Popup Ad Killer

[Cyberjam]

I have taken the time to put a couple Popup Ad killer programs on my FTP site.

I noticed recently the redirect service that handles my website traffic has taken to adding popups for revenue generation. I tried the Popup ad killer and no more annoying popups!

[ufotofu]

If you haven't tried Mozilla yet, I would highly recommend it. Mozilla is a free, open-source web browser with many cool features not found in other browsers (even Internet Explorer): Total control of JavaScript functions, including the ability to block pop-up ads; Advanced cookie and password management; HTTP pipelining (performance enhancer); and my personal favorite, tabbed browsing! (Instead of opening up new windows, you open up new tabs inside the main browser window. I don't know how I ever lived without this feature.) There are many other advanced features too. Mozilla runs on many operating systems, including Windows.

Make sure to download the newest Beta, version 1.1B. This version is only somewhat less stable than 1.0 but has many enhancements. 1.1 final should be out within a few days. And when you install it, the first thing to do is change the default theme from "Classic" (rather ugly) to "Modern" (rather attractive). Have fun!

I forgot to mention: Mozilla is currently the most standards compliant web broswer in existence. It is well ahead of Internet Explorer in standards compliance, which is becoming increasingly important as new web interfaces are developed (PDA's, cell phones, other appliances). The future is standards compliance, and Mozilla is on top of it!

[clymore]

Cyberjam, what is your FTP site address?

[clymore]

I found it!

[clymore]

There are two files in that folder. Which one do I need?

[Boingo]

There are 2 seperate installs. I tried the shareware one last night. Works well. I think it stops working after 30 pop-ups. You could re-install to get more use or pay around $25 to get the registered version (at least that's what I think it said during the install). I uninstalled and tried the other package (panicware or something like that). It looks like freeware. Not as nice as the first one I tried but seems to work. My PC hung when I went to shut down. That could be coincidence. Will see how it goes tonight.

[Cyberjam]

Pop Up Ad Filter

The one I use is pop up ad filter (the first of the two).

I find it works quite well and there is a crack on the net for it somewhere. I know this for certain (wink, wink!).

Good luck!

[ufotofu]

Re: Mozilla

Originally posted by Harlock
Downloaded v1.1b & testing it right now.
I had tried Opera in the past & didn't like it, but this seems OK.

Make sure you go through all the options in Edit > Preferences so you will have a better idea of what can be done. In particular, look at "Appearance", "Navigator", "Privacy", and "Advanced". And change that default theme! (You will like it much more using the "Modern" theme.)

Once you learn the ins and outs of Mozilla, you will see that it is more advanced than Internet Explorer. And the best thing about it is the rapid release cycle (conitinuous development and updates) which keeps it on the bleeding edge.

[Alright, I just can't stop blabbing about this...] Make sure you try out the tab feature! Hit control-T or click the "New Tab" buton to open a new tab. To open up a link in a new tab, hold down control while you click the link. This is absolutely PERFECT for browsing "today's active topics" on vdrums.com! I have about 10 or 20 tabs open at any given time. Control-W closes your current tab. To disable pop-up ads, uncheck "Open Unrequested Windows" in Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Scripts. To get rid of [most] banner ads, choose "Accept Images from Originating Server only" in Edit > Preferences > Privacy > Images. And that's only the tip of the iceberg! Aaaaarrrgggggghh!

[Rythmstik]

Agreed. Mozilla pretty much rocks. I'm running 1.0 and I like it just fine. I get annoyed with it sometimes, tho, because turning off pop-up ads can also turn off other windows I want to pop-up, but it's an easy fix.

[ufotofu]

Originally posted by Rythmstik
Agreed. Mozilla pretty much rocks. I'm running 1.0 and I like it just fine. I get annoyed with it sometimes, tho, because turning off pop-up ads can also turn off other windows I want to pop-up, but it's an easy fix.

Yes, disabling pop-up windows can be a double-edged sword, but for me it doesn't happen very often that I absolutely need to have the pop-ups enabled (maybe one or two sites). And technically it is the web designer's fault for relying on javascript without having a fallback. The pop-up killer programs the Cyberjam listed are in the same boat I reckon.

Here's another cool feature of Mozilla: You can selectively allow or disallow cookies, images, form input, and passwords by website. For instance, if there is a particular website that you need to visit often but hate to download its annoying plethora of images, just select Tools > Image Manager > Block Images from This Site.

I believe they are currently working on implementing the selective blocking for javascript too, which means that you will be able to turn off/on pop-ups by website. Check mozilla.org for the lowdown.

[sepdrums]

Mozilla

Ufotofu - Mozilla is killer! Thanks for the info.... Love the tab browsing.

Erik

[ufotofu]

Note that pop-up blocking is not likely to be implemented in commercial browsers like Internet Explorer or Netscape (which incidentally is based on Mozilla), because, well, everybody would use the feature, and the pop-up advertisers wouldn't like that at all.

See this link for an example.

[ufotofu]

Hi Harlock,

Mozilla is a giant leap from Netscape 4.x! (Netscape 7.x is actually based on Mozilla, but 4.x is not.) Have a look through this guide. Mozilla is actually much more than just a web browser. It is a general-purpose, cross-platform network application development environment and toolkit. Also check out the 10 most interesting features of Mozilla 1.0.

If you are experiencing sluggishness using Mozilla on Windows, try enabling the "Quick Launch" feature. This will load Mozilla into memory when you boot your computer (as Windows does with Internet Explorer) and provide faster startup times at least. You could also try upgrading your RAM, which is dirt cheap nowadays! Yes, Mozilla can seem slower than Netscape 4.x at times, but this is because it is much more than just a basic web broswer. Mozilla implements its own toolkit (buttons, menus, etc) instead of using the Windows toolkit, so that it is better suited to cross-platform development. This is an advantage as well as a disadvantage, as you can see.

For the most part, Mozilla is just as quick and responsive as Netscape 4.x or Internet Explorer for me. It may be slightly slower or slightly quicker in some departments. BUT there is one department where Mozilla is significantly faster than Netscape 4.x or IE: Page rendering. All else being equal, Mozilla will render a given web page much quicker than the other browsers, thanks to the highly-optimized "Gecko" layout engine.

[ufotofu]

That's cool, many people prefer to use the commercial spinoffs of Mozilla. They are generally more usable "out of the box" than plain-vanilla Mozilla. However Mozilla is generally more "bleeding-edge" than its commercial spinoffs. There is a new release every month or so. I believe the AOL browser will soon be based on Mozilla as well, which is good news because it will move millions of web users to standards-compliant browsing, which in turn will move web developers to pay more attention to open standards, which in the end will make the web experience better for everyone!

[Rythmstik]

NS7 lacks the pop-up blocking feature in Mozilla (deliberately!) http://news.com.com/2100-1023-949572.html?tag=fd_lede But there is a hack for it http://ufaq.org/ns7/adblocker.html I haven't tried it yet, though. If you do, let us know how it works.