letters (20 paid-for, when her replies are included) I suggested to her I was considering paying for her email address (about $60 if memory serves) and would she be interested in contacting me off-site. A response, but no answer to the question. The next letter, I was more direct - another reply, but still no answer! Finally I told her not to expect another letter from me if she didn't answer my one simple question - result! She indicated that she was happy with the current arrangement and that if saving money was the issue, I should just email her less! Haha, funny in retrospect, though I didn't think so at the time. I exchanged letters with a couple of others, though no real 'correspondence' as such. None seemed interested in communicating off-site. I tried the 'Chat' for a bit as well, no joy there either - they all seemed to long to communicate, but ONLY via the site! I wonder why??? Anyway, long story short, I didn't spend too much and it was an 'experience' of sorts.
Back to the present-day, this scam seems to be taking on a new twist. 'asiandate.com' is now unbelievably charging a subscription - $10/month or 120/year, which includes absolutely nothing that wasn't available for free before! You are merely subscribing to be allowed to communicate with ladies - you then have to buy the credits to actually do so! One other thing I've just noticed that will highlight how petty this lot are - having recently updated their 'Smiley' icons, they also took the opportunity to thin down the 'free-smileys' even more, customers now having a mere handful that may be used without incurring a charge. Rather than working to improve things for potential customers, these actions show that they are (still) more interested in fleecing them for every penny they can - so as short-sighted as ever. Shame.
I am not a betting man, but I would wager that this just-introduced 'Subscription' is doomed to failure. In fact it seems more like a last-ditch effort to stave off (real) bankruptcy, than a credible means of generating a fresh revenue stream. Who in their right mind will pay $120/year just for the privilege of paying for credits!?!?!
28 August 2015
10 August 2015
Linux - the infamous 'Unlock keyring' dilemma.
If you are in any way Linux-inclined, you are certain to have come across this problem multiple times already. Namely, when you browse your network for your online computers and double-click a share that you want to access, you are first prompted for a password to access the remote computer, followed by another password-prompt to unlock the infamous keyring. The former is usually a one-off affair, bypassed by simply clicking the option to "remember forever" the entered password. The latter however, has been the cause of much gnashing of teeth for at least the past 7 years, the period of time since I abandoned Windows for Linux - just Google "unlock keyring" if you are in any doubt!
This has driven me nuts over the years. As you move from Linux distro to distro, just when you would start to believe that the Linux developers had finally 'fixed' it, you would be met once again by that infernal prompt to unlock the keyring at every boot-up. And up to about an hour ago, I had resorted to my now-usual custom of cursing all developers responsible for this travesty, as well as all of their offspring, past and present, for good measure! I then had my 'Road to Damascus' moment when I (finally) succeeded in understanding the underlying issue and fixing it permanently! It's embarrassingly simple as well!
One of the biggest problems is that there must be dozens of tutorials out there on how to fix this, but knowing what I now know, it is equally clear that most of these are either incomplete, or the originator has only a vague idea of what the underlying problem is - his setup works for him, he therefore tries to describe how to configure your system so that you see what he sees. Sure, you will find a lot of "Great, it worked for me!" responses, but invariably there are many "Nope, it didn't work for me" posts as well.
So, onto the solution. First-off, despite what I had thought for years, there is nothing wrong with the keyring-management software itself - it's just that all those bloody misleading "fix-it" tutorials leave you (me) with the impression that there is! To get this working properly 100% of the time, all one needs to do is follow what is outlined below. But first, a word about 'security'.
Back 5-7 years ago when this was really driving people to distraction, there were equally distracted individuals doing the rounds of all the major forums, telling us to stop whinging and just enter the bloody password - after all, we need to keep Linux secure! I, and probably most others thought "bollocks to that!", why can't this stupid setup just use your login password, which had already just been entered. And this stance is perfectly reasonable & valid! Where these pontificators might have been on much firmer ground involved those that wanted to auto-login as well - in this instance, there is absolutely no security in effect. I mention this because I will now outline how to successfully achieve both, but naturally recommend that only the secure method be used.
1) To begin, open the Keyring Management app. On my Ubuntu-based distro (Deepin 2014), it's called 'Passwords and Keys' in the System's menu. The underlying software is called 'seahorse'. From the menu, select 'View' and check 'By Keyring', then select 'View' again and select 'Show Personal'. You should now see at least one key-ring listed under 'Passwords' on the key-ring's pane on the left.
2) To make this as fool-proof as possible, delete all of these personal key-rings. It should be obvious as to what you are deleting. If unsure, select its properties. Normally there are 2 key-rings that need deleting, one containing your login password, the other containing your network password. It is this 'division-of-labour' (2 or more key-rings) that causes all of the problems. We want to use a single key-ring for all operations, to hold our login-password, and our network-password. Do NOT delete any of the 'Certificates', PGP keys etc. - just the key-rings that are listed under 'Passwords'.
3) Even though you may want to start Linux without entering a password (auto-login), complete the following step anyway, as it will allow you the option to switch to the more secure password-login at a later date and your Network-keys setup will continue to work unaltered. From the 'Passwords and Keys' app. select 'File' -> 'New...' -> 'Password Keyring' and name the newly created key-ring "login". This is the key-ring in which our Network key will now be stored.
4) Open the desktop manager app. (Nautilus, Caja, Nemo etc.) select 'Browse Network' and navigate to the remote share you wish to access. When you double-click it, you will be prompted for 2 passwords. Enter the first password, making sure that you select the 'remember forever' option for this, your network password.
Now select either the 'Secure Method' or the 'Insecure Method' below.
Secure Method.
This assumes that you enter a login password each time you start Linux, and will use this entered-password to automatically unlock the network keys.
1) Enter your Keyring password & confirm it, at the prompt. That's it, nothing further needs to be done! The Password manager will have detected the "login" key-ring and copied the just-entered network-password key into it. All should be well.
Insecure Method.
This assumes that you want to start Linux without entering a login-password, and also to not be prompted repeatedly for Key-ring passwords every time you start Linux.
1) At the 'Enter Keyring-password' prompt, simply leave both the 'password' and 'confirm password' lines blank. You will then be prompted to confirm that you do indeed want to store your passwords in an unencrypted format (hence the "no security" bit!) Hit yes, and you're done.
With only one keyring, it will already be set to 'Default', so no need to worry about that. You should never again be prompted for a password for that particular network. If for any reason the keyring manager instead of copying the network-key to the 'login' keyring, creates another one named 'default...' and copies it to there, something is wrong - delete this and try again! it must end up in the "login" folder for this to work properly.
Overall, eazy-peezy,what was all the fuss about? ;)
Edit 1.
Jesus wept. Mere days after penning the above, I'm aghast to discover that the piece of shit that is Linux key-ring management is buggy after all!!! I was shocked to find that on logging in (the 'secure method') I am occasionally still prompted for a key-ring password.
The bug is that the "login" key-ring is sometimes not unlocked at login, when it should ALWAYS be unlocked. It is also very easy to reproduce, though it may take a few reboots/re-logins for it to show itself - just do the following;
reboot/login, and immediately open the 'Keys & Passwords' application. You will find that sometimes the "login" keyring is still locked, sometimes it is unlocked!
This is with an Ubuntu Trusty-based 64-bit setup (Linux Deepin). It is moronic crap like this that has ensured that Linux has managed to retain barely a toe-hold in the Desktop/Workstation OS environment. Bill Gates might as well be paying Linux developers to sabotage Linux, for all the effect these cretins are having. Remember, this bug has been around for at least 7 years, yet these arse-holes still haven't managed/bothered to fix it!!! I don't have any Android-based devices, (which is Linux-based) - I don't like mobiles, and haven't got around to getting a tablet - but I bet that Google sees to it that bugs like this are quashed immediately. I know one thing, Micro$oft wouldn't feel threatened enough to be giving away Windows 10 for free (which from what I've read, is actually pretty decent) if the competition was as bug-ridden as these Ubuntu-based releases.
Case in point, take Linux Mint. I had tried a few Mint releases over the years but never saw the point - after all, it was essentially Ubuntu/Gnome2 with a candy-floss coating. That all changed with the debacle that was/is Gnome3, so I have been acclimatising myself to Mint/Mate since 17.1. Now Mint 17.2, I am continually shocked at the number of serious bugs this setup continues to harbour. I have personally submitted 3 bug reports but don't expect that they will ever be looked at, never mind fixed. On the other hand, Ubuntu 10.04, long EOL'ed but still my OS of choice, is a joy to use, almost bug-free, and I'm pretty sure doesn't suffer from the key-ring management bug discussed here. The thing is, Mint is almost universally recommended as the Linux of choice for Linux-newbies. As someone who currently uses it for several hours daily, my question is, WHY??? I'm using it purely because of Mate's emulation of Gnome2, but jeez, that also has so many bugs that it would merit its own article. On the other hand, picture a typical Windows user who is thinking of switching to a free OS, has grown accustomed to using a decent OS - let's face it, Windows is not bad - and is then faced with headaches the likes of this key-ring management thing - common-sense would suggest that the majority will end up running for the hills, and back to fattening Bill's coffers. And would you blame them, I certainly wouldn't.
Edit 2:
Try as I might, I cannot reproduce this 'failure to unlock keyring at login' on Mint 17.2, only with Linux Deepin, where it seems to occur 'naturally' about 50% of the time. Given that they are both based on the 'Ubuntu-trusty' distro, I find this odd. It is especially ironic in that Mint/Samba has a bug of sorts where remote-computers are not detected & listed automatically when you choose to 'Browse Network' (with Deepin, they are) - because of this, and in conjunction with another major Samba bug, where if you double-click 'Windows networks', then the 'workgroup' icons, your Browser window will instantly close (it crashes, issuing a 'segmentation fault' when Caja is launched from a terminal), but only if a remote Linux computer exists on the network! It works fine if a Windows computer exists - it's as if Windows themselves are behind the development of Samba!!! Note that this bug does not exist on my Ubuntu 10.04/Samba installation, only with the 'new-and-improved' Samba that is in the Trusty repository. This means that from the Mint computer, I cannot Browse the network for available shares, but have instead to 'Connect to server...' via a specified IP address.
So, with Deepin, I can Browse & connect to network shares because Samba automatically detects & lists computers on the network, but am prompted 50% of the time to also enter the keyring password, whereas with Mint, since the remote computers are not automatically listed by Samba, I would normally need to go the 'Windows networks'->'workgroup' route to find them - only to have the Browse window crash when it detects that the remote computer is a Linux box. So in a sense, I'm damned either way...
Edit3:
Weeeeeee, I've just noticed that this Deepin bug has finally been removed! Thanks should probably go to the Debian crowd, rather than the Deepin developers though - Deepin is after switching from the Ubuntu, to the Debian base-system for Deepin 15. This move incidently is after introducing a whole other range of serious problems, not least of which is that Deepin 15 will not even install on a lot of computers - my Dell laptop being just one example. After multiple graphics-related problems running on my Zotac pc, I finally have a stable setup there. These 'introduced' problems have the Deepin devs thinking of starting a 'base-system' of their own, which sounds like a big move.
Stick with Debian I'd say. The fact that this Debian setup is minus this stupid bug, one that seems to have plagued Ubuntu distributions for years, is a good omen.
This has driven me nuts over the years. As you move from Linux distro to distro, just when you would start to believe that the Linux developers had finally 'fixed' it, you would be met once again by that infernal prompt to unlock the keyring at every boot-up. And up to about an hour ago, I had resorted to my now-usual custom of cursing all developers responsible for this travesty, as well as all of their offspring, past and present, for good measure! I then had my 'Road to Damascus' moment when I (finally) succeeded in understanding the underlying issue and fixing it permanently! It's embarrassingly simple as well!
One of the biggest problems is that there must be dozens of tutorials out there on how to fix this, but knowing what I now know, it is equally clear that most of these are either incomplete, or the originator has only a vague idea of what the underlying problem is - his setup works for him, he therefore tries to describe how to configure your system so that you see what he sees. Sure, you will find a lot of "Great, it worked for me!" responses, but invariably there are many "Nope, it didn't work for me" posts as well.
So, onto the solution. First-off, despite what I had thought for years, there is nothing wrong with the keyring-management software itself - it's just that all those bloody misleading "fix-it" tutorials leave you (me) with the impression that there is! To get this working properly 100% of the time, all one needs to do is follow what is outlined below. But first, a word about 'security'.
Back 5-7 years ago when this was really driving people to distraction, there were equally distracted individuals doing the rounds of all the major forums, telling us to stop whinging and just enter the bloody password - after all, we need to keep Linux secure! I, and probably most others thought "bollocks to that!", why can't this stupid setup just use your login password, which had already just been entered. And this stance is perfectly reasonable & valid! Where these pontificators might have been on much firmer ground involved those that wanted to auto-login as well - in this instance, there is absolutely no security in effect. I mention this because I will now outline how to successfully achieve both, but naturally recommend that only the secure method be used.
1) To begin, open the Keyring Management app. On my Ubuntu-based distro (Deepin 2014), it's called 'Passwords and Keys' in the System's menu. The underlying software is called 'seahorse'. From the menu, select 'View' and check 'By Keyring', then select 'View' again and select 'Show Personal'. You should now see at least one key-ring listed under 'Passwords' on the key-ring's pane on the left.
2) To make this as fool-proof as possible, delete all of these personal key-rings. It should be obvious as to what you are deleting. If unsure, select its properties. Normally there are 2 key-rings that need deleting, one containing your login password, the other containing your network password. It is this 'division-of-labour' (2 or more key-rings) that causes all of the problems. We want to use a single key-ring for all operations, to hold our login-password, and our network-password. Do NOT delete any of the 'Certificates', PGP keys etc. - just the key-rings that are listed under 'Passwords'.
3) Even though you may want to start Linux without entering a password (auto-login), complete the following step anyway, as it will allow you the option to switch to the more secure password-login at a later date and your Network-keys setup will continue to work unaltered. From the 'Passwords and Keys' app. select 'File' -> 'New...' -> 'Password Keyring' and name the newly created key-ring "login". This is the key-ring in which our Network key will now be stored.
4) Open the desktop manager app. (Nautilus, Caja, Nemo etc.) select 'Browse Network' and navigate to the remote share you wish to access. When you double-click it, you will be prompted for 2 passwords. Enter the first password, making sure that you select the 'remember forever' option for this, your network password.
Now select either the 'Secure Method' or the 'Insecure Method' below.
Secure Method.
This assumes that you enter a login password each time you start Linux, and will use this entered-password to automatically unlock the network keys.
1) Enter your Keyring password & confirm it, at the prompt. That's it, nothing further needs to be done! The Password manager will have detected the "login" key-ring and copied the just-entered network-password key into it. All should be well.
Insecure Method.
This assumes that you want to start Linux without entering a login-password, and also to not be prompted repeatedly for Key-ring passwords every time you start Linux.
1) At the 'Enter Keyring-password' prompt, simply leave both the 'password' and 'confirm password' lines blank. You will then be prompted to confirm that you do indeed want to store your passwords in an unencrypted format (hence the "no security" bit!) Hit yes, and you're done.
With only one keyring, it will already be set to 'Default', so no need to worry about that. You should never again be prompted for a password for that particular network. If for any reason the keyring manager instead of copying the network-key to the 'login' keyring, creates another one named 'default...' and copies it to there, something is wrong - delete this and try again! it must end up in the "login" folder for this to work properly.
Overall, eazy-peezy,what was all the fuss about? ;)
Edit 1.
Jesus wept. Mere days after penning the above, I'm aghast to discover that the piece of shit that is Linux key-ring management is buggy after all!!! I was shocked to find that on logging in (the 'secure method') I am occasionally still prompted for a key-ring password.
The bug is that the "login" key-ring is sometimes not unlocked at login, when it should ALWAYS be unlocked. It is also very easy to reproduce, though it may take a few reboots/re-logins for it to show itself - just do the following;
reboot/login, and immediately open the 'Keys & Passwords' application. You will find that sometimes the "login" keyring is still locked, sometimes it is unlocked!
This is with an Ubuntu Trusty-based 64-bit setup (Linux Deepin). It is moronic crap like this that has ensured that Linux has managed to retain barely a toe-hold in the Desktop/Workstation OS environment. Bill Gates might as well be paying Linux developers to sabotage Linux, for all the effect these cretins are having. Remember, this bug has been around for at least 7 years, yet these arse-holes still haven't managed/bothered to fix it!!! I don't have any Android-based devices, (which is Linux-based) - I don't like mobiles, and haven't got around to getting a tablet - but I bet that Google sees to it that bugs like this are quashed immediately. I know one thing, Micro$oft wouldn't feel threatened enough to be giving away Windows 10 for free (which from what I've read, is actually pretty decent) if the competition was as bug-ridden as these Ubuntu-based releases.
Case in point, take Linux Mint. I had tried a few Mint releases over the years but never saw the point - after all, it was essentially Ubuntu/Gnome2 with a candy-floss coating. That all changed with the debacle that was/is Gnome3, so I have been acclimatising myself to Mint/Mate since 17.1. Now Mint 17.2, I am continually shocked at the number of serious bugs this setup continues to harbour. I have personally submitted 3 bug reports but don't expect that they will ever be looked at, never mind fixed. On the other hand, Ubuntu 10.04, long EOL'ed but still my OS of choice, is a joy to use, almost bug-free, and I'm pretty sure doesn't suffer from the key-ring management bug discussed here. The thing is, Mint is almost universally recommended as the Linux of choice for Linux-newbies. As someone who currently uses it for several hours daily, my question is, WHY??? I'm using it purely because of Mate's emulation of Gnome2, but jeez, that also has so many bugs that it would merit its own article. On the other hand, picture a typical Windows user who is thinking of switching to a free OS, has grown accustomed to using a decent OS - let's face it, Windows is not bad - and is then faced with headaches the likes of this key-ring management thing - common-sense would suggest that the majority will end up running for the hills, and back to fattening Bill's coffers. And would you blame them, I certainly wouldn't.
Edit 2:
Try as I might, I cannot reproduce this 'failure to unlock keyring at login' on Mint 17.2, only with Linux Deepin, where it seems to occur 'naturally' about 50% of the time. Given that they are both based on the 'Ubuntu-trusty' distro, I find this odd. It is especially ironic in that Mint/Samba has a bug of sorts where remote-computers are not detected & listed automatically when you choose to 'Browse Network' (with Deepin, they are) - because of this, and in conjunction with another major Samba bug, where if you double-click 'Windows networks', then the 'workgroup' icons, your Browser window will instantly close (it crashes, issuing a 'segmentation fault' when Caja is launched from a terminal), but only if a remote Linux computer exists on the network! It works fine if a Windows computer exists - it's as if Windows themselves are behind the development of Samba!!! Note that this bug does not exist on my Ubuntu 10.04/Samba installation, only with the 'new-and-improved' Samba that is in the Trusty repository. This means that from the Mint computer, I cannot Browse the network for available shares, but have instead to 'Connect to server...' via a specified IP address.
So, with Deepin, I can Browse & connect to network shares because Samba automatically detects & lists computers on the network, but am prompted 50% of the time to also enter the keyring password, whereas with Mint, since the remote computers are not automatically listed by Samba, I would normally need to go the 'Windows networks'->'workgroup' route to find them - only to have the Browse window crash when it detects that the remote computer is a Linux box. So in a sense, I'm damned either way...
Edit3:
Weeeeeee, I've just noticed that this Deepin bug has finally been removed! Thanks should probably go to the Debian crowd, rather than the Deepin developers though - Deepin is after switching from the Ubuntu, to the Debian base-system for Deepin 15. This move incidently is after introducing a whole other range of serious problems, not least of which is that Deepin 15 will not even install on a lot of computers - my Dell laptop being just one example. After multiple graphics-related problems running on my Zotac pc, I finally have a stable setup there. These 'introduced' problems have the Deepin devs thinking of starting a 'base-system' of their own, which sounds like a big move.
Stick with Debian I'd say. The fact that this Debian setup is minus this stupid bug, one that seems to have plagued Ubuntu distributions for years, is a good omen.
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