Take back control of your PC (NNN Aug.29, 1998)

Take back control of your computer.

From the moment you connect to the Internet you are bombarded by marketeers who view you much as hyenas eye a straggling wildebeest. Some don't even care if they get your cash, as long as they get your attention, along with personal details you might not voluntarily disgorge. Banners slow your surfing even if you ignore them.

The tools of electronic commerce are necessary for the Internet to flourish at low cost, and may eventually improve our lives by simplifying mundane chores such as shopping. But as in the everyday world, the cyber-world has its share of overeager hustlers who care naught for your privacy or priorities as long as they get theirs. They push cookies on your drive -- small files that may be for your convenience, but more often are for theirs.

When you click a link to a web page, your browser passes to the new server the name of the page you came from, information you might prefer to keep to yourself. In the best case, ad-laden sites slow page-loading by forcing your browser to connect to multiple hosts. In the worst case, the unscrupulous may poke into your private information, while the malicious may spread intentionally misbehaving computer code.

Now you can thwart whichever of these amorphous, anonymous, amoral sprites and gremlins you choose. Download the 30-day trial version of "@guard" from www.atguard.com. This simple to use, but very sophisticated, program provides three filters: ad blocking, privacy and firewall. You can block all ads, or selectively prevent the reappearance of particular ads on particular sites.

Similarly, you can block "refer fields," which relay the page-name you last visited. This feature may make many webmasters unhappy, because they derive income from some referrals. You can also select what kinds of cookies, if any, to return. Note I said "return," rather than "accept." Cookies have no effect until they are called on to be returned to a web site. You will be able to accept all cookies while confounding the cookie-tossers by returning only those you deem worthy.

@guard can also stop pop-up ad panels (like the one Tripod pops up when you visit my home page). As this feature may cause other problems, I recommend caution in deploying it.

Corporate networks use firewalls to keep proprietary information safe from intruders. Now you can do the same.

View @guard's statistics and event logs before and after implementing these blockers. You'll be astonished at the number of ads and cookies that pile up. By limiting ads you can make some pages load in seconds instead of minutes. Another tool limits animations to one cycle, after which they remain static.

You're in control, enabling or disabling the features you wish. @guard works with Windows 9x, and NT4 with service pack 3.

@guard won't stop the determined Internet cracker from invading your privacy. But it may encourage him, as deadbolt door locks do drug-thugs, to seek more vulnerable victims elsewhere.

The cost for this empowerment, should you decide to accept it? Just $29.95. If you decline this mission don't come sniveling back to me when it's too late.

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E-mail: jerry@maizell.com

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