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Chris Hall

Principal Technical Consultant

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Chris Hall Nutanix Certified Master - Multicloud Infrastructure 6 Chris Hall VMware vExpert 2024 Chris Hall VMware vExpert NSX 2023 Chris Hall Nutanix Certified Professional - Multicloud Infrastructure 6 Chris Hall Nutanix Certified Professional - Unified Storage 6 Chris Hall VMware vExpert 2023 Chris Hall VMware vExpert 2022

Ad Block Plus

Following on from my post blog post regarding TV advertising.  As you may have guessed, I really don't like being advertised at.  Yes thats right, AT.

Now it's time to turn attention to internet advertising.  This is perhaps even more annoying than TV advertising.  Mention banners, pop-ups, overlays, etc, and we all know what they are and we all know that we really don't like them that much (is loathe too stronger word here?).

Luckily help is at hand in the shape of Adblock Plus (ABP).  ABP is a free Firefox add-on that will block pretty much all web advertising.  For those adverts that do scrape through, you can right click them and instantly block those too.  OK, I admit it, I must be the last person on earth to find out about this excellent Firefox add-on.  

Linkage
Links to everything you need to be ad free:
That's all you need to an advert free internet!
    Why you need ABP and Filters / Subscriptions
    From Rick752's ABP FAQ page:
    ABP by itself blocks nothing on its own! ... only 'Subscriptions' or filters do. Adblock Plus is a fabulous piece of work created and maintained by Wladimir Palant ... but it comes as an empty, non-blocking program that is awaiting instructions on what to do.  It will not block anything at all if it is not given any instructions.

    When ABP is installed for the first time, it will ask you if you want to 'subscribe' to a known maintained list of 3rd-party filters.  If you select one or have installed one, this now becomes the responsibility of the subscription author and not the ABP author.

    OK, so ABP is the 'framework' and the subscriptions / filters are the lists of files or adverts to block.

    Installation
    A breeze:
    • Install the Firefox add-on from the mozilla link above
    • Choose which default list to install - I chose the top list
    • Navigate to Rick752's site (again link above) and choose which filters or subscriptions to install
    For my set-up, I chose:
    • EasyList - The default list
    • EasyPrivacy - Paranoid? Me? ;o)
    • Adult/Dating Blocking - No one likes a smart a*se or any type of a*se popping up
    Testing
    Now it's installed, lets take this baby out for a spin.  Follows are some before and after screenshots.  Obviously these won't catch the annoyance of those flash based adverts that ..er.. flash away when you're trying to read something, but I think you'll get my drift when you look at the screenshots.


    IMDB with and without adverts


    The Reg.  That HP advert flashes like a bugger


    Sky News.  "I see the news - at last!"

    Also what's not obvious from the screenshots is that because my browser isn't going off to who-only-knows-whichever advertising servers to grab the adverts from, the loading of the pages is significantly faster.

    Double bonus!

    So that's:
    TV advertising - DONE (Sky+)
    Internet advertising - DONE (ABP)

    Next time.... Radio.
     
    - Chris