Alexa is the premier service that tracks website traffic. Since they are a local call for us here in area code 415, I hope a lot of us will call in on behalf of Libertarians across the country in supporting our presidential candidate.
Yours in liberty,
<<< Starchild >>>
Bear in mind that Alexa is also one of the premier vendors of spyware
applications. This is how they manage to track web traffic and sell the
data to advertisers to customize pop-up ads for your very own browser.
This is why calling them is a much better strategy than visiting their
website.
Terry Floyd, Treasurer
Libertarian Party of California, East Bay Region
Dear Terry;
Very true, however spyware blockers are free for the asking or for a nominal donation. And anyone using the internet should have a spyware blocker on their system. For a list of spyware blockers see CNET:
http://www.download.com/Adware-Removal-Tools/3150-8022-0.html?tag=dir
I use spybot and spyware blaster and they work real good.
You can also get popup blockers from CNET site as well:
http://www.download.com/Pop-Up-Blockers/3150-7786-0.html?tag=dir
I use smartpopup blocker
My use does not constitute an endorsement for any of them just that it works for me. Check out the choices and try one out to see if it works for you. There are enough choices to fit any internet surfing need.
Ron Getty
SF Libertarian
Terry Floyd <tlfloyd3@...> wrote:
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
Bear in mind that Alexa is also one of the premier vendors of spyware applications. This is how they manage to track web traffic and sell the data to advertisers to customize pop-up ads for your very own browser.
This is why calling them is a much better strategy than visiting their website.
Terry Floyd, Treasurer
Libertarian Party of California, East Bay Region
If you're using these products, then you probably won't be using the
Alexa toolbar. I don't need spyware blockers since I use a
"non-Microsoft" web browser when running Windows (and when I boot into
SuSE Linux, I don't even worry about it), but spyware can install itself
as any number of other Windows applications (e.g., WebShots, WeatherBug,
TVMedia, ABetterInternet, etc.).
I spend a great deal of my workday uninstalling spyware from computers
that users have complained about operating very slowly. Often, they
don't even know they've installed spyware, they just clicked on a pop-up
that promised them something for free. In some cases (as with the GAIN
suite), if they install one spyware application that they may want to
use, it will install three or four other applications that they never
asked for (but it's all explained right there in the fine print of the
End User License Agreement that asked you to click on the I Agree button
to continue).
There is an interesting analysis of Alexa at
http://www.itellu.com/spyware_alexa.htm, and how important it is to
actually read the company's Privacy Policy. Alexa is owned by
Amazon.com, and many of the shopping tips the Alexa Toolbar offers will
re-direct you right to Amazon's site. This is perfectly okay if you need
help shopping online. But always be aware that if you do install the
Alexa Toolbar, it will log all of your websurfing history and even your
keystrokes when entering personal information into a dialogue window and
report that information to Amazon's servers. But no one is forcing you
to install the Alexa toolbar and use its shopping service. The user
must agree to abide by the terms of the license agreement before
installing the software. From an economic perspective, they've got a
good business plan selling a product that costs nothing, but returns a
great deal of valuable data; however, it is not a product that I am
interested in owning.
It is ironic that Alexa now offers a Popup Manager as a plug-in to the
Alexa Toolbar that promises to block "most pop-up advertisements" but it
will still keep track of your online activities and will only allow
pop-ups that are tailored to appeal to your specific interests as
defined by the personal profile the software develops by analyzing your
web browsing habits. You have to give them credit for being one of the
very few online businesses that have prospered after the dot-com bust
without ever charging a penny to the end user for their free software.
Terry Floyd, Treasurer
Libertarian Party of California, East Bay Region