Stardate 20010820.2253 (On Screen via life form detectors): What with all the hooraw about Microsoft's "Smart Tags" feature, it seems that a much more insidious form of the same thing is already out there and running in quantity -- and it didn't come from Microsoft. Apparently it's a sneakware program called "TopText", and like a lot of other sneakware it's magically bundled with other utilities for free, as an added service. In particular, it seems to get installed when you download and use a program called "Kazaa", which I gather is one of the things which has sprung up to fill the vacuum left by the death of Napster. Anyway, it is easy enough to determine if you have TopText installed on your system. If any of the words in the following paragraph are links, then you're infected:
Anti-Virus Software • Automobile Insurance • Insure Your Auto • Auto Insurance • Auto Loans • Credit Information • Free Credit Report • Car Loans • Credit Report
I think the site I linked to is being a bit hysterical about this, but it's always a bad thing to be running software that you don't realize that you're running. (discuss)
