Flash Plug-in? Or Problem?

[hazel m]

I am very suspicious of this but here is the story.

Yesterday and, again today, a friend tried to send me a Jacquie Lawson ecard. What I got was a black screen with a few electric blue words on it. I could not read it at all but she said everyone else got it fine.

A bit ago another friend sent me the URL of a card she got from there. I tried it and got pretty much the same problem except that the screen was dark green and, with the aid of my lighted magnifier, could make out most of it. It said:

"We have discovered that Flash Plug-in is either out of date, disabled or not installed on your browser. All of our cards are made using Flash."

It then went on to say it wanted me to "take part in our survey to help understand the problem with Flash and it will only take a minute of your time"

I am not biting on that survey but the whole page looks suspicious to me. Would Jacquie Lawson be setting up a page at her web site just to ask me to take part in a survey? I don't think so. Besides, a survey involves more than one participant.

So, what is Flash Plug-in? Is it possible this is legitimate? Or have I been hacked? Something not quite right about all this?

I am vague on this but I seem to remember that Firefox has Flash as an add-on that must be kept up to date. I've not been into their pages in ages.

Thank you. hazel m

 

[Rod]

Hazel it is my impression that Flash Player, a product of Adobe, is a common media format plugin, essentially harmless but you do not require it unless you frequent web sites which require it. Normally that site will state that to view content Flash Player is required and provide a link to download it. I prefer to go to the Adobe site and download from there which I have done. If you decide to do this you can then check if the ecards are readable. If not I would suspect the source.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac Forums

 

[Slydude]

I just went to the site and got the same messe. In my case I have Flash installed but disabled.

The request to update Flash is probably legit. I suggest though that if you choose to update Flash you go directly to the Adobe.com site to download Flash. There are some sites out there that try to install malware by masquerading as a Flash installer.

BTW the link to the survey page is for an outfit called Survey Monkey. I think they have been known to provide survey results for a variety of sites. Judging from the questions I suspect they are gathering data about why their users do not have a current version of Flash installer.

 

[hazel m]

Hazel it is my impression that Flash Player, a product of Adobe, is a common media format plugin, essentially harmless but you do not require it unless you frequent web sites which require it. Normally that site will state that to view content Flash Player is required and provide a link to download it. I prefer to go to the Adobe site and download from there which I have done. If you decide to do this you can then check if the ecards are readable. If not I would suspect the source.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac Forums

Thank you. I rather suspect the source for several reasons. Also, I am not a fan of these e-card sites. Few people send me cards from them and I often don't collect. So, as far as Jacquie Lawson's site is concerned, I can do without. If it is, as you say, not needed unless I visit a site that needs and asks for it, I can decide based on whether or not I want that site? Am I right?

But, I do suspect the entire thing. Surveys do not involve just one person and this message seems to be only talking to me. Second, why would any web site set up a page to tell one person his/her Flash Plug-in in isn't working? I do know that Firefox has Flash Player as an add-on. Firefox updates behind the scenes and I pay no attention to it. I probably should.

Then there is the fact that I was at the Oracle web site the other day. From what I saw, I think they make and/or own Adobe. Maybe I am wrong. But, I could have gotten something there that I don't want. Just a suspicion after all the rest.

Thank you very much. If the computer is not in any trouble - and your post encourages me to feel that, I'll wait until tomorrow and make a call.

hazel m

 

[Slydude]

I don't think the survey was aimed specifically at you. I think I got the same message that you did. It's likely that everyone who goes to the site and has not installed Flash or has it turned off will get this message.

When I went to the survey it asked for the operating system version and other very basic information such as the web browser being used. Did you get something more specific than that? There were a few other questions but they seem rather non-specific if I remember correctly.

 

[hazel m]

I just went to the site and got the same messe. In my case I have Flash installed but disabled.

The request to update Flash is probably legit. I suggest though that if you choose to update Flash you go directly to the Adobe.com site to download Flash. There are some sites out there that try to install malware by masquerading as a Flash installer.

BTW the link to the survey page is for an outfit called Survey Monkey. I think they have been known to provide survey results for a variety of sites. Judging from the questions I suspect they are gathering data about why their users do not have a current version of Flash installer.

Thank you, skydude. It helps to know someone else saw that also. Now I can stop worrying about my computer. And I now know the survey is probably legitimate. Unless the page is in better shape than the page I saw, there is no sense in me going there. I had enough trouble making out what the original page said. That is partly due to my vision but color on color isn't the best way to print and blue on black or black on very dark green are two no-nos.

Again, thanks. If I update Adobe, I'll do it from their site as you say.

 

[hazel m]

I don't think the survey was aimed specifically at you. I think I got the same message that you did. It's likely that everyone who goes to the site and has not installed Flash or has it turned off will get this message.

When I went to the survey it asked for the operating system version and other very basic information such as the web browser being used. Did you get something more specific than that? There were a few other questions but they seem rather non-specific if I remember correctly.

I did not go to the survey page, partly because I did not know if it was legitimate until I read your posts but also, as Indicated, I was having too much trouble just reading that first page. That's simply a vision problem that I deal with using a strong and lighted magnifier. Wonderful instrument.

Good night. I'll be back tomorrow.

 

[Rod]

I am not adverse to filling in surveys but Survey Monkey although legit can be a bit of a PITA once it gets your email. It starts sending ads and offers encouraging you to setup your own surveys etc. took me a little while to get rid of it

 

[Slydude]

I did not go to the survey page, partly because I did not know if it was legitimate until I read your posts but also, as Indicated, I was having too much trouble just reading that first page. That's simply a vision problem that I deal with using a strong and lighted magnifier. Wonderful instrument.

Good night. I'll be back tomorrow.

I understand completely. Before surgery my vision was much worse than it is now. Even now there are times when the high resolution of these new fangled computer gizmos drives me nuts. I know someone using one of those devices and it definitely presents some challenges.

There are some vision-related features in OS X under the Accessibility preference pane that may/mat not be helpful to you depending upon your specific needs.

 

[Slydude]

I am not adverse to filling in surveys but Survey Monkey although legit can be a bit of a PITA once it gets your email. It starts sending ads and offers encouraging you to setup your own surveys etc. took me a little while to get rid of it

I agree. Don't generally participate in online surveys for the most part. Never had dealings with them. Based on your experience I think I will avoid it.

 

[IWT]

Hazel m,

I'm coming to this rather late in the day.

I too have had problems with Jacqui Lawson cards and entered a long, but essentially helpful, email correspondence with the Jacqui Lawson group.

The bottom line, as they say, is that they do not support Safari and their cards cannot be read using this Browser. They do not have any plans to change this. They recommended Firefox or Chrome (although the company was really set up for Windows' users).

The advantage of Chrome, is that Flash Player is embedded into the Browser and is automatically updated. Saves a lot of hassle.

Apologies for coming in so late in the discussion.

Ian

 

[hazel m]

I understand completely. Before surgery my vision was much worse than it is now. Even now there are times when the high resolution of these new fangled computer gizmos drives me nuts. I know someone using one of those devices and it definitely presents some challenges.

There are some vision-related features in OS X under the Accessibility preference pane that may/mat not be helpful to you depending upon your specific needs.

Thanks. I'll watch for Accessibility preference. My biggest problem for everyday use is how faint some of the print is. It is like they were trying to save ink and paper. That is when a magnifying glass comes it handy. If you enlarge something it also gets darker.