Yahoo outbound every 3 seconds

[GordonH]

I'm with BT Yahoo broadband, and on checking the 'Allowed' log I've noticed that while IE is open, there is an outbound connection to bt.edit.client.yahoo.com every 3 seconds, and on every occasion this shows up in the active content blocked as cookies. Over the course of the day this results in thousands of entries in the log.

Is this normal for BT Yahoo broadband?

[Paranoid2000]

Are you using a "branded" version of IE? If so, then this may be an extra "feature" added by BT and (yet) another reason to consider an alternative browser like Firefox or Opera. Otherwise, check what other programs are running on your system - if you have special dialler software that has to be run to make the connection then this may be the cause or if you installed any software supplied by BT Yahoo (nothing is actually needed for a broadband connection unless using a proprietary DSL modem).

[GordonH]

Are you using a "branded" version of IE? If so, then this may be an extra "feature" added by BT and (yet) another reason to consider an alternative browser like Firefox or Opera. Otherwise, check what other programs are running on your system - if you have special dialler software that has to be run to make the connection then this may be the cause or if you installed any software supplied by BT Yahoo (nothing is actually needed for a broadband connection unless using a proprietary DSL modem).

Thanks Paranoid2000. It is the 'normal' IE that I use. I also have the BT Yahoo Broadband browser installed, but I never use it, and possibly it is this which is continually trying to make a connection every 3 seconds. My broadband setup is via a router. I will try uninstalling the BT Yahoo browser later today and see what happens, I'll post the results of that.

I intend looking at Firefox and Opera. One of the things I like about IE now that I have Outpost installed is the Outpost Quick Tune Bar which is displayed by IE. This is really cool, and although I believe there have been many complaints about problems by others using this feature, I have found it really useful, and so far have only found one website which gave some anomalous results.

GordonH

[nippauls]

Hi GordonH,
Just a thought, when you install anything Yahoo, such as messenger, it gives you the options (already ticked) of installing the yahoo search engine, toolbar and several other things. If you re-install, be sure to uncheck particularly the browser bar and search facility and anything else you think you don't really need as these are known to be a bit invasive.
nippauls

[GordonH]

Hi GordonH,
Just a thought, when you install anything Yahoo, such as messenger, it gives you the options (already ticked) of installing the yahoo search engine, toolbar and several other things. If you re-install, be sure to uncheck particularly the browser bar and search facility and anything else you think you don't really need as these are known to be a bit invasive.
nippauls


Hi Nippauls,

Thanks, I decided just to uninstall all the BT Yahoo stuff as I had never used any of it anyway. After that I went and had a look at what Outpost was finding, and the outbound connections every three seconds has gone. I am amazed that the BT Yahoo software should operate in this way, left alone for 24 hours it would make 28,800 outbound connections in a day, each one an attempt to write a cookie!! I wasn't even using the BT Yahoo browser while this was going on - this was happening when I was using IE.

Seems like a dreadful waste of PC resouces, and why would they want to do this?? Are they trying to figure how long I'm on-line, and where I'm going. I should have let some of the cookies through so that I could find out what was going into them. But I'm not going to re-install to find out!

GordonH

[nippauls]

Hi GordonH,
I am surprised (well, maybe not ;)) that British Telecom should resort to such tactics :D But believe me, Telecom Italia are worse!
Glad it's sorted!
nippauls

[FirePost]

The typical argument on these things is much like any budgeting issue. Compared to how much other stuff happens in that three second interval, that one quick little pulse is not significant. Any problem with the pulse could cause temporary latentcy or lags. We may disagree with the, "it is not much argument," but it is a prevalent mindset. It is especially prevalent in programmers that just moved from desktop programming to internet/multiusers programming.

[GordonH]

Compared to how much other stuff happens in that three second interval, that one quick little pulse is not significant. Any problem with the pulse could cause temporary latentcy or lags. We may disagree with the, "it is not much argument," but it is a prevalent mindset. It is especially prevalent in programmers that just moved from desktop programming to internet/multiusers programming.

Hi Firepost,

I agree with hat you say about mindset in programmers nowadays. I spent around 25 years of my life programming mainframes, much of it in assembler, which I know makes me a bit of a dinosaur, but back then there was much less computer power available, and programming for efficient use of resources was more important.

The problem with programmers saying it's only one little pulse, is that if every bit of software running is careless with resource usage then 'many a mickle maks a muckle' as we say up here in Scotland, and we are 'thrifty' with money too!

GordonH