Wednesday, January 14, 2004 :: 2:35:00 PM

Song of choice: Beat It - Michael Jackson

Thought this song was appropriate...

I've got a confession. Over the last year or so I've been totally neglectful to someone who really deserves more attention... His name is Eldude.

Ok, ok... Eldude isn't really a person - it's my Computer (yes, it has a name... I'll bet you find that funny, but then sit there for a moment and realize that it doesn't surprise you one bit). I have no anti virus software. I have no firewall but the one that comes with Windows XP... I haven't defragged in a parrot's age... yet it still willingly lets me use it as I see fit. Is this right? should I feel ashamed?

lol - ok, enough with the stupidness...

Over the last year, My computer has been dying a slow death... Viruses have intruded.. Trojans.. SPYWARE.. the cancer just was spreading like wild fire. But with my new found ambition and excitement over doing things lately, I decided to take my dear old Eldude in to see Dr. Kyle.... and boy did he need it.

First, though, is an observation. When I first started with the internet about, oh, 9 years ago, porn was EVERYWHERE. I couldn't avoid it even when I tried (and I'll admit - being an 12 year old with access to anything and everything, sometimes I didn't try. lol) but now... it's like, NOWHERE.. Not that I go looking for it and cant find it - that's not what I mean. What I mean is that back then you'd be surfing along them BAM have an adult-oriented popup of some sort staring you in the face. You just dont see that anymore. What do you see around every turn now? Spyware. It's EVERYWHERE! it's weird that just in the last couple of years, people are getting more and more nosey into our personal lives wondering just what video games we like, what sites we frequent, and what kind of shoes you just bought off of eBay.

For those who are clueless as to what Spyware is, it's not a virus. Dont think of it that way. Spyware is essentially a little program set to monitor anything from your web traffic, what movies you watch on Media Player, what MP3s you like... the list goes on... It collects information like that (usually only web traffic, passwords, etc... (not that they'll ever use the password) but some really nasty ones are out there that will report on movies you watch, bank account numbers, and things like that..)

"What does it do with the collected information," you ask? It sends it to whoever created it in the hopes that they've gathered enough information off of you to earn money... Whether it be to sell your email address to a mailing list, or know what kinds of banners to show you when you visit sites sponsored by them in the hopes that you'll click through, thus earning them money..

Remember that MSN Plus! thing that I loved last year? Full of Spyware. Did I know it then? no. Why? Because back THEN it didn't have any - only after it's popularity did it start to be crawling with these little annoying bugs.

There's something shipped with MSN Plus! that is called the LOP Toolbar... I'm sure some of you have seen it. Browsing around the internet one day and all is fine.. browse around the next day and BAM.. right there in Internet Explorer is a blue "Search" bar... annoying, huh? It's not harmful, but it's a BUGGER to remove... I've had lethal viruses that were easier to remove than this thing...

So, you realize you have it... wanna get rid of it? you *could* just hit "View>Toolbars" in Internet Explorer and uncheck the really stupid gibberish name given to the toolbar. This is a random bunch of letters to prevent me, for example, from telling you exactly what to search for and delete. It's unique to every machine.

OR you could click here (read next paragraph first before you click, though) for a COMPLETE removal method. I have to give this gentleman credit. You really wouldn't believe the size of the online community devoted to bringing this silly little toolbar to it's knees.

Before clicking the link and going through with what is explained in the next page (if you're going to attempt to remove it) do NOT do this quickly. Working with the computer's registry wiggs even me out when I have to. Follow the instructions to the LETTER and double check everything you're doing. Think of Windows as the brain of your computer (as far as software goes). The Registry is the hidden bit of your computer that you dont normally see. It's like a road map and guide created to tell your computer's brain everything it needs to know... without it, your computer would be a potato....

Well Ladies and Gents, that about sums up this little lesson on safety. One thing that I suggest you ALL do, though, is go and download yourself a copy of Ad Aware and/or a copy of Spybot Search & Destroy. I run both because sometimes one finds something that the other might not. Best of all, there are free versions available for both (and we all like free, dont we?).

Go to it, people, and give your computer the well-deserved attention it... well.. deserves. =
One thing, though... if you get Spybot or AdAware, dont be shocked to see that you have upwards of a couple hundred instances of Spyware... it's normal. These programs consider regular Cookies to be forms of Spyware. Just remove them and you'll be fine. If you find that a program (say, Kazaa for example) doesn't work after you run these programs, the process is completely reversable. No worries there.

Now go in peace, my children... and Lop toolbar? may you go in pieces...

until next time.......
*fade to black*

:: Eldorado ::