Advice / Tools for Newcomers (Privacy etc)

[Tobin]

Browser privacy: hiding history and tab title of "Alcoholic Help - Support Forum"

Like myself, a few posters have had worries that the title "Alcoholic Help - Support Forum" is displayed on browser tabs and in browser history. BE need to keep it this way so that people will find the site when they use google to look for help. There is a way for individual users to hide these details, which I will describe here. I only know how to do it with Firefox, not Internet Explorer. These instructions are for FIREFOX only.

Please be aware that these actions hide your browser activity from people looking over your shoulder, but at work it doesn't stop the activity being monitored "behind the scenes" on the network. But at home it may help your privacy with family and friends casually looking at your screen.

The FireFox browser has "add-ons" which are independent applications that change the way the browser behaves. Users can choose which they want to install. I went looking for ones that would help my privacy with BE. These two I describe now are what I'm currently using.

1. TabRenamizer
This lets you rename the title of a tab to what you want. It works when you have mutiple browser tabs open, and one is set to BE - and you don't want it to display the full title. Once installed, right-click the tab with title "Alcoholic Help - Support Forum" and the rename option will be near the bottom of ythe drop-down list. Rename it to what you want - "BE" works for me. The only drawback is that this doesn't last when you close and re-open FireFox, you have to do it again. As I keep my browser open, it isn't too annoying for me.

2. HistoryBlock
Once you've added this, just go to the forum and right-click anywhere on the page. "Block This!" will be one of the last items on the drop-down menu. Once that's chosen, you won't see the forum appear in your history list.

To install these or any add-ons, go to the FireFox home page (www.firefox.com), click on the Add-Ons link at the top and you can use the search function to find the above. I have no connection to these applications. There are other Add-Ons that do similar things but these two seem to be the most stable from my use today and yesterday. I'd be interested if anybody else has found better.

The other function I wanted is to stop the "auto-complete" in the addressbar when you type in "www.b" and it will display "www.brighteyecounselling.co.uk/alcoholic-forum". I can't find an add-on that lets you suppress a particular address. Instead, if you want it you have to turn off auto-complete altogether, which is quite convoluted in FireFox 3.

I hope the above isn't too technical for those interested. If it's not clear, I'll keep an eye out here for any questions or please PM me and I'll reply.

Hope this helps,
Maggie

[Tobin]

I share a computer at work and although I always clear the history at the end of the day so staff can't see what sites I've been on, in the tool bar where i type in www.brighteye etc.... as soon as I start to type a couple of letters the website comes up.

I'm just a little worried that they can see where I've been and can click on it. My name is pretty obvious so I'm sure they'd know it were me. Given that and it used to say Perth, Australia which I've now changed now I'm sure they'd know for sure.
Is there anyway of fixing that so it doesn't happen?

You can disable the 'autocomplete' function if you use Firefox:
1. Open the Firefox browser.
2. From the Firefox menu, select 'Tools'
3. Select 'Options'
4. Click 'Privacy'
5. Click 'Saved Forms' (Or just click 'Settings)
6. Click 'Settings'
7. Select all options in the 'Clear Private Data' window
8. Click OK
9. Click 'Clear Saved Form Data Now'
10. Uncheck 'Save information I enter in forms and the Search Bar'
11. Click OK

This should stop the address completing itself automatically.

This is the same job for Internet Explorer:

1. From Internet Explorer, choose "Tools" then "Internet Options".
2. From the "Internet Options" multi-tabbed dialog box that appears, select the "Content" tab.
3. Click the "AutoComplete" button.
4. Uncheck everything.
5. Click the "Clear Forms" button.
6. Click the "Clear Passwords" button.
7. Press "OK" to close the dialog boxes.
It shouldn't be too different whatever version you've got. Fundamentally go to 'Tools' and 'Internet Options' and poke around there.

[Mike]

At work they labelled me an alcoholic, and then the internet thought police were concerned to find I was using an Alcoholic Support Forum ! Bright Eye has helped me tremendously and I don't give a monkeys (sorry Tobin) what anybody thinks. But the advice here about covering your tracks on Firefox is useful, and if your drink problem is not in the public domain I would recommend two actions. First, don't go on BE at work, and secondly follow Tobin's advice regarding privacy on your home computer. But don't let any of this put you off using Bright Eye. It's a life saver, literally.

Mike

[Rebecca]

Oh! Great advice about Firefox! Thanks, very helpful. I was worried that they might see it at work too, but thought our IT person is too lazy to care what we look at. I guess we should all be careful, though.

[Mike]

Becky,

At work, IT departments can check every key stroke we make on our computers, and as most of us have to log in with a unique password known to the IT managers, they can track down our browsing history over several months without any difficulty. They usually allow a fair amount of latitude, so that if you want to check holiday destinations in your lunch break, or go onto car insurance comparison sites, you'll generally be fine. But if you want to keep personal health issues private and confidential, I would stay off sites like BE at the workplace.

Mike

[Rebecca]

Mike,

Thanks, I know, he may look. I guess I just didn't care, but I should. Our IT person has "alcohol problems" too, so maybe I'll be safe, with him. Maybe he'll find out about this website because of me. I'm not even joking, everyone in the office knows.

Becky

[Rebecca]

I have a way to log into your home internet, using a VNC connection. IT departments will only see a connection to your home network and never outside links. I just have to write the instructions...will post them soon.

[Bela]

Great idea, Becky.
I do the reverse, but never thought about logging into my home network from the office.

[Rebecca]

I'm working on it...

[Rebecca]

For those of you who are worried of being spied on by your employer you can set up a VNC connection to your home computer. That way your employer will only see a connection to your home computer and you will get on the internet from your home computer [literally]. Browsing will be slower than if you were directly on your work computer, but confidentiality is guaranteed!

You have to set your home computer to be a server and your work computer to be a client. It’s rather easy; I compiled VERY detailed instructions on how to do it on a Mac and on a Windows computer.

I tried to cover every step of the process, let me know if you need any assistance.

1. Home computer setup (Server) - This computer must be turned ON for you to connect to it.
a. Mac – OS X
• Click on the Apple menu and select “System Preferences”
• Click on “Sharing”
• Click on “Remote Management”
• Click on “Computer Settings…”
• Put a check in the “VNC viewers may control screen with password:” checkbox and type a password

b. Windows XP / Windows Vista
• Download UltraVNC, a free application, from http://www.uvnc.com (win32 1.0.4.5 Full is the current version)
• Double click on the downloaded file “UltraVNC_1.0.5.6_Setup”
• Select “Full Installation”, leave all options as they are.
• Click on Start > All Programs > Ultra VNC > Ultra VNC Server
• In the “VNC Password” field type a password
• Click Apply, click OK

* If you have a router at home, you must forward port 5900 to the computer you are setting up as a server.
Airport device (Apple Router):
• Open the airport utility and click on “Manual Setup”
• Click on “Advanced” on top
• Click on “Port Mapping”
• Click on “+”
• In the “Public Port Number” field, write 5900
• In the “Private IP Address” field, write the local IP of your server, see below if you don’t know how to find your local IP.
• In the “Private Port Number field”, write 5900.
Linksys router
• Open your browser and go to 192.168.1.1. This is the default address of the router, it may be different if you changed it (if you did, you probably know how to forward a port ). There is no default username (leave it empty) and the default password is admin.
• Go to the tab called “Port Range Forwarding” or something similar (depends on router model and version) if you can’t see it on the main screen, you may have a tab called “Advanced Setting” or “NAT” something similar, click on it and then “Port Range Forwarding” tab may be in one of these sections.
• In the “Application” field enter “VNC” then in the “Start” and “End” field enter “5900” (without the quotes)
• In the “Protocol” box, select TCP
• In the “IP Address” field enter the IP address of the server (not the IP address your found on google). It should be something like 192.168.1.100 (the first three sections of the IP address will be the same as the address of your router 192.168.1, in this case). If you don’t know the local IP address of your server and don’t know how to find it, see the section “How to find your local IP address” below.
• Click on the checkbox that says “Enable” (if there is one)
• Click Apply, Save, and you’re done.

**How to find your local IP address
Mac – OS X
• Click on the Apple menu and select “System Preferences”
• Click on “Network”
• At least one of your network adapters should be green, which means it is connected to the network. Click on it.
• Your IP address will be displayed next to “IP Address:”

Windows Vista
• Right-click on the network icon next to the clock
• Select “Network and Sharing Center”
• Click and “view Status”.
• Your local IP will be displayed there.

Windows XP
• Right click on the network icon next to your clock and select “Status”
• Click on the “Support” tap
• Click on “Details”
• Your local IP address will be displayed in the next to “IP Address:”
• The network address will be displayed

2. Work computer (Client)
a. Mac – OS X
• Download “Chicken of the VNC” a free application at http://sourceforge.net/projects/cotvnc/
• Double click on the .dmg downloaded to mount the disk image
• To install the application, move “Chicken of the VNC” to your applications folder or to your Documents folder, if you do not have administrative rights
• Eject the disk image you mounted above, you can now move the .dmg image downloaded to the trash
• To establish a connection to your home computer double click on the Chicken of the VNC.
• Click on New Server
• In the “Host:” field enter the public IP address of your home computer (see below if not sure)
• In the “Password:” field enter the password you selected when setting up your VNC server

b. Windows XP / Windows Vista
• Download UltraVNC, a free application, from http://www.uvnc.com (win32 1.0.4.5 Full is the current version)
• Install VNC client only
• To connect, select VNC from the Start menu (Start > All Applications > UltraVNC > VNC Viewer)
• In the “VNC Server” enter the public IP address of your home computer (see below if not sure) followed by :5900
• When prompted, enter the password you setup up on your server above

*** How to find my public IP address?
• Open your browser and go to http://www.whatismyip.com/
• Your IP address will be displayed in large characters.

[Rebecca]

I didn't want to post it all here, but if anyone wants instructions in a pdf with print screens of everything emal me.

Good luck!

Becky

[Aaron.A]

Morning bubbysmum and welcome to the site.
To edit your details click on the user control panel (top left of the screen) and them profile.

Hope this helps

[Rebecca]

For the lucky ones that have an iphone, you can tether it with a USB cable and get online on your work pc without even "jailbreaking" it. Work can't see anything you're looking at this way - you're just using your phone.

See this link (I know it talks about AT&T, that's the carrier in the US):

http://www.keithelder.net/blog/archive/2009/06/22/tethering-iphone-3g-on-windows-7.aspx

You may also want to change the order or priority of your network adapter. This way whenever you connect your iPhone it will use this network card to access the internet and you don't have to disconnect from your work network.

This is from Microsoft's website, for Windows XP, it's probably similar in Vista:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894564

How to change the binding order of network adapters

1. Click Start, click Run, type ncpa.cpl , and then click OK.

You can see the available connections in the LAN and High-Speed Internet section of the Network Connections window.
2. On the Advanced menu, click Advanced Settings, and then click the Adapters and Bindings tab.
3. In the Connections area, select the connection that you want to move higher in the list. Use the arrow buttons to move the connection.



Here's how to do it on a Mac
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh2059.html
To change the priority of a network port configuration:

1. Open System Preferences and click Network.
2. Choose Network Port Configurations from the Show pop-up menu.
3. Drag a network port configuration, such as Ethernet, to the top of the list. When you try to connect, Mac OS X will try the port configuration at the top of the list.

[Mike]

Hi admin or anyone,

This is a simple question from a simple guy. I'm sure I should know this, but how do I change my Bright Eye passsword ?

Mike

[jhenni]

User control panel. Profile tab (second from the left), list on the left Edit account settings.

Or were you just pulling our collective legs with that question?

jhenni

[Mike]

Hi jhenni

Thank you for your helpful answer. No I wasn't pulling your legs. I had often wondered about the solution to that particular problem. As I have a new computer and it has decided to remember my passwords for me, it has theoretically become possible for someone else to assume my identity on the site if they were to open the program on this computer. All very unlikely, but I thought I would get a fresh password, and ensure the computer does not remember the new one.

Mike

[sallybally]

Just wondering how you cancel being a member here. I'e had a look and don't know how

[Kittie]

this may help on safari you can turn on private browsing, just a simple tick next to the words private browsing under the Safari tab.

my boyfriend knows thats im looking but dont want anyone accidently seeing if i use my personal laptop in front of anyone
x

[Tina05]

Morning,

Can anyone help me with a technical problem Im having please.

I can't seem to be able to add an avatar. It keeps telling me the picture that I want to add is too big. I have tried adding a picture from my camera and also finding an image online but none seem to want to fit. Any suggestions please? PM if you know that would be a great help to me. I feel naked!

lots of love

Tina
x x x

[Kittie]

you do look a little bear

OK you need to shrink it, as it needs to be a certain size

i can talk you through it, but need to know

do you have a PC?
what programme do you use for pictures
how big is the file at the moment