How do they know?

[mattw]

mike, i recall seeing a picture of your setups. about 6 monitors on a 12 foot table. i assume several cpu's. whats up with the tiny amount of RAM?

[daryn]

[ QUOTE ]
Additionally...how can they not tell the difference between "HOW do you know?" and "WHAT do you know?"


Mike is asking, "Hey...how can you see that?"
And they say, "You have 386 RAM" which very obviously is not answering the question he was asking.


Are these C/S reps at some poker sites intentionally obtuse?

[/ QUOTE ]

huh?

[ QUOTE ]
When I asked them how much RAM I have they said, "You have 384 RAM in your computer and the minimum of RAM required these days to run online gaming is 512.

[/ QUOTE ]

[MicroBob]

oopsie-doopsie.

I misread his post.


Perhaps we should ask if I'm the one being intentionally obtuse.

[Mike Haven]

my computer advisor tells me RAM is relatively unimportant up to 20-tabling and that they don't know the difference between gaming and playing games

my main concern is that they know about asiangirls and they might think i'm some sort of perv

[Sniper]

[ QUOTE ]
my computer advisor tells me RAM is relatively unimportant up to 20-tabling and that they don't know the difference between gaming and playing games

[/ QUOTE ]

RAM may be relatively unimportant for using the poker room client software... but its extremely important for PT and PAHud [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Mike Haven]

I've received an interesting pm from a Programmer working on brand new poker site software. He gave me the following insights:

1) When dealing with a server-based software program, (meaning that this type of program checks in with a server in order to run), the user's PC is checked routinely for configuration data, (because, say, the user could have installed a new graphics card from the last time he logged on, etc). That data normally stays on the user's computer, though, because the program itself needs to predict conflicts before they might crash the PC. It is not data that is normally collected and viewable by Customer Support.

2) When dealing with bots, run-time tools, etc, an online poker site needs to protect all the players on that service. This means being extra cautious about what other programs a person might be running during the time the game is running. So there's a Catch-22: in order to secure their customers from playing against bots, a poker site has to scour all their customers' systems in order to make sure they're not running bots, either. Again, that information should stay on the PC; until, of course, the program detects something out of sorts ... in which case the program sends back details to the Security Team.

Therefore, the answer to my question of "how did they know my RAM?" is they shouldn't have known that, or, at the very least, the Customer Service rep should not have had access to that information because it's not important for him to know.

Perhaps some sites have allowed their apparent diligence over security issues to blind them a little to the basic rights of privacy of their users?

1. Basic system info is commonly captured at the far end. This includes your browser type and version, OS type and version, and (less frequently) processor and RAM. With an installed client, they can get far more information than they can with simple browser access.

2. On the privacy rights issue: I don't know about Stars, but I've pored over the TOS for Party. When you agree to the Terms of Service, you EXPLICITLY allow them to scan your machine, scan what's running, and even take desktop snapshots. There are no limitations listed on what they're allowed to do with the information, where they store it, etc. While it may work against your privacy, it doesn't work against your RIGHT to privacy, since you explicitly gave up that right when you agreed to the terms.

Mind you, I (like most) didn't realize that at the time I agreed to the TOS. I went back and read it much later!

[JackOfSpeed]

I can't believe that there have been 16 replies to this thread without a single person pointing out that the OP was playing at PokerChamps...wtf!? I thought that PokerChamps had long since gone under...

[CORed]

[ QUOTE ]
my main concern is that they know about asiangirls and they might think i'm some sort of perv

[/ QUOTE ]

Most likely, they already stole your password for asiangirls and are using it to enhance their multi-cultural horizons.