|
 |
Preschool Education
FAQ
|
 |
=========Software to watch out for==========
The internet is great, isn't it? Many free games, and programs to
download. A word of advice: You should be aware of what you are
downloading on the internet. Just because it is free, does not mean that
it doesn't have "extra" pieces of programming attached. It is
known that some programs contain viruses. Preventing and fixing viruses
can be helped by using a good anti-virus program such as Norton.
Sometimes however, there is a piece of programming installed with the
software program that you downloaded and it's not exactly considered a
virus. It's a piece of code that may not be deleted if you delete the
software that you downloaded. How about that? Basically, you are getting
tagged! What is this program I am referring to? It's called "Scumware"
, "Predatory Advertising Software" or "Parasiteware".
How do you know if you have it? Let's say you download a free program.
Later after you are done playing with it, you go surfing the internet.
Let's say you go to Amazon.com. All of a sudden you see a popup ad for
another bookstore. Who the heck at Amazon would have placed up an ad for a
competitor's online store? Not Amazon! Seeing competitor type ads on sites
you visit could be one clue that you have the scumware on your computer.
Do you have a favorite site that you go to read book reviews? Let's say
you read a book review and decide to purchase the book. You click through
and purchase the book. The site that referred you may get a percentage of
the sale. That's great! They deserve it for the time they took to provide
you with the book review. But, what you may not know, if you have scumware
on your computer, is that the scumware has kicked in and takes the
percentage of sale that SHOULD have belonged to the referring site. What?
Yes, the commission is hijacked!
Can it be prevented in the first place? In many cases, yes. Make it a
point to read the end-user license agreements before downloading software.
Yawn.... you say? Well, yes, it is boring. But, it is frustrating to skip
over reading certain important add-ons from these companies. It is in the
writing, and it can be smoothed over with some fancy writing. The best
advice I can give you is to read up on it and learn about it. Research
through the search engines, such as Google. There are an amazing amount of
articles on this issue. It is a rising problem.
How can you get rid of scumware if you think you have it? There are many
software programs available to help you search your computer for scumware.
One site that is extremely helpful is Parasiteware at http://www.parasiteware.com/
Shawn Collins of ClubMom has been highlighted in The New York Times in an
article pertaining to parasiteware...
http://www.affiliatemanager.net/article43.htm
Scumware prevention and removal article written by M. E. Kabay is located
here...
http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/sec/2002/01366115.html
OUTRAGE SPREADS OVER "SCUMWARE" ...
http://www.webtrendsolutions.com/guestarticle6.htm
I'm not trying to scare you. Don't be afraid of downloading everything on
the internet. You just need to be informed about these important issues.
Knowledge of power!
--------------------------
Written by Wendy Shepherd of StudioMatrix.com http://www.studiomatrix.com
--------------------------
|
|
