Filter bubbles on the Internet

Obviously the tone I used during the discussion was too inflammatory and accusatory. I apologize. I have no right to tell others what they should be doing online. I'm still wrestling with these issues myself. I listened to a very passionate exchange between Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte over the issue of blocking ads online. Gibson supported the blocking of intrusive ads (i.e. flash) and tracking cookies whereas Laporte saw no real problem with allowing them and was quite insistent that blocking all ads would bring down the internet as we know it today. I think Laporte had a good argument BUT I also respect Gibson's contention that some ads are intrusive and need to be controlled. I don't see how Adblock Plus can be used selectively. I would rather have an extension similar to Opera's fanboy adblock in which you, the user, control what you see and what you do not want to see.

 

It's OK, you have a perfectly valid point about adblocking. I would be the first to admit it is a bit of a quandary. ABP has some companion extensions such as the Element Hiding Helper & Customisations for Adblock Plus, which give it more flexibility. Plus, I think that if Mr Palant's policy of allowing non-intrusive ads, catches on more, it may encourage advertisers to develop better ads that are not so annoying, or even deter those that potentially harbour trojans & other infections from being used on sites.

The plain fact of the matter is that Internet viruses are not really the problem so much any more. It is the proliferation of trojans & rootkits that can be used to deposit illegal files on the infected host computer. These files can be anything, & can be utilised by anyone with access to them; from international terrorists to organised crime. Furthermore your computer can be unwittingly used as a 'zombie' in illegal DDOS attacks. I'm not too familiar with Opera's adblocking these days. The last time I had a conversation online with Fanboy he appeared to be having some problems with with Opera's .ini file list (he reckoned Opera changed its .ini file too often). Although in the quite recent past I added his list to Opera's .ini on my notebook & it seemed to work fine, not that I use Opera a great deal (if at all). I never had much faith in any of its extensions or its content blocker either if the truth be told.

 

I believe you, but I was in a reputable journal site when I contracted a trojan through a flash ad.

 

It depends on what you are forced to see.

I use FireFox addons to block most advertising, including flash content, because I got sick of seeing singles ads with provocatively dressed women.

 

Has anyone tried this?...

Gibiru Search Engine Proxy & Alternative Search Engine

I changed my home page to it ever since Google implemented there new privacy policy. I still use Google at times, but not like I used to.

 

Fine. I'm not enamored with scantily dressed women as well. However, that doesn't fully address the issue: how are you paying for your time online? When you visit this site, for instance, do you disable adblock (I'll assume that is what you are using... if not, do you mind sharing what it is that you are using?)? If you disable adblock, then you are helping indirectly to pay for the site. If you are simply surfing from site to site to site online, then you are riding on someone else's dime no matter how you want to put a spin on it. I've heard folks say, "I don't like advertising." Fine. Then become a donor and pay your fair share. If you don't want to donate or become a member (I'm currently in that position), then at least disable adblockers when you come here and to other reputable sites.

 

I watch Freeview TV a fair bit. When the commercial breaks come on, & they can be quite long, I either switch channels or make a pot of lapsang souchong. Well ... unless the adverts have scantily dressed women in them of course ...

How many people take any notice of adverts anyway, especially if they are annoying, in which case the advert can have the opposite effect to what it was intended to do.

How do you define 'reputable'? I was in a reputable journal site when I git a trojan from a flash player.

 

If that is true, Dave, that most folks take no notice of ads, then why bother with adblockers? As I'm typing this, I'm seeing an ad (flash ad) just above my screen. It's for GFI WebMonitor. I've clicked on it to give Arie at least some return from my being here. I think it is the least we can do.

 

Well, I can't speak for your telly, but the adverts on Freeview can't infect my television. I can't say the same for flash ads on my computer.

 

I check regularly, I still got infected. Mind you, I was running Norton then. So it was probably my own fault.

 

Actually, I only have a flash blocker addon installed. FireFox has it's own ad blocking tool (image blocker, to be exact) built in to the browser. I can see some text at times, but no images.

I have to take pains to block offending images from various web sites, and if the ads don't bother me, then I leave things alone. The biggest offenders are sex related ads, annoying flashy ads, and you've just won this & that ads - to name a few.

I can see a GFI ad at the top of this page. (hey, I even clicked on it )

 

Cool. Look, Guys, I'm still hammering out my own ethical dilemma regarding what to block and what to allow.