MEL'S  PRIVACY PAGE

   Anytime you surf the web, your browser is telling on you. It is telling everyone who your ISP (Internet Service Provider) is, what your IP (Internet Protocol) address is, where you came from, where you've been, what kind of browser you're using, and other stuff. Say you work for company A, and you want to check out company B's website. You don't want them to know that you are a competitor, so what do you do? Well, there are a couple of options available to you. The first is to use a proxy, which I will discuss later. The other is to use a web "Anonymizer" site that will let you input a specific URL, and go there anonymously. This is a good option if you know exactly where you want to go. Be aware that any new window will not always be anonymous. At a lot of sites, a click will generate a new window instead of linking your window directly. These are usually off-site links. These new windows are not always anonymous, as they do not all go thru the original site, some are independent. Thus the limitations of this type of anonymous surfing. But like I said, if you know the exact URL, then this is an easy way to surf anonymously.  Below are a few "Anonymizer" sites that will let you surf this way:

goproxy.com - Allows anonymous surfing. Try their links page for some nice privacy sites. This site seems to keep all clicks going thru their site. Exactly what you want. It does have a popup on every click, but that's a small price to pay for this seemingly excellent proxy (use POW! to remove popup).
    After using this a few times, I have found that this is a very good option, short of a full proxy. Just remember you can't click directly on your favorites. You must manually input the address into the "Change URL" box at the top of the page to remain anonymous. This is a perfect situation for using Moon Software's CopyUrl. It will copy the url to the clipboard, allowing you to paste it in the "Change URL" box.
 This, however is a "text" proxy only. No graphics. What a bummer.

all-nettools - Great privacy site full of helpful hints and tips. Gives a choice of three different sites to originate from. Also has a free anonymous remailer service.

(Description "quotes" are from the original websites)

Anonymizer.com - "Welcome to Anonymizer.com, the world's most trusted and most widely used Internet Privacy Web site. Our mission is to make the Internet a safer place to surf, shop, learn, and explore. Keep your surfing invisible to Web sites, advertisers, hackers and other snoops."

magusnet.com- The vital info is close to the bottom of the page. It will give you a choice of two lines. On either line, copy it up to the second http, and paste this in the browser address window. then add the address of your destination. Or copy and paste one of these texts into your address window:
https://proxy.magusnet.com/-_-
or
https://proxy.magusnet.com:443/-_-
After pasting it, add the destination address immediately following the last - (no spaces in between). An example:
https://proxy.magusnet.com/-_-http://www.yahoo.com/
or
http://proxy.magusnet.com:443/-_-http://www.yahoo.com/
This will allow you to surf anonymously.
NOTE: If you use Clipomatic, you may need to disable caching to use Copy URL.

    1/12/2003 
After using this service for a while, I have found thAt this is indeed an excellent proxy. When you click on a link, you stay thru their service, however, any popups are not anonymous! You must close these popups to remain anonymous. Not as good as a full proxy, but an excellent alternative nonetheless, with nothing to install.
 

  The other option, as I mentioned, is to use a proxy. This is the option that I prefer, because you remain anonymous, even in new windows.This is because you change your browser settings. Everything that goes thru your browser is anonymous, instead of just one window of the browser. I am not going to try and give a detailed explanation of how proxies work, (mostly because I don't know all the boring details). In very simple terms, a proxy is between you and the web. You ask the proxy server for a web page, and it gets the page for you. All of the requests and replies go to the proxy, and then to you. A trace ends at the proxy. It depends on each individual proxy server's policy, as to how long a log is kept. Most keep one at least 30 days, some don't keep any at all. Remember that an anonymous proxy could be slower than your usual connection.
 

JAP-This is an excellent personal proxy. It's the one that I use. Super easy to use, and not too difficult to setup.
  Before downloading and installing, create a new dial-up connection called JAP.  You can do this right now. Click on tools, (at the top of this browser), internet options, connections, add. Name this Jap, then click next. Everything will be the same as your original (default) setting except for the name. Create a shortcut on the desktop for this new connection. ( Each proxy app you use should have it's own dialup connection as not all use the same ports.) After downloading and installing JAP, go to your desktop and right click on IE. Click on properties, connections, highlight JAP, click on settings. Check the"use a proxy server for this connection" box. Enter 127.0.0.1  in the Address:  box. Enter   4001  in the Port:  box. Click ok, click ok. Restart your computer and click on the JAP dial-up connection. When connected, click on the Jap icon, start IE, and surf as normal. This new connection will not mess up your regular connection.
Note that when you click directly on the IE icon, it will use your regular default connection. You must click on the Jap dial-up connection, and then the JAP icon after you are connected. Then you can click the IE icon. I use NetLaunch to automatically start these apps in the order I want. It makes it much easier. 2 clicks does it all. The first brings up the menu, and the second starts everything for me!
 

After starting JAP, check the Activate anonymous web access box. Then click on the Config button, (left-bottom) and then the Anonymity tab(right-top). Checking the Auto connect after program start box will make a return visit to this tab unnecessary Click ok. Then click minimize(-), not close(x) or exit.

     The following can be applied, in general, to most proxies.
  To ensure complete anonymity, you must have all scripting options and Java disabled: Tools, internet options, security, internet, settings (or custom level). The easiest way is to arrow up the  reset to:   box to high, and click reset. After clicking yes, scroll down and disable Java. This is the setting recommended by almost all privacy sites that I have visited; butRemember this setting will drastically cut down on the features that will function in your browser.
    Try this site to check your anonymity. (Save it as a favorite.) First try it with Java disabled . The most important lines are at the top and should look like this:

REMOTE_HOST                                           proxy2.anon-online.org
REMOTE_ADDR                                   141.76.1.122

This is the proxy address, in green, (what you want readable). Now reset your security level to medium, click reset, yes, ok, ok. Close your browser. Restart browser and go to favorites and click on the test site. You should see something like this:

ppp2-45yourserver[your real ip address]

REMOTE_HOST                                           proxy2.anon-online.org
REMOTE_ADDR                                          141.76.1.122

The nonproxy address (in red) is your real server & real ip address (what you don't want readable). Because Java is enabled, this is readable by all the sites you visit.
   Every time Java is started, you must exit (close)  and restart your browser in order to turn it off. Otherwise, if Java stays active, you are not anonymous.
 
 

Anonymity 4 Proxy - "With this program you can travel the Internet with privacy. It includes a large anonymous proxy server list with hundreds anonymous servers from all over the world. Support for FTP and Secure HTTP (HTTPS). Choose the fastest proxy for the site that interests you, check the degree of anonymity, block cookies with a single mouse click and watch and modify any information sent out by your browser (including cookies). You can also share your anonymous Internet connection over a LAN. Multilingual interface: see the list of supported languages and download the latest language files. For Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP.  Anonymity 4 Proxy 2.52 free demo version (1 Mb)."
  This is an updated version that I have just started using.  The older version was ok, but it always seemed to go down after about an hour of use. I hope this version will do a little better. At least it's starting off with more "live" proxies than it's predecessor, which is a good sign.

1/12/2003
     After using this for awhile, I have discovered that this is an excellent proxy- for 30 days!! After that a nag page comes up before fetching every  request. Often times negating any page retrieval at all (a blank page comes up). Another disappointing ending to a promising beginning. Anyway, after using magusnet.com for awhile, I recommend using it.

ipAddress- This is a "must have" if you are using a proxy. It gives you your real ip address so that you can tell if your proxy is anonymous. Even if your not using a proxy, sometimes you need to know your ip address. I put this in my browser with adda button. Keeps it handy, and you don't need it unless you're connected.

Internet sweeper- "Will erase unneeded files after surfing the internet, runs ScanDisk or NDD after computer crash, automatically runs when computer boots, user logs in, or when browsers close. It erases the index.dat files, Cache, history, Cookies, Addresses, Recent Documents, Find Computers, and Temporary Files. Internet Sweeper works with Windows 95/98/NT/ME/2K/XP, Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator (now 6.2), and Opera (now 6.0). It's 620kb and dowloads quickly. It also has a log to show Internet Sweeper's activity and the windows it monitored."
  I have not used the cookies or popup features of this program, however I just love the "Sweep & Turn Off" option. If you would like to keep your privacy after surfing, instead of clicking shutdown, just put this option on your desktop and click it. It will do all the cleaning that you set it to do, then turn off the computer. No one will be able to go back and see where you've been. Be sure to check the Show More Options Box and then the Save certain Cookies tab and put a check by the cookies you want saved, or it will delete all cookies, good & bad. Also, if you set it to sweep history, remember to use favorites to save any sites that you would like to revisit, as you will have no history of sites you've visited.

I have this listed as a basic internet "must have", but it is also a privacy "must have". It can take care of any files (temp, recent, etc.) that Internet Sweeper will inevitably miss.
 
 

rental-web.com - Good site for checking your anonymity. The best site that I have found for finding your ip address. It uses a java program to track thru proxies. So even if you are using a proxy, if you have java enabled, even on high safety, it can track you.

   Checks your browser for parasites. There is a full explanation of "parasites" at the site. You may have to add this to your trusted sites for it to work.

privacy.net - Another site to check your anonymity. Also has a lot of good privacy info.

  This site contains some great security/privacy info. Be sure to take the "Test My  Shields!  &  Probe My Ports!  tests. Also download the IP Agent and run it. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the free stuff link. Download the Leak Test and run it. These are very useful tests.

Privacy & Security Page@University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Good info & some freeware

  Keep up on spyware developments. has some great privacy/security links, a newsletter (subscribe), a chatroom, some good articles, virus alerts, and more. A highly recommended site.
 
 

   6/6/2003

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