Spyware etc

PeyloW_ · Post by **PeyloW_** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 6:53 pm

And if you really do not want to bother with viruses, adware, spyware or any other kind of crap, do not only switch your broswer; switch your operating system!

Bought a Mac almost four years ago, kept a PC at the side for playing games (Never hooked up directly to the internet so completely safe from all kind of crap ). Never been more happy with a purchase, now it is actually the computer that helps me, not I that need to nurse my computer.

purple1 · Post by **purple1** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 4:06 pm

Yay Firefox! Kick Bill Gates in the shins and call him a ripoff artist!

Jardice · Post by **Jardice** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:08 am

Thinking about firefox...I heard that some people had problems removing it when it didn't work correctly on their computer..esp those who installed at their jobs(i've heard a few cases).

I was wondering is there some special way you're suppose to remove firefox or is it just like any other program to where you just run a uninstallation program? This is just in case I end up being one of those people(hey not all computers can run every program..:/ )

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 8:30 am

It's just like any other programme really

It's not like ie or norton where its wrapped aroudn your operating system so a bad uninstall is evil...you can safetly leave it on your system and never notice it again! *That's what people at my work are doing..you give them a choice, and no one cares...hope they all get malware*

Valderra · Post by **Valderra** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 12:40 pm

Gambit37 wrote:
I am on message boards that are designed mainly for IE browsers
Out of interest, which boards? If you can let me know, it'll be time to dig out my "Designing for standards, not browsers" email that I regularly send to webmasters...

Thanks for the links and suggestions. I might consider switching but I think I will have someone do it for me so he can at the same time explain to me what to do and how to switch and such. I rather pay someone doing it for me than making a mess of my computer. LOL

Anyway, personally, I wouldn't buy a Mac because most PC games are still only for Windows and although I like the make-up of the Mac, I think I will stick with Windows.

And regarding your question about the message boards? It's ProBoards.com. My own board can be accessed by clickin on the www button at the bottom of my post.
I had several people complaining that they wanted to join but couldn't because they use firefox and/or mozilla (or are they the same?) and so they couldn't see the menu button at the top and couldn't register.

BTW, there is something you can do - get a code or tool for cross browsers - that some people use with their ProBoards message boards so you can see the menu buttons but you often still don't get to see the right colours and many people said that colour scheme looked really awful when viewing with firefox or mozilla...
I personally don't know what it is people add to get others to view the buttons but then again, they still can't see the colours and setting the right way so they often don't stay anyway.

Florent · Post by **Florent** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 1:02 pm

Valderra, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the color scheme of your message board when viewed with Firefox. It looks just the same as in IE. The only problem I can see is the missing menu bar. Which is indeed quite a problem.
You cannot add anything to help this : the message board is written in awful HTML, intertwined with tons of (I think mainly) useless Javascript.
This message board is the AOL of message boards !!! It seems to have been designed to work only with IE, with total disregard for Web Standards, proper HTML writing and relevant use of Javascript !

Just like AOL, this is what happens when people try to make things simple for beginners !

Valderra · Post by **Valderra** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:18 pm

As I suspected - it was designed with only IE in mind. And sorry, I didn't mean my board when I was talking about the colours. There is one board I am a member of where a couple of members have said that they didn't see the page the way it is was suppose to be seen - colour-wise and image-wise.
I just assumed that the same thing would happen to people who looked at my board with a different browser.

Post by **PaulH** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 12:48 am

Things seemed to be restored now. Cool Web Shredder is excellent, as is SpywareBlaster. As for changing from IE and AOL, have to discuss with the crumblies. I can't just go ahead and do it! Though I might just do it anyway.

Post by **PaulH** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:45 pm

I now have FireFox working with AOL. Once AOL is launched, simply minimize the whole lot and launch FireFox. Not ideal, but it bypasses all the IE settings when browsing that AOL uses. Now that I have freshly cleaned the computer of all manner of cr@p, I'll insist that my family follow the above procedure.

BTW, this thing is smooth!

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:05 pm

welcome to the fold!

Post by **PaulH** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:11 pm

Things are steadily improving for this computer. AOL+IE+Norton = computer armageddon. Norton and Symantec are diseases. You live and learn.

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:22 pm

yeah, i should rpobabyl switch away from them, i've heasd nothing but trouble at work and they seem to also hog resources too : (

Post by **PaulH** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:34 pm

When it comes to computers, or anything that involves design for the common person, I tend to be rather critical when things don't work in a manner which they were designed to, or do stupid things. This probably stems from having a very short attention span and being a little impatient. AOL and windows and IE try to help the beginner but more often than not just confuses them even more. I like to think that I am a pretty intelligent person, but when Norton took over the 'recycle bin', changed its settings and would not let me empty it I was extremely annoyed. OK, I could have sorted it out, but it shouldn't happen in the first place. I don't have the time for these things.

Post by **PaulH** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:38 pm

And on that note, I have just took a pizza out of the freezer and it has no cheese on it.

Post by **Gambit37** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:41 pm

That's not a pizza then!

You're right, so much stuff is badly designed, especially software. I really wonder if half the software engineers of the world ever actually test their stuff on real people.

Post by **PaulH** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:49 pm

Its a tomato pastry now. Quite healthy it seems.

You are quite right. And you know a lot more about this sort of thing than I do.

Maybe I am getting old.... late twenties etc. I am allowed to moan a bit. When I see an advert on TV that I hate, I make sure I don't buy their product! KFC... Is this a symptom of getting old, turning into a grumpy sod?! Seriously, products could be so much better. Don't get me started on 'automatic air fresheners'.

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 8:50 am

i will just say the words 'habitat website' and 'long complaint e-mail' and also 'not me, just someone i know' and leave it at that

i do believe late twenties are the new 60s for complaining about everythign and anything like a crotchety old person!

Post by **Gambit37** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:22 am

habitat website! Oh my god -- I complained about that to them three years ago when the new one went online. It's utterly unusable. Just had a look and I'm depressed to see it's still the same. Were you refering to me at all....?

Sites like that only show how noo-medja trendy agencies (Nathan Barley anyone) -- such as Digit in this case -- are very good at selling Flash solutions and producing them -- but have no idea how to make a usable site. I despair some times....

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:12 pm

LMAO, no! but i think he will be happy he is not alone now...he was startign to feel he over-reacted : )

my friend went lookign for a table and ended up writing a long complaint letter usign their complaint stystem, basicaly saying 'your website is crap and flash is crap and this website is unusable and this complaint form is crap and unusable and if i were writing a normal e-mail i could have carriage returns and have finished in half the time...'

Post by **PaulH** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:21 pm

Never visit the o2 website. That has caused me to bend the ear of some unfortunate soul from their company on many an occasion.

I just went to the HSBC website to set up my account for internet banking, and to look into telephone banking. Basically I wanted to check my balance without having to don the hiking gear and trudge miles to the nearest bank machine. So I typed in 'balance enquiry' into their search bar to get me started and it showed zero matches. Unfazed, I found the online banking register form, filled in the first bits (name, account number etc) and then it asked me to enter my 'security code'. I don't have one. It said I may have got one from using the telephone banking. Well, I have never done that either. It said to phone them. The lines shut at 10pm. Now WTF couldn't it have said these things right at the beginning? HSBC states in big letters: Your money. Get CONTROL, not just access. Anytime anywhere. Bollocks.

Tom Hatfield · Post by **Tom Hatfield** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:49 pm

I've got Firefox set up with some nice extensions to make browsing easier, but I still bust out IE6 on occasion because it's just plain nice. That image toolbar is really the handiest feature I've ever seen in a web browser, and I'm sorely disappointed one hasn't been made for Firefox yet. But I haven't had any problems with Firefox since I started using it. It's substantially more secure than IE6 (no spyware of which to speak, and my cookies are all personalized). The main reason I switched was for tabbed browsing, which is definitely nice (and improved with the tabbed browsing extension). Anyway, I would recommend it to absolutely anyone if they ever got tired of IE's idiosyncracies, but I wouldn't preach it in a million years. I've been using IE since Netscape destroyed Navigator by turning it into Communicator.

I'm actually kind of surprised Firefox caught on so quickly. It was just released last November. It doesn't look like IE has much of a future unless Microsoft does a complete overhaul for Longhorn. (That's probably what will happen. Longhorn is phenomenally customizeable, and it stands to reason that the browser will be, too.)

Post by **Gambit37** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 1:02 am

Last November? It's been around for getting on for three years -- it started off as Phoenix, then became Firebird. I've been using it since v0.7 which was October 2003. It only became known as Firefox at the beginning of last year.

@Paul: "Get Control of your money" -- well, yes, as long as it's between the hours of 9 and 5pm, sir.

Post by **PaulH** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 12:25 am

You know, I got through to set up my 'security number' for online/telephone banking, and after answering about 6 security questions they asked me to name a 'recent transaction with full amount since last statement'. If I answered wrong, they would freeze my request. Two things: 1) I ain't the memory man 2) I have made no transactions since last statement. So the bloke asked me to go to an ATM to for a mini print to check! Your bunch of idiots!!!! That defeats the whole point of internet banking. I told him this, and the fact I am incapacitated and he didn't seem to understand my predicament, apart from try again later. Now I am all for security, but this is absurd! I can't make a transaction because the card isn't working (refused transaction). I can't get to the bank easily due to my illness. I can't check online or by phone anything because of this idiotic policy. Grrrrr. I am sure this could be so much better and just as secure. Muppets

Valderra · Post by **Valderra** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 1:15 am

You are so right and I sympathise with you. Things truly are getting out of hand as it is and these security questions are getting rediculous. As you said, you have to be memory man in order to answer all their questions there and then when asked, which is pathetic but has to be done. If you don't know or hesitate, they might think you are an intruder and not the rightful owner of the account.
I think that these things should definitely be made easier for us to use and, at the same time, make it so that intruders will not be able to access the site. Now, that shouldn't be too hard? Or is it?

Same applies to requests made by phone. Not only do you have to wait for 5 minutes until all the different choices been given, then you have to hope you pressed the right button for your request, and then you are put on hold for another 20 minutes (you are next in line, please hold). And by the time you are actually talking to a "person", you are so fed up with the world that you probably have even forgotten your own address, never mind all the security questions.

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 9:15 pm

i went in person to my bank to move a relatively large but nothign ershattering amount of money, and needed my passport and had to wit 15 minutes to get it approved! maybe i look scary...

the fact that this is happening while now all my switch transactions use my bloody pin number only me and everyone in the busy queues behind me will ever know...BAH!

Florent · Post by **Florent** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 11:01 am

beowuuf wrote:maybe i look scary...

Well if you look like your avatar... You'll have to post your picture now if you want us to answer that !

Post by **PaulH** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 12:01 pm

Have a look at:

http://www.deviantart.com/view/15000890/

Don't you think he looks like Chris Barrie?!! Sorry Beo!

Edited link to show the full horror -b.

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 12:59 pm

funnily i expected the blind support and platidues of a friendly board to go 'what, no, how could you, you sound so sane on the boards, we can't imagine you look less sane in person'

Post by **Gambit37** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 2:17 pm

I still maintain that you look more like my friend who looks like Chris Barrie, than Chris Barrie.

Florent · Post by **Florent** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 2:37 pm

LMAO ! I had to google Chris Barrie to get it.