The last three computer I worked on, what I consider an "annual update", they all had one thing in common which at this point I am not sure whether it was by coincidence or if there are higher powers at work here, by means of Spyware? I guess this is the way I think when I see something peculiar with the workings of the computer. You see, I check the Internet Options (from Internet Explorer) for any settings, mostly in the security settings, however I do check all of them and the first one you see when you enter the options of the Internet Explorer settings is the "HISTORY" settings which allow you to set the amount of days to keep the page in history. Now I am not sure if these three people just decided they didn't like History in school so why should they like it on the Internet, but not usually the reason. Typically because they do not want others to know where they have been visiting. (at this point if you are feeling guilty for going some place that you shouldn't-DON'T!) We are all humans enjoying our freedoms and if that happens to take you down a road you have never been before, that doesn't make it wrong! The key is to simply know and realize where it is you are going. If you are male and reading this, I believe you know what I am referring to. If you are a female and just read my last sentence then I believe you know where I was referring to. Yes, there are accidents and there are many Spyware tools out there that can direct you by means of placing you right in the middle of some place you don't want to be.. This is referred to as "HIJACKING" and it is probably the most common element in Spyware.
There is nothing dumb about the people that are creating Spyware and you must understand the big business involved. These people have gone from being a nuisance to completely ruining peoples lives by cloning their identities. This shouldn't make you afraid of using the Internet however, since the Internet is merely a conduit to knowledge and information, pleasure, and yes... HISTORY. By turning this history button to 1 day, it makes your web browser only keep 24 hours worth of website url's (the address of the page you are currently viewing such as http:\\tpsconsulting.com\blog.htm). If you have ever used your FAVORITES then you will understand what the HISTORY is for, since this is the button you would use if you forgot to add the page to your favorites. You would want to be able to go back to that page and then probably add it to your favorites. At this point however, I am not finger pointing to any person in actually making this change, other then quite possible some Spyware that has made this change, although I would think from a Spyware point of view, they would want to keep this number higher, even though the Spyware has other ways of retrieving your "history of web pages visited" therefore I am telling you now, that you should NOT be changing this to 1. Strange part and the reason I say it is peculiar is that you can actually change it to zero days so I am not sure why, if you were worried about where you have been, why wouldn't you just turn it to zero so that you have no history? In any case, let me explain how I see this issue.
The HISTORY button is there to do as I just mentioned--go back to a page that you have visited in the past, once there (the second time) I would think you would be making it a favorite if you intend to go back to it yet a third time. Turning this to 1 or zero, pretty much means you just don't want to take advantage of a tool, even if it could help you. With the DAILY usage of the Spyware programs I make available on all existing clients computers, which would be, at the time that I write this (since this will change over time as these programs evolve with the Internet) Spyware Blaster, Spyware guard Live Update, Spybot Search and Destroy, and Ad-Aware. These are all available, usually the latest version (if I can keep up sometimes as they have been known to update every week at times) from my SOFTWARE/SUPPORT page, the 'history' that you would be worried about is completely gone. The one issue that you may be more interested in is the OPTIMIZING tip that can show you the areas to keep monitoring and cleaning as necessary. This is why people write software.. It is generally because they enjoy doing what it is they are doing and when they see that they can make it "easier" or "more productive" which basically means it does a lot more.. That is why there are Updates... This is also why there are constant debates over the cost of ownership of a computer, since some people seem to pay a lot more to get their computers cleaned then others.. When half of it deals with "hardware" and half deals with "software", it all depends on just how you use your computer. I still have family (my brother) that doesn't even have Internet in to their home.. Not even through dial up as they don't have an email account. Yes, they have computers but they don't have Internet.. It is completely their choice since their lifestyle has been to "get by" without it, and they have.. By keeping it at work. Sure my brother has email as he has it at work and even though I have said how he could get through all his morning mail while he is enjoying his bowl of cereal in his own home, he points out that : a: that would be doing work that I get paid when I am at work. This would be because he doesn't have Internet at home, therefore his only email is a work account. Not his problem, but what about when your buddy sends you that "special" joke email.. Not suited to be opened in the work environment, that is for sure. This sort of thing in many business won't happen because the mail is stripped of bad (or most) attachments, filtered down to TEXT ONLY or something like this. Nobody wants a virus or trojan horse, that is obvious, but then knowledge becomes something of necessity and so if they create a program that does everything for you.... Thus the computer programmer.. This is the sort of TIP that I hope to get across to my existing clients and for those that read my comments here. Education I have found, is the key to keeping MY VISITS only an annual thing, other then for the purposes of teaching!
