Whats this 'ipglobal' thing?

[Slasher]

On a non-argumentative issue for a change, whats this 'ipglobal.net' thing each time I go to D&G? When the browser anunciates 'connecting to ipglobal.net' the browser freezes, but worst of all theres a hell of a lot of hard drive activity which makes me bloodey nervous! Ive tried tracking down any cookie but with Opera 6 it isnt very successful.

Could Woomera please tell me:

1. Whats this ipglobal thing?

2. Why is it used here?

3. If its storing and sending info is it a vbs file?

4. What disk info is being sent out?

5. Who is gettin the info?

6. If I was to somehow disable it will it cause forum problems (for me)?

Thank you.

[OzExpat]

Hey Slash... I may have a partial answer for ya but it might force this thread into the Computer and Internet Forum. Guess I'll havta chance that. Everytime I logon here, I end up with an unwanted cookie from valueclick and, every once in a while, a second one from doubleclick. I keep having to use my AdAware programto find them and get rid of them after I finish here.

I've run all sorts of tests to prove that these things don't come into my computer when I log into any of the other sites that I visit. I'm not happy about the repetitive nature of this and am unable to determine if it results from some mob spamming the PPRuNe server, or if it's something that PPRuNe management has allowed to happen.

In any event, I haven't given MY permission for it. However, as you're usually on a much slower linespeed, you may be seeing these things taking root or, worse, communicating with whoever it is that put the bloodey thing there in the first place.

The files to run a search for, if you don't use AdAware, are value_click[1].txt and double_click[1].txt, or something very much like those. The reason they get past most firewalls is that they are text files, I guess. :(

I'd really like to know if PPRuNe management has signed my privacy rights away by allowing this activity because I'm getting REAL sick of this unauthorised invasion of my computer.

[Slasher]

Yeh Ozex Im the same having to Ad-aware away those bloodey oz.valueclick and doubleclick.com txt files. Fortunateley in Opera 6 I can snafu them before they have a chance to ferment.

And yeh I have a slow conection (satcomm'd to the best of a bad bunch of S.E.A. servers), but its this damn ipgglobal thing that rattles my hard drive for up to 10 secs. Christ knows what its sending and to whom!

Anyway after a bit of research I tracked down these goons at ipgglobal (http://www.ipgglobal.net/Abt_Mission.php) and as before Im pretty pissed off at not knowing what in christ is being sent and to whom. Have a look mate and see what you think. Seems its some fancey you-beaut unparalleled, all-inclusive, tax advantaged global investment opportunities blah blah bloodey blah for pilots.

PS oh and Ozex on a personal note I cant seem to get through to that popular dentists site (now 'blasters') we both like. Tell everyone sorry and Ill try every oportunity to get through. I reckon its the sites server as PPRuNes UK-based server stampedes in at a whoppin 300-500kps.

[PilotsPal]

Slasher

The second of the two sites you refer to is about to move to another server, which should assist. The first one is, as ever, awaiting your attention....

[OzExpat]

Slash... having sobered up a bit now, realised that there shouldn't be any underlines in them text file references. After me last time here, earlier this evening, I ran Ad-Aware as usual and this (http://www.fototime.com/F91D1D6B9C45535/standard.jpg) is what it showed.

For those who don't yet understand, transfer my screen shot to yer own photo (or graphics) handling software and view it at full size.

I don't get anything other than those things previously described, as far as I'm aware, so maybe the ISP you're usin' has it's own hidden spammer. However, I'd be VERY surprised if we're the only ones getting these unwanted and unauthorised cookie text files. Maybe PPRuNe management isn't responsible, but if they're watching this tread at all, at least they'll have enough resources to check out the problem.

Them other places come in real bloodey slow here too, FWIW.

I just had a look at yer link mate and this International Pilots Group looks like just another of them internet rip-offs with the twist that it targets pilots. I'm not happy about that either.

[Ridley]

You guys really have to do more research into how computers work.

I've decided to do all of the research into this foolish thread.
Since you really need to know how off track you've gotten.

First of all. Cookies can do nothing to your system. End of story.

Now on to the IPG Global questions.
There is no VBS file coming from IPGGlobal.net.

IPG Global has nothing to do with nor is sending any files or cookies from Double click or value click.
PPRuNe serves up advertisers cookies not IPG.

IPG helped us redevelop the PPRuNe homepage and some of the forum functionality. They are a very large group of pilots (many senior captains) from around the world.

IPG is not fake, nor a fraud, nor a scam.
Danny is going down for a visit to the resort at the request of other PPRuNers who have already gone down for a vacation in January. PPRuNers have already been down there and say great things about the group.

They keep nor distribute any information received by their web sites.

They set cookies specifically for speed purposes. (they let us at pprune see their code and cookie builders)

The hard drive going for 10 minutes is probably an anomaly from not having Flash installed. (their sites use flash)

The connecting message your talking about, is just trying to load the banner from IPG. And since Opera 6 isn't a standard browser (making up nearly 1/1000 of a percent for browsers) it has trouble with some plugins including flash.


This thread needs to end, it comes from not having enough knowledge into how these things work. Hopefully this will end it.

[Woomera]

Ridley

Thanks for that.

Slasher et al I understand your concerns but as Ridley says it's OK.

I have a Bose sound set up with Subwoofer, extra decraminator connected via a deflogulator, with min gauranteed 560k>fecking huge (sometimes over 2,000k+ depending on traffic) cable connection :D which I dont suppose you get where you are.
The boom of the surf and sea washing up on the tropical beach the IPG site transmits is very relaxing whilst PPRuNing.
IPG sounds like a go too, the perfect spot to just hang out, after a hard year slaving over a steam driven cockpit ;) a flogging your FO to death :p.

[Slasher]

Jeez and I thought I was arrogant!

Ridley thank you for your contribution to this (quote) 'foolish thread' (unquote) that .....'needs to end'. What you and other geeks must realise is I and many others ARE NOT INTERESTED in valueclick, doubleclick, ipgglobal, pop-up windows, banner-ads, Flash objects, etc or any thing else that has been neither requested nor asked for. If I want information about a certain type of on-line service Ill either ask info from members in a particular forum on recommended Companys to deal with, or Ill just do a Google search.

Also Mr Ridley, internetters are very much aware of the sophisticated methods of advertisers planting spyware and its less-than-obvious means of transmitting private information. So if I see HD activity Ill ask the geeks first then do something about it. Id rather the safe road of enquiring first and in so doing posibley prove Im a relative computer moron, rather than just blindley accepting it and hoping PPRuNe or other sites for that matter are 'doing the right thing'.

However as you say its harmless, but as I mentioned before my Opera has the capabilitey of refusing 3rd party cookies. What I needed to know first (as a careful non-geek) was if I killed incoming ippglobals would I have software trouble with the forum. At any rate Ive now told my browser to refuse ipgglobal incomings as well as the rest. Things are fine now. And if as you say ipgglobal has a problem with not having Flash instaled on my browser, then using Opera 6 in PPRuNe is to my advantage then. One less unwanted bloodey banner to deal with huh.

As for this ipgglobal thing anyway yes Mr Ridley Im sure there a nice bunch of guys. Id probabley talk to them myself, but in doing so Im sure would only encourage them to continue cookie-dumping or worse. I personaly boycott intrusive companys who employ this unwanted method of 'advertising' or if they employ spyware. If you were to read in full the 'Introduction' help page on the Ad-aware program youll see the basis of rationale better explained than Im capable of giving.

Ozex while on the subject Ive been using Ad-subtract for quite a while now and its excelent for killing banner-ads, resulting in much faster download of web pages (satcom is expensive!). The latest version kills ads from the original server as well as 3rd party ones (sites such as PPRuNe and many others for example got around the original Adsubtract banner-killing method by having the banners seeming to 'originate' from its own server not from a 3rd party). Unfortunatley the latest version doesnt allow an Opera compatability (grrrrrrrr!). So Im stuck with them, but with Nutscrape or IE it kills them dead. Im using Opera in PPRuNe because it kills anything intrusive I dont want (except $&^@* banner ads!).

[Hugh Jarse]

I guess the only way to rid the place of banner ads, etc is to make this place a full subscriber (pay) only BBS.

The banner ads go some way to subsidising what we enjoy for free. I don't like them, but I accept them as a necessary evil.

Somebody has to pay to keep this place open...................;)

[Slasher]

Yeh Jarse your not wrong and I understand what you say, but the downloading time of these unwanted banner-ads can be expensive. I probabley wouldnt winge so much if I was DSL'd or cabled, but ads increase my p!ssy dial-up ISP and satcom usage bill to around 200 bucks a month (or rather it used to).

Oh and Adsubtract doesnt actualy kill the ad so to speak. Its still there but invisible (run the browser cursor over it and it changes from an arrow to a hand, indicating a URL). Its the asociated gif or jpeg image (and thus the wasteful expensive time downloading it) it kills.

[Kaptin M]

This thread needs to end, it comes from not having enough knowledge into how these things work
Well that's quite obvious to everyone.

It must be wonderful to know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING and to never have to ask any questions! :rolleyes:

Would you now mind explaining the principle of tuned length extractors for optimum gas flow on 4 stroke engines please Didley.

[OzExpat]

Thanks anyway Ridley for the explanation. Despite the tone of your post, I managed to gain the perception that there is no problem. The only thing I still don't know about is why on earth you feel the necessity for the PPRuNe server to give us an advertising cookie that is so cunningly disguised as a text file.

And while we're on the subject, maybe you can explain why my spam mail increases exponentially straight after a visit to PPRuNe? It will all happen again after this visit - wish I could be so sure of picking the Melbourne Cup winner!

I've been living with it since installing Ad-Aware, which I hadn't previously needed. The problem is, as I see it, that despite cleaning out the "text file" the spam still happens. Thus I am forced to conclude that the damage is already done by the time the "text file" is planted on my computer.

This seems to only have been happening since the major system upgrade and server change for PPRuNe. I live with it because of the value I derive from PPRuNe and the chance it gives me to answer the occasional Operational Standards question.

I get a somewhat faster linespeed here than Slash gets thru his satcomm but, the way the system works here, I get charged thru the nose for every minute I spend online. I already know that the phone line charges I pay are far higher than the similar system of timed local calls in the UK.

I do not object to ads, per se, and indeed I actually understand why PPRuNe has to have them. I've even found the occasional ad that is of some use to me, so they haven't been a total waste of download time. But when they take a long time to download - and I have to wait for that before any of the substance of the particular page appears - I get a bit crotchety. And this is all on top of a huge dose of paranoia that has been instilled in me over the years about computer security when connected to the internet.

Do you now see where I'm coming from? I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has such problems with unwanted intrusion into my computer - especially from a site that I enjoy and have, in the past, grown to trust.

[Danny]

What an utter load of whingeing bollux! :rolleyes:

Firstly, cookies are harmless and do not delve into your computer and send out your email address to spammers. Jeez, do a bit of research before runing around screaming "conspiracy" and wetting yourselves.:eek: The cookies from valueclick are from the adverts at the bottom of the page and they are targetted regionally. The server that hosts them checks your IP address and if it can determine if they are from a particular region then an appropriate ad is served. you can't do anything about hiding your IP address. :p

Secondly, a cookie stores information that can ONLY be used by the server that put it there and no one else. It will record the last time you saw a particular ad for example or if you clicked on an ad it will register when you did so. If you click repeatedly on an ad to try and drum up business or something then it will only count the first click or whatever. There is nothing sisnister about the cookies and if you don't want to accept them then you can set your browser to refuse cookies or accept them selectively.

The kind of conspiracy shrieks I am seeing in the posts above are hilarious. The IPG advert is a Flash advert and if you decide not to have a Flash enabled browser then that is your perogative but as it is an industry standard you are only causing yourself more problems by not havong it as your browser gets confused for all those seconds looking for the Flash Player before giving up the ghost.

I'm sorry if you feel that there is too much advertising on PPRuNe but it is what pays for the servers. Consider that it now costs around AUS$15,000 a month to run PPRuNe with all the infrastructure involved and you can see why we can't accomodate a minority who object to advertising. PPRuNe also requires groups like the IPG who are a group of pilots trying to provide a service for other pilots and not some faceless corporation pretending it cares about us when it doesn't. IPG has done a load of programming for PPRuNe and is continualy developing new software for us to use.

So, for the conspiracy theorists amongst you, just remember that any cookies you are getting from PPRuNe are used to spy on your sexual habits and we then sell the information gathered to porn spammers so those of you not receiving any spam are probably going to heaven whilst those of you getting loads of it are not!:p

PPRuNe agressivley protects the privacy of all its members and we do not give email addresses to anyone and we make sure the software is set up to prevent automatic harvesting of email addresses. If you reckon you are getting more spam after reading PPRuNe then I challenge you to provide details of how we go about it. Just think, I could double my revenue overnight if I had pop-up adverts.:rolleyes:

[OzExpat]

Thanks Ibex, I'm giving it a try now! So far, so good! :)

[Slasher]

Danny, bollux or not its a case of once bitten twice p!ssed off and cautious. Yeh Im familiar with the machinations of cookies etc, but having been the unwary victim of having bits of my HD contents copied by some nosey 'advertising' bastards in the past (no, not PPRuNe or its adverts) Ill conspiracy- theorise until I know for damn sure Im proven paranoid (like I have now!).

Thank for the reply. Merry xmas to the Fyne manor and all that stuff. :)

Ibex thanks for that link. Proximatron is a bit complicated for me (Im not as smart as Ozex!) so Ill wait for the inclusion of it in AdSubtract as mentioned on the link.

[OzExpat]

Smart ... moi? Bwahahahaha, yer overestimatin' me mate! I'll give ya a progress report as soon as there's anything to report.

[Slasher]

Nah mate. You and Drapes are way ahead of me. Whenever I start thinkin I know everything, you or he post something out of the blue that reminds me I still dont know sh!t about nothin. Gaunty has that effect on me too.

You 3 blokes humble me quite often at times. ;)

[OzExpat]

Well then I've got an important update on this bloodey Proxymoron thing that I downloaded last night, Slash. Ya see, I'd been tryin to get in here since about 5:30 PM - finally got on just after midnight. Kept getting error messages tellin me the page cooden be found!

Finally I got a brainwave - it was soooo long in cumin that it really bloodey hurt too! Anyway, turned off the proxy option that I'd set up under instruction from this new program. Guess wot..?

Yep, yer right! Instant connection! That bloodey program was blocking everybloodything! I've now consigned it to the same place that my ZoneAlarm went - the big byte bucket in the sky! So, there, it ain't the beez neez program after all - and it's taken me all this time to figure that out! :(

[Slasher]

Im pretty much clued-up on ZoneAlarm Oz. Any probs I can help you with?

Roger on the Proxymittagong!

[OzExpat]

I haven't had any probs with ZoneAlarm since I gave it the flick Slash. :D It gave me lots of grief until I finally decided that enough was enough. The last straw was that, on some BBs, it wouldn't allow the smileys to download with each page. On some BBs, it wouldn't even allow use of font styles, eg "bold", when clicking the relevant button.

So, in general, it was blocking the stuff that I wanted and, worse, allowing stuff that I didn't want. It just got too tedious to be arsed with.

Now for a further bit of an update on that proxy-thingey. Guess that I'm the proxymoron coz tonight's problem had been of me own making! :eek: The proxy thing really works best when the proxy program is running... :o

Soon as I realised that I hadn't configured the bloodey thing to start with Windows, it all came together. Reloaded it, started it and ... viola! Everything works as advertised. So, ya see, I ain't real switched on with this shyte yet... :(

[Flintstone]

Kaptin , now you're talking!

Perhaps, as you seem to know about tuned pipes, you can help me out? I'm running a Rover 1.4 'K' series engine and have had the head polished/ported/cammed/balanced etc. Standard 4-1 exhaust manifold is no longer up to the job (flow increased from about 55 cfpm to 80 cfpm).

With a pipe dia of 1 3/4" I was thinking of 36" primaries and 24" secondaries plumbing into a straight through (cat removed) s/steel system.

Am I a million miles out and if so perhaps Ridley can give us both the benefit of his/her knowledge? ;)

[OzExpat]

I've done a bit more research now, as so kindly suggested by Ridley and so generously supported by Danny. I installed Proxomitron on 6 December and, after some initial self-induced difficulties, it worked exactly as specified. Web pages load faster because it doesn't allow time-wasting banner ads, etc. - a major consideration in my usual part of the world because of the extremely high cost of timed local calls, which are the basis of my internet usage.

It also stopped the valueclick and doubleclick text file cookies dead in their tracks. My spam mail fell away to a trickle of the flood it had been. I then consulted an I.T. guru at my local ISP about the nature of cookies, saying I'd been quite forthrightly informed that ALL cookies are benign.

After he stopped laughing and picked himself up off the floor, he managed to ask me, between chuckles, where I'd heard that load of ****. He said it's true that many cookies are benigh but there are others that are most definitely not so. He further stated that it's often quite difficult, even for I.T. pros, to differentiate between benign and malignant cookies, so the average user has next to no chance of making the distinction.

The safest way is, always, to treat every cookie as hostile, he said. The trouble with that strategy is, of course, that cookies might simply contain passwords and other stuff used by trusted websites, so these are not specifically hazardous. But, a hostile cookie can open a path to your computer so that those "good cookies" can be accessed by the scum that infests cyberspace. The danger here is obvious.

He knows of the Proxomitron program that I installed, but said that even that isn't a foolproof solution for an aggressive cookie.

True to his words, on 12 December, the valueclick text file cookie found it's way back onto my computer. My spam mail increased within hours and, despite my every effort to kill it with Ad-Aware as soon as it appears, my spam mail has now TREBLED. If anything, it is at much higher levels than previously, though this might only be due to the Christmas silly season, of course. :rolleyes:

However, the fact remains that this cookie has successfully by-passed Proxomitron every time I've logged onto PPRuNe since 12 December. The fact also remains that my spam mail, some of which is highly offensive and contained links that would certainly not be tolerated on PPRuNe, has increased. It seems that, while PPRuNe management rightly discourages that sort of thing on their site, they are happy for its' subscribers to receive it by e-mail from the ads that they've authorised.

As I've said many times before - and even once before on THIS thread (and was duly ignored by both Ridley and Danny) - I understand the reason for the ads. I've even found one or two that were of use to me. Maybe this time, they will read and digest it. However, it upsets me that they seem to apply a double standard that says :- no, that stuff isn't okay on the site but, yes, we really want all our subscribers to get the full blast of it by e-mail.

I use two other bulletin boards on as regular a basis as I use this one. I ran an experiment to see if any of these cookies come from them. I did that very simply by first running Ad-Aware, to check for and clear any of those cookies that may have existed. I then visited each site and, before visiting another site, ran Ad-Aware again. The only site that gave me those cookies was PPRuNe and I ran that test several times in 7 consecutive days.

It seems that the doubleclick text file cookie hasn't re-emerged but that one only seems to turn up about once a week anyway. Thus I might be yet to receive it again. But it is now VERY clear to me that the valueclick text file cookie is aggressive in invading my computer and, as my spam mail has multiplied after each penetration by it, I am forced to conclude that it is far from benign.

It should, by now, be clear that I'm far from hysterical about this, but that I am deeply concerned about it. Perhaps our good friend Ridley might now care do do some research of his/her own on this subject. I look forward to the result of that research.

[redsnail]

I have found the same cookies in my files too. Adaware calls them suspicious. Naturally I deleted them. I am now going to watch to see when and where they return.

[OzExpat]

Yes reddo, indeed it does! I've had a look in the directory where AdAware found them and there's PLENTY of other cookies in there that the program obviously has no quarrel with. And, now, just to update things a bit... it's true - even that rotten doubleclick textfile cookie has found a way to beat my Proxomitron.

I believe that the AdAware program is correct to call them "suspicious". I think they are downright hostile and now call on PPRuNe management to remove them from their ads, or at least block them, in the interests of looking after their subscribers.

[Slasher]

Ozex Ive never had trouble with valueclick or doubleclick and now ipgglobal since telling Opera and AdSubtract to ignore them. AdSub in fact does a much better job than the browser at keeping these damn txt cookie files off my HD. My Ad-aware proved it.

Now hows your ZoneAlarm doin? Remember ZA is anti-hacking software not a cookie-munchin one!

[OzExpat]

ZA no longer exists for me Slash. I've replaced it with McAfee's Firewall, which seems to be doing a far better job than ZA. I didn't have to get it specially, it came packaged with the McAfee A/V software that I got to replace Norton, which was giving me hell on my lappy, even tho it ran great on my desktop PC.

Sorry I couldn't reply to yer PMs mate. Soon as you clear out your PM inbox, I can reply.

Ooops... no I can't. I just deleted every damn thing in my own inbox, so can you send both PMs again please? Sorry! :(

I give AdSubtract a go too, soon as I can get a stable connection. Starting to find probs keeping a connection thru Bigpong of late. Might be time for me to find another ISP... :eek: