TDR on alexa.com

[boathead]

Hey eveyone!

Go to the alexa website and vote for your favorite website, the Turbodiesel Register!! TDR is ranked at 26,611, which is pretty good considering all the websites out there.



http://info.alexa.com/data/details/write_review?url=turbodieselregister.com/&submitted=1

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

FYI, alexa is also a registry key in your computer register, which is put there by IE ( I believe) it tracks your web history if what I've read is correct. Keep an eye out to see if you get any new, or an increase in spam mail or advertising if you visit this site.

To see if you have this installed on your system go to 'Start Menu', choose 'Run' then type regedit and hit enter. When the screen opens select the 'Edit' menu and enter alexa into the find dialogue. Wait a while and see if it finds an entry for it. If so, you may find your surfing activities are being tracked. A program called Ad-Ware will help you get rid of this thing and other similar snoops.

I kow this is not quite the right forum so please accept my apologies in advance.



Bob

 

[boathead]

OH, NO!

Bob,

Thanks for the tip! looks like they got another unwitting sucker... ME. It's in there under "typed URL's" so it looks like I'll have to find the "adware" that you mention, certainly don't need any more junk e-mail, almost as bad as telemarketers. Is this program available on the web?

Thanks,

Paul

 

[illflem]

Ad-aware is from http://www.lavasoftusa.com/index.html

Try popup killer also http://software.xfx.net/utilities/popupkiller/download.htm

 

[admin2]

Incorrect....

Originally posted by BushWakr

FYI, alexa is also a registry key in your computer register, which is put there by IE ( I believe) it tracks your web history if what I've read is correct. Keep an eye out to see if you get any new, or an increase in spam mail or advertising if you visit this site.

To see if you have this installed on your system go to 'Start Menu', choose 'Run' then type regedit and hit enter. When the screen opens select the 'Edit' menu and enter alexa into the find dialogue. Wait a while and see if it finds an entry for it. If so, you may find your surfing activities are being tracked. A program called Ad-Ware will help you get rid of this thing and other similar snoops.

I kow this is not quite the right forum so please accept my apologies in advance.



Bob

Registry keys cannot monitor your Internet usage. The registry is a database. If you install Alexa, it adds its program information to the registry, just like any other program. Visiting the Alexa site isn't going to magically install a registry key on your computer NOR is it going to increase ads on your browser. It does NOT cause spam email either. I don't know where this misinformation was hatched, obviously someone paranoid with just enough information to be dangerous but not enough to be factual. The problem is people like that spread the misinformation and then it ends up being re-told to non-techies who spread it message boards and the next thing you know everyone is screaming about the horrible things Alexa does.



Alexa is two things: a web archive and a web usage site. It archives web sites and keeps a history of the web going back several years. It also tracks internet usage, but ONLY if you installed its plug-in or use Netscape 4. x (built in). It uses this data to tally up which web sites have the most visitors and which visitors are likely to visit other sites (this is how it can give the "similar sites" information. Its extremely useful.



Amazon.com bought Alexa and now can use that cross reference information to track which sites leads customers to its own site. They do not get personally identifying information from it because there isn't any. Its in a completely different class than true Scumware such as Gator or Ezula. I've used Alexa for 3+ years with great results.....

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Admin... .



Thanks for the info. I should have been more detailed in the purpose of the Registry. The presence of 'Alexa' in the registry indicates the possibility that the software itself is installed, which in turn is the issue. I went back to were I found this detail and re-read the items relating to it.

I've attached the URL's to the pertinent pages.

There does (according to the GRC site) seem to be some 'tracking' issues with alexa. It is found to be "spyware" by the Ad-Ware program. It also seems to be installed when certain "critical updates" are run from the microsoft site. I've also been told (don't know if it 100% accurate) that it uses certain "unique identifiers" which like cookies can be used for many other purposes besides innocent site usage stats. Let me know if you do any further investigation of this and what you may find.



Here's the URL's FWIW... .

https://grc.com/x/news.exe?cmd=xover&group=grc.spyware





Thanks again!



Regards, Bob

 

[admin2]

It has to be installed either directly or as part of another package. It does not simply install by visiting their page. There's no need for users to freak "Oh My God, I visited that page, I'm in trouble now!!!" That's sensationalism.



Alexa does not equate "Scumware", which does overlay ads on a page such as Gator and Eluza. Alexa sends page visit stats back to its servers and uses it to update a list of world wide Internet usage and top site stats. While this is spyware, its a far cry from scumware. Installing Alexa is not going to result in spam or more banner ads.



Also, I didn't say they only track usage. As I said, since Amazon bought them, they use it to research Internet usage to boost their sales. I could really care less if they have this information as they have no personal identifiers on me and its worth to me as a user to be able to pull up stat information and related sites info. No different than a camera determining which way I look when I walk into a store so they can place high ticket items there.

 

[boathead]

alexa

when I ran the "Ad Aware" program no "alexa" files came up, so I'm assuming it's OK, but it doesn't hurt to be on the safe(paranoid) side LOL!.

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

admin. .



Thanks for your info. With the ability to track users becoming more and more common I'm pleased to see that there is no overt/covert issue with this. I had NOT intended to create an "O My GOD" situation. Rather, to make sure that one less possible annoyance might be avoided. Since hooking to DSL I've had to become more aware of intrusion and ex-trusion (if thats a word).

Not all cookies are bad as an example. For example one's from this site are useful/needed to avoid the constant relog hassle. I guess I simply projected my preference to control/limit who knows what about my web habits, to as few as possible, when I posted.



Thanks again.



Regards, Bob

 

[admin2]

DSL...

The best thing you can do as a DSL (or cable-modem) user is to go to www.zonelabs.com and download their free firewall. Its light years ahead of the firewall in Norton Internet Security and other products.....



Or better yet, combine it with a router from Linksys... it will provide a physical firewall in addition to the software firewall provide by ZoneAlarm. Machines on the Internet can't even see your machine then, they'll just see the router's IP. Its what I do here... .

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Did just that the other day. Got the new version. Also trying TPF. Its a little more techie oriented but works well from what I see. I didn't think the caution would elicit that type of response, since there has been other cautionary notes re: viruses etc.

Anyway, I really did not intend to freak anyone out. I've discovered quite a bit at the GRC site and almost all of it has really helped, and for the most part been pretty accurate.

BTW, Ad-Ware has pulled about 8 or 10 apps that were not very forthcoming in their behind the scenes activities. As well there is an auto-update option avail. for it so you don't have to manually go and get the latest Ref. signature file.







Bob

 

[ProMac1K]

Robin, which Linksys router is that which has the firewall? I'm looking for a 802. 1 G-Speed wireless router for running my laptop. We've got a Linksys Ethernet router currently.



Thanks,



Trever

The best thing you can do as a DSL (or cable-modem) user is to go to www.zonelabs.com and download their free firewall. Its light years ahead of the firewall in Norton Internet Security and other products.....



Or better yet, combine it with a router from Linksys... it will provide a physical firewall in addition to the software firewall provide by ZoneAlarm. Machines on the Internet can't even see your machine then, they'll just see the router's IP. Its what I do here... .

 

[bmoeller]

Man, you found an old one. :-laf



http://www.barracudastore.com/default.asp



Never used one yet. Have heard of them on the radio.

 

[ProMac1K]

I found a Linksys Wireless Router at Walmart for $64.