New forum Tracer feature

[Computer Hope Admin]

I've recently come across Tynt Tracer a new web program that enables a web developer to see what people are copying from your web site and also embed the link it came from into the clipboard, so when that data is pasted elsewhere users can know where it came from. It seems that this tool could really be beneficial for everyone. So let me know what you think.

Example.

In system properties, click on display adapters. It should show you which card you have. System information on start up will show it as well. Knowing the make without a number to go with it may not help unless it uses a driver from Microsoft.

Read more: http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,83021.0.html#ixzz0FVfFaCTL&B

In the above example the paragraph is what was copied and the Read more: <link> is what was added by the application. When this is done it's also logged allowing me to see what users are finding most useful/enjoy the most. This also works for images and other content and will not add the extra content for small content copied, e.g. a word or a few words.

[computeruler]

Thats pretty cool!

[CBMatt]

It appears that the forum is now using Tynt Tracer...  When did this start?  Has it actually provided any benefit?

[Computer Hope Admin]

Have found one potential thing I don't care for, looking at things people have been copying. I've noticed a few people copying batch files or other code and that being added to the end of the code, which could cause issues.

[Computer Hope Admin]

It appears that the forum is now using Trynt Tracer...  When did this start?  Has it actually provided any benefit?

Just happened earlier today, can't really say for certain if it's provided benefit, but giving it a try since the concept seems as if it could. Additional details on this post.

[evilfantasy]

That explains the page refresh I've noticed when copying content.

[CBMatt]

Heh, that must be why I hadn't noticed it until today.  I was a bit concerned when the page acted like it was refreshing every time I copied something.  My first thought was keyloggers, but I visited the site and read up on it a little.  It's an interesting concept, but I must admit that I'm a bit concerned about privacy.  I can imagine that some people might not want people to know what content they are copying.  I'm assuming that it doesn't keep track of who copies what.  But even if it doesn't, I think it might be a good idea to post a disclaimer and add it to the News heading of the forum.

[evilfantasy]

As usual with new stuff like this I don't understand how this works whatsoever LOL. 

I copy every HJT log I work on. That won't create any issues will it?

[Computer Hope Admin]

As usual with new stuff like this I don't understand how this works whatsoever LOL. 

I copy every HJT log I work on. That won't create any issues will it?

Hmm, that's a good question that I didn't take into consideration. I found two recent posts containing a combofix and hijackthis post and posted them in the Computer Hope process tool and didn't encounter any issues with it. However, that's not to say other tools you may use may have an issue. If they do, let me know and I'll either find a fix and/or remove this feature.

[Computer Hope Admin]

Heh, that must be why I hadn't noticed it until today.  I was a bit concerned when the page acted like it was refreshing every time I copied something.  My first thought was keyloggers, but I visited the site and read up on it a little.  It's an interesting concept, but I must admit that I'm a bit concerned about privacy.  I can imagine that some people might not want people to know what content they are copying.  I'm assuming that it doesn't keep track of who copies what.  But even if it doesn't, I think it might be a good idea to post a disclaimer and add it to the News heading of the forum.

Nope, who copies the information isn't really relevant and as far as I can tell is not copied or displayed in the statistics. What is captured is the following:

Top Words
Top Pages
Images copied
Top Referring Domains

Really no value of seeing who copied what, unless I guess you were concerned about copyright infringements I guess.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Interesting feature....

Do we have access to these stats?

[Computer Hope Admin]

Interesting feature....

Do we have access to these stats?

Nope, doesn't have a way yet to allow others to view them without having access to the full account. But I have no issues with sharing them.

[evilfantasy]

It's not an issue but using another HJT analyzer leaves an entry at the bottom which is the link back to the topic.

It's not an issue as long as nobody can use any of the information to find the analyzer I use. It's not password protected page but it is a private link.

Checking: Read more: <link removed>

I can get around the Tracer feature adding the link to what I copy so it's no big deal.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Heh, ok. Perhaps at the end of the week.

I just noticed that when I highlight a piece of text the page refreshes, and if I press CTRL + C the page refreshes once more.
Is that suppose to happen?

[CBMatt]

Nope, who copies the information isn't really relevant and as far as I can tell is not copied or displayed in the statistics. What is captured is the following:

Top Words
Top Pages
Images copied
Top Referring Domains

Really no value of seeing who copied what, unless I guess you were concerned about copyright infringements I guess.

Ah, so it only keeps track of the top statistics?  Okay, I guess that's not so bad.  See, I was under the impression that it gave you a list of every single thing that is copied.  I assumed that if I had (for example) typed something offensive and then highlighted and deleted it, it would show up in a list of things that had been copied.  If that were the case, someone who might copy and paste a word from the login page would then have their password added to the list.  Also, some people like to type notes to themselves for later use, and some of these notes could be private.  Stuff like that is what made me have concerns about privacy.

Heh, ok. Perhaps at the end of the week.

I just noticed that when I highlight a piece of text the page refreshes, and if I press CTRL + C the page refreshes once more.
Is that suppose to happen?

This is normal.  By looking at the forum's source code, I can see that the tracer is implemented via a JavaScript library.  So, whenever text is highlighted, it most likely calls a function to send the selected text back to their site, where it is processed and sorted.  It's not actually refreshing the page, but sending data.  If your pages are actually refreshing (loading the page all over again), then I don't know what would be causing such an issue.