OT: computer related *Ad Blocker*

OT: computer related Ad Blocker

11/25/20, 10:57 AM #1

David Yoho
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Registered: 1/5/04

OT: computer related *Ad Blocker*

David Yoho

I thought I'd share this for those that might find it helpful or useful.

For years I have protected our 4 Windows computers using two programs, one of them being Malwarebytes Pro (paid version). Recently in the last year I've discovered several YouTube guys I follow from furniture restorer, Thomas Johnson, to mechanic, Mustie1. Nothing annoyed me more than all the ads that kept interrupting the videos.

There may be programs out there to block these ads but I don't know because I've never looked. Just recently Malwarebytes installed a program update and during the process offered the option to include a browser extension called Malwarebytes Browser Guard. It works with MS Edge, Google Chrome, and Firefox. I opted to install it figuring it could be trusted to be safe to use. Boy am I glad I did. You can Google Malwarebytes Browser Guard to learn more.

I can now watch YT videos without the interruptions. I love it and it just makes the price for Malwarebytes Pro much more worth it. Not only does it keep the malware and adware off but it also stops the ads on YouTube.

- - -

I live in Mechanicsville, VA (not far from Richmond) and I've been building furniture and cabinetry for well over 20 years now. It all started with my frustration of not being able to cut a straight line with a hand saw. About this same time, a guy named Norm appeared on my local PBS station. The more I watched, the more I learned. I also started thinking, "Hey, I can do that"! And so, I began with small projects and soon found myself moving up to increasingly advanced work. Word of mouth started the ball rolling and before I knew it, I was building all kinds of things for people. While this is not what I do to pay the bills, it has provided me with a means of equipping my shop over the years. The main downside to all of this is when my wife looks at a finished project and says, "I want one of those" and I know I don't have the time to make that happen right then. I take advantage of any slack time between commissions to work on things we want and this seems to keep her "on my side". She even surprised me one day with a new Tormek sharpening system. Sometimes it pays to leave that tool catalog lying around open! For me, woodworking is a type of therapy. I can go out to the shop and totally forget about the world outside. There have been days when I get out there early and before I know it, it's dark outside and I have no idea where the time went! I also enjoy challenging my skills and learning new things. Most of the time, since the majority of my work tends to be custom pieces, I'm working on projects I�ve never built before. While this takes me longer than if I were doing production work, I find it more appealing because there's always something new to learn. I haven't had any formal training in woodworking. My teachers have been experience, the many books and magazines I've read, WoodCentral, and of course, a guy named Norm.

Re: OT: computer related Ad Blocker

11/25/20, 5:34 PM #2

David Weaver
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7,811 posts

Registered: 5/10/10

Adblock Pro

David Weaver

Adblock pro is a free (they request a donation, but it's voluntary) extension for Chrome that I've used for years.

I haven't followed malwarebyte's pay software, but at one point, I found it essential to have on a PC (and we used a commercial version at work when worms first became common and could be embedded even on normal sites, like amazon or financial rate sites that we use at work).

I have some aversion to installing organized toolbars from anyone (pay or not) on a browser, though, as they're usually a veiled way of collecting all of your browsing data to sell. Toolbars have been around for a long time, offered for free from questionable (malwarebytes isn't questionable in my mind), and I think from the very beginning, their objective has been to offer a secondary service while their real purpose was to collect ad-valuable data.

If adblock pro doesn't do that, too, I'd be surprised. I suppose it's unavoidable, but the stain of spying toolbars that collected data and sometimes outright routed you to preferred vendors in searches to get reference credits if you buy something hasn't left me.

(I just looked up adblock's data policy and what they claim is only very limited use of data and not the wide ranging collection of data to sell for advertising that I thought they would. It appears that they actually charge advertisers to be on their whitelist of non-intrusive advertisements if you allow the extension to view only non-intrusive ads instead of none, and they ask for donations).

I could have the name "pro, plus ...' or whatever else is wrong. When i first installed it a decade or so ago, there was only one version and i'm not a fan of labeling with meaningless words.

I hate ads on videos, though, too. I understand google's economic proposition with youtube, but as long as I can block ads, I will.

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OT: computer related Ad Blocker