Javascript Disabled Detected

You currently have javascript disabled. Several functions may not work. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality.

Register a free account to unlock additional features at BleepingComputer.com

Welcome to BleepingComputer, a free community where people like yourself come together to discuss and learn how to use their computers. Using the site is easy and fun. As a guest, you can browse and view the various discussions in the forums, but can not create a new topic or reply to an existing one unless you are logged in. Other benefits of registering an account are subscribing to topics and forums, creating a blog, and having no ads shown anywhere on the site.

Click here to Register a free account now! or read our Welcome Guide to learn how to use this site.

Latest News: Windows 10 Build 17763 Released As Microsoft Continues to Squash Bugs

Featured Deal: Get 98% off the 2018 CompTIA Certification Training Bundle: Lifetime Access Deal

clicking on "this"

Started by Zllio , Nov 27 2008 04:36 AM

Next

Please log in to reply

22 replies to this topic

#1 Zllio

Members
1,107 posts
OFFLINE

Local time:01:34 PM

Posted 27 November 2008 - 04:36 AM

Is it safe to click on things called this and here? Why aren't links simply posted in their visible form or with a reference to the site they refer to? Does anyone take the time to see what's behind those innocuous little words or is it more of a statistical safety issue - Most this's and here's are safe, therefore this here probably is too.

Any thoughts on this?

Back to top

BC AdBot (Login to Remove)

BleepingComputer.com
Register to remove ads

#2 garmanma

Computer Masochist

Members
27,809 posts
OFFLINE

Gender:Male
Location:Cleveland, Ohio
Local time:01:34 PM

Posted 27 November 2008 - 10:46 AM

I have my status bar enabled so that when you hover over a link, it shows the location

Mark

why won't my laptop work?

Having grandkids is God's way of giving you a 2nd chance because you were too busy working your butt off the 1st time around
Do not send me PMs with problems that should be posted in the forums. Keep it in the forums, so everyone benefits
Become a BleepingComputer fan: Facebook and Twitter

Back to top

#3 m0le

Can U Dig It?

Malware Response Team
34,527 posts
OFFLINE

Gender:Male
Location:London, UK
Local time:05:34 PM

Posted 27 November 2008 - 10:53 AM

I think it just looks neater than posting the URL. Garmanma's idea seems wise so you can scutinise the URL before you click.

Most times they are perfectly safe, like this :thumbsup:

m0le is a proud member of UNITE

Back to top

#4 boopme

To Insanity and Beyond

Global Moderator
73,404 posts
OFFLINE

Gender:Male
Location:NJ USA
Local time:01:34 PM

Posted 27 November 2008 - 11:29 AM

How do I get help? Who is helping me?For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear....Become a BleepingComputer fan: Facebook

Back to top

#5 woodyblade

Members
670 posts
OFFLINE

Gender:Not Telling
Local time:06:34 PM

Posted 27 November 2008 - 12:02 PM

I normally do the same thing as Garmanma, in Firefox just hovering over those links like "Here" and "This".

I can see boopmes' point over not clicking normal members links e.g. New Members who may be spamming or linking potentially dangerous sites but that also brings other members who have posted many replies into this, so technically that means you wouldn't click on those?

Other Members including myself when posting a reply to a topic will give links backing up their thoughts on something or pointing out something relevant to the topic, I put my links like this, Google, most times or the whole Web URL if it is small enough.

Would you click on the Link above?

Or this one? - Indian PM Vows Action On Attacks

I know the point that those links could hide something else to a site that you don't want to visit, so if a site isn't a reputable or trustworthy site I normally put the Whole Link, but in the Case of Google or a News Website I normally enclose them in the URL Tags like above

Back to top

#6 M...

Members
386 posts
OFFLINE

Local time:09:34 AM

Posted 27 November 2008 - 12:23 PM

One thing to keep in mind when posting here at Bleeping Computer is that what you see in the printable form of a topic ("Options", "Print this topic") is not exactly the same as in the original view of the post/topic. In post #3 above, for example, the word "this" is replaced by "http://www.google.com/". In my opinion, this is a good thing, but it can make the printed version of a post a bit unreadable (i.e., not the same words that appear in the original view of the post).

I have seen other Forum software where this transformation is not made in the printable view and it can make the printed copy of a post rather useless when the full URL is not used in the original post. Imagine a post about security or error recovery that you print for reference, and all you see on the printed page is something like "go here to get the latest updates", rather than the actual URL in place of the word "here".

I normally post the actual URL in a link, preceded by a textual description of the purpose/content of the link. In that way, the original view (content) of a post is identical to the printable view (content) of that post.

Back to top

#7 scff249

Indecisive Lurker

Members
1,319 posts
OFFLINE

Gender:Male
Location:A galaxy far, far away...
Local time:12:34 PM

Posted 27 November 2008 - 01:18 PM

I don't even know how to do those things that people do anyways, so I really don't create links like that...let alone I don't care how, so...yeah :thumbsup:

"Ototo'i wa usagi o mita no...Kino wa shika...Kyo wa anata." -Kotomi Ichinose (Clannad) [see below for translation]
"Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you." -The Dandelion Girl
"You are not alone, and you are not strange. You are you, and everyone has damage. Be the better person." -Katawa Shoujo

Back to top

#8 m0le

Can U Dig It?

Malware Response Team
34,527 posts
OFFLINE

Gender:Male
Location:London, UK
Local time:05:34 PM

Posted 27 November 2008 - 01:20 PM

Good point M...

I assume most people are reading the posts online rather than from a printout.

Seems that when it comes to something that would be likely printed out (as with instructions) it may be a good idea to use the full URL.

m0le is a proud member of UNITE

Back to top

#9 m0le

Can U Dig It?

Malware Response Team
34,527 posts
OFFLINE

Gender:Male
Location:London, UK
Local time:05:34 PM

Posted 27 November 2008 - 01:22 PM

I don't even know how to do those things that people do anyways, so I really don't create links like that...let alone I don't care how, so...yeah

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/ind...2&hl=bbcode

Start here, scff249 :thumbsup:

m0le is a proud member of UNITE

Back to top

#10 Animal

Bleepin' Animinion

Site Admin
35,511 posts
OFFLINE

Gender:Male
Location:Where You Least Expect Me To Be
Local time:10:34 AM

Posted 27 November 2008 - 03:22 PM

Is it safe to click on things called this and here? Why aren't links simply posted in their visible form or with a reference to the site they refer to?

Any thoughts on this?

Think about a link that would look like this in a post as an example:

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1227489886/ref=sr_pg_4?ie=UTF8&rs=346333011&keywords=Harley%2BDavidson&rh=n%3A15684181%2Cn%3A346333011%2Ck%3AHarley%2BDavidson%2Cp%5F36%3A-10099&page=4

That would surely diminish a posts readability if I inserted 3 or 4 of those types within the body of a post. As opposed to typing Amazon.com search results

Or click here for Amazon.com Harley search results.

The Internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life.
Andrew Brown (1938-1994)

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that." Douglas Adams (1952-2001)

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination circles the world." Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Follow BleepingComputer on: Facebook | Twitter | Google+

Back to top

#11 JohnWho

Who was running the store?

Members
2,611 posts
OFFLINE

Gender:Male
Location:Tampa Bay Area, Florida, USA
Local time:01:34 PM

Posted 27 November 2008 - 05:39 PM

I agree with what Animal said,

and would also add that "trusted" members of a board, most often those with a lot of posts or a Staff member, will usually be posting safe links, since if they weren't they'd most likely have been removed from the board.

A new member with only 1 or 2 posts doesn't have a track record and may easily be a Spammer trying to misdirect folks.

On this board, for example, if an Admin responded to one of your posts with a quick,

"click here for help"

you can feel very comfortable that it is a safe site.

I know you think you understand what you thought I said,
but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant!

Back to top

#12 scff249

Indecisive Lurker

Members
1,319 posts
OFFLINE

Gender:Male
Location:A galaxy far, far away...
Local time:12:34 PM

Posted 28 November 2008 - 12:48 AM

99% of the time, I trust the higher ups. If it's any link posted by a new member, I question it unless I recognize it (regardless of link type).

@M0le: That's okay. I just need to use the basic ones that I already know (which are limited to the bold, italics, underline, and quote ones (along with smilies :thumbsup:

), and with links, I just use them as is instead of making the fancy stuff).

Speaking of BBCode stuff, I sometimes get tempted to using the Gamefaqs format since I post there a lot :flowers:

(which are , , and that's all I know out of their BBCode because those are the only ones I use).

There's another forum I also post at (besides smaller forums with the normal BBCodes), but their BBCode changed to the point where it's asinine to even do them.

Edited by scff249, 28 November 2008 - 12:51 AM.

"Ototo'i wa usagi o mita no...Kino wa shika...Kyo wa anata." -Kotomi Ichinose (Clannad) [see below for translation]
"Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you." -The Dandelion Girl
"You are not alone, and you are not strange. You are you, and everyone has damage. Be the better person." -Katawa Shoujo

Back to top

#13 tg1911

Lord Spam Magnet

Members
19,274 posts
OFFLINE

Gender:Male
Location:SW Louisiana
Local time:11:34 AM

Posted 28 November 2008 - 01:01 AM

Speaking of BBCode stuff, I sometimes get tempted to using the Gamefaqs format since I post there a lot (which are , , and that's all I know out of their BBCode because those are the only ones I use).

Those are HTML tags.
Not the same as BBCode.
Notice the difference in the type of brackets used:

[b][/b] [i][/i]

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P, CPU: Phenom II X4 955 Deneb BE, HS/F: CoolerMaster V8, RAM: 2 x 1G Kingston HyperX DDR2 800, VGA: ECS GeForce Black GTX 560, PSU: Antec TruePower Modular 750W, Soundcard: Asus Xonar D1, Case: CoolerMaster COSMOS 1000, Storage: Internal - 2 x Seagate 250GB SATA, 2 x WD 1TB SATA; External - Seagate 500GB USB, WD 640GB eSATA, 3 x WD 1TB eSATA

Become a BleepingComputer fan: Facebook

Back to top

#14 scff249

Indecisive Lurker

Members
1,319 posts
OFFLINE

Gender:Male
Location:A galaxy far, far away...
Local time:12:34 PM

Posted 28 November 2008 - 01:53 AM

My bad

Apparently, I can't tell the difference anyways, so....yeah....shutting up :flowers:

.

"Ototo'i wa usagi o mita no...Kino wa shika...Kyo wa anata." -Kotomi Ichinose (Clannad) [see below for translation]
"Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you." -The Dandelion Girl
"You are not alone, and you are not strange. You are you, and everyone has damage. Be the better person." -Katawa Shoujo

Back to top

#15 ruby1

a forum member

Members
2,375 posts
OFFLINE

Local time:05:34 PM

Posted 28 November 2008 - 12:11 PM

I too am very wary of links,especially when they are posted by relatively new members to the Board.

My way of 'protecting myself' is to right- mouse- click the link , then open Google and load it into there :thumbsup: