PawSense: Catproof Your Computer
bitboost.com25 points by zdw 4 hours ago
25 points by zdw 4 hours ago
Some internal Skype versions had cat detection. When the client discovered cat-like key presses, the other side would see a cat walking animation instead of typing animation. Don’t think this feature ever made it to a public release.
Oh, I really believed this was some strange keylogger spyware. Maybe it is? I really can't tell. Either this was the hook to get people to install it, or the front to make it seem like a real thing when people find it and google "why is pawsense installed on my computer".
> Even while you use your other software, PawSense constantly monitors keyboard activity. PawSense analyzes keypress timings and combinations to distinguish cat typing from human typing.
On an OS like Windows, which does not have a granular permissions model for something like prompting the user to allow a program to hook keyboard input when not focused, literally any binary you run could be a keylogger. One that openly says it analyzes keypresses is not especially more of a security risk than any other binary, which can do all the same things even if they do not announce on their webpage that they do.
> When cats walk or climb on your keyboard, they can enter random commands and data, damage your files, and even crash your computer.
And they might turn you into the Freakazoid
> Except when playing a sound (when a cat is detected) PawSense occupies less than 120K of RAM.
Maybe add a 1999 or 2000 datestamp to this (it won the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ig_Nobel_Prize_winners... Ig Nobel prize in Computer Science in 2000...)
I give it One Star: It keeps locking me out of my computer whenever I rage at video games, which makes me rage further.
This is timely. Out of my five cats, my primary boy has been really needy or making a game out of hop on table, walk on keyboards, get picked up, scritched and tossed down. Repeat. Even cat tv on youtube hasn't been helping.
Unfortunately the program can be bypassed by typing “human”
Ultimately all this does is incentivize cats to type more accurately when inputting malicious commands
How good! Just need the cat to try it.
Aluminium foil on flat surfaces works very well.
After the cat has been trained to avoid the shelf or desk, you can remove the foil.
Highly hit or miss strategy, my cat didn't care at all about foil, he even rolled around on it.
I personally recommend motion-detecting air spray cans, I didn't want the cat to feel punished by me, he just needs to be redirected. Therefore I opt for these as a deterrent, since it is both effective and an action I undertake from the cat's view. I think he hates it because of the hiss, but the air spray itself might play a role.