Mrs. Mecomber's Scrapbook

Talking technology, computers, and the Internet… for the average computer user

Archive for category ad blocks

Serious Browser Flash Flaw

Nov 16

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in ad blocks, browsers, security news | Comments off

Uh oh. I hate reading this stuff Monday mornings…. but this security issue looks like a doozy.

Flash flaw puts most sites, users at risk, say researchers
‘Frighteningly bad thing,’ said Foreground Security, of flaw allowing hackers to hijack sites, attack users

November 12, 2009 (Computerworld) Hackers can exploit a flaw in Adobe’s Flash to compromise nearly every Web site that allows users to upload content, including Google’s Gmail, then launch silent attacks on visitors to those sites, security researchers said today.

Adobe did not dispute the researchers’ claims, but said that Web designers and administrators have a responsibility to craft their applications and sites to prevent such attacks.

“The magnitude of this is huge,” said Mike Murray, the chief information security officer at Orlando, Fla.-based Foreground Security. “Any site that allows user-uploadable content is vulnerable, and most are not configured to prevent this.”

The problem lies in the Flash ActionScript same-origin policy, which is designed to limit a Flash object’s access to other content only from the domain it originated from, added Mike Bailey, a senior security researcher at Foreground. Unfortunately, said Bailey, if an attacker can deposit a malicious Flash object on a Web site — through its user-generated content capabilities, which typically allow people to upload files to the site or service — they can execute malicious scripts in the context of that domain.

“This is a frighteningly bad thing,” Bailey said. “How many Web sites allow users to upload files of some sort? How many of those sites serve files back to users from the same domain as the rest of the application? Nearly every one of them is vulnerable.”

Ugh. It does not look like anyone has a fix for this in the near future. These hacks are just getting crazy!!!

It is advised to either avoid browsing sites that have Flash (actually a very difficult thing today), or installing NoScript for Firefox browsers, or ToggleFlash for Internet Explorer. Nothing was said about using Opera, an alternative browser that I like and that has been immune from a lot of the security problems… so I’ll have to do some digging to find out.

In the meantime, use NoScript or ToggleFlash. NoScript (which is what I have used intermittently in the past) is a little complex sometimes, because you have to put everything on a white list… and some things I don’t know what are allowable or not (not all things on websites are adequately labeled). So this puts a real crimp in my own browsing style… hopefully, a fix will roll out soon.

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Phone Tray- The Answer to Telemarketing Hassles?

Jun 29

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in ad blocks, computers, desktop utilities, free programs | Comments off

A friend passed along this website when I complained about my incessant telemarketing calls- Phone Tray. Oh my word, this looks like an amazing software program! I wanted to post about it right away, so that you’d have the chance to see it, too. (Scroll all the way down and look for Phone Tray Free 1.34). I have not downloaded it yet (I have to order Call Waiting at my local telephone provider first, in order for Phone Tray to work). This looks like a spectacular program. I have been PLAGUED by telemarketing calls. I mean, hey, it’s great to know that I have a Rochester personal injury lawyer or a new credit card waiting at my disposal, but if I need it, I’ll call you guys, k?

Basically, Phone Tray installs on your computer. Your computer is then hooked up to your telephone line. When a call comes in, the phone call is routed through your computer (through Phone Tray) and a Caller ID information window pops up. The nice thing about Phone Tray is that you can BLOCK telephone calls! Which means, when I get a telemarketer, I can, through the Caller ID, get the number and then block that number from ever calling my phone again. I LOVE this idea!! So as soon as I have the Caller ID feature enabled on my phone, I’m going to download Phone Tray and give it a thorough run-through. I’ll post my review with all my findings. I’m really looking forward to this, hoping that this will solve my telemarketer problems. P.S. Phone Tray is a free program! Stay tuned.

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Blocking Ads In Opera

Jan 22

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in ad blocks, browsers | Comments off

I love the Opera browser more and more. It’s just so terrific. It’s fast, it’s convenient, it shows content (unlike Firefox, where I have to reload and reload), and I love the “Notes” feature of the sidebar panel. Probably the only complaint I could think of was the inability to have an Ad Block like Firefox has. Ah, but I have underestimated Opera! Opera can block ads– it’s not as intuitive or as easy as Firefox’s Ad Block, but it IS do-able, and not TOO hard. I figured out how to do it tonight, and MAN OH MAN I am soaring! No more nasty ads! Woooo! I can at last surf the web with the kids around me again!

Here’s how you do it.

  • Open Notepad.
  • Go to this website.
  • Copy all the text at that website.
  • Paste that text into your Notepad document.
  • Save the Notepad document as urlfilter.ini and SAVE.

Now this gets a little tricky for a moment, because it depends on what operating system you use. I use Vista. Basically, what you are going to do is save your newly named Notepad document in your Opera Profile folder.

This is very important– CLOSE your Opera browser before proceeding any further. You should never tinker with system files while the program is open. So here’s what you do:

  • If you use Windows XP, put that document here: C:\Documents and Settings\…\Application Data\Opera\Opera\profile\
  • If you use Vista, put that document here: C:\Users\< your username >\AppData\Roaming\Opera\Opera\profile\
  • If you use Linux, put that document here: ~/.opera/
  • If you use OSX, put that document here: /Users/< your username >/Library/Preferences/Opera Preferences/

I use Vista, so I just copied this file name C:\Users\< your username >\AppData\Roaming\Opera\Opera\profile\, clicked START >> RUN >> and entered it into the search bar. Then I backspaced over “your username” and put in my name. I searched, and the folder popped right up. I tucked that Notepad document in there, and closed the window.I re-opened my Opera browser. Voila!!! No more ads in Opera! Wooo!

Whenever you need to add new information to this urlfilter.ini file you can do it through the Opera brower. For example, I just HATE those “Snap” popup bubbles that some people use for their website.

Snapshot

I want to block them, but they are not included in the list of urls to block. Here’s what you do:

Open your Opera Browser. Go to Tools >> Preferences >> Advanced >> Content. Look for the button that says “Blocked Content.” Click it. When you do, you will see that list of urls that you added to your Notepad document. Here’s how you can add to that file without going through the backdoor, so to speak– you can just do it through Opera’s settings.

OK, so you have clicked the “Blocked Content” button and a new window popped up. Click the “Add” button and add in this information:

*spa.snap.com*

When you have entered it, click “Close” (it will automatically save). Click “OK” fo the next window. Close and restart the browser, and all should be well. And no more nasty Snap pop ups!!

P.S. I use Entrecard for my other blogs. This urlfilter.ini file will block the widgets unless you remove the blocking url, which is associated with Amazon. I like to see Amazon ads, anyway, so I went to Tools >> Advanced >> Content >> and hit the “Blocked Content” button. In the window, I did a search for “amazon” and several urls showed up. I deleted them all. Restart the browser and all should be well.

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A Free Parental Filter

Jan 10

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in ad blocks | Comments off

I’ve mentioned Blue Coat’s K-9 software before. I am very impressed with it’s ability to filter and monitor Internet content. The program is free, and you sure do get a lot for a free program. The software is installed on all our computers, and it has blocked out quite a number of malicious sites that otherwise would have been shown.

If I have any complaint, it is the way the Internet activity is organized. The program will display every little image and media file independently of the website visited. This makes for a lot of drudgery, sorting over the urls. I dislike this feature very much. But K9 is a superb parental filter– it does the job.

You can check out the main website here. I highly recommend it. It is updated from time to time. Be sure to flush out the url history to keep the program from filling up your hard drive.

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Desktop Utilities, Part 2

Dec 9

Posted by Mrs. Mecomber in PDF editing, PDF reader, ad blocks, desktop utilities, organizers | Comments off

In Desktop Utilities, Part 1, I quickly breezed through some of my favorite programs for everyday computing, and offered a review and a link. In this post, I’m continuing the saga.

1. AdFree 3.2.
This is a teent-tiny little program that takes charge of your HOSTS file. If you go to the website, you’ll see that the creator is not supporting AdFree anymore, because the Firefox browser has some ad-blocking features built in. However, what if you use Internet Explorer? The intrusive and sometimes obscene ads are the main reason I left IE and never went back. However, some of my family members still use IE, and for them I have AdFree.

It downloads on your computer and reconfigures your HOSTS file. Your HOSTS file in your computer is the first thing Windows checks before getting an IP number. If your computer receives information to block (not show) a certain IP number, it won’t. In this way, AdFree (and other such ad-blockers, like AdBlockPlus in the Firefox browser) tell your computer to block certain IP numbers– the IP numbers of ads on a webpage. Most ads on a webpage are “third-party” ads, which means that they are coming from another site, usually an advertising company site. Think of it as Flickr or Photobucket. You insert the IP (in the form of html code) in your own website to enable your reader to see your photo.

The website MVPS has an excellent, if complicated, explanation. This website also offers a free ad-blocker that does the same thing as AdFree. For novices, I recommend AdFree. Since AdFree isn’t being updated anymore, you can add IP numbers yourself. AdFree program gives you this capability. You can even block entire websites.

Ad-blocking is a science, but it’s not rocket science! A little reading around can help you immensely. Check out AdFree and experiment with it. I has made our internet experience much more pleasurable.

2. Pop-Up Stopper
Scroll down the page and look for the “free” version. The name explains it all, sweet and simple. Firefox and Internet Explorer say they get all the popups, but I beg to differ. I get popups when I surf. This is a handy-dandy little program that has protected my kids countless times. It’s very easy to configure. You can set it up as you like. I have it set to “high” to block all popups unless I hold the Shift key down on my keyboard. It’s small, and it will start up when you start up your computer. I’ve had it for many years.

3. PDF995 Creator
Need to create PDFs? Not willing to shell out $200+ for behemoth Adobe? Here’s a free suite of programs that will enable you to do all sorts of things with PDFs. I have all the programs, because I make a lot of my own worksheets. The most popular is the conversion program– this will make your regular documents into PDFs. It does it through the “print” feature of your word processing program, so don’t be alarmed if you see no program icon in your desktop. Think of it as a widget for your word processor.

Note: be sure to download both the “PDF995 Printer Driver” and the “Free Converter” for the following to work:

To use it, let’s say you’ve written a letter to your Aunt Marge and you want to convert that document (.doc, for example) into a .pdf. In your word program, go to File and look for Print. The print popup window gives you a choice of your printer in a drop-down menu. Click the drop-down menu and look for your pdf995. Choose that, go through the “OK” motions, name your document, and you’ll have a .pdf document saved.

PDF995 is not free, not exactly. You can pay for it, or you can continue to use it forever with a nag screen everytime you use it. The nag screen is a little irritating, and it opens up an Internet Explorer browser to the website sometimes, but I endure it. I’d rather endure this than the fees, even though the fees are not extravagant at all.

PDFEdit995, another part of the PDF995 suite, enables you to extract individual PDF pages from a big PDF document of many pages. It’s handy of you need a copy of one page in a set of many.

It’s a great bunch of programs.

4. EssentialPIM
This is a wonderful, simple Personal Information Management system. It is fun to use, it looks great, and it can handle your most crammed schedules. You can have To Do lists, it will print your data, and will even encrypt your data. I have tried other organizers, but I like this one the best. It’s colorful, too, so it’s fun to use.

5. FreeRAM XP Pro
This program has received good reviews from CNet, and I have used it on all my computers, too. It’s a great program to beef up your computer and give it a little speed, until you get some real RAM in there. It is customizable, too, but you have to know what you are doing. You can always leave it at the default settings. It made a difference on my computers that didn;t have enough RAM, until I installed more memory.

This is the end of the second series. Stay tuned for Part 3!

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