11 ms·

As the most technical person in my network of friends and family I'm often the one they go to for computer help. For years one of the first things I do if I tou

• Kiro 10y ago
  I hope you inform them before installing it. If someone installed something that's tampering with my browsing experience without telling me I would be pretty mad.
  • ky738 10y ago
    yeah right! i don't know very much how to use a computer so i asked my cousin who is a professional hacker haha to set up the programs i use! i was blaffed to know that he installed a plug-in (that's how you spell it right?) that blocked all the ads that would appear in a website! how could i enjoy surfing the web without ads? real life has ads everywhere i go, so i called him immediately and ordered that he removed this "virus" that removed the ads!
    • narrowrail 10y ago
      Since you appear to want to learn, I won't feel bad (or pedantic) in explaining that he installed an extension, which is a browser add-on. A plug-in is also a browser add-on, but is used to describe QuickTime, Flash, Java, etc. After I wrote the above, I double checked myself and, apparently, I am using Mozilla's definition. However, it seems Apple also differentiates among the terms add-on (the super-set), and extensions/ plug-ins (subsets).
      • exergy 10y ago
        There was an '/s' missing in his post.
  • libraryatnight 10y ago
    I agree, especially since even ublock occasionally gets caught by those 'you're using an ad-blocker' ads that tries to get you to either disable it or subscribe. That would really confuse, say, my mom if she had no idea she had an ad-blocker.
    • sofaofthedamned 10y ago
      I just tell non technical people to open those tabs in an incognito window which invariably works fine.
  • zeveb 10y ago
    Removing ads isn't really tampering though: it's inarguably improving. If someone makes my life immeasurably better without telling me, I'm thankful.
    • Kiro 10y ago
      I wouldn't say it's inarguable. I'm not using Adblocker for many different reasons but that's not really the topic here. I think you should at least inform someone that you install stuff and let them give consent, regardless of what it is.
• Redoubts 10y ago
  Do they ever ask what's going on when a page complains about running an ad blocker?
  • devopsproject 10y ago
    No. They do what you do: Leave the site and go somewhere else.
  • user5994461 10y ago
    It did happen :D
  • Pica_soO 10y ago
    Actually does that happen? I though the Ad-Blockers by now reroute to similar pages, who do not bitch?
• ryandrake 10y ago
  Same here. It's become one of those standards steps that you take whenever you set up a new computer: 1. Install the OS (or remove the crap-ware from the manufacturer) 2. Install the OS updates/security packs/etc. 3. Install the anti-virus 4. Install the ad-blocker
  • loeg 10y ago
    Skip the anti-virus. It's not that there aren't viruses, it's just that anti-viruses don't protect against them and increase the attack surface.
    • 01Michael10 10y ago
      That is only valid advice for an advanced user and even than is still debatable...
      • cmdrfred 10y ago
        I was writing polymorphic trojan horses 15 years ago. AV is long dead.
      • loeg 10y ago
        In what sense is it only valid for advanced users? And how is either claim (1. doesn't protect / 2. increased attack surface) debatable?
        • 01Michael10 10y ago
          1. AV solutions do in fact offer a lot of protection. 2. You will reduce you attack surface a lot more by not installing Flash, Java, and using an ad-blocker than not using AV.
          • khedoros 10y ago
            Do they, though? Everything I've read over the past 5 years has claimed an 80-90% miss rate. On the other hand, often the first sign I see of an infection is that the virus scanner is disabled, so I suppose it acts as a kind of canary, in that sense.
• devopsproject 10y ago
  uBlock orgin