At 09:15 PM 6/9/01 -0400, John Eichenlaub wrote the following:
>Fellow Listers, I recently installed a free program from the Privacy
>Foundation ( www.privacyfoundation.org/ ) that identifies potential web
>bugs. The program is called Bugnosis, and is available at
>( www.bugnosis.org/ ). This program emits an "uh-oh" sound, tells what
>type of "bug" it found, and places a small icon next to the alleged
>offender on the web page. If ZoneAlarm alerts get your blood pressure up,
>you may not want to run this program. I got five (!) possible bug alerts
>on just one ZDnet webpage. I'm wondering if any of you have used this
>program and what your comments might be.... John.
Some observations after viewing the FAQ
1. Web bug is a totally bogus name. The termed bug was coined in 1945.
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h96000/h96566kc.htm
2. Single Pixel GIF is the true name and is a trick developed by web page
designers to force alignment on web pages.
http://www.killersites.com/1-design/single_pixel.html
3. Information automatically returned by a browser to an HTTP server.
a. HTTP referrer (if any)
b. Remote host (IP address)
c. Remote address (IP address)
d. User agent (browser name, version, etc.)
e. HTTP from
f. Remote-User
g. Remote-ident
h. Javascript enabling
i. Cookie support
j. Screen size, color, resolution
k. Character set encoding
l. more
See http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1945.html
4. All of this is really concerning with Adaware sites like Double click that
automagically set cookies and collect data about you and your web viewing
habits. All kinds of we sites collect data about you including but not
limited to: 24/7 Media, Conducent, Digital Impact, DoubleClick, InfoBeat,
Microsoft, Netscape, Radiate (formerly Aureate), Real, Responsys, Web3000,
and more.
5. Web bug is the term the Privacy Foundation is pushing. I sure hope it dies.
6. If you are concerned, try Ad-aware to remove these "pesky" cookies.
http://www.lavasoft.de/
--
Gerry Boyd
============= PCWorks Mailing List =================
Don't see your post? Check our posting guidelines &
make sure you've followed proper posting procedures,
http://pcworkers.com/rules.htm
Contact list owner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Unsubscribing and other changes: http://pcworkers.com
=====================================================
