July 20, 2006

Last week I decided to listen to some music while I worked on a project here. Music helps me focus, and it was time to get serious about a presentation. I looked online for an internet radio station to listen to, which I had never done before. I had the option of a free station, or to pay $30 for a commercial free subscription. I had no idea whether I'd even like the music offered up, so opted for the free station.

Turned out, I didn't listen very long, the commercials were irritating, the music sounded tinny on my silly laptop speakers, and instead of helping me focus, it became a nuisance. So I turned my sound back off and plugged away anyway. Over the next few days, every time I migrated to- or from- web sites I'd been visiting for years, I got these annoying pop ups that would say things like this:

Warning: Your computer may have critical errors in Windows registry and file system!

I sent a screen shot of the offending pop up to our IT guys, who told me not to run the software it was offering me. It was extremely frustrating as the pop ups kept warning me of things, and I had absolutely no idea what I had done to deserve them. Nor could I figure out how to get rid of them.

Then I read BusinessWeek's July 17 issue. The cover story was on spyware.

One telling paragraph said it all:

The way Direct Revenue describes its software during the download process remains vague and misleading, Edelman and other critics say. The company now bundles ad programs with Kazaa, an online service offering music and other digital content. Kazaa gives users a choice between a $30 version of its program and a free version labeled "ad supported." But few ordinary consumers would understand that ad-supported means they get separate software from Direct Revenue that will monitor them online and serve a steady stream of pop-ups, Edelman says. Kazaa declined to comment.

Everything made sense after that. I had been infected with spyware - an estimated $2 billion a year in revenue Internet ad business. To find out more about spyware, and the efforts to shut it down, I'd recommend reading Ben Edelman's (quoted above) Anti-Spyware site here.

Some telltale signs of possible spyware infection? Your PC is suddenly sluggish. You get strange windows popping up on your screen. Your 'home page' on the Internet suddenly changes (yep, over and over again), and you get odd errors or (worse yet) your computer locks up suddenly.

What do you do to get rid of it? There are some free tools available like Spybot Search & Destroy  or Microsoft's Windows Defender. 

Or just stay (and play) safe. Listen to music from iTunes (my friends from Moto Interactive gave me that hint).

So much to know. So much can go wrong. Spread the word.

Posted by at July 20, 2006

Comments

Owen Lystrup email - http://intopr.prblogs.org

Yeesh. What site did you go to?

Get a Mac.

You should have started with iTunes Radio.

Or, if you're against Apple, go to Shoutcast by Nullsoft.

No commercials. No sign up or fee. Just music played through your Winamp.

(I do not work for Nullsoft.)

Janet email - www.marqui.com

I wish I could remember. I'm not against Apple, they used to pay my salary, and I have an iMac at home, which never, ever gives me an ounce of trouble. I may bring an iPod in to listen to, but in the past have had to curb my temptation to sing, so earphones are out of the question...

Thank you, Owen, very much for the Shoutcast idea. I may just go there and try again.

Cheers!

TrackBack Link