Okay I finally get to say it.
When I run TT and monitor who is accessing my computer I am seeing a constant connection to a server 216.254.154.152 via TCP port 443, a secure socket layer (encrypted SSL) connection from my computer back to this web address. TT is gathering data from you!
If you do not believe me go to http://www.sysinternals.com/NetworkingUtilities.html and down load TCPView and run it while TT is running.
I am dead serious about this, I am a systems administrator managing several web sites and internet servers for a very large company and I know this type of connection is only for the purposes of sending any data they choose that you yourself can gather on your computer to their servers to be stored in a huge database that can be used for anything they choose to use it for. Only the programmers and administrators know about this stuff, sales and support people are clueless, they do not have the technical knowledge to confirm or deny it. They only know what they are told and can not comment on anything outside of a procedure or their specific job responsibilities.
I can see using encryption to keep our information secure from other users like yourself but what is the data used for? I call this spyware because I don't know what they are doing and they will not say so I choose not to allow it for one main reason, it is now data being sent back to XM Radio's web site.
Try this:
Go to https://216.254.154.152 (the IP address TT WAS using to connect to their server) that NOW will connect your computer directly to XM radio's web site. So whatever TT was gathering is now being sent to XM. Wonderful huh? why would TTT help or be forced to send this data to XM? Speculate all you want but the facts are that a network connection is successfully being made (to XM) and data is being transferred and stored. When TT is closed down additional network connections are made then close shortly after the application does.
I write database applications and the reason I would do this is I have an MSSQL database running and storing everything you do while the application is running and everything that you can access on your computer they can access because basically you are running the application and giving it to them. The rise in activity at the close is to transfer any locally stored data one last time if it was between an timed interval and as a general log function to record the time and date. When the connection is unavailable the application typically has a time-out function and is slow to come up or shut down because it is trying, but not too long as to not make you aware. It can tolerate short outages because it stores data in memory or cached in a temporary "flat" file until the connection is resumed. This paragraph is speculation based on my professional experience of twenty years doing just this type of work.
The way to stop this is to block all access to IP address 216.254.154.152 and the URL www.timetraxtech.com on both ports 80 (http) and 443 (https) on your home network or just on the computer running TT. To be safe you could also block the IP 216.251.231.128 and the URL www.xmradio.com but so far this is not required and would stop you from using TT's online services at XM. What will happen is TT will come up slow with the "Waiting for channel Load" taking a little longer than usual. That message actually means "Waiting to connect to the TimeTrax Database Server". These same long delays in the past was from them not having the server up in time for the new version of TT they released. Be aware this delay may become severe again now that you can not connect to their database server. It is your call if you want to use TT with the delay or not, the "connect to the database feature" appears to be hard-coded into the Visual Basic 6.0 application and there is no way to remove it cleanly.
This is unacceptable to us and TT has been getting away with it for years and now that they are gone and do not hold the strings of this web site I can tell you all. You have not been told the whole story on here and anyone with this kind of experience like this web site has no doubt knew about it and did not tell you and actually suppressed it for reasons yet unknown. This will not be a sticky here so save it now and pass it around.
More disclosure information on TT to come...
When I run TT and monitor who is accessing my computer I am seeing a constant connection to a server 216.254.154.152 via TCP port 443, a secure socket layer (encrypted SSL) connection from my computer back to this web address. TT is gathering data from you!
If you do not believe me go to http://www.sysinternals.com/NetworkingUtilities.html and down load TCPView and run it while TT is running.
I am dead serious about this, I am a systems administrator managing several web sites and internet servers for a very large company and I know this type of connection is only for the purposes of sending any data they choose that you yourself can gather on your computer to their servers to be stored in a huge database that can be used for anything they choose to use it for. Only the programmers and administrators know about this stuff, sales and support people are clueless, they do not have the technical knowledge to confirm or deny it. They only know what they are told and can not comment on anything outside of a procedure or their specific job responsibilities.
I can see using encryption to keep our information secure from other users like yourself but what is the data used for? I call this spyware because I don't know what they are doing and they will not say so I choose not to allow it for one main reason, it is now data being sent back to XM Radio's web site.
Try this:
Go to https://216.254.154.152 (the IP address TT WAS using to connect to their server) that NOW will connect your computer directly to XM radio's web site. So whatever TT was gathering is now being sent to XM. Wonderful huh? why would TTT help or be forced to send this data to XM? Speculate all you want but the facts are that a network connection is successfully being made (to XM) and data is being transferred and stored. When TT is closed down additional network connections are made then close shortly after the application does.
I write database applications and the reason I would do this is I have an MSSQL database running and storing everything you do while the application is running and everything that you can access on your computer they can access because basically you are running the application and giving it to them. The rise in activity at the close is to transfer any locally stored data one last time if it was between an timed interval and as a general log function to record the time and date. When the connection is unavailable the application typically has a time-out function and is slow to come up or shut down because it is trying, but not too long as to not make you aware. It can tolerate short outages because it stores data in memory or cached in a temporary "flat" file until the connection is resumed. This paragraph is speculation based on my professional experience of twenty years doing just this type of work.
The way to stop this is to block all access to IP address 216.254.154.152 and the URL www.timetraxtech.com on both ports 80 (http) and 443 (https) on your home network or just on the computer running TT. To be safe you could also block the IP 216.251.231.128 and the URL www.xmradio.com but so far this is not required and would stop you from using TT's online services at XM. What will happen is TT will come up slow with the "Waiting for channel Load" taking a little longer than usual. That message actually means "Waiting to connect to the TimeTrax Database Server". These same long delays in the past was from them not having the server up in time for the new version of TT they released. Be aware this delay may become severe again now that you can not connect to their database server. It is your call if you want to use TT with the delay or not, the "connect to the database feature" appears to be hard-coded into the Visual Basic 6.0 application and there is no way to remove it cleanly.
This is unacceptable to us and TT has been getting away with it for years and now that they are gone and do not hold the strings of this web site I can tell you all. You have not been told the whole story on here and anyone with this kind of experience like this web site has no doubt knew about it and did not tell you and actually suppressed it for reasons yet unknown. This will not be a sticky here so save it now and pass it around.
More disclosure information on TT to come...
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