PRYING . . .IN THE DARK

. . ..Did you know that when you finish using your computer and the screen goes dark, that it might not ALL be finished? When you logoff or "shut down" there are lots of places to "see" what you have been doing! For starters, there's a History file (see History) then there's the ever present "Cache" (see Cache Magic), not to mention several places in your operating system to "pry" into and see what you were doing while at the keyboard and mouse. . . especially if you don't "shut down", but only log off.

. . . .History and cache are powerful tools to help you on the Internet. They make things go faster and help you remember where you've been, so you don't go back unnecessarily. They also provide ample ground for prying eyes! . . . . . NEXT

"When I log out and turn off the power, How is it possible for anyone to see what I did while online" Worse yet, "How is it possible for them to go back to the web sites I visited (including the ones I logged onto with a password!)?" EASY !!! its called HISTORY and CACHE !!! (see History and Cache Magic on how to get there) Here's a sample:. . NEXT

Check out This line!==>!

See what you get with a right click! . .NEXT

Follow the link to"pay dirt":

There's more . . . . . . . . . . . NEXT

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. . . .Can you imagine what can happen to your web site in the wrong hands? -- LOG OUT ALWAYS! There are still internal places to "revive" cookies. I think more harm than good would be done be discussing them in this forum. Likewise, networking has its "telltales". Including some forgotten areas of Windows NT.

. . . .What can be done to preserve your privacy? If you share a computer terminal, Clear the History and Clear Cache. Remember how? From the edit menu, choose Preferences . . . NEXT

Then choose Navigator

In the process of preserving "privacy", you will slow loading the same sites the next time you connect. . . Remember privacy has a trade off? . . . . . . . NEXT

Remember, every time you "clear" a browser feature, with the "privacy" gained, you are loosing some of the benefit of that feature. When you clear History, you loose track of all those sites you visited (unless you save your History file to a "password protected" file. . . I'll show you that later). Cache can be save the same way, but there is not a lot of benefit in saving cache. (Additionally, it takes a LOT of disk space to save it!). You need to determine which is more valued to you . . . Privacy from the "Linda Tripps" who would " poke their Prying Eyes ( ) in from the dark" or the list of "viewed links" that let YOU decide whether or not to return to those sites you already visited.

Over all, privacy is relative. If you only visit sites or "chat rooms" that you would be comfortable viewing with your parents, children, spouses or lovers or others close to you, there should be "no worry". . . SHOULD BE! . . . But there are always those "Linda Tripps" out there waiting to tell you to save your "blue dress" "for your OWN good". Now that you have some tools, YOU can decide what's private and what's not.. . . . . .
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