Ok, this is really cool!!!

[dancing]

http://www.google.com/tools/toolbar/buttons/apis/index.html

add buttons to your google toolbar

i have wiki a dictionary a bible and more on mine

highlight a word on a web page and they show that there is something to lookup on the button

they have buttons already for you or you can make your own

[dancing]

this is how i set mine up

i also have yahoo and wiki's toolbars in there

but they are hidden

Edited July 24, 2006 by dancing

[Tom Strange]

...and this (and these other toolbars) don't contain spyware or data miners?

(or is that just something we have to learn to live with?)

[dancing]

hi Tom,

Google is one of the most trusted assoc. imo.. Yahoo is questionable, so i only use a few of their perks. The Wikipedia toolbar is a search engine for Wikipedia with a pop up blocker, and mail checker.

Things can always change though.

I use a number of programs to keep my computer clean as best I can.

To date I've had no problems with anything. Except the mistake of having my e-mail address on a forum profile. Yahoo has a good spam blocker so that's the one I use if I need to. My main e-mail address I don't give out except to trusted people. It has a junk mail filter too and between the two I think I have everyone blocked by now on it...lol...everyone meaning the junk mail senders. I'm sure there will be more though.

I don't keep any sensitive data on my computer though, like my SS#, bank #, or credit card #'s.

I always need many recommendations to use a program. I'll run it through the mill so to speak. I watch Microsoft's MVP's, newsgroups, various forums and common sense.

[dancing]

here is a site that is commendable-

http://www.filehippo.com/

[markomalley]

Any of these browser helper objects (toolbars) could be considered spyware.

From the Google Toolbar website:

Google takes privacy issues very seriously. While we do not generally collect information about the webpages our users visit,

if users are running the Google Toolbar with advanced features enabled, Google may collect information about webpages that they are viewing. The advanced features of the Google Toolbar are PageRank, AutoLink, SpellCheck, and WordTranslator. For the PageRank feature, we need the URLs of the sites users visit so we can send them the PageRank (our measure of the site's importance) for the site they're viewing; for AutoLink, we need the addresses on the page they're visiting so we can turn those addresses into links; for SpellCheck, we need the words users type so we can correct any spelling mistakes; and for WordTranslator, we need the words users hover over so we can provide translations.

Please be assured that in all of these cases, we do not require you to provide any personally identifiable information such as your name, email address, or telephone number.

(comment from me: see below)

Realizing that some users prefer even this non-personal information not be transmitted, AutoLink, SpellCheck, and WordTranslator will only send information to Google

if users choose to use them

(this means clicking on the AutoLink or SpellCheck buttons on the Toolbar, or enabling the WordTranslator in the Toolbar Options menu). Also, users who download the Google Toolbar choose whether they want PageRank enabled or disabled before installation is completed. All of these features can also be disabled from the Toolbar Options menu.

Finally, of course, it is not necessary to download the Toolbar to search Google from www.google.com

From: Google Toolbar FAQ

Now all of this depends upon your personal level of paranoia and the trust you have with Google and their ethical business practices.

But please note, despite the reassuring tone, what they said:

• If you use spell check, they will transmit the words you check to their site
  
• If you use Autolink, they need the addresses
  
• If you use WordTranslator, again they need the words
  
• If you want to use PageRank, they need to collect how many people go to a given page
  
• If you don't like it, don't use the features. If you really don't like it, don't download the toolbar!!!
  

In regards to the statement Google made above, Please be assured that in all of these cases, we do not require you to provide any personally identifiable information such as your name, email address, or telephone number:

Google says the following on their privacy notice:

If you have Google Toolbar Version 4.0 or above, your copy of Google Toolbar

includes a unique application number

. When you install Google Toolbar, this number and a message indicating whether the installation succeeded are sent back to Google. Also, when Google Toolbar automatically checks to see if a new version is available, the current version number and the unique application number are sent to Google. The unique application number is required for Google Toolbar to work and cannot be disabled.

So Google can track each installed toolbar uniquely. And the actions done by that installation.

But they don't collect your name, address, etc. (having said that, given your unique Internet browsing habits, it may not be all that difficult to narrow that information down)

(FWIW, last time I checked, the US military prohibits the use of any of these Browser Helper Objects to be installed on their computers. Many large companies also prohibit their installation. Just something else to consider)

So the bottom line is this: how much do you trust Google? If you trust them, feel free to use their product. If you don't, then you may want to think about removing their BHO.

[dancing]

Very well put MarkO.

Check this out.

http://www.danasoft.com/sig/Thereyouare.jpg

If you dare hahaha..lol :)

It's harmless but shows what is seen.

There are no secrets on the internet.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%...G=Google+Search

[Tom Strange]

I think Sudo had thereyouare as part of his signature for a while... it freaked folks out...