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To: Alan Smithee who wrote (4199)	2/17/2006 10:09:23 PM
From: White Bear	Respond to of 71588

Real Player was like having AOL on my computer. It was way too intrusive I have not had it for years. I use Media player for the time being.

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (4199)	2/18/2006 12:30:38 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

A GUID (global unique identifier) is a term used by Microsoft for a number that its programming generates to create a unique identity for an entity such as a Word document. GUIDs are widely used in Microsoft products to identify interfaces, replica sets, records, and other objects. Different kinds of objects have different kinds of GUIDs - for instance, a Microsoft Access database uses a 16-byte field to establish a unique identifier for replication. The nature of certain of Microsoft's GUIDs, the use made of GUIDs, and the potential for abuse arising out of GUIDs, have raised concern among privacy advocates. In March, 1999, a request was made to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate Microsoft's use of GUIDs. The controversy relates especially to GUIDs attached to Office 97 and Office 2000 documents. The GUID numbers generated for Office documents on Mac and networked PCs have been found to incorporate the unique identification number of the computer's card. The fact that Office documents, such as a Word file or an Excel spreadsheet, contain a GUID is not made evident to users. There are a number of reported incidents in which the author of a document could be traced by the GUID in the document, even in circumstances where the author had taken exceptional care to maintain their anonymity. In response to expressed concerns, Microsoft has released a patch for Office 97 SR2 which disables the GUID function, and a utility to remove GUIDs from existing documents. Concerns about the GUID parallel similar concerns about the potential for abuse of Intel's processor serial number. whatis.techtarget.com ----------------------------- It appears that the company that earned Democrat Senator Maria Cantwell enough money to win has listenend to some of the concerns. ----------------------------- Increase Your Privacy - Don't Send Your GUID SUMMARY: Help increase your privacy when playing multimedia files with RealPlayer 10.5. Depending on how RealPlayer 10.5 is configured, you may be sending information to other websites "to aid content providers". This information can include the quality of your connection, but can also include your GUID, or a unique RealPlayer ID to your installation. While RealPlayer's policy states "RealNetworks cannot, and will not, associate the RealPlayer GUID with any of your personally identifiable information", many people concerned with privacy would rather not take that chance. To disable sending this information: 1. Click "Tools" - "Preferences". 2. When the "Preferences" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click "Connection" in the left pane to expand the tree. 3. Click "Internet / Privacy" underneath "Connection". 4. Uncheck "Send connection-quality data to RealServers". 5. Uncheck "Send RealPlayer GUID to RealServers". 6. Click "OK" to close the dialog box. Note that, according to RealPlayer's help file, some content providers may require you to send your GUID to access certain paid content. If this is acceptable, you may need to recheck the "Send RealPlayer GUID to RealServers" before playing content from such providers. malektips.com;