Recap: MBS Sunday Brunch for June 28

Our topic of the week was strategies for cleaning computer to eliminate telltale evidence of spanking interests. Here are your ideas.

RPT (Fred Bloggs): I have an Apple Mac, so I log friends into the Guest account which is quite safe. Keeping your own account password protected is a good idea. I have naughty stuff, pictures etcetera on an external drive that can be disconnected and removed. I also use an online bookmark service so I don't have bookmarks on the main browser.

Meow: All of these apply when I'm traveling with my laptop or when my kids might borrow it.

1. Erase my browsing history after every use


2. Abbreviate the titles of kinky blogs in my bookmarks


3. Minimize my GMail and Google Reader so that kinky stuff doesn't show up.


4. Bury kinky files deep in the library (Mac) where all the application preferences, etc. are stored.

Anon VII: I have downloaded and installed the Pareto Logic Privacy Protector. Googling Pareto should get you to the download site. Once you have it installed, use it at the end of EVERY session. It also helps protect against remote hackers taking over your computer, snooping into your banking records, getting into a recycling bin, or recording your keystrokes. There are several privacy protectors available, but I like this one because it can be set to do up to a sevenfold shredding, which I understand is the approved military / national security level.

The best thing to do with bookmarks for sites that could cause you trouble is not to use them, period. Offline bookmarks would be my second choice. But what I do instead is memorize the URLs and type them in each time. To tell the truth, I mostly come to this site and then follow the links given here. Remember, though, that the URL of any site to which you go will be on your hard drive unless you scour it with a reliable privacy protector.

You also can set your browser to erase records of sites visited whenever you power down your computer. That alone, however, would not be enough if someone really wanted to dig up your records. I'd definitely recommend backing it up with Pareto Logic or something similar.

Cookie: I don’t have any ideas since I never really thought about it and don’t really hide my interests from friends. I would be interested in learning though how I could just in case.

Angie: I never use bookmarks, ever. I have my few play places, and once there, I link from there. I also have a separate play account, and everything I do is by password. I never do any search by typing in to the main search thingy at the top, where you get that drag down of everything you go to.

That’s about it, really. And remembering to log out, of course.

Todd and Suzy: We have two PCs and two laptops (home business). We keep one of each completely vanilla-safe. That makes it easy for us. Back when we only had one computer though, we 'buried' links. If you wanted to get to the pervy links, for example, you had to open a folder called "politics" then "1980 election" then "Walter Mondale"... and bingo, it's spanky time! LOL... From there, our links pointed to lots of different spanko sites.

We employ the same idea with picture files. There’s basically zero protection against anyone snooping, but it worked when family wanted to check their e-mail on our computer. We also always have used 'spanko' e-mail addresses. Family has a vanilla e-mail and that's all they know. That's obviously all we check when they're around. Plus, we have a vanilla blog... which explains our "blogging" hobby (when it comes up).

There is no 100% safe way to hide your spanko side though. We don't push it on anyone and we do some common sense things to avoid making others uncomfortable. But ultimately, we don't live our lives based on what others might think (most especially those that would snoop through our computer).

Brambleberry Blush: I rename anything that says spanking into "speaking." This is a great topic. I will use many of the things I learned here today. Thanks everyone!

Ms. Betty: I just keep a guest account on my machine and have them use that.

Greenwoman: I have more than one browser. My two favorites are Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. I save the Internet Explorer for others as I hate the way the safety features work with Wordpress. But really, no one uses my PC unless they know me pretty well and if I can't trust them to stay out of private business on my PC, then I just don't let them use my PC.

ComeHere: I only use Google Chrome as my web browser. It has a tool called "New Incognito Window" that opens an incognito window! (Duh..., right?) The incognito window stores no cookies or other data after the window is closed. (There are limits to the protection - read the disclaimer - i.e., don't try this at work!)

I don't bookmark "interesting" sites. I use a free program called "Password Safe" and have a special group under a ho-hum boring name for all the titillating sites. Someone would have to hack into my Password Safe account to see these websites (BTW, I use PW Safe to store the URLs for sites that do not even require passwords. It works great for that. I also use it to store passwords for all of my e-mail accounts, blogs, financial sites, etc. It is a great program!).

Anon #1: Delete browsing history after each session. Do not favorite any porn sites. Instead, save their URL's in a document somewhere on your hard drive. Preferably, use a name like "Statistical Analysis of Norwegian Economy doc 4."

Speaking of hiding stuff on my hard drive, I do the same for spanking stories that I write and/or copy from web sites. I hide them in My Documents, under names like "Folder Options Doc."

Keagen: I have a Mac, and, for the most part, I don't let people use it. :-D I do, however, have two browsers. One is MINE, with all of my settings, sites, and bookmarks. The other is completely vanilla and links to nothing. I keep all of my work related stuff on an external hard drive (pictures, movies, and potential blog posts). :-)

Curtis: I have two ways to protect. No one can get into my computer unless they know the password and no one knows that. In addition, I have two e-mail accounts. One is kinky and the other is vanilla. Both need a password.

I do, however, have a lot stored on my disk and external hard drive. I suppose when I kick the bucket, one will be able to find what's stored despite the fact that it's all stored under the password protected account. I'm sure an intrepid hacker could find my non-vanilla account as well. But I am too old to worry about all that.

PK: We are all pretty respectful of each other’s privacy around here. My children usually leave their journals in plain view. It would never occur to me to read it. It’s theirs, period. I expect the same consideration from them and to my knowledge I have always gotten it. Mollie know I write ‘stories’ and since I have not shared any of them with her, I assume she knows they are of an adult nature.

Now we take the usual precautions on the computer. I have everything that I want to keep private on password protection, but I am a realist and I know my children are more computer savvy than I am. So I have told them if they go poking in my private work then they deserve every trauma they get from it. LOL! My son it too wrapped up in his own life to care what I read or write and my daughter is probably scared of what she might find so she stays far away.

Anon #2: I have a different slant than what's been shared. We have no kids and no one shares my computer or my boyfriend's laptop. You'd think then that there would be no problem. But he is a jealous and controlling top. I delete the history every time after browsing, but he has some way of searching the hard drive. He's much more techno-savvy than I am. I'm not very, obviously. Most of what's been shared here has gone right over my head. But if he doesn't like where I've gone on the Internet, or the content of e-mails, I'm spanked very hard for it.

Dave: Wow, LOTS of fantastic ideas and suggestions here...

Thank you all very much, and thank you kindly to Bonnie for featuring my query!

Daisy: I was so excited to see this question, but unfortunately, I have no idea what anyone was talking about! The only thing I understood was the guest account solution, which I already have. My computer is password protected. No one can get into my account without the password, and every e-mail account AND my blogger have different passwords. Sheesh, sometimes I can't remember which is which. Ha ha!

But, I AM a little anxious, because when I was on my blog the other week, my son walked in and may well have seen the name of my blog. Surprised, he said, "I didn't know you had a blog?" just as I quickly minimised it! I blushed and said, “It’s just for Davey and me..." kind of feebly. I'm now worried that he may look it up and I have no idea whether I can stop him.

Prefectdt: Like many others here, I have two accounts. Also I use two different web browsers, Flock on my account and Internet Explorer on the guest account. I have disabled the "list sharing" functions on both, to help hide the browsing history.

No matter what techy measures you take, there is always human error to be taken into account. An acquaintance of mine once left her computer to tend to some pans on the cooker, for less than one minute. When she returned to her computer, she had a conversation with her seven year old daughter that started with, "Mommy, why has the lady got a stripy bottom?" (except in Flemish). Their solution was to get a new computer for family use and keep the old one for mom and dad alone, in the bedroom and away from prying little eyes.

Ronnie: We have our own laptops. I password protected mine, rarely have any bookmarks and delete history. I also have three different e-mail addresses and have a guest account, but I still worry in case something goes wrong.

Hermione: I don't keep any files on my computer. All my posts and any pictures and links that accompany them are stored on a memory stick so I can transfer them to Blogger as time permits. This is mainly for my convenience. I can work on posts on any computer and it keeps all my work in one place. But it's also safe since I can encrypt the info on the stick so no one else can read it.

I also give all pictures and files short vanilla names that are meaningful to me but wouldn't arouse suspicion if the names appear in a "recent files" list in Notepad or Paint. For sites where I logon, I never select the option to "remember me." I type in my ID and password each time. That way, no one else can accidentally gain access. I also don't have kinky bookmarks. I get to other sites from links on my blog, via Blogger.

Ron and I share a computer at home, and I have no secrets to hide, but if I knew someone else would be using the computer, I would use the browser option to clear all private data – history, cache, and the rest.

If you find yourself in need of a spanko fix while traveling or visiting, the best option is to have your own laptop and a high-speed wireless internet stick that plugs in to a USB port. That way, you won't leave traces of your activity on someone else's machine. Make sure the laptop is password-protected.

Recidavist: Firefox can automatically clear your browsing history after each session, much better than Internet Explorer.

A simple clean-up like Window Washer or CCcleaner will tidy temporary files, etc. and should be used regularly. Both available at Download.com. Store pictures on Flickr or Picassa web albums instead of on your computer. Store useful inks on your blog or in a e-mail, not in browser bookmarks.

Have a spanko e-mail account that doesn't require personal details to be stored in the account and doesn't use an e-mail client on your PC. Gmail is one example.

If you download stuff, make sure to check your download manager and know where on your computer it is putting the files. Having a dedicated download folder helps so you can ensure that nothing has been downloaded you weren't expecting.

Make sure all "remember me" settings are turned off and watch out for applications that try regardless to remember the name of the last person who logged in. Picassa's upload to web albums have a habit of doing that and need to be cleared each time.

Never check you blog or spanko e-mail a at work. Even if it’s encrypted, the contents can be identified and traced back to you if anyone checks.

If you draft posts in Word before uploading them to your blog, use the facility in Word to password them, even if you put them on a memory stick.

Dr. Ken: The situation has never come up, but if it did, I have a simple solution. I have another computer that is "perv free." I'd let them use that one.

The fact that they're both about ten years old is probably enough to keep anyone from asking to use them, though... :-)

Bonnie: I really need to take some of this excellent advice. My computer is littered with four years of spanko blog remnants and who knows what all else. When I leave this world, I’ve told Randy to burn my PC in a campfire and then bury what’s left in the desert!

Seriously, when our daughter left home, we converted her bedroom into a guest room. Her old computer is still in there and has internet connectivity. Any guest who really wants to check their e-mail is welcome to use that one.

Missy H: I liked what PK said about “My daughter stays away because she's afraid of what she might find.” That's always been my attitude too. It's like that whole "peeking in the medicine chest" mystique. I have no interest in my friends' rashes and blotches.

Several of the Brits used the term “memory stick.” Is that the same as a flash drive? I'm not very techno-savvy, but I have tried a couple of these suggestions, such as the no 'remember my password', and the two e-mail accounts. It’s like an accounting double-booking. I wish I could help that lady hide her blog from her son.

Do you know that dodgy website use plummets every Thanksgiving because everyone has family wandering all over their house?

I believe that a memory stick and a flash drive are two terms for the same device. I don’t know whether MBS qualifies as dodgy, but traffic here does dip during those traditional family holidays.

So there you have it. Thanks, everyone, for a very informative brunch.