A few months back I acquired a couple of new rifles. That is nothing strange for me as I have owned guns all my life.
A few days later at least thirty news feeds about guns started showing up.
I have been writing here on the forum about playing by ear for a day or two.
Is it normal for things like this to show up? Is everything we do on the internet being looked at, and decisions of what will appear on MSN made by spying on me? Not that I care, I have nothing to hide, but damn folks. Is nothing private?
Strange stuff,
Billy
Last edited by Planobilly; 12/26/2410:21 PM.
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
Today, I logged on to this YouTube site about piano instruction.
After a few hours, I got this.
I also asked ChatGPT who Planobilly was, and it returned a bunch of information about my SoundCloud and BIAB accounts, my real name, and where I lived, and people I have played with in the past. There were never any non disclosuer agreements I have made with the government/millitary when I have worked for them. They have no real reason to track me but they do. Homeland showed me part of some files they had on me one day when I cleared coming back into the country in my airplane.
But all this seems very different.
Is all this normal?
Billy
Last edited by Planobilly; 12/26/2410:52 PM.
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
Is it normal for things like this to show up? Is everything we do on the internet being looked at, and decisions of what will appear on MSN made by spying on me?
There were complaints about a year ago where people were seeing what looked like extremely targeted ads on Facebook, and concluded that Facebook must be listening to their conversations on their phones.
That turned out not to be the case, but the amount of information that's collected via our browsing habits is astonishingly large. I was talking to a co-worker who's working on selling a product that will integrate multiple trackers, and sell targeted ads to users.
I've seen the ear training videos pop up in my feed because I've visited musician-oriented websites, so it's not necessarily as targeted as you think.
Then again, if there's money to be made, no doubt someone will parse out the pages we're visiting to gather even more information.
Does everyone who has a Windows computer have MSN in the taskbar? On mine, there is a cloud with a moon, 64 F, and Mostly Cloudy. When I click on that MSN comes up.
The information contained here is generally emotionally charged subject matter, advertisements for things for sale, and weather information.
I will try to figure out some sort of test to see if it is directly related to something discussed on this site.
Is it illegal to monitor information on a site like P G Music Forum and sell that information to an advertiser?
I don't really care about targeted advertising, although it can sometimes be useful. It just seems strange based on a music forum if that is actually happening.
Billy
Last edited by Planobilly; 12/26/2411:25 PM.
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
Cookies, Billy, and not the chocolate chip kind. I'll bet your browser allows cookies (most do, they are nearly impossible not to have enabled), and those cookies can watch everything you do. That's largely what they are all about.
I'd start with cookies... When I get asked to install cookies, if it is compulsory (the web page won't load otherwise), I always select 'strictly necessary cookies only', never anything else. More detail on cookies here.
It states this about Tracking Cookies: "Tracking cookies, and especially third-party tracking cookies, are commonly used as ways to compile long-term records of individuals' browsing histories."
There is more info on the Wikipedia website on Tracking Cookies (see link above).
Hope this helps, Trev
BIAB & RB2025 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
Adding to Trev's excellent advice I use FireFox as my browser and it will delete cookies when shut down. There is an exclude list you can make for those sites you use the most, like PGMusic.
This doesn't eliminate the problem but it really cuts down on tracking. YMMV
I get most of my exercise these days from shaking my head in disbelief.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Adding to Trev's excellent advice I use FireFox as my browser and it will delete cookies when shut down. There is an exclude list you can make for those sites you use the most, like PGMusic.
This doesn't eliminate the problem but it really cuts down on tracking. YMMV
I second this. I have Firefox delete all cookies on exit and I close and reopen Firefox between certain sites. I close and reopen both before and after any access to my financial affairs.
I also don't give much information about me personally on social media and the like. I'm cagey about where I live and I try to avoid all the clickbait that asks banal questions, because many are collecting and collating trivia that eventually begins to form a picture. I also deliberately follow things that go on elsewhere to lay false trails. Mostly that seems to keep me fairly private. Not so easy if one has to have a public persona. Yes, I do still get some targetted stuff, mostly about music, sailing, electronics and software.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
If you are on Google, YouTube, Facebook and other sites, remove everything that is personal about yourself. On Facebook, there is nothing personal about me at all, no picture, no birthday, no schools, no interests, etc...
Same thing on Google.
Remove all tracking on Google that you can find.
Use a VPN!!! That is a must.
Download and install OO Shutup and run it. That stops just about all tracking from MicroCrap. The only thing I allow access to is my Microphone in case I do some recording. You have to do research to stop the vast majority of apps tracking you.
My cell phone is for calling only. I don't do YT, Facebook, Mail or other app. That is for my Desktop where I can have more control over it.
Another example, I ordered a guitar from Sweetwater and it tooks months for the ad's to finally trickle off. I learned that if I want to see something on a commercial website like Sweetwater, Amazon, Guitar Center, etc..., I open up the website in a Private Browsing window on Firefox. If you really want to go deeper, you can use TOR. You can't stop it all unless you go a full "Ted Kaczynski" and just drop off the tech grid 100%. You just do what you can to keep the data from feeding back.
BIAB2025 Windows 10 Pro WA6NCB No Longer on a Crappy Laptop!
There are two components to all this. One is the tracking and how to stop it. The other is whether any real danger exists as a result of the tracking.
I assume the type of tracking we are talking about controlling has little to do with actual criminal activity. The solution to possible future criminal issues is being taken care of by other professionals I have had to hire. I had a banking issue where a fraudulent cashier's check was cashed on my business account. That caused a bit of hassle but not a super big deal. It was a good bit of money, $230,000.
I do not have any real problems with the fact that a bunch of music advertising ends up on my MSN feed.
The fact that I live in Florida is well known and easy for anyone to find that information. I am not hiding out any longer even though All My Exes Live In Texas...lol
The advertising tracking idea seems pretty stupid, as I only get the advertising after I have bought something.
I see most people being very secretive about a lot of things, such as health. I had Cancer and was lucky enough to get over it. I can't imagine what value there would be in trying to hide that fact.
All this potential looking over my shoulder, so to speak, just seems a little weird.
If these people who wanted to sell me things were smart, they would just contact me once a month and ask what I needed to buy. Hell, I would be glad for someone to go do all the research I have to do to make buying decisions!
Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
Welcome to the new AI world! Their bots are scouring sites day & night for anything they can find to 'improve' their ChatBots. Privacy is nonexistent; it's on the public internet, same as taking a picture of you in public; no right to privacy.
I get how beneficial AI can be, but I also see the intrusive abuse every day. They eat up bandwidth I pay for to scrape unimportant trivia .. <sigh>
I, for one. do not welcome our new overlords, especially the ones making big $$ off other peoples data while they foot half the bill. Did a ground breaking study? That's our data now! Wrote a song? Ours!
</rant off>
Last edited by rharv; 12/27/2404:15 PM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!
XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!
The XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs special offers are now available until August 31st at 11:59pm PDT!
Ready to take your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 experience to the next level? Now’s the perfect time! Expand your style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs—packed with a wide variety of genres to inspire your next musical creation.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-9 includes 900 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). With over 3,500 styles (and 35 MIDI styles) included in Xtra Styles PAKs 1-20, the possibilities are endless!
Get the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Get Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 19 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Don’t miss this chance to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box setup—at a great price!
Mac 2025 Special Upgrade Offers Extended Until August 15th!
It's not too late to upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® and save! We've extended our special until August 15, 2025!
We've added many major new features to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, including advanced AI tools like the amazing BB Stem Splitter and AI Lyrics Generator, as well as VST3 plugin support, and Equalize Temp. Plus, there’s a new one-stop MIDI Patches Picker with over 1,100 MIDI patches to choose from, all neatly categorized by GM numbers. The MultiPicker Library is enhanced with tabs for the SongPicker, MIDI Patch Picker, Chord Builder, AI Lyrics Generator, and Song Titles Browser, and the tabs are organized into logical groups. The Audiophile Edition is enhanced with FLAC files , which are 60% smaller than AIFF files while maintaining identical audio quality, and now ships on a fast 1TB SSD, and much more!
Check out all the new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® here:
Purchase your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac during our special to save up to 50% off your upgrade purchase and receive a FREE BONUS PAK of amazing new Add-ons. These include the 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK, Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana, Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes, MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano, Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7, Playable RealTracks Set 4, RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark, and more!
Upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and add 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and 20 RealStyles, FLAC Files for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks, Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster, MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster, Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8, and RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe.
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs!
We’ve expanded the Band-in-a-Box® RealTracks library with 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 449-467) across Jazz, Blues, Funk, World, Pop, Rock, Country, Americana, and Praise & Worship—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Blues & World (Sets 449–455):
These RealTracks includes “Soul Jazz” with Neil Swainson (bass), Mike Clark (drums), Charles Treadway (organ), Miles Black (piano), and Brent Mason (guitar). Enjoy “Requested ’60s” jazz, classic acoustic blues with Colin Linden, and more of our popular 2-handed piano soloing. Plus, a RealTracks first—Tango with bandoneon, recorded in Argentina!
Rock & Pop (Sets 456–461):
This collection includes Disco, slap bass ‘70s/‘80s pop, modern and ‘80s metal with Andy Wood, and a unique “Songwriter Potpourri” featuring Chinese folk instruments, piano, banjo, and more. You’ll also find a muted electric guitar style (a RealTracks first!) and “Producer Layered Guitar” styles for slick "produced" sound.
Country, Americana & Praise (Sets 462–467):
We’ve added new RealTracks across bro country, Americana, praise & worship, vintage country, and songwriter piano. Highlights include Brent Mason (electric guitar), Eddie Bayers (drums), Doug Jernigan (pedal steel), John Jarvis (piano), Glen Duncan (banjo, mandolin & fiddle), Mike Harrison (electric bass) and more—offering everything from modern sounds to heartfelt Americana styles
And, if you are looking for more, the 2025 49-PAK (for $49) includes an additional 20 RealTracks with exciting new sounds and genre-spanning styles. Enjoy RealTracks firsts like Chinese instruments (guzheng & dizi), the bandoneon in an authentic Argentine tango trio, and the classic “tic-tac” baritone guitar for vintage country.
You’ll also get slick ’80s metal guitar from Andy Wood, modern metal with guitarist Nico Santora, bass player Nick Schendzielos, and drummer Aaron Stechauner, more praise & worship, indie-folk, modern/bro country with Brent Mason, and “Songwriter Americana” with Johnny Hiland.
Plus, enjoy user-requested styles like Soul Jazz RealDrums, fast Celtic Strathspey guitar, and Chill Hop piano & drums!
With your version 2025 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Or upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
The 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 33 new RealTracks and 65+ new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 29 new RealTracks and 45+ new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 20 new RealStyles.
Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana
Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes
MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano
Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7
Playable RealTracks Set 4
RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark
SynthMaster Sounds and Styles (with audio demos)
128 GM MIDI Patch Audio Demos.
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyles,
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster,
Instrumental Studies Set 23: More '80s Hard Rock Soloing,
MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster
Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8
RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Mac!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Mac!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Windows!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/KjJ70Lp.jpg)
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/CMOwVtE.jpg)
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/1xIjp50.jpg)
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean