Websites to Avoid: siteadvisor

Showing posts with label siteadvisor. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Installment #29 - I was Adopted and have 5 Siblings I've Never Met

I was given up at birth for adoption. Born August 1958, my new parents brought me home on Halloween 1958! About 20 years ago, I needed medical information, so I got what I could from the agency, Catholic Charities, in Jacksonville, Florida. To my astonishment, I discovered that my Portuguese birth mother had 5 other children - I had 4 older half-brothers and a younger half-sister! The guys were born in 1951, 1952, and twins in 1954. The girl was born in 1960.

It's unknown if they ever knew anything about me - back in those days, adoption wasn't as widely accepted and open as it is now. Sure, I'm curious as to what they look like, but I hesitate constantly as to whether or not I should try to locate them because I fear disrupting or upsetting their lives. I'm sure I don't have the same attitude or feelings about our mother as they do.

So, when I googled 'adoptees' I checked ten websites and found them all to be as safe as can be. Here are my results:

GOOD:

If you know any of them, please notify me, not them! Thanks. It will be up to me as to whether I inform them of my existence or not.

Probably not.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Installment #28 - 'Watch Free Movies Online"

Movies sure are expensive! What are they? Ten bucks now to see a movie at your local theater? Shoot! I remember when my whole neighborhood could go for that much! Anybody remember when you would stuff your car full of people (and your own snacks and drinks?) and pay one price at the drive-in for the whole carload? You'd find a parking place and get out and open the trunk so four or five kids could pile out - looking like 40 clowns at the circus coming out of a Volkswagen Beetle?!

So, I looked up "Watch free movies online" tonight - I checked on 14 websites and to my surprise (yea, right!) only 50% were okay and a couple of them are still new. Even though I may say TODAY that they are okay, you sure better double check before proceeding, especially before you even think about downloading anything! I warn you - these are, next to porn sites, the worst of the bunch as for dangerous, in one way or another, websites!

Here are my results:

BAD:

momomesh.com
xomba.com
veoh.com
peekvid.com
cinemanow.com
moviesfoundonline.com
zango.com (the worst of them all!)

GOOD (?)

watch-movies.net (watch out for spam & tracking cookies)
chasingthefrog.com (still too new)
movieflix.com (notoriously triple-X rated)
lovetoknow.com
jonhs.net
emol.org
publicdomaintorrents.com (also fairly new still)

Folks, don't act like you were born yesterday or that you are from another planet. Just go out and rent the dad-gum movie or wait to see it on TV.

You know the old saying: "There's nothing truly FREE in this world - everything has a price."

Monday, June 2, 2008

Installment #27 - Housing market-related

Selling and buying a home should be exciting, but, to me, it is so stressful. I've been fixing up my house for a bazillion years, it seems! Will I ever get done? I had put down vinyl flooring last year and loved it - this year, the white ones (I did a kelly green/white checkerboard pattern) turned yellowish. So, I decided to do it all over again - this time I am doing it in "faux wood" - so far, it's very pretty. Knock on wood!

I plan to sell my house and buy another soon - hopefully a foreclosure or at least a decent priced fixer-upper. My current home has a "great room" - the 'open floor plan' that is so popular today. But, I feel that it's a lot of wasted space - I'd prefer storage and work areas as opposed to blank space. I've got a serious search ahead of me!

Anyhow, I keep my TV on HGTV (I'm in love with David, Barry, and George!) and I am looking around for good deals. No luck so far, but I can't give up - it'll happen. I hope.

I've googled 'foreclosures' and 'real estate listings' and 'sell my home' and 'buy a home' - of the 40, only 9 were not good.

Here are the results of sites I've checked into:

BAD:

realtor.com
homes.com
loopnet.com
ibuyhouses.com
homegain.com
realtytrac.com
foreclosuredata.com
emailforeclosures.com
foreclosurestore.com

GOOD:

I would love to talk to people out there in cyberspace who may be going through some of the same things I am. The preparation, the financing, the architectural preferences, dealing with agents, dealing with sellers, dealing with contractors, et cetera. Drop me a line at hanna dot geni at yahoo dot com or leave it in the comments.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Installment #26 - Pt. 1 - 25 Fun Sites I Recommend

While looking for something to do, I found a web blog that recommended 25 Free Web Sites for Non-Techies by Vanessa Van Patten. She promoted such web sites as Google Alerts, Pandora, Zillow, Cafemom, Wetpaint, and twenty others. While I enjoyed the article and did agree with her about many, I came up with my own list of fun and also safe web sites that I recommend.

Z E Frank - a multitude of unique things to do, see, and read
SiteAdvisor - reviews of websites and their safety or NOT!
Imeem - easy-to-use site to make and share music playlists
Widgetbox - get and create widgets for your website-I use it to get ideas
Board of Wisdom - a wiki-type quotations site
Corsinet - a family of trivia and odd facts
Experience Project - site to share unusual experiences - you're not alone!
Picnik - unique photo storage and editing site
Bitterslut - self-explanatory - a site to voice "break-up" experiences
G R Sites - create logos, buttons, banners, etc. Great variety
AdDesigner - make gorgeous banners and signs for free!
Useless Graphics - the biggest & best totally free clip art & humor site ever
Anywho - a locator - I use the reverse look-up service a lot
Hollywood Hair Virtual Makeover - put a celebrity hairdo on your picture!
Big Fish Games - best safe game community around!
Flame Games - unique & fun set up - I love 'Deal or no Deal'
Hulu - clips from TV and movies
43 Things - community of lists and dreams and goals
eHow - self-explanatory - a "how to" web site of unique issues
HGTV - Home & Garden - do-it-yourself, home buying & selling, etc.
Slide - easy to make elaborate original slideshows
Dead or Alive - find out if famous people are dead or alive
Zap2It - the best TV listings guide
Laugh - safe stand-up comedy, also free hilarious ecards, George Carlin associated
Sugar network - 15 informational sites: pop, buzz, fab, bella, casa, yum, fit, geek, giggie, dear, pet, lil, savvy, citizen, and team

And while I'm on the general subject, I also ran across a list of Teens' Top 10 Sites according to YouthTrends.com. You probably think MySpace is number one, but believe it or not, it isn't! Here are those results:

I'd love to hear your thoughts on any or all of these recommendations and those of your own!

Installment #26 - Pt. 2 - Funny Pictures & Cartoons

I love laughing, don't you? I'm always looking for something to crack me up - jokes, videos, pictures. I was on a mission the other night for funny pictures. What a huge disappointment! I looked up 24 sites, and can you believe only 8 of the 24 were safe to visit.

Here are my results:

BAD:

funnyjunk.com
pyzam.com
funnyhub.com
funlol.com
lolpix.com
damnfunnypictures.com
funfine.com
hahastop.com
dailyhaha.com
allfunnypictures.com
evilmilk.com
funnychill.com
offthemark.com
joecartoon.com
metacafe.com
gibbleguts.com

GOOD:

We have to realize that, when web sites first start up, they don't have the traffic, the popularity yet, so they haven't yet been bombarded with advertisers' approaches. As time goes on, and the bills accumulate, and the web site starts needing funds to continue, web sites often fall victim to the need for the "click" income and savvy advertising companies talk them into a fool-proof way to get "easy" income. As we now know, these unscrupulous companies dump tons of malware and the like on us through these web sites that we have been visiting and have become fond of.

It's crucial that you double check web sites you have been using, with no problems, again with Siteadvisor, Websites to Avoid, and other preventative sites like these.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Installment #25 - Photo-related (storage, editing, etc.)

A friend told me recently that he wasn't able to see some photos I sent him because he still uses a dial-up ISP and he didn't have the patience to wait on it to download. It got me to thinking - maybe I ought to resize all of my pictures. Not only will that make it easier for all users, but it will save some space on my hard drives as well.

I googled 'photo editing' and 'photo online storage' and picked 30 to check up on. Out of the 30, I found 8 (fairly popular ones) to avoid.

BAD:

fotoflexer.com
blibs.com
myimager.com
piczo.com
photobucket.com
fotki.com
flickster.com
flixster.com
imageshack.com
imageshack.us

GOOD:

Of course, you could always go to a store that sells software, buy a photo editor, and be guaranteed a safe, clean program. Nothing in life is truly free - there's always a hidden cost!

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Installment #24 - Electronic greetings - Ecards

I have concluded:

MOST ECARD sites are NOT SAFE!!!!!

When I first started using the Internet a lot, and started making a lot of online friends, I loved to send ecards. I'll bet I sent at least 25 or 30 a week, especially on holidays. Little did I know, they are extremely dangerous. After all, they are free and have to pay the bills somehow!

Needless to say, I very rarely ever send ecards anymore, much less do I like to open them when they are sent to me. It's unfortunate because they were such an effective way of sending emotions across the Web.

I do have an alternative, however, that, so far, I can recommend with confidence - that is, use your email provider. Some of them offer their own ecards and lots of cute little bells and whistles. Personally, I love Incredimail - I can use smileys, and animations, and sounds and more. I've been using Incredimail for over 4 years, and so far, I have had no problems - knock on wood!

As for my research results, they are indeed sad! Out of 30 I checked on, only 10 were okay to use. Two of them, 123greetings.com and lavacards.com are EXTREMELY dangerous - even if you receive one from those sites, DO NOT open it! Delete it immediately and inform the sender, if you know who it was, NOT to use that site anymore and offer one of these "Good" ones as an alternative.

NOTE: Just because these ecard sites are okay today, does not mean they will be okay tomorrow! A few of the bad greeting web sites listed here were my favorites and now send questionable spam, or pass along/sell your email/sign-up information, or use dangerous invasive third party cookies, or sneak spyware and/or viruses in your computer. Always check with SiteAdvisor, WOT (Firefox), or Sitehound before you use any site! I use all three!

Here are the results:
GOOD:

BAD:

2000greetings.com
talkintoons.com
123greetings.com
bluemountain.com
greetingsnecards.com
free-e-cards-online.com
ecardfunny.com
care2.com
100free-ecards.com
funny-ecards.com
hipstercards.com
wickedmoon.com
evite.com
all4love.net
riversongs.com
e-cards.com
greet2k.com
ecardica.com
lavacards.com
ecard4all.com

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Installment #23 - Free Online Games - pt. 2

Something told me to check this post title topic, Free Online Games, again. After all, there are tons of new websites going up every day. And what PC user has not played at least one game online in their lifetimes?

Just about everyone I've ever met online, I'd say about 60 or 65%, I've met through a game site. I used to play games every day at Gamerival.com, until they "went south" - (they were bought and the new owners are greedy) and made the most choice friends from all over the world there! Same thing with grab.com and with pogo.com - don't get me started about pogo - they're affiliated with AOL. 'Nuff said,huh?!

Game communities are unique and the people you meet are honest and fun-loving and down-to-earth. I've made some extremely valuable and loving friends I am so thankful for. (You know who you are - Gloria, Helen, Rhonda, Janice, Diana, Wanda, Elisa, Stephy, Joe, Kathy, Michelle, Donna, Carolyn, Caroline, Linda, Steven, Nancy, Catherine, Virginia, Lori, Thelma, Kim, Julie, and more!)

I checked on 30 websites, using 'free online games' and 'game communities' as my search terms - Out of the 30 I found, 11 were "bad."

I apologize if there are any repeats, but here are my results:

BAD:

freeonlinegames.com
net-games.biz
miniclip.com
smashingames.com
efreegame.com
rattgames.com
gameszhero.com
freeworldgroup.com
teenfreearcade.com
gamecaddy.com
slingo.com

GOOD:

NEW:

NOTE: I, personally, play the games (and download some too) at bigfishgames.com, although I have not met any people there. I'm still looking for a web site to take the place of Gamerival, where I have been denied the commaraderie I so loved and valued!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Installment #22 - Trivia Quizzes

Hey, did I tell you I'm going to New York City to take the test to be on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? I'm a nervous wreck - I keep imagining that I won't pass the test and have to go home a big fat loser! I even called my doctor yesterday to have him call in a prescription for a pill to calm me down on the day of the test!

I've been trying to absorb as much trivia as I can before I go. I'm on overload! I checked out 15 websites for trivia quizzes; I only found 4 bad ones. Here are my results:

BAD:

triviaplaza.com
coolquiz.com
triv.net
joblo.com

GOOD:

Wish me luck - I'll let you know what happens!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Installment #21 - Trip planning or Travel arrangements

I'm taking a trip in a couple of weeks to New York City to audition/interview to be on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" I wanted to get a super deal on my flight and my hotel room so I figured I'd try our one of those sites like expedia.com, etc. I checked on 14 related sites and found that a couple of the major players, among others, are definitely to be avoided.

Here are the results:

BAD:

nycvisit.com
fodors.com
orbitz.com
travelocity.com (I actually GOT infected from this site - see below)

GOOD:

tripadvisor.com (although there are tons of pop-ups - use pop up blocker!)
nyctourist.com
theinsider.com
nyctrip.com
expedia.com (beware of lots of spam)
bookingbuddy.com
cheaptickets.com
freetrip.com
tripwiser.com
trips123.com

Travelocity, like MySpace and YouTube, is a popular site and highly prone to invasion. I checked on Travelocity's safety and found it to be a questionable site. Several users commented that it was not a safe site for various reasons.

Why I chose to be brave, bold, and overly optimistic I may never know! The second I pulled up the website, I "felt" something wasn't right. Sure enough, I did an AVG scan and found myself "infected" with the system32 virus! As I read on, I discovered that it was one of the most difficult to remove because it changes its name and keeps itself hidden. Not just with AVG, but I cleaned my system with every utility I had, including SpySweeper, Spybot, Ad-Aware, CCleaner, etc. Knock on wood - I evidently seem to be back up and running.

The moral of my story is I need to follow my own advice!

BUT, I learned something EXTREMELY valuable to share with everyone.

Did you know that, if you suspect something "fishy" going on, NEVER, NEVER cut your machine off, or do a Restart or reboot! Stay on until you're forced off; and, if you don't already have one, get a virus remover (not just a virus scanner) that is worth a darn!

Getting infected...(coming soon)

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Installment #20 - Random Personal Favorites

I went through my bookmarks tonight just for the heck of it. I checked on 25 of the many sites I had bookmarked over the past 2 or 3 years, and found 6 that were not good! Needless to say, I deleted them.

Here are my results:

GOOD:

NOTE: Heartsandminds is a site dedicated to social change, like anti-poverty, anti-racism, etc. Scamsbeware is a free consumer resource center. Peteranswers is probably the best prank ever invented - you've GOT to check it out! Tadalist is a site for all of your to-do lists. The Criticker community recommends films; Hulu is similar to, but many claim better than, YouTube. Mopie and the bfdblog promote body image for the less-than-skinny. Bitterslut and Bitchoftheday are both sites to vent particular angers. Startupnation is for those wanting to start a business or promote an invention. Cool-teens gives teenagers honest answers. Do yourself a favor - be adventurous and try out some of my favorites!

BAD:

fool.com
pageaday.com
adultswim.com
anywho.com
grsites.com
yuwie.com

All-in-all, the best advice I was ever given and feel 100% confident to pass along, is, when on the Internet, take your time. Don't be impatient or too trusting. Check and double check everything. Read the 'Terms and Conditions' and the Privacy Policy. Utilize a "throw-away" email address (like disposeamail, mailinator, or mailnull) and most of all, be curious and have fun!

Installment #19 - Recipes and "Answer" sites

Hi - I've got results for my 'recipes' search and for a search for sites that offer answers to your questions on various topics. I checked 10 'recipes' sites, found 3 bad ones, and 12 'answers' sites, for which there were 4 bad ones - here are those results:

BAD:

allrecipes.com
epicurious.com
cooks.com
answers.com
get-the-answer.info
blurtit.com
qandas.com

GOOD:

Note that I haven't actually spent a lot of time on any one site yet, but I plan to and will update this as to their usefulness, ease of navigation, and design as soon as I can.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Installment #18 - Quotes about Cats and Dogs

I'm so excited! I checked 14 search results for 'Quotes about Cats' and 'Quotes about Dogs' and they were all good! One page, which contains quotes about everything under the sun, was found to have excessive pop-ups, but I use the Firefox browser (I mean, who doesn't, right?) and Ad-Block so pop-ups are usually not a problem for me.

Check out my results:

BAD:
NONE

GOOD:

quotationspage.com (this is the one with all the pop-ups)

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Installment #17 - Free Clip Art

DON'T get your hopes up! This category, free clip art, is one of the worst ones I've ever come across. Of the 19 sites I checked into, get this - only 5 were okay and 2 more were "sorta" okay, but questionable. So that means that 12 of them were seriously terrible!

Ugh - here are my results:

BAD:

free-clipart.net
1clipart.com
hasslefreeclipart.com (how ironic!)
allfreeclipart.com
allfree-clipart.com
clip-art.com
free-clip-art.to
freeclipartpictures.com
bestclipart.com
clipartcastle.com
free-icons.com
clip-art-center.com

GOOD:

It's such a shame that the websites we, at first, like so much or use so much, are the very ones who are taken in by greed and malice. Sites like these, clip art, and others like games, ecards, music, almost any site for kids or teenagers or any offering something for free (don't believe the hype!) are always the ones that let in the bad guys so they can make money to "pay for the website" - yea, right!

Installment #16 - Online Auctions and Online Stockbrokers

Today I'm in a financial state of mind. I was looking around on eBay and it dawned on me that there have got to be other similar sites. Then as I opened my bank statement, I became curious about online stock trading. Of the 11 'online auctions' sites, I found 3 deemed to be bad. Out of the 15 'online stock trading' sites I looked up, I only found 4 bad ones. Not bad, huh?

Here are my results:

BAD:

ubid.com
overstock.com
epier.com
tdameritrade.com
fool.com
thetradepros.com
allstocks.com

GOOD:

Now if I could just find that perfect site with the all-time best shopping deal and that site that is going to make me a bazillionaire!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Installment #15 - Do It Yourself Remodeling

I've been doing a lot of home remodeling lately. I have taken up all my carpeting and replaced it with tile flooring. My daughter and I have painted our bedrooms, including patching and sanding about 80 bazillion nail and tack holes! I've updated my appliances, added ceiling fans, and replaced several window treatments. I got entire new closet systems and have also replaced over half of the privacy fence sections, about 12 of them.

The big jobs have yet to be done. Both bathrooms need tile work over the tubs, as well as upgrading of the cabinets and the lighting. After that I plan to remove all the wallpaper in the kitchen, breakfast room, and, of course, both bathrooms and paint. Finally, I guess the last project will be pressure washing and painting the outside.

Ugh! Just listing this stuff for ya'll gives me the heebie-jeebie$!

This brings me to this latest installment of bad and good websites. I used the keywords 'do it yourself' and 'remodeling' and checked on 14 of the results. One was too new to judge, 8 were good, and 5 were bad.

Here are my results:

BAD:

bobvila.com
startremodeling.com
diynetwork.com
searchwarp.com
renovationexperts.com

GOOD:

Did I miss one that you're familiar with or one you would like to have checked?

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Installment #14 - Practical Jokes and Pranks

Just in time for April Fool's Day on Tuesday - I checked on 10 related sites. I am happy to report that only 3 were judged to be bad, 1 is still too new to have any information available, and 6 seem to be safe, although a few use third party cookies. (Just remember to use your Ad-Aware and Spybot S & D programs afterward if your computer slows down more than you can tolerate.)

Here are the results:

BAD:

pranksite.com
prankplace.com
theprankstore.com

GOOD:

NOTE: If you ever find results contrary to my findings, do let me know as soon as you can so I can properly document it for us all!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Installment #13 - Remember when the Internet was supposed to be FUN?

I wanted to look up some things to make me (and you) laugh, so I googled 'laughs' and 'funny jokes' and then 'fun quizzes' and 'fun surveys' - of the 30 that I checked into, 16 of them were bad.

Dang! You can't even have fun anymore without some creepy, greedy slimeball trying to get into your business or screw up your computer completely. What's the point? If they screw up your computer, doesn't that basically defeat their purpo$e? Or do they just do it out of spite and for the sake of tyranny? How stupid!

Here are my results:

BAD:

coolfunnyjokes.com
funnyjoke.net
funquizcards.com
hahahumor.com
hitjokes.com
holylemon.com
jokesunlimited.com
lets101.com
lovelaughs.com
madblast.com
myspacesurveyfun.com
quibblo.com
quizrocket.com
randomlaughs.com
sillylaughs.com
survey-machine.com

GOOD:

I read some where that it's so crucial that you don't even have to click a link some times. Just by being on the page the bad link is on is becoming dangerous! People, we've GOT to do something about this! But, what?

NOTE: If you have a particular subject you would like me to research, please let me know!

Installment #12 - I googled 'questions' and 'answers'

There are millions of sites out there that offer what they claim to be correct answers to all sorts of questions. Who do you trust? How do you know what's really right or wrong? One of Life's biggest dilemmas! Out of 20 (10 of each) I only found 2 bad ones- Yea!

Here are 'questions' and 'answers' results:

BAD:

crazythoughts.com
answers.com

GOOD:

Most of these you may never have an opportunity to use, but for that matter, why not try them now that you know they're okay!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Installment #11 - references to Weird & Unusual Websites

I was feeling a little eccentric earlier so I decided to do some random surfing. I "googled" 'weird websites' and then checked out 24 of them. I am extremely happy to report that I found more good than bad! Thankfully, the weird-website-business hasn't been infiltrated yet by the 'greed-mongers' out there! Here are my results:

BAD

bizarrebids.com
advicenators.com
dribbleglass.com
chiff.com
surfbored.com
stumbleupon.com
altervistas.com

GOOD:

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Friday, June 13, 2008

Monday, June 2, 2008

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Friday, May 2, 2008

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Monday, March 24, 2008

Why Websites to Avoid is Vital

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