Are some people cheating to get a high score?

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Senator
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 9:39 pm
Location: San Diego, California

Post by Senator »

Wherever there is a game or project that has a high score set up, the cheaters will come, just to try for the score. For them, a certificate would be cool.

The idea of only giving certificates to those who actually find a certified track is the best idea. For making the top 100, the satisfaction should be enough.

If a cheater is found, be fair, communicate with them and let them know you found them cheating so the have a chance to communicate their response. The actual cheater usually clams up and disappears for a while. If they are found guilty by your evidence and can not refute the charge, then reset their scores to zero. It will really make their day one they deserve and most likely they will drop from the project. 8)
fflo
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 7:37 am
Location: Eindhoven, Netherlands

"cheaters" vs science!

Post by fflo »

Senator wrote:
The idea of only giving certificates to those who actually find a certified track is the best idea. For making the top 100, the satisfaction should be enough.
One could not but fully agree with this suggestion! Furthermore:
If a cheater is found, be fair, communicate etc. .........
I am sure you read more on this subject, if not yet the "Update 16Aug06: "cheaters" vs science!"
see under

http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ ... .php?t=874

fflo
Senator
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 9:39 pm
Location: San Diego, California

Re: "cheaters" vs science!

Post by Senator »

If a cheater is found, be fair, communicate etc. .........
I am sure you read more on this subject, if not yet the "Update 16Aug06: "cheaters" vs science!"
see under

http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ ... .php?t=874

fflo[/quote]

This is good... real good. That will teach them not to mess with the science folks.

Thank you, I had not seen that, but I love it. 8)
Howie
Posts: 331
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2006 2:47 pm
Location: Florida

ANOTHER RUN-AWAY COMPUTER???

Post by Howie »

Anyone notice another computer or computers (SkyNetV4) moving up the ranks since yesterday? Over 5000 points since 24 hours ago from about rank 60 and still going now at rank 40 non stop...couple points every few seconds???

Another program???

Howie
Howie
Posts: 331
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2006 2:47 pm
Location: Florida

Re: ANOTHER RUN-AWAY COMPUTER???

Post by Howie »

[quote="Howie"]Anyone notice another computer or computers (SkyNetV4) moving up the ranks since yesterday? Over 5000 points since 24 hours ago from about rank 60 and still going now at rank 40 non stop...couple points every few seconds???

Another program???

Howie[/quote

Team has been notified !!!
Howie
Posts: 331
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2006 2:47 pm
Location: Florida

Anyone Notice SkyNetV4 Has Stopped???

Post by Howie »

???????????????????????????????????????
Wolter
DustMod
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Post by Wolter »

Howie noticed SkyNetV4 = CerealKiller2 and discussed at length....
Just dusting... Image
DustSabre
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2006 4:51 pm

Post by DustSabre »

To be perfectly blunt, you can cheat anytime you please in terms of getting all the certificates you want. Whoever named the certificate webpages named them all in such a naive fashion that I discovered that I could get to the webpages of any of the certificates merely by changing the web address a little. In other words, I could print off a certificate claiming that I had achieved some incredible score, having never actually achieved that score. Now, I'm the sort of person who can't abide having certificates around that I didn't legitimately win, but there are others who I'm sure would just love to print off every award they can get. Also, the awards look very similar, so you could just forge more of them in 5 minutes with no problem if you had the lowest level award to look at as an example.

There are two positions you can take on this problem:

(A) To help prevent this, I'd say we would need to do two things: Make each level of certificate look different, and make their web addresses vary enough that somebody can't easily find them.

(B) Do nothing, because anybody who's cheating would be smart enough to evade or hack anything you did to protect the certificates.

I know that this topic doesn't exactly pertain to cheating to get a high score, but it does relate to it in a fashion.
Nikita
DustMod
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Post by Nikita »

Some of us never looked to see if it was possible!
From dust we come
Gamma^Ray
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Location: USA
Contact:

Post by Gamma^Ray »

Nikita wrote:Some of us never looked to see if it was possible!
Ever heard of the old saying : To beat a criminal (Or in this case cheater/hacker), You have to think like one, Then you will be prepared . :wink:

G^R
A.Einstein wrote:"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."
Groundling
Posts: 65
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2006 6:55 pm
Location: Oregon, USA

Comment

Post by Groundling »

Hi Gamma^Ray
Don’t let the purists dissuade you from your need to comment.
There are many Questions we all have. It is healthy to have everyones concerns addressed.
Groundling
I have met the enemy and he is us.
Pogo
Nikita
DustMod
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Re: Comment

Post by Nikita »

Groundling wrote:Hi Gamma^Ray
Don’t let the purists dissuade you from your need to comment.
There are many Questions we all have. It is healthy to have everyones concerns addressed.
Groundling
Absolutely!!! And that reminds me, my kids will be teens soon, just I better start thinking about how to outsmart them now!

I didn't want anyone think I was saying they were wrong to notice it could be done, my thought was simply, "Huh, never thought about it". Guess it never dawned on me that anyone would want to fake a certificate that has no value to anyone else except for the holder and would be meaningless to the rest of us who know who the top searchers are and their scores. But to notice it isn't wrong, nor in this case is sharing it with the community since it doesn't affect the search. However, if there is a security question about the search that would modify the movies or one's ability to get their scores higher, that should be sent to Bryan and not posted.

That's all, tis all good!
From dust we come
Howie
Posts: 331
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2006 2:47 pm
Location: Florida

I agree Nikita...

Post by Howie »

However, if there is a security question about the search that would modify the movies or one's ability to get their scores higher, that should be sent to Bryan and not posted.
DustSabre
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2006 4:51 pm

Post by DustSabre »

Ever heard of the old saying : To beat a criminal (Or in this case cheater/hacker), You have to think like one, Then you will be prepared . :wink:
That's my philosophy. Forewarned is forearmed.
Guess it never dawned on me that anyone would want to fake a certificate that has no value to anyone else except for the holder and would be meaningless to the rest of us who know who the top searchers are and their scores.
It just goes to show, though, that you shouldn't trust anyone's certificates unless you have also seen a legitimate online profile to match.
But to notice it isn't wrong, nor in this case is sharing it with the community since it doesn't affect the search.
However, if there is a security question about the search that would modify the movies or one's ability to get their scores higher, that should be sent to Bryan and not posted.
What's the point of this thread, then?
Absolutely!!! And that reminds me, my kids will be teens soon, just I better start thinking about how to outsmart them now!
Have fun... loosing the game, that is. :lol:
Nikita
DustMod
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Post by Nikita »

DustSabre,

This thread was started on August 5th and has covered a variety of issues. At that point, there was a serious issue of cheating on the scoring, not simply the certificates. The Stardust team did weed out the cheaters. It wasn't just a concern about faking a piece of paper then. The issue was known throughout the community and needed to be addressed publicly. In fact there were two issues going on that were taken care of.

In my opinion, if someone wants to print out a certificate that says they achieved a higher score than they did, I don't really care. If they want to duplicate it and put that they were the "Best Searcher On The Entire Planet Earth And Beyond" it doesn't bother me and it doesn't affect this search. Nor do I expect to be running into a fellow duster in my path through life. If I did and they wanted to lie to me with a fake certificate, so be it.

I understand that you found a flaw and you were just bringing it to the attention of the Stardust team. I agree that it is ok to do that. This is not a flaw that compromises the integrity of the project. If it were, like Howie and I said, it would be sent as a message to Bryan. The team may also have already been aware of the problem and chose to proceed anyway. The training certificate was the only one available when the project first started and it wasn't until months afterwards when they got the rest going. I think you were signed on the forum then, so you may remember the excitement!

Good luck with your searching and I hope you get to find a track!
Nikita

Please
From dust we come
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