Lurking around the grc newsgroups I found this
http://www.google.com/search?q="Windows+XP+Professional"+"Belarc+Advisor+Current+Profile"+key%3A
Nothing like good security! 
Absolutely nothing like it.
As Albert Einstein once said
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
ROFLMAO!
Sweet Mother McCree! That’s scary, with a capital “S”!
I’m almost too scared to find out what I’ll come up with if I google my SSN… :o
The disclaimer at the top was the BEST part of the entire page!
Viz.
[size=9pt] The information on this page was created locally on your PC by the Belarc Advisor. [u][b]Your computer profile was not sent to a web server.[/b][/u] [emphasis by JH]
My friend Andy has a quote hanging outside his cube “You’re not paranoid if they really ARE out to get you!”
We really need to get one of those big emoticons that has the face, head in hands, shaking it in abject wonder and astonishment…
It doesn’t surprise me that this stuff is being collected - what DOES surprise me is that they’d actually post it for everyone and their mother-in-law to see. With a little more intellegence, they’d be selling that information to someone… :THNK
Jim
Oh, and while we’re on the subject of “What were they THINKING?!!” - how’s Vista grab you?
IMHO - played with a few of the betas, and sniffed at the (ahem!) retail versions, and I just shake my head in wonder.
As far as I am concerned - it’s crapware.
A lot of fancy eye candy, and a lot of under-the-skin skulduggary. I don’t give a ■■■■ about whether or not the icons glow with this pearly iridescent light - I just want the friggin’ thing to WORK!
(… and don’t even get me STARTED about M$'s conception of “digital rights management”…)
To be perfectly honest though, I think the UAC (User Access Control) paradigm isn’t a bad idea. The actual execution may be a balls-up, but the idea has merit.
Besides that - I think Vista is exactly that, a “Vista” - like looking off the edge of the Grand Canyon. Great view, but don’t go there.
Jim
G’day Jim I’ve run into you at a number of different places
Agree with everything you have said re vista and we are not the only ones. The only people I have seen really push Vista are some of the MVP’s.
I played with some of the urls from that search and ended up in places I should not have been. Ended up in one blokes image folder on his site, not pretty.
I’ve used Belarc Advisor for some time, mainly to keep patches up to date, I can’t figure out why you would need to post it anywhere.
Sullo
LOL I can’t believe that. Posting it does seem somewhat… er… stupid? M$ will have fun sorting that out
Sorry to barge in, but are you saying that Belarc Advisor phones home?
Or that people post it in forums?
Coz, i don’t believe in the former.
Pedro*
No it doesn’t phone home. For some reason or other some people post their profile on private or public websites and the crawler picked them up.
I still haven’t figured out why you would post it, it’s not really a diagnostic report like hijack this or the others.
Maybe the answers 42
:THNK
OK, thank you for clearing that up. Like i said, i wouldn’t believe either.
Now that’s a good question, who would post it? To give away product keys??
And one of these days, we’ll say so long and thanks for all the fish! In the meantime, the answer’s always 42 (it is the ultimate answer, after all)
LM
I have my my Towel ready.
Lee (B)
Do I have to say “Don’t me”?