How "Danger" is MyWebSearch/SmileyCentral?

[JørnRudolph]

Hallo again Landzdown :gwave:

Well - I just wondered...
How "Danger" is MyWebSearch/SmileyCentral really?
- What harm can it do to your PC - Or to the recivers of your e-mails?

(Another quistion is if a person like them or hate them - But that is a matter of taste)
- As they come in all versions from :smash:to :rose: !
And most "serious" news-groups get "wild" having one single  :? have I notiched !
- They only want plain text not HTML and expecial not smileys or pictures !

I had it with my PC WindowsXP on Internet Explorer + OutlookExpress.

- And I know that it is on line as spyware by Ad-Aware, SUPER AntiSpyware

Also I know that some of my e-mail was reported as spam, because there was some
smileys on, and the person I send them to had a strong spamfilter.

On my new PC with WindowsVista (2 months old) first I could not download it,
because it said: Sorry, do not work with Vista.

After 3 weeks I tried again - and it worked now on Windows Mail, just like on Outlook Express.

But - can it "destroy" anything for anybody - me or others - since it "redmarked" ?
- And what excatly can be the problem with it?
(I am not asking if they are "clever" or "Stupid" - Only about their spyware/mailware risk)

Have a nice day and thank you for your help so far.
Think it is a interesting place to visite...

Jørn Rudolph

[Ripley]

Hi Jørn Rudolph  :)

For all I know about smileys because I like them, I am surprised I am unaware of this Smiley Central.
A quick search brings up this:

What is Smiley Central?
Although none of these products claim to be spyware, they do slow your computer down. All of the products use cookies to track usage, although they claim not to use cookies or anything else to track personally identifiable information.

http://www.pchell.com/support/smileycentral.shtml

And reading a discussion here http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=55260&st=0
...provided me with alittle more background.  This info seems somewhat dated, so I don't know the current status of this/these products, but given the history of the info above, I wouldn't have it on my computer, especially when there are other alternatives.

One alternate smiley "management" software for free is Smiley Pad

There are numerous smiley "collections" online which can be found on google.

There are 3 smiley artists (they created them originally) who I have a preference for that list all their smileys on their homepage as well as links to other smiley resources.

Fool's Smileys    :blink: :tech: :popcorn: :exorcize:

Aiwan's (Kolobok style) Smileys :Yahoo: :Win73:

Connie's Smileys

Hopefully, others can answer your direct questions concerning Smiley Central, as all I have to offer is alternatives.

[JørnRudolph]

Hi Jørn Rudolph  :)

For all I know about smileys because I like them, I am surprised I am unaware of this Smiley Central.
A quick search brings up this:

What is Smiley Central?
Although none of these products claim to be spyware, they do slow your computer down. All of the products use cookies to track usage, although they claim not to use cookies or anything else to track personally identifiable information.

http://www.pchell.com/support/smileycentral.shtml

And reading a discussion here http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=55260&st=0
...provided me with alittle more background.  This info seems somewhat dated, so I don't know the current status of this/these products, but given the history of the info above, I wouldn't have it on my computer, especially when there are other alternatives.

One alternate smiley "management" software for free is Smiley Pad

There are numerous smiley "collections" online which can be found on google.

There are 3 smiley artists (they created them originally) who I have a preference for that list all their smileys on their homepage as well as links to other smiley resources.

Fool's Smileys    :blink: :tech: :popcorn: :exorcize:

Aiwan's (Kolobok style) Smileys :Yahoo: :Win73:

Connie's Smileys

Hopefully, others can answer your direct questions concerning Smiley Central, as all I have to offer is alternatives.

Hallo Ripley :mitch:
Many thanks for your nice reply ...
Both how to unstall Smiley Central
And the alternative smiley sites - Who are interesting !
It was nice of you to write !

General I do not understand why this product is in miscredit
So I was looking for some true facts.
Fine that you send me your quick reply !
And with many informations
Good Friday from Jørn Rudolph :thumbsup:

[Brynn]

The name Smiley Central sounds familiar to me too.  I thought I had seen a safe site by that name, but I can't find it.  So either I'm dreaming, or it once was a safe site  :tease:.

I can't help you with removing the malware, but I thought I would join ripley, and share a couple of smiley sites I know about.  I haven't visited them lately, so be sure to read their terms and conditions, etc. to make sure it's safe before using them.

This is a huge collection:
Emoticons 4U

Another large collection here:
F@ncy's Place

This guy offers an exceptionally large variety of original smileys.  Plus, if you don't see one you like, that he hasn't already made, he'll make new ones upon request:
Mazeguy Smilies
Examples:        

I also use SmileyPad to manage my smileys, and I love it.  I did not particularly like the smileys which were supplied with the program, but no worries -- there are plenty of safe, free, smiley and emoticon websites on the internet, if you don't mind searching them out.

ripley, I can't wait to peruse the 2 of your smiley sites that I don't already know about.  I hope there is at least one of the ones I've listed, that you don't already know about, so you can have some fun looking through collections you haven't seen!

JørnRudolph, best of luck, and have some great fun building your own cache of smileys   :D

[Corrine]

SmileyPad seems to have gone "belly-up" and now redirects to http://www.dancetalk.co.uk/wordpress/

Does anyone know what happened?

[Frands]

I don't know what has happened to SmileyPad, but I have found another site where you are able to get some smileys.
The site is in French language, but safe:
http://smileys.sur-la-toile.com/

[Ripley]

SmileyPad seems to have gone "belly-up" and now redirects to http://www.dancetalk.co.uk/wordpress/

Does anyone know what happened?

:lol:  Doesn't surprise me.  The person who was maintaining the SmileyPad support forum, had already discontinued it when I posted the SmileyPad link, but the link to the program was still active.  This person does have a bit of a passion for dancing  8)

I don't know the status of the program...but see you can still download it from tucows, etc. (Quick search) I'll try to see if I can find the status when I get time.  A note tho...I don't think it is Vista compatible...

I have never used it myself for managing my smileys.  I am using a beta version of a FF plugin  :shock:  The author is Russian and bless my heart, need to translate his every word online...so need more time to sort out if I would recommend it.

While looking tho, I see there are some new smileys on the block  :Yahoo:  Where have I been?  And they got tans!!!  And there's some new NASCAR fun!  Yee-haw!

Check these guys out!        Author says 1 pixel larger than the other koloboks...must do something to the color  :hysterical:


<prop below is mine to add to the new dancers...kinda reminds me of a Travolta thingy :lol: >

                                                   

                                                              

[NonSuch]

SmileyPad does seem to be compatible with Vista.  The problem I've had with it, and that's on both an XP Pro SP2 machine as well as a Vista machine, is that I can't get it to work with my e-mail programs.  It works great for message boards, but I've had no luck using it for e-mail on either XP or Vista, using Thunderbird or Outlook.  Very disappointing, especially since its predecessor, EmotiPad, worked well with both e-mail programs.   

If someone knows of a good substitute, that does work with these two e-mail programs, I'd be very happy to know about it.   

[Brynn]

As a matter of fact, I was JUST in contact with SmileyPad's previous owner.  I was looking for an upgrade, and actually posted on the dance website in an attempt to contact anyone.  And there followed a brief email exchange.

Apparently there was somewhat of a "parting of ways" amongst the people involved, and only the original version of SP is still available.  However, the smileys that one gets with the DL are no longer hosted.

Here's a link to the DL:

SmileyPadDownload

Meanwhile, one can still use the smiley organization, storage and deployment capabilities of the original program.  It is not hard to find free smileys which abound on the internet (although one should be very, VERY CAUTIOUS about it), and free hosting is available as well.

Imo it's a shame to lose SmileyPad.  I've considered it an excellent program, and one for which there is a significant need, on the internet.  I use it almost every day.  I hope that those involved might reconsider, and put the website back up.  But if that can't happen, I sincerely hope someone who has the knowledge, skills and ability, can either obtain SP and maintain it, or produce a comparable product.