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That was what I used Proxomitron for back in the day... block ads and annoyances by using it as a proxy.

Actually, Proxomitron can handle https, you just have to know how to set it up: http://www.proxomitron.info/45...

Proxomitron was WAY ahead of its' time. It is still installed and running wonderfully on a couple of my systems. If you simply *must* have something which is more recently actively developed then Proximodo may be more up your alley. It is fully compatible with all Proximodo filters, etc. but is lacking SSL support...

Proxy based ad blockers? You mean like proxomitron?

Not used NoScript or Adblock or what, but I use Proxomitron combined with Opera and the web seems relatively Ad-free.

I skip AdBlock Plus and instead use Proxomitron with the jd5000 filter set. The author of Proxomitron died back in 2004, and the website for jd5000 appears to have expired, but this page seems to be current. Proxomitron not only blocks ads, but also selectively mangles a lot of obnoxious javascript.

• EditPlus Programming editor
• IrfanView Image viewer with effects and image manipulation capabilities
• Putty so I can SSH to my Gentoo from winblows
• Ability Spreadsheet as opposed to the spreadsheets in microsoft office, open office, and gnumeric
• Proxomitron Web-filtering proxy
• Flashpaste Copy/Paste on steroids
• WinRAR as opposed to winzip
• uTorrent as opposed to azureus and other java based boulder-weight crap
• mIRC IRC client
• DVD Shrink Rip/decode/encode DVDs, etc.
• Tail for Win32 Wish tail under linux was this good
• RealAlternative as opposed to realplayer
• Virtual Dimension Virtual desktops, as opposed to microsoft's power toys

Actually, Proxomitron is a perfect substitute for Adblock plus. It's essentially a personal web proxy that uses regular expression rules to rewrite web pages before you see them. It comes with a set of filters that'll drop most ads. If you want a better list of rules for it, you should get Sidki's filter set. Using this along with proxomitron gives me more ad protection than Adblock plus offers, along with *much* more flexibility on exactly what to filter and rewrite in web pages.

damn Proxomitron.

i) Use a filtering proxy (like Proxomitron) to remove sponsored ads from search engine sites. Or, ignore these ads.

ii) The very trite - patch your software! The exploited MS IE hole was patched over a year ago.

Windows honorary mention: proximitron
http://www.proxomitron.info/

My internet crap blocker won't let me access the download site on *.atdmt.com. Hmmmm. It must be trying to tell me something. Back to browsing safely.

Sounds like M$ has just "invented" a limited-functionality locked-in version of the marvellous Proxomitron. An application I truly wouldn't be without. Scrubs HTML nasties right out of the box, and also allows you to see a web page the way you want to see it. It runs with any browser, not just Internet Exploiter. And it's the right price, too.

Hey, if this is just a thread to promote software, the Proxomitron can do similar things for you, plus block advertisements, fix formating, ... Works with all browsers that support proxies. Only real problem is that it needs wine or windows.

Advertisement ends. Proles will now resume purchasing.

Try Proxomitron. It acts as a proxy server, and you can use RegExp commands to catch suspect ads embedded in pages and block them. The great thing about it is, install it once and use it in all browsers.

Seriously, people should be making use of the adblocking functionality in their browsers, or better yet, installing filtering proxies like proxo to halt this crap before it gets to the browser.

Some sites already do something liketo this! Thanks to the magic of DHTML, the website operator can include a Javascript at the end of the article, that goes through the article and turn words to links, which, when you mouse-over them, show tooltips with ads in them! Luckily for me, they're easily disabled with Proxomitron.

http://www.proxomitron.info/

Best. HTTP filter. Ever.
Seriously, the Proxomitron is the single best Windows app in existance - and a really good reason to install Wine on a Linux box. You can modify both incoming and outgoing headers, replace annoying or broken parts of a webpage using regexp-like expressions... It's essentially Greasemonkey on steroids as a local proxy.

Have to agree there. It's an amazing little tool once you can get the hang of it.

It's amazing how much crap you can filter out. Plus you can create custom rules for specific sites, so you can 'repair' broken or badly-behaved sites. As parent points out, the creator of The Proxomitron has since died, so alas the source code is closed AFAIK. Not that it needed improving as it has always been rock-solid.

I've tried the open source Privoxy which is very similar and unlike The Proxomitron available in non-Windows versiions, but IMHO it is not as flexible or powerful.

That reminds me - since it is Shonenware I really ought to get a Shonen Knife CD someday...

All it means is that it's time to make a new Proxomitron (http://www.proxomitron.info/) filter.

If it's ads that contain these annoying sounds, just block the ads. Hit them where it hurts. I recommend Proxomitron because it runs as a proxy and hence covers all all your browsers simultaneously (but you can ad rules for individual browsers with header matching).

Alternatively, if you just use Firefox, you can try the Adblock extension but, personally, Proxo is alot more powerful. If you're comfortable with regex, willing to learn a few $commands()'s, it's the way to go.

Unfortunately it's Windows only, and no longer in development (sadly the author died and never released the source), but it's still widely used and has a quite a little community about it. If you need it, I'm sure someone else can point you to a Linux solution.

Here is a taster of what Engadget can look like after a few rules in Proxo.

P.S.
On the morality of blocking ads: nobody complains when you goto fetch a drink and take a jimmy riddle during the commercial break, now do they?

- operating system name and version
Huh. I never noticed this in my Firefox headers before.
- your CPU type
I don't see this in the headers either.
- usually your ISP
Well, they get that from your IP, which it's hard to avoid sending (you need an anonymizer proxy).
- your browser and version and sometimes extras added onto your browser
This really helps send a version of the page that will display correctly. And it's mostly harmless.

If you want to get rid of anything but your IP, there's the Proxomitron. http://www.proxomitron.info/
I think I'll delete my OS info.

Just get Proxomitron. Works on all browsers - ad blocking in Opera, FF, IE, even "links".

You wouldn't be able to do it on hosted webspace - those things usually only allow you to use the http daemon provided. You'd need to actually rent a server, which is usually quite expensive.

For SSL proxying, you'd need to use something like this - never set one up, but it looks about right. Of course, the server would need to be outside the UK to avoid getting logged. If you don't want to go to the trouble of setting up your own, you could try something like FreeNet*, Tor*, JAP** or just a random anonymous SSL proxy (Proxomitron or MultiProxy might prove useful here). If you're a little less paranoid, you could use a CGI proxy.

* Warning: using these systems may mean that child porn is passing through your system, iirc.
** I know that at one point this system was discovered to have a government backdoor in it, but I think they cleaned up their act.

Stop whining. This is a problem with very few websites (e.g sf.net patch list). Just install MiddleMan (http://middle-man.sourceforge.net/) or Proxomitron (http://proxomitron.info/files/index.html) to modify the culprit headers on the fly (I am sure you have a clue what to modify from the replies). Firefox does exactly what a standard compliant browser should do, don't complain about standards.

Okay, I'm not familiar with all the extensions available for FF. However, the last one can be handled with a filtering proxy of some sort. As mentioned elsewhere you can "F12 u ctrl-R" in Opera to en/dis-able the plugins as well.

While everyone has their own tastes, Opera suits me fine. The only drawback it had for me is the lack of an ftp upload tool, but there are actually ftp clients, so I'm told ;-)

Try a filtering proxy - I know you're going toget hints for various extesions, but you should check out proxomitron.

who can't remember that lovely triangle guy?

There were proxomitron filters for geocities, xoom, etc. Too bad the author died and never released the code. I still miss the alter-headers feature where I could change the outgoing HTTP headers.

You should use a browser-independent proxy filter like Privoxy or Proxomitron (on Windows), with the JD5000 filter set, as it is a client-side HTTP proxy and will work well with any browser.

I block ads because I don't feel they offer me anything. My mindset is that I would rather find out about new products through news/blogs/user comments because they have a much better chance of being unbiased than ads. And if I decide that I want something I will research which brand to buy myself rather than relying on the companies selling the product to compare different brands. That's not to say ads don't affect me as they probably do, but I try to minimize the chances of that happening.

I "block" ads on TV by switching to a different channel when an ad comes on (lots of people do this) and then flip back and forth with the last button. I ignore ads in printed media by not reading them.

For internet I use Proxomitron that blocks popups and turns image ads into white space.

Honestly we are so saturated with ads nowdays that a lot of people simply block them out mentally or hate them so much that they would rather not buy a producted with some flashy ad and instead buy a similar one that wasn't advertised.

I find it difficult to see how anyone can claim IE is more secure than any other browser, unless there is one that purposely downloads malware, of which I am unaware. I'm not going to dupe all of the other comments about the design issues in IE, but it will be a frosty day on the sun when I browse with IE without some protection.

If you are using Proxomitron and Grypen's Latest Filters for Proxomitron, then this sites "IE only requirement" becomes VERY easy to bypass.

How do you we do this once Proxomitron and Gryphen's filters are installed? Easy! Open up

User - Include - Exclude.txt

Then add the following into this file.

www.fema.gov $SET(keyword=.js.ajs.code.flash.popup.iesite.)

Once this is done - you can now visit the site using any god damn browser you want. In my case I tested the registration page under Opera, Firefox, and Mozilla, and as far as FEMA site was concerned, this was my user agent.

User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1)

So really, I don't know why moronic webmasters, especially for a government or government related site, want to pull shit like this for users whom may not know how to get around "IE only" requirements.

All I can say is use Proxomitron for Windows and Grypen's Proxomitron Filters for effecitve cookie filtering along with a whole whack of other filters for ad's and anything else malicious.

I'm sure I'd just use Proxomitron like I do now.

Here you are.

If you're on Windows, I'd strongly recommend Proxomitron - a kickass personal web proxy that is able to strip out all the crap. If you're on Linux, there's Privoxy, or you could just use Greasemonkey (although that's possibly overkill).

I love that app.

Use Proxomitron (on Windows) or Privoxy (Unix/Windows too) to block ads.. They work great -- configure one of them once, point all your browsers to use their localhost proxy port (or your router if you're on a home network), and you get ad-blocking for any browser you use.

Greasemonkey is a revolutionary Firefox extension that many feel has enormous implications for the future evolution of the web.

This doesn't make any sense. How is the user capable, or how has the user been capable to display information on the Web (not the internet, just a part) with a web browser.

Remember, this like this never happened before this FF extension, so where do you come off saying that?

Most of the sites I visited were primarily text, and I was anticipating a good savings through compression. There did not seem to be any used, though I did not try to snoop the traffic between the local Google proxy and the main proxy server.

Seeing that I was using a remote proxy, several of the sites which give me special access based on my source address did not grant me that access. (Yeah, I could turn it off for those sites, but that seems like work.)

From my short test, I can't see any advantage for me to continue using this. (Of course if I had a nasty firewall censorship policy to bypass, I might change my mind. Or I might pick a different remote proxy.)

When I first saw this, I was reminded of other "web accelerators" which were basically spyware.

Your performance may vary, but I'll just continue with only Proxomitron between me and the web.

This is a good idea on any home network with multiple PCs, Linux, Windows, Mac or whatever. This puts a single high-tech cache your side of your Internet connection talking to a single, massive, high-tech, compressing, optimising cache on the other side of your network. I think it's time for my home network to gain an always-on, fanless, Windows PC.

To neuter GWA:

Internet Explorer 6:
Tools -> Manage Add-ons
Disable:

Google Web Accelerator - Toolbar
Google Web Accelerator Helper - BHO

Tools -> Internet Options -> Connections
Remove the proxy entry, or use your own, like The Proxomitron or Proximodo.

FireFox 1.0.3:
Mozilla Firefox\chrome\chrome.rdf
Mozilla Firefox\chrome\overlayinfo\browser\content\overlay s.rdf
Mozilla Firefox\chrome\overlayinfo\global\skinstylesheets. rdf

Search for "googlewebacc" and remove any <RDF:*></RDF> sections that contain it.

Tools -> Options -> General -> Connection Settings...
Remove the proxy, or use your own such as the two linked above.

No more toolbars!

Now, if you want to use GWA selectively, you can use the aforementioned Proxomitron or Proximodo and configure them to use an external proxy, with the 127.0.0.1:9001 address as you would for other browsers. Then setup FireFox, IE, or whatever to use 127.0.0.1:8080 as the proxy address.

Use the proxomitron or some other ad blocker and keep using Opera.
I find proxomitron works much better than Adblock even though it looks like it`s not being developed anymore sadly.There are plenty of alternatives though.
Now the only feature I would like to see in Opera is the Flash click to play thingy like firefox has.

For adblocking, you should try Proxomitron. I've found this to be a god-send for browsing - blocks ads, popups, etc, etc. Plus, the blocklists are constantly being updated by dedicated users, and can be found at CastleCops. For Linux, try Privoxy.

I actually agree with this Langa character, albeit out of context: There are no panaceas!.

He is correct, but I'm not sure who it is that is proffering FireFox as a cure to all your web browsing issues. (Now a real panacea would be useful. ;-)

Seriously, I think the author falls short of his stated intention of comparing MS IE and FF.

One thing he misses is that when he brings in the "large number" stuff (which he brings up) is that the prevalence of IE means that each of the vulnerabilities in the more popular browser (regardless of which that may be) are available on more machines than for the less "popular" one. As IE is available on (basically) every Windows desktop, a single vuln in IE is multiplied by that large number. (Thanks to MS incorporating an application into the operating system libraries.) [And no, I'm advocating comparing the raw number of vulnerabilities out there as a measure of the comparitive security of one browser over the others.]

Oh yes, I don't see the $#!+ on Yahoo! either, thanks to proxomitron.

They are one stop shopping for blocking the junk that clutters the web.

Go get you some filtering:

http://www.mozilla.org
http://www.proxomitron.info/
http://flashblock.mozdev.org/
http://adblock.mozdev.org/

The problem with this is that Utah is redefining what an ISP is. Traditionally, it is exactly what it stands for: a provider of Internet service. Nothing more, nothing less. You want access? We'll give it to you.

Now some ISPs provide services on top of mere access. For example, my ISP provides some Web hosting space, some e-mail accounts, and so on. However, there is no law forcing them to do so, they do it to get my business.

Content filtering, which is what this law deals with, is exactly like those other services: something above and beyond what an ISP has to do. Utah has now changed that. No longer is an ISP merely an Internet Service Provider, now they have to muck around with the content they are providing. That's just wrong in my mind.

I love analogies, so I'll present one here. What they have done is essentially the same thing as if they passed a law saying that upon consumer request, courier and mail delivery services have to inspect all packages for sexually explicit material, and if they don't and something offensive gets delivered to someone, it's a felony. A company can't just deliver the mail any more, they are now held responsible for what gets sent and received.

ISPs in Utah have the option of blocking sites or providing customers with third-party filtering products unless they want to risk felony charges under the new law.

My suggestion? If I were an ISP in Utah, I would simply post a link to the Proxomitron on my home page and be done with it. After all, I don't see anything in the article (didn't read the bill) to say that the third-party filtering product that the ISP provides has to cost anything or be easy to use.

LC is referring to Proxomitron.