Re: gds.el --- Emacs interface to Google Desktop Search

[Thien-Thi Nguyen]

   From: Joe Bush <address@hidden>
   Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 04:41:35 GMT

   [...] now collecting private information from those who use it [...]

below is some code that does essentially the same thing.  i don't run
this stuff personally, i just write it (to remind myself and others of
the methods of the watchers lest they be forgotten).  keep your friends
close, and all that...

if someone would be also uncomfortable running this, would they be less
uncomfortable not having access to the source code?  oop ack!

thi


____________________________
;;; snitch.el
;;;
;;; Rel:v-1-55

;;; Copyright (C) 2003-2004 Thien-Thi Nguyen
;;; This file is part of ttn's personal elisp library, released under GNU
;;; GPL with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.  See the file COPYING for details.
;;;
;;; Description: Record runtime info to send to the busybody.
;;; Version: 1.0
;;; Keywords: emacs-lisp, convenience
;;; X-Author-Seeking-Band: to-jam, to-gig, to-write-songs, to-learn-italian

;;; Commentary:

;; * Overview
;;
;;   This file provides functions to save information collected during
;;   an emacs session and, at a later time, to email that information to
;;   some busybody on the Net.  Information collected can range from
;;   simple (whether or not some feature/function is used) to complex
;;   (filtered aggregate data).  See `snitch-stash', `snitch-report',
;;   and `global-snitch-mode' (both var and func).
;;
;; * Why you should think very carefully about using this code
;;
;;   It is fair to call the snitch facility "spyware"; the name should
;;   in fact alert you that something weird is afoot.  To be precise,
;;   however, no spying is done unless you, the elisp programmer, use
;;   snitch functions in your code.  When you take that step, you have
;;   become an author of spyware.  Please be careful and take pains to
;;   inform your users in turn of what they're getting into, lest your
;;   (possibly) well-intentioned information collection efforts be
;;   misinterpreted to the detriment of you and your program.
;;
;; * Restoring balance
;;
;;   Consider yourself invited to write an anti-snitch.el which would
;;   search code (loaded or not) for snitch functions, rewrite programs
;;   omitting the potential for snitching, etc.
;;
;; * Thanks
;;
;;   This code arose from discussion on the emacs-devel list, where
;;   many interesting points regarding how to find out what users
;;   actually use were brought up in mid 2003.  Thanks go to the
;;   discussion participants.
;;
;; * TODO
;;
;;   - in snitch-report, handle key lookup failure
;;   - add support for kill-emacs-hook
;;   - add persistence (write to ~/.emacs or ~/.emacs.snitch)
;;   - figure out if this should go into emacs, and if so, where?

;;; Code:

(defvar global-snitch-mode nil
  "*Enable `snitch-stash' if non-nil.")

(defun snitch-var ()
  "Return a variable name (symbol) where snitch stores information."
  (let ((rv (intern (concat (getenv "USER") "-snitch-data"))))
    (unless (boundp rv)
      (set rv nil))
    rv))

(defun snitch-stash (key func)
  "Look up KEY in the assoc list and set/replace the value there.
If FUNC is a function, pass the old value to it and store the new value.
Otherwise, store FUNC there.  Actually, all of these things are done
only if variable `global-snitch-mode' is non-nil."
  (when global-snitch-mode
    (let* ((stash (symbol-value (snitch-var)))
           (so-far (assoc key stash))
           (new (if (functionp func)
                    (funcall func (cdr so-far))
                  func)))
      (if so-far
          (setcdr so-far new)
        (set (snitch-var)
             (cons (cons key new) stash)))
      new)))

(defun snitch-forget (key)
  "Remove KEY and its value from the assoc list maintained by snitch."
  (interactive "xKey: ")
  (let* ((stash (symbol-value (snitch-var)))
         (so-far (assoc key stash)))
    (when so-far
      (put (snitch-var) (delete so-far stash)))))

(defun snitch-forget-everything ()
  "Clear the variable named by `snitch-var' and unbind it."
  (interactive)
  (let ((var (snitch-var)))
    (set var nil)
    (makunbound var)
    (message "Cleared variable: %s" var)))

(defun global-snitch-mode ()
  "Toggle ability of `snitch-stash' to record information."
  (interactive)
  (setq global-snitch-mode (not global-snitch-mode))
  (message "Global snitch mode now %s"
           (if global-snitch-mode
               "ON (data collection enabled)"
             "OFF (data collection disabled)")))

(defun snitch-report (busybody subject selection &optional zonkp)
  "Set up a mail buffer to BUSYBODY with SUBJECT composed of SELECTION.
SELECTION is either a list of keys to be looked up in the asooc list
maintained by snitch, or a key predicate in which case a non-nil value
means to select the key and its associated data.  Optional arg ZONKP
non-nil means to delete the data from the assoc list after composing
the mail buffer.

When `snitch-report' returns the cursor is left at the beginning
of the mail body (immediately below \"text follows this line\").
To actually send the mail, the user must type `C-c C-c'."
  (compose-mail busybody subject)
  (goto-char (point-max))
  (let* ((so-far (symbol-value (snitch-var)))
         (all (if (functionp selection)
                  (let ((all nil) (ls so-far))
                    (while ls
                      (when (funcall selection (caar ls))
                        (setq all (cons (car ls) all)))
                      (setq ls (cdr ls)))
                    all)
                (mapcar (lambda (key)
                          (assoc key so-far))
                        selection))))
    (when zonkp
      (add-to-list 'mail-send-actions
                   (list (lambda (v all)
                           (let ((so-far (symbol-value v)))
                             (while all
                               (set v (delete (car all) so-far))
                               (setq all (cdr all)))))
                         (snitch-var)
                         all)))
    (save-excursion
      (while all
        (insert "\n\n;; key\n" (format "%S" (caar all))
                "\n;; value\n" (format "%S" (cdar all)))
        (setq all (cdr all))))))

;;; snitch.el ends here