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Bust Banner Ads
Apr. 11, 2005, 12:14 PM
Post: #1
 
Anyone familiar with this program to block ads : http://www.schooner.com/~loverso/no-ads/ I saw this posted in one of the newsgroups
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Apr. 11, 2005, 09:24 PM
Post: #2
 
Ralph;

We've already discussed this in various places around the forum, but it's been awhile.

Essentially, they want you (the user) to configure your browser to disable some things, and enable other things, all of which are inimical to the use of Proxo. If you are so inclined, you may test this out, but be aware that that you will do a lot of reconfiguring, and while you're at it, you'll not be safe and secure behind Proxo. :o

The real mechanism here is that the newly-downloaded file is called as a script from the browser, each time said browser loads up. That script then checks all incoming and outgoing addresses (sound familiar?), and what matches on its list is tossed out with the bathwater. However, there is a real fly in the ointment, and that is that the file is really nothing more than a very, very long javascript function that is using one helluva giant regexp. As previously noted by hpguru, that's a whale of a lot of room for error! <_<

Allegedly, this thing is better than a HOSTS file because it can distinguish between good and bad servers on the same page, but I have my doubts about that. [angry] Certainly, while the web page says that the file was updated just a few days ago, it's got what, maybe several hundred entries (it's only 13K big). You'll recall that hp's HOSTS file has over 38K entries!

Beneath all their hype, I get the feeling that they are attempting to give Proxo (and others) a black eye, and not very subtly, either. This tactic always wakes me up, and I start asking questions like "Who benefits from this drivel?" You can probably guess how I'm gonna close this message, right? Big Teeth

In short, I don't believe a word of it. But in true legalese, I have to state for the record that IANAL, so YMMV!! [lol]


Oddysey

I'm no longer in the rat race - the rats won't have me!
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Apr. 11, 2005, 10:53 PM
Post: #3
 
Oddysey , Thanks for the information . I don't remember seeing this topic on the forum . I saw the post at the grc newsgroup but was reluctant to download and install it without getting some advice . ( Very unlike me ) Smile!
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Apr. 18, 2005, 05:24 AM
Post: #4
 
Yeah, I tried it a couple months ago; like Odyssey said, it's just a sort of js file (.pac, though) that you set the browser to use as an automatic proxy configuration. I set it up to go through Proxo also in the .pac. But, I only used it for a short while. I can't remember exactly, but I think it caused a few minor problems with some sites, and I couldn't really see the need for it myself, since Proxo and my hosts file are already taking care of ads and such. So, despite the attraction of setting things up a la Rube Goldberg [lol] , I haven't used it since.

It certainly couldn't replace Proxo. Sometimes I see a post on other forums asking, "Hey dude since I use Firefox, why should I use the Proxomitron?" -- as if ad-blocking was all it does. (Though Proxo does do that extremely well; I've heard that pop-ups have found a way to get around Mozilla's blocking in the past few months. Well, I haven't seen it. Cheers )

I know I'm stating the obvious here, but one of the things I like most about Proxo is the ability to customise the web. Want a site to really look different? Have Proxo tell your browser to call your own css file instead of the site's. Hail Scott Lemmon! [smoke]

Surfing with Proxo on wine in Debian GNU/Linux ... can ya dig it?
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