Data-profiling… and our privacy?

I like the web.  It is a place of freedom, community and knowledge.
However, you must follow some rules and know what goes on when you are sitting in front of your pc.
I am scared by the quantity of information about myself I end up sharing with others - and I don’t know who they are.
They track us down for business. Business is not devil, as Google teaches us, but spying on us every second might be.
If you care about your privacy, have a look at the software below:
  • TrackMeNot is a lightweight browser extension that helps protect web searchers from surveillance and data-profiling by search engines. It does so not by means of concealment or encryption (i.e. covering one’s tracks), but instead, paradoxically, by the opposite strategy: noise and obfuscation. With TrackMeNot, actual web searches, lost in a cloud of false leads, are essentially hidden in plain view. User-installed TrackMeNot works with the Firefox Browser and popular search engines (AOL, Yahoo!, Google, and MSN) and requires no 3rd-party servers or services.
  • SCookies - Share your Cookies!
    SCookies simply shares your cookies with other users that enabled it too. It sends your cookies to a centralized server and gets another user’s cookie in return. By doing so, your profile will then be built on many other user’ search queries, thus the profiles are not realiable.
    It is a Firefox extension.
  • Scroogle is a web service that disguises the Internet address of users who want to run Google searches anonymously. Scroogle also gives users the option of having all communication between their computer and the search page be SSL encrypted.
    Besides anonymous searches, the tool allows users to perform Google searches without receiving Google advertisements. There is support for 28 languages, and the tool is available as a browser plug-in. A secure connection to the Scroogle website is also possible.
  • Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy  with advanced filtering capabilities for enhancing privacy, modifying web page data, managing HTTP cookies, controlling access, and removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user networks.

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Sunday, August 24th, 2008

google, hackers, software, webmarketing No Comments

Batch Processor for GIMP

I went mad looking for a batch processing plugin for Gimp and for my Windows OS (I know, maybe it is time to think about Linux).

Eventually I discovered David’s Batch Processor (DBP).

David’s Batch Processor is a simple batch processing plugin for Gimp - it allows the user to automatically perform operations (such as resize) on a collection of image files. Its main advantage is that the user does not have to learn a scripting language. Like the Gimp itself, DBP relies on a graphical interface. The user creates a list of images, and sets up the processing required for each image. The results of the current settings can be displayed. Once the required sequence of operations has been set up, DBP performs the same processing on each image in turn. The images can be colour corrected, resized, cropped, and sharpened, then renamed and saved to a different file in a specified image format. All the steps (except loading and saving the image!) are optional; so the simplest use of DBP is just to convert a number of image files from one format to another.

And for you:

Official website: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~hodsond/dbp.html

Sunday, May 25th, 2008

software, webdesign No Comments

Xobni: Social Network in Your Email

The Xobni software is an add-on for Microsoft Outlook that offers email management and quick access to important information in your email. But more than that, Xobni claims to “expose the hidden social network” in your email. That’s ingenious because everyone we know is in our email somewhere, somehow…

After a quick install, you’ll see the new Xobni toolbar appear in Outlook - and suddenly information will become much easier to find. When a new email arrives, the sender’s full communication history appears in the Xobni sidebar, including past conversations, attachments and contact details. Xobni also includes a blazing fast email search tool.

Features:

  • Lightning fast email search
  • Email analytics
  • Navigate your inbox by people
  • Your personal assistant
  • Phone numbers extracted from emails
  • Quick attachment discovery
  • Hello, threaded conversations

What are you waiting for?! Try it: Xobni for Outlook

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

community, social network, software No Comments

Website promotion: Fast Blog Finder

You need to get your website indexed by search engines. But to get your web page indexed, you must let the search engines’ robots know where your web page is located. In other words, you need links, links and more links! And not just any links.

What you need is links from themed websites!

Themed links are links coming from a site that is related to what your site is all about. A related link is worth more weight than links coming from a non-related site.

Website promotion: Fast Blog FinderA way for getting backlinks is commenting on blogs and including the URL for your site.

Blog commenting is one of the easiest FREE ways to get themed links to your site. All you need to do is to leave a comment on related blogs and include some anchored text linking back to your site. The other advantage is that some of the pages that you comment on have high PageRank!

Maybe you wont’ believe but there are tens of thousands, if not millions of blogs out there that actually want your comments on them… But searching manually for blogs that have page rank and discuss the right topic can be time consuming. It can take hours! Not any more.

With the Blog Finder software you can find hundreds of themed blogs in minutes! The Free edition of Blog Finder allows you find up to 50 blogs for each keyword phrase… no too bad ;-)

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

seo, software No Comments

AdSense: alcuni utili software

AdSense pubblica annunci di testo e illustrati pertinenti, specificamente mirati al contenuto del vostro sito. Se poi aggiungete un campo di ricerca Google al vostro sito, AdSense pubblica annunci di testo pertinenti alle pagine dei risultati di ricerca Google generati dalla ricerca fatta dai vostri utenti.

Segnalo qui due piccoli programmi che aiutano nel monitorare l’utilizzo di AdSense.

SysSense
Description: SysSense è il tuo personale desktop Google AdSense monitor. Visualizza le informazioni del tuo Google AdSense nella barra di Windows. In questo modo puoi monitorare un numero illimitato di account Google AdSense. Puoi configurare un suono o una piccola icona, che ti segnaleranno quando sono cambiati i valori delle tue statistiche.

Website: http://www.singerscreations.com/AboutSysSense.asp

Screenshot: SysSense

AdSense Notifier
Descrizione: Ecco un utile estensione per firefox, la quale permette di tenere sott’occhio i vostri guadagni adsense direttamente sulla statusbar del vostro browser preferito. Minimale, indica ogni 15 minuti l’andamento dei vostri guadagni.

Website: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/500/

Screenshot: AdSense Notifier

Friday, March 30th, 2007

seo, software, webmarketing No Comments