Phil Bradley's Internet Q and A

When I visit websites I sometimes see a word highlighted in yellow and, if I click on it, I get taken to a commercial site. However, other people haven't seen this when they've looked at the page with their browser. Do you have any idea what is happening?
I'd be prepared to bet money that you've recently subscribed to a service (a media desktop product) from a company called Kazaa. When you install its software one of the default add-on programs (Top Text) is incorporated into your browser.

When you call up web pages that program looks at the text and if it finds certain keywords on the page it 'overlays' a link to any of more than 7,000 keywords that have been sold through its advertising system. Consequently, the link only exists on the version of the page on your browser, not on the original web page. Microsoft was thinking about doing something similar (Smart tags) but thought better of it. You can read more about this at www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/communications/story/0,2000024993,20252445-1,00.htm

I suggest that you completely uninstall the program and, if you wish to continue using it when you reinstall, click on the opt out box for its add-on programs.

How can I create buttons on my browser to favourite web pages so that I can go there directly, rather than use the Favorites function?
This is about as straightforward as they come, surprisingly! Use the Links toolbar in MSIE. All you need to do is click on the little icon to the left of the URL and drag this into the Links toolbar and release. You will then have an easy-to-use link always available. If you want to change or delete a link, simply right click on it with your mouse and choose the appropriate option. The same thing works the same way with Netscape.

I had problems with an answer in a previous column, regarding mouse over buttons.
Several people wrote to me about this - I got the URL wrong. The Mouse Over Button Wizard is at www.mobw.net (not .com as I previously said). Many apologies for that.

A few people also had problems regarding the mouse over effect on my home page. If you toddle along to www.philb.com and look at the menu bar on the left-hand side of the screen, you'll notice that when you run your mouse over it the little folder opens and the words change to red. If you then look at the source code for the page you'll see how I've done it.

Site of the month

My site of the month is one that I picked up while browsing the always excellent FreePint site at www.freepint.co.uk and it's called Backflip It!

If, like me, you're always creating Favorites and you want to access them using another machine it's not that easy.

However, the BackFlip people have provided a website where you can import your Favorites, edit them, let other people see them, and create your own daily list of frequently visited sites. It's very simple, very easy and of course, entirely free. Go along to www.backflip.com and try it out.

Since Christmas is looming I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Thanks to everyone who has sent me questions during this year, and I look forward to many more in 2002.

If you have any questions about the internet send an email to philb@philb.com with the subject header LAR query.

Phil Bradley is an internet consultant, trainer, web designer and author. Visit www.philb.com for free information on internet introductions, search engine articles, web design tips and a host of other free information. Now out: The Advanced Internet Searcher's Handbook (2nd edition).

© The Library Association
Last updated: 14 November 2001