SPYWARE:

How private is your hard-drive computer information? When you download certain "free" services, you are also downloading Ad or Spy Ware. Many of these programs will either produce pop-up ads (for your convenience, of course) and/or will record your keystrokes, history of sites you visit etc. Some of the worse offenders are: Comet Cursor, KaZaa, Weatherbug, b3d Projector, Gator, and that stupid purple gorilla buddy thing.

Also, you get cookies downloaded to your hard-drive just by surfing the net. These cookies report to advertisers which sites you visit and some even record your IP number in correlation to these sites.

KaZaa self-imposes links to their ads and advertisers on the pages you visit. There were even links on our own site that we did not put there - nasty little bug.

You can do a search (i.e. Google) for removing any of these particular Ad/Spyware programs, or download Spybot, or Ad-Aware (below) and those programs will scan your computer and find them. Then you have the option of removing them. Ad-Aware is good and has been in the industry for a long time, but we like Spybot better. Try them both and decide for yourself. Of course read about each product on their site - they are both very informative. 

Spybot: Search & Destroy

Ad-Aware by Lavasoft

The first time we scanned our site, 18 Ad/Spyware programs were found...sending our personal information to who-knows. To be fair, some of these programs do tell you that you are not only downloading the "free" software they are offering, but also programming that will send information to their advertisers (of course that's in the small print somewhere in a very long user's agreement). Many claim that the information is not personally identifiable...but if they are recording all your keystrokes, they are also recording passwords, private info, etc. When you see a box pop-up on your screen that looks similar to this:

 the correct answer is.................NO!

Of course if you are downloading a specific program, you may see this also, just READ what you are downloading. If it is not what you are trying to download, most likely it is Ad/Spyware. Of course if you like Gator, Comet Cursor, etc. that's fine too. We just wanted to give you some of the facts. These downloads are not really "free" - you are paying for it in some way or another.

BITS O' INFO:

Expand Your Horizons, click on F11
(Not for all systems)

1. On some browsers you can grab the bottom edge of the top of the browser and pull it up out of your way and enjoy a bigger view screen.

2. If you are on someone's website and a link ("about us" for example) doesn't work from the page you are on, most likely the "about us" link will work from another page. It is probably just an oversight of the webmaster/mistress.

3. Most of the time the upside down outlet (wall socket) is the one that is controlled by the wall light switch.

4. Get out of the water and go see why the people on the beach are waving frantically at you. While surfing several years ago, my buddies were screaming at me from the beach. I realized why, after the shark brushed by my leg. I made it out all right (no injuries), but my friends wouldn't talk to me the rest of the day.

5. On jumper cables: Red=positive, Black=negative. If you already have one end of the cables connected to a battery, DO NOT TOUCH the two clamps from the other end together (unless you like fireworks up close and personal).

6. Do not assume that a dog is friendly if he is wagging his tail.

More "Dumb Stuff" added on an irregular basis.