Quote:
Originally Posted by Belfaborac
PS: it feels slightly surreal to be having a competition about who is the greater luddite...
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Actually I'd say the luddites are the ones who aren't using ad and tracking blocking software.
My personal recipe = Firefox +
AdblockPlus +
Adblock Plus Element Hider +
Adblock Plus Popups +
NoScript +
Better Privacy +
Ghostery +
Cookie Monster
+
Customize Google
Can't remember the last time I saw an ad. Add the free
Malwarebytes scanner and
Comodo Firewall programs plus your choice of anti-virus and you can have a much more enjoyable and secure internet experience for zero dollars and about 10 minutes of your time to install.
Doesn't sound luddite to me.
I also have
DD-WRT firmware, plus
Optware The Right Way and most of frater's scripts, including the adblocking pixelserv script, on my router but that's a little more investment in time, though not dollars - and it does ensure that doubleclick.net is consigned to the ninth circle irretrievably!
If anyone is reasonably computer literate and does have a compatible router, which includes most Linksys/Cisco home routers, Asus, D-Link and Netgear routers, then I would highly recommend looking at the DD-WRT firmware. However flashing third party firmware to your router does have the possibility of bricking it if you don't follow the instructions EXACTLY, so don't use it if you're not confident of your skills. That said, thousands of people do use it with no problem and with frater's OTRW it can turn your $50 router into something much, much more capable. Anyone interested should definitely read the
support forums before installing, users with
Broadcom chip based routers should probably start that reading with the
Peacock Thread. It's a little bit of work to install, but it's well worth it, particularly if you're running a home network behind it.