WARNING:careful, gmail might display images,read thread carefully 5/11/2009

[GreenBean]

The thread is stickied as well. I'll keep it updated by date so noone gets
caught. Good Luck

[oompaloompa]

is disabling the adobe flash on firefox useful?

[NO ID]

Well i just noticed that images are being displayed only on one of my gmail accounts and i have several.??

I'm still having the problem on all ebay related gmail in all accounts involved. I have turned images off, but they keep turning themselves back on for any mail from ebay. Even the emails that have already been read.

Sorry, the tip from NO ID didn't work as well as we had hoped. And I still can't figure out if the fault is with gmail or with ebay or if ebay conned gmail into playing ball.

I don't see how flash could be causing it, but I'll factor that into my analysis and see if it matters. I hope you're onto something with that idea. One thing I can say is that disabling flash can't hurt...

Originally Posted by oompaloompa

is disabling the adobe flash on firefox useful?

[lakeman]

I can't figure this out either. It hasn't done it again to me so far, but I still have no idea why it happened. I have flash cookies enabled on all of my accounts and only one them decided to display images.

[needhelpplease]

I am new to this forum, but I do have a gmail email account personally, and I noticed the same thing....the images being displayed without actually clicking the button to display them.....I dont use my gmail account for ebay nor paypal so it was probably just a problem with gmail that day. It only did it for me that one day. I thought it was weird, but didnt think much of it since it was just my own personal email.

I have not found an obvious cause. It is now only happening to 1/3 of my gmail accounts. It is only related to mail from ebay. It is never an email from anywhere else (happened with paypal 4 days ago but went away).

I doubt the problem is based on the client system or settings. But (possibly) pertinent info is listed below. If anybody else sees anything I should look into, speak up.

My system:
AMD ATHLON 64 +3000
4 Gig Ram
Via Gigabit Ethernet
Netgear wireless mangager (adapter rarely plugged in and not a factor, but driver runs always)
nVidia MX440 video
AC 97 Audio
Windows XP Pro 64bit SP2
Firefox 3.0.10
Plugins:(all are current updates)
flashblock (enabled and blocking all flash period)
adblock (enabled nuking everything on the US easylist)
objection (set for manual use)
noscript (enabled with custom settings)
Paypal Plug In (disabled not updated recently)
Reload Every (enabled but not active)
Scrapbook (enabled)
Speed Dial (enabled and customized)
Tamper Data (enabled but manual use only)
Xmarks (enabled)

I am currently booted up in Slax with absolutely nothing enabled. Live boot from USB with no changes permitted of any kind. No flash. No nothing. Did the same with BackTrack3 and Puppy and BSD.

Checked webmail and POP3 and IMAP for raw message codes or inconsistency.

Using a mail client, setting client options to never display external images - everything cool. Webmail - displaying images when it should not be doing so.

From this line forward, all observations apply to web-based mail in a browser, unless and except where and if otherwise noted.

Checked my gmail accounts again. All ebay messages showing images. Non-ebay messages are just like they should be - no images displayed.

New thing, though: For the ebay messages, I can't access the drop down for header details, image disable, or anything. The drop-down is GONE. Don't see it. Tried clicking where I know it should be. All other messages are unaffected. Images not seen. Drop-down just where it should be.

So, I need some ideas. All I can conclude is that ebay has made some deal with gmail to begin displaying images no matter what and that gmail is in the process of getting it implemented (explains why some of us get it more than others). Or by some slim coincidence... gmail is just glitching out.

I've sifted through raw email code. I've sifted through the entire page source for several open messages. This problem seems to be beyond my ken.

I'm not giving up on it, but I am losing confidence that it will be figured out. So, I'll repeat myself - ideas are more than welcome.

[oompaloompa]

its only on certain emails you say? whats yellow button?

I usually only read buyers questions, is that affected?

My thing is that there cant be a deal between ebay and gmail, why, it would be against our agreement to defy our settings, whats in it for them, it looks sneaky and gmail dont have to act like that. I thought google and ebay were mortal enemies, anyway.

I think its a glitch somehow

All I can say velcro is you are a computer/internet whizz, most of what you say goes over my head, but you are a very very useful and welcome addition to the forum.

quote

once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary,
over many a strange and spurious site of 'hot xxx galore'.
While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning,
and my heart was filled with mourning,
mourning for my dear amour,
" 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, "give me back my free hardcore!"
quoth the server, 404."


^^^^^^^^is that you bastar*ization of 'the raven' ?!

For me, it was Paypal and eBay messages ONLY, on Friday. Saturday and since, it has only been eBay messages. Up until yesterday it was some eBay messages on some accounts, then on all accounts. Now it is all eBay messages on ~1/3 accounts. When I open eBay messages now, on affected accounts, the gmail page fuctions change noticably. Some controls are missing until I open messages from some other source.

Buyer questions are usually the ones with the Yellow Button. To the right of the message it will say "Respond" on a yellow button. The reply-to field will say "use-the-yellow-button@ebay.com" or something like that.

Those would be the ones to be quite concerned about. If you want to open any of them, I'd suggest getting into the proper windows login and making sure you have the appropriate IP.

Even if you haven't had the problem yet, I'd start being careful. It could begin to happen at any time to anybody. Look around. It's not just me. And the timing can't be predicted yet.

[Juicyas]

I just need a yes or no answer to this.

I have more than 1 ebay account. I have used outlook to reply to emails from both accounts without changing IP. Are these accounts now officially linked?

It depends.

If the reply-to goes back to ebay in any way, you are likely linked. If the reply-to goes back to the person's email address on a mail server like gmail or yahoo or hotmail, you're fine.

[Juicyas]

I should point out I haven't seen the pictures load in outlook (ie. reply to button or a pic of the item). The thing is when I click reply, they do load. I asked about that about 2 weeks ago and I think it was HWGA who replied and said he'd never been linked cause of this.

[Juicyas]

Originally Posted by vicvelcro

It depends.

If the reply-to goes back to ebay in any way, you are likely linked. If the reply-to goes back to the person's email address on a mail server like gmail or yahoo or hotmail, you're fine.

I've been doing that for over 2 months now. A big % of them go back through ebay. I was sure I'd seen people saying it was safe if using gmail.

It really will be a hassle to use a different login / IP for every email reply. Especially if you had many accounts.

Actually, it is not and has not been safe to reply using GMAIL, if the message header contents say the reply-to is <example@ebay.com>. Not the button. The contents of the header, usually hidden.

It is safe to READ from any IP using gmail, if images are disabled. But not to SEND.

Gmail does contain your IP. It's in there.

If the pics load when you are making your reply, you've probably been cookied.

In this regard, I believe you have been lucky so far.

For me, switching isn't such a hassle. I just do my windows login, set my IP, take care of ALL appropriate business, then repeat the process for all appropriate accounts. I don't switch back and forth really. Except when I am analyzing or troubleshooting, and most of that I do from my linux box anyhow.

If the reply-to in the header says a normal email address, it is safe to reply, as long as there are no images loading anywhere.

Personally, I never reply to a message having anything to do with ebay related subject matter. I cut and paste the original to a freshly created outgoing mail, type my response, and manually put the recipient's address in then hit send. I do that from gmail most of the time, but sometimes I use other mail accounts, but it's the same process.

[Lyda]

I keep all my Ebay/Paypal accounts on separate user accounts on another computer where I use only AOL dial up. I guess I don't even have to worry than about pictures in my gmail ...Let them have it!

[oompaloompa]

actually i did always wonder about replying to buyers questions before it was sold ie you only have memberxsdhdsh@ebay.com

I was told it was safe with gmail, and saved you logging in to ebay to reply.

Is this correct?

by the way my flash is disabled, I know I keep harping on about it, but I think that is safer.

It used to be safe with gmail. Now, your IP is in outgoing messages. So you don't want that going through ebay servers. Some of the questions from ebay buyers will have the person's non-ebay info in the 'reply-to' buried in the header. If the person chose not to keep their address hidden. If that's the case, you can email all you want.

I keep my flash turned off and only enable it selectively with noscript and flashblock. I feel it is much safer.

Unless an ebay user asks a very relevant question, if it is asked before they've placed a bid - I will not respond to them unless I can do so directly to their real email address. If a question really belongs in the listing, I'll make an exception. Every so often, I have been known to leave out a very significant detail about something in my listing...

Say Lah Vee...

[oompaloompa]

The fact is replying to questions can be the difference between sale/no sale, lowbid/higher bid - questions that are relevant must be answered.

When you say 'it used to be safe with gmail' are you referring to the current displaying images problem? I still think it is safe, if your gmail IS NOT displaying images, no?
cant you just check and decide to answer or not, are you saying that you can check and at the precise moment you reply the images switch on again and you are linked - unlikely!?

I have sent mail from one of my gmail accounts to one of my hotmail accounts and to an email address on my own web host (have my own website). Gmail never used to pass my IP address along via email. Lately, when I open the test email and view headers, I see my own IP buried in there. Sometimes it's not, but most of the time, it is.

If I MUST answer a question regarding a listing, I do it via email if the email destination is NOT going to touch ebay systems. If it would touch ebay, I do my stealth thang and log into ebay, then answer via ebay message system or directly in the listing.

Keep in mind that sometimes ebay will try to GETCHA with lame questions about your listing. I never answer silly, lame, or obviously dumb questions - figuring it is some ebay T&S monkey who only has mild grasp of my language and can't form complicated sentences.

When gmail is NOT displaying images, it is safe to read them. Not entirely safe to send with them anymore even when images are not displayed. Be careful about where the destination is.

If you are sending reply via a mail client and you have images set to OFF, when you reply, the images will be on briefly to form the reply. That's where you could get linked. During the brief 'reply preview' that happens before you even send. This applies to local mail readers like Outlook Express etc.

One of these days, I'm gonna pay for a hotel conference room and give a free seminar on this type of thing. It's easier to explain and demonstrate in person. And it is important enough that I'd be willing to give my time for free, just to help people out.

I hate when outsiders try to use my own computer to spy on me. I'm sure you all feel the same way. It's infuriating.

It's an insult to my intelligence when I realize they think they can succeed in doing so.