I'm not usually paranoid about the spy inside my laptop; frankly I couldn't care less. But this example made me almost think twice.
France is trying to do-away with bayonet fitting light bulbs in preference for screw fittings. Finding plain old fashioned light bulbs has become a nightmare, and I'm certainly not prepared to change all my lamps.
I ordered a couple of packs of 10 bulbs through Amazon, the delivery date of which, by magic, instantly appeared on my Windows 10 Calendar (above). I suppose Amazon and Windows 10 have some 'arrangement'.
Not only that, but a scam Amazon Email also quickly arrived, telling me that my payment of about £30 had been refused, and for some bizarre reason they owed me £170. I would (of course) need to reveal all my bank details to claim my repayment.
I'm sure that my Laptop knows more about me than I do myself, but it's these little things that worry me. To know that there are machines around the world that follow my every move (even ordering 20 light bulbs), is disturbing. Luckily I'm not yet stupid enough to give the scammers all my money.
My bulbs, above, arrived as promised (I ordered them on Monday morning; they arrived mid-day Tuesday); and of course my payment went through OK.
Try using a third party browser like Chrome. I don't have any problems. It may be a good idea to get someone to rake through all the Tmp./Temp. files but there ought not to be much in them. Use a password generator like LastPass, It is a pain but is free and may help. Delete browsing history but it can cause problems with stuff you have forgotten how to access.
ReplyDeleteHave fun.
I do use Chrome, which serves me well. Frankly I can't be bothered to make any changes, I simply live with the fact that machines are out there following my every move. As long as it doesn't affect me financially, I don't really care.
DeleteKnow what you mean. However, best way to avoid being paranoid is not being paranoid.
ReplyDeleteSure, whenever I think about it (which I try and avoid) it creeps me out. Say you, innocently, "google" something. Suddenly you are being inundated with adverts for whatever it is you googled. Come again? What the eff?
Fact is, at least as far as privacy is concerned, most people will not be interested in us specifically.
If you want true privacy go back to your typewriter (or write by hand) to send your missives, put down your thoughts for posterity. Otherwise just live with Big Brother - and hope he is a good big brother. Someone who protects you.
One of the more disappointing moments of my life when a friend (he is a TV anchor in a location best not disclosed, hugely intelligent and all sorts of other things) told me he could hack into a computer in fifteen minutes flat. When I queried how ethical that is (not least among friends) he replied that it was harmless, just a bit of "friendly" hacking. I made it sound like a sport. Sure. Go and hack the Pentagon, leave my computer alone.
U
"He" not "I" made it sound like a sport.
DeleteI'm already being inundated with adverts for light bulbs; everywhere I look. Good luck to them. I've already bought mine, and don't need more!
DeleteI stockpiled bayonet incandescent light bulbs for our overhead lights when we had to switch, but they are used so rarely, they don't fail. There are good alternative LED bulbs now, but I am not sure if they have bayonet fittings.
ReplyDeleteThese are LED 60 watt bulbs. I can only buy them online; made in China, of course.
DeleteI've not experienced this trouble. I delete search history and rarely buy anything on line and I don't use Amazon.
ReplyDeleteOccasionally Amazon is very useful for us here. Some use it like a high street shop, whereas we only buy things that are otherwise unavailable (Fray Bentos pies, Pork scratchings, Indian pickles, etc).
DeleteYes Cro, Big Brother is watching our every move, and I also find it intrusive and annoying
ReplyDeleteIt's a pity our laptops don't have an anti-annoyance button.
DeleteAnything I look at on my big computer immediately translates to the other 2 devices in the house and ads pop on them. That makes me mad. I can't look at anything in private because dear K will have similar stuff pop up on his Facebook and meanwhile I'm getting adverts for screwdrivers.
ReplyDeleteBig brother is a pain.
My wife recently bought a new rug for the sitting room, and I'm now being bombarded with ads for rugs!
DeleteI use Amazon but mostly for books, and if I can, I buy second-hand through them. Most books then go to the charity shop when I've read them, so I don't feel too guilty.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried turning your ad-blocker on?
I didn't know there was an ad-blocker; I'll have a look. Thanks.
DeleteAd-blocker is good, Veg Artist.
DeleteHowever, and in the spirit of Cro's post re Big Brother, what about those blasted cookies? I tend to just press "accept" since it's too time consuming to do otherwise. But seriously? I feel as if people I don't know, nay aliens, are looking over my shoulder all the time. Actually had an argument with my father over this since even his website uses cookies. Why cookies (American)? If you have to subject your readers to them at least make them biscuits.
U
I had the same email after placeing an Amazon order, then a few days later I did some stuff on paypal and I got a scam email asking me to reset my bank details, but the link address was not paypal. The computer knows more than we do.
ReplyDeleteMost of the scam Emails treat us as fools. If indeed we're not fools; they are easily spotted and deleted. It just that they arrive so quickly!
DeleteLiving in the Outer Hebrides, Amazon is a godsend. So many other people won't send stuff here and although we have some excellent shops the overall choice of things is limited or, very often, very expensive even compared with Amazon which is no longer always cheap. However Amazon and Google know everything about us.
ReplyDeleteIt took just over 24 hours for my bulbs to arrive, and they were about a quarter the price of ones in the shops (if you can find them) Not bad!
DeleteYes, we are being tracked everywhere, be it on our computers, Alexa, Ring, cameras, phones, store “loyalty” cards and practically everything we use today. To put it literally, there is no getting away from it. We give our information away willingly with every click and even give our spit to DNA companies without thinking how that information may affect generations to come. We have given it all and there is no turning back.
ReplyDeleteI suppose we just have to live with it; no going back now.
DeleteIf people use internet etc.they know that they are under permanent surveyance. How did we manage to live previously ? We have the choice. I never buy something via Internet, I like to go shopping in my town.
ReplyDeleteOf course we support our local traders, but some things are impossible to buy locally.
DeleteLike Graham, we find Amazon very useful for things that are just not available here. Many UK sellers will not ship to the Isle of Man, or charge ridiculously high shipping costs. I have had a couple of similar scam emails but just delete them. I always log into my Amazon account and check the account status so I know if it has gone through OK.
ReplyDeleteI suppose we could always go without, but knowing that Amazon sells just about everything, it's tempting to buy those special things that are otherwise unavailable.
DeleteI always find this sort of thing a bit scary Cro - i live alone and I am not all that computer literate so have to be careful - as I do with the telephone.
ReplyDeleteOur phone rings about 10 times a day; and we never answer it. If it's important people will always leave a message, otherwise it's the usual Indian call centres trying to sell something.
DeleteI have several different browsers on my laptop and I use them for different specified purposes - one for facebook, another for online purchases, another for email etc. Two of the browsers are set to delete all cookies on exit. It can be annoying to have to log in to things each time but I don't get ads related to things I've bought or too many other intrusions.
ReplyDeleteYou are obviously more au fait about cyber-world than I am. I use only one browser (Google Chrome), and simply hope for the best. I do my best to ignore all ads everywhere.
Delete