Re: [PHP] Re: A Little Something.

tedd wrote:
> At 3:11 PM -0400 5/12/08, Eric Butera wrote:
>>
>> NoScript is a FireFox extension to protect users from malicious
>> scripts.
> 
> NoScript is also a tag for browsers to read and react to IF they do not 
> accept javascript.
> 
> http://www.w3schools.com/TAGS/tag_noscript.asp
> 
> That's an unfortunate naming convention from FireFox.
> 
> https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722
> 
>>  JS is indeed very dangerous right now especially as mashups
>> continue to gain popularity and all of that personal information
>> floating around.  Subscribe to planet websecurity and see the truth.
>>
>> The way I deal with urchin is by /etc/hosts'ing out google's
>> adservers.  Then we all win, right?  ;)
>>
>> Here is a fairly current rant:
>> http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-TBPekxc1dLNy5DOloPfzVvFIVOWMB0li?p=819
> 
> 
> Okay, I read that -- but what does that have to do with urchin?
> 
> Urchin is not an ad delivery system, but rather a way to keep track of 
> visitors to your web site.
> 
> Now, how is that a security threat? Or is the claim that any site that 
> uses js is a security threat?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> tedd
> 

tedd,

I don't expect anyone to second-guess pet peeves :)
And, as you say, Urchin is not your code: I think the onus is on the coders of 
Urchin to document how to avoid errors when Javascript is disabled, not the site 
developer who uses it.

Some of us are extremely cautious about how we expose our systems to unknowns. 
As far as I can tell, Urchin does me no favours so I don't need to allow it in. 
In addition, I might not want a site to know where I am or where I came from: 
that is a (very mild) form of surveillance.

On a more rebellious note, I actively try to confound any attempts to target 
advertising at me - I hate all forms of advertising (except the really clever TV 
ads that make me laugh) and tend to choose what products I buy based on my own 
research, rather than what a marketing droid thinks I need to buy.

Anyway, this is waaaaaaay off-topic: it was right from the start - sorry everyone :(

I'll keep my pet peeves private from now on ...

Cheers
Pete


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Peter Ford                              phone: 01580 893333
Developer                               fax:   01580 893399
Justcroft International Ltd., Staplehurst, Kent