[thelist] More Smart Tags

Rebekah Murphy bekah at nightvisions.com
Mon Jun 25 12:02:48 CDT 2001


OK, I have a question about smart tags no has brought up 
yet (or maybe I just missed it). 

What if 2 smart tag publishers make different tags for 
the same word and the user has both installed on 
their machine? For instance, Microsoft says that 
every instance of the word "tree" should go to a 
Microsoft site about trees, but Adobe says every instance 
of the word "tree" should go to a partner site that 
sells stock photos of trees... What happens then? 

Also, what if someone rights a smart tag specification 
that links to every word in the OED? It would take 
some time, but I bet there are a few industrious hackers 
up for the challenge. Since new smart tags have to 
be installed, this would have to be distributed as a 
virus, but we've all seen how easily those get around.

I just think the whole idea is ripe for abuse from a 
number of fronts, not just from Microsoft.

-Bekah
(please note, I have neither the time, nor the 
skills nessasary to write such a virus. Should this come 
to pass, don't come pointing fingers at me :)
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