Alex Libman
February 8th, 2010, 04:09 PM
These aren't what you'd call normal privacy or usability flaws, but nonetheless something to consider:
Ubuntu could use an equivalent of the Windows CCleaner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCleaner) utility, which in addition to Computer Janitor type functionality would provide a single place for clearing any or all user privacy data: all popular Web browsers, media player histories, shell histories, thumbnails cache, trash (which most users who don't keep that panel item simply forget about), etc, etc, etc.
Gnome's "Picture folder" screensaver seems to search the entirety of the user's $HOME path for images (that might only be the case if the user deletes the default ~/Pictures folder, but I imagine that many users do). This can be quite unexpected just by itself, with the user thinking it will only display ~/pics and returning to find his laptop left in a public place blasting through JPEG's from ~/shared/p2p/IllegalIn30states/; but what makes this flaw most insidious is the "Picture folder" screensaver choice being buried on the bottom of the scrollable list, while the "Random" option is on the very top. A user choosing a random screensaver might think he'll just get a different cutesy animation every time, without considering the possibility of it showing off his porn collection while he's away from his desk.
When Totem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_%28media_player%29) (v2.28.2; GStreamer 0.10.25) concludes playing a video playlist, it seems to display the first frame from the first item on the playlist until you exit Full Screen and close the Totem window. Imagine someone starting his big-screen media center experience with a little "Girls Gone Wild" while the wife is at work, and adding the Super Bowl to the playlist after that so he doesn't have to get up from the couch an extra time. Half-way into the game the wife comes home, brings some company over, they join in to finish watching the game together, and then suddenly, WHAM, the title shot of "Girls Gone Wild" just appears on the screen for no reason!
I think the Escape key should close Totem, same as it does the Image Viewer (Eye of Gnome), because sometimes guys watching certain kinds of movies panic when intruded upon and need all the usability aids they can get.
:lolflag:
Ubuntu could use an equivalent of the Windows CCleaner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCleaner) utility, which in addition to Computer Janitor type functionality would provide a single place for clearing any or all user privacy data: all popular Web browsers, media player histories, shell histories, thumbnails cache, trash (which most users who don't keep that panel item simply forget about), etc, etc, etc.
Gnome's "Picture folder" screensaver seems to search the entirety of the user's $HOME path for images (that might only be the case if the user deletes the default ~/Pictures folder, but I imagine that many users do). This can be quite unexpected just by itself, with the user thinking it will only display ~/pics and returning to find his laptop left in a public place blasting through JPEG's from ~/shared/p2p/IllegalIn30states/; but what makes this flaw most insidious is the "Picture folder" screensaver choice being buried on the bottom of the scrollable list, while the "Random" option is on the very top. A user choosing a random screensaver might think he'll just get a different cutesy animation every time, without considering the possibility of it showing off his porn collection while he's away from his desk.
When Totem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_%28media_player%29) (v2.28.2; GStreamer 0.10.25) concludes playing a video playlist, it seems to display the first frame from the first item on the playlist until you exit Full Screen and close the Totem window. Imagine someone starting his big-screen media center experience with a little "Girls Gone Wild" while the wife is at work, and adding the Super Bowl to the playlist after that so he doesn't have to get up from the couch an extra time. Half-way into the game the wife comes home, brings some company over, they join in to finish watching the game together, and then suddenly, WHAM, the title shot of "Girls Gone Wild" just appears on the screen for no reason!
I think the Escape key should close Totem, same as it does the Image Viewer (Eye of Gnome), because sometimes guys watching certain kinds of movies panic when intruded upon and need all the usability aids they can get.
:lolflag: