Also - is there a facility on DS to create chat rooms?

I made friends with someone here and we both knew we had facebook. I asked for her friendship on there simply because i use it as kinda like a twitter place and she or I vent abt our stuff and comment eachother. I found it harmless. But sites that have weird or sexual connotation.....I'd avoid that. And I dont think this is the place for that.

Thanks blue - I agree.

The easiest Chat room I have found that you can download and set up - make it private or public is Xat.com. I have a couple that I used to use a lot. You don't need to have any special software thought they do have ads (which I block with AdBlockPlus. You can have as many people chatting or just for two, it has smileys (heaps of them) and I find it really great to use.

No I don't think there is anything other than meebo on DS

I'm sure you already know if a request to e-mail in the very first unsolicited message is usually a sign of a scammer - the "hi I liked your profile contact me on xx.yahoo.com" type message.

I don't think there are DS rules about refer people to other sites though.

Personally I would never go for a chat site that requires a download - too much of a risk unless it was something really well known (like ICQ). And, as people will tell you, you can easily set up free web based chatrooms.

The site itself seems to be ok - but again, why would anyone want to download chat software these days?
http://www.surcentro.net/en/info/www.yackity-yak.com

I think as you are an admin you might want to simply remove the post.

One or two comments, if you please.

Here is the thing about 'links'. A link is something in a web page or an email message, chat session, or even right here in this reply, that you can click on and it will take you 'somewhere' (usually a web page). Here is an example of a link:

www.dontCLICKme.com

But don't click on it .. it is just an example. It does NOT go 'anywhere", it is a 'dead link'.

Not all links say 'www.something.com'. They may be just a word in the middle of a paragraph (clickable text). See the "LindaJean" under your avatar? That is a link. If you mouse over it, down at the bottom of your browser it shows where clicking on the 'link' will take you (depending on how you have your browser configured).

In the early days, links were pretty safe. As computer viruses and 'malware' came into being .. 'bad people' started using links to take you to 'rogue' websites which attempt to infect your computer with viruses etc.

So .. here are the two points I want to make:

1. Don't get paranoid about clicking on a link. The internet would not work (very well) without them. However, depending on what/who is PROVIDING the link, you might want to hesitate clicking on one. A link at the www.cnn.com website is VERY likely safe .. or on DS (except in something created by a member as in a thread REPLY, or a hug, or a journal).

A "DS" link is probably VERY safe .. like the one to your profile. DS created it (the link), not me or any 'regular person'.

I would hesitate to click on a link in an EMAIL (the sender sent me the link), or a DS hug (the DS member sent you the link). I would hesitate to click on a FACEBOOK link THAT A MEMBER CREATED (not a FACEBOOK LINK to a FACEBOOK 'feature'). Be wary of links provided by 'REGULAR PEOPLE'. I hope this makes sense.

I created the links in this message. DS created links that make their website 'work". A 'reputable' website link is "safe", a regular person link may not be (such as a link on a person's BLOG website"). 99% of all 'links' are safe. It's the ones that 'can' come from the 'dark side' of the internet .. mostly 'regular people' .. but comparatively speaking, even they are few.

"Some people ask for members to contact them at an email site - other than our message program here."

Yeah .. probably clicking on that link or typing in the web address of the EMAIL SITE, is safe .. the email site is probably a legitimate site. However, emailing a 'stranger' may not be wise, due to his/her 'intentions'.

"That makes me uncomfortable when that happens. It just happened in a members group I belong to - along with an invitation to join another site for the purpose of having a chat room to discuss issues in.

This is the link to that chat source http://www.yackity-yak.com/server/... - it requires the downloading of the sites software to participate."

My point is http://www.yackity-yak.com/server/ is probably a safe link. Yackity Yak is probably a legitimate 'chat website' .. just like www.chatzy.com is. THING IS .. be careful once 'in there' .. you are face to face with 'regular people'. One COULD post a link within a chat session .. you click on it, and boom you are infected.

There are TWO considerations .. where will the link take me and what is the intent of the provider of the link.

2. If I provided a 'link' .. in your group, or otherwise .. I may not be providing a 'bad link' at all .. it may be a perfectly legitimate link. However, my MOTIVE may "not be good'.

If I "ask for" you "to contact" me "at an email site - other than our message program here", I would either provide a LINK or tell you to go to www.somewhere.com and either COULD take you to a malicious website OR going there could be perfectly safe .. but my MOTIVE is malicious. If it were an 'email site' and I was trying to get you to email me from your EMAIL account .. I may just want to see your email address .. for various 'bad' reasons. The point here is I may want to harm your computer OR, I may just want to get some info from you.

The INTERNET is much like attending a huge football game .. you would not give your home address to a total stranger at a huge stadium while you were in line to get a hot dog. You would not ask them to hold your wallet. You must be wary and diligent with who you encounter on the Internet and what you 'click on'.

I want to close with telling you .. don't get too paranoid about clicking on links .. MOST of the entire INTERNET consists of 'links'. Antivirus (etc) products can help protect against 'bad links' as well as your browser SECURITY configuration.

If you want to check your computer's security settings, go here:

http://support.microsoft.com/fixit/

Where there are all types of 'fix it for me' services. ONE is "Fix security, privacy, or user accounts". Some of these 'fixits' will be beneficial to you, I am sure. Only things you have to worry about are: did I provide a safe link and what is my motive. Those are up to you to decide.

There was talk in the BU/D forum a few months ago, and I'm not certain how true it was, that you could provide a link in a thread, and then you would be able to see who from the forum followed the link , and what their IP's were.

Any thoughts on that?

>>Any thoughts on that?

Only WILD speculation. I really would have no idea .. not seeing the link. There are possibly dozens of approaches to that.

One way would be to own website .. something you set up for any reason. If I can convince you to go there, I have something called a 'web log' which shows me every visitor's IP address. Just about anyone with a website logs IP addresses of visitors (including date/time in, date/time out, and some other 'stuff'.

But just getting your IP address is only the beginning. From there, I would PROBABLY have to go through your ISP (internet service provider) to get your 'account info' .. which they would not give me (without a court order .. which is not easy to get).

IF the BUD post is true, that is probably NOT how it worked. How it worked (if at all) would be totally speculative at this point.

I have a pretty good background in all this .. and I would not know how to do it .. but there is more I don't know than I do know .. a LOT more.

>>Also - is there a facility on DS to create chat rooms?

No .. only MEEBO, which is 'one on one' chat .. not 'group' chat.

yes that makes sense, but I believe it was even with links to youtube videos etc, not just those sites owned by an individual

Well did satisfaction bring it back?

As the second part of the saying goes.................

BTW I let my curiosity get the better of me to WV - and the link does go to a page which has links to other pages....I only went to the first one though.

>>I clicked on it to see where a dead link goes and it is an actual website. Ooops!

OOOPS indeed. If it took you anywhere, it is not dead. I should have given it more thought when I tried to dream up a 'dead link'.

WV - thank you so much for the information. I think the motives were of concern to me - the member was a disruptive influence and the attitude was what caused me concern in the first place.

Thanks again.

No Kid - we won't mention you name now will we?

Tehe- tehe..........

I just checked because you were saying the opposite to WV and I was wanting to know who was right.

Oooooops indeed WV - I think it was quite funny ----- I am just glad it was not something pornographic or a link with lots of spyware or virus in it.

But then as Kid had been there before me I figured if there was anything to catch she would have got it.