Author Topic: tracking cookies, ad revenue pages, and hosts file (Read 610 times)

Meatwad · « **on:** October 02, 2007, 08:13:08 AM »

My brain suddenly got an idea

The major ad and tracking sites (doubleclick, etc) really pile up the spam and what-not. If I were to edit my hosts file with the major websites, would that cut down on the spam ads viewed?

For example -
127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net

Would this be a good idea or just wasted time?

Skuzzy · « **Reply #1 on:** October 02, 2007, 09:37:57 AM »

Why not drop them in the restricted zone, in the Internet options? That way it will also be covered in your email too.

And also block all cookies from those sties. Just block all third party cookies. 99.9% of them are just ad trackers.

Meatwad · « **Reply #2 on:** October 02, 2007, 05:50:58 PM »

Oh yeah!

I so forgetful

bj229r · « **Reply #3 on:** October 02, 2007, 07:00:51 PM »

I turn off ALL cookies unless I'm logging into a web-site like Ebay to buy something, then I set cookies for "Ask me every Time"...get the site in there, then turn them off agin

wabbit · « **Reply #4 on:** October 02, 2007, 10:41:25 PM »

I don't accept cookies from anyone, except fer mom... In cases like the Aces High Forum, I have Firefox set to accept cookies from the forum only for the session, (they are deleted after I exit firefox).

If you're using internet enema, then you have a similar option under 'Internet options' - Privacy - Sites. If you have your cookie setting on the highest level, (ie=nocookies) then 'sites' will be greyed out, so you'll have to lower it first, add the sites you want to accept cookies from, and then you can raise it again. Unfortunately, internet enema doesn't allow you to accept cookies for 'session only', so if you want to clear them after you're done, you'll have to do it manually from the 'General Tab' under 'Internet Options', (it's reachable via 'Control Panel', or 'internet enema'.

I go just about everywhere and I rarely ever see ads of any kind and sites load a lot faster because of the program I use. I use a proxy program called 'Proximatron'. It's free but only supported by users now. It's relatively easy to setup and use though. Go here to read about it to see for youself.

http://www.proxomitron.info/

If you use Firefox, then you can get an extension called 'Adblock Plus' for it, which will allow you to specify sites that you don't want to let through to your browser. It will keep your browser from displaying anything from sites you list in it's filter list. I use it to block Google from loading their tracking program 'Urchin', block images from sites I'm not interested in seeing, etc, etc. If you're using internet enema, then you'll have to search the net to see if it has anything similar.

If you want to modify your hosts file, then go here

http://www.funkytoad.com/

for a free program that will allow you to do just that without going through the hassle of manually editing the file. the program's name is 'Hostsxpert'.

Here's a link for a better explanation of the 'Hosts' file to help you understand it, incase you're new at this.

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Hope this helps...

If you have any questions post here, (although I might miss it here), or pm me.

Wabbit
Morals & Manners Officer
Whitey's Buccaneers
5th Army Air Corps

Getback · « **Reply #5 on:** October 03, 2007, 07:20:51 AM »

This is a great thread.

Wabbit, did you delete IE? I have firefox as well but have found that it doesn't work well with all sites and comes up a bit slower than IE.

I will definately review this thread tonight.

Thanks all for the great tips.

wabbit · « **Reply #6 on:** October 03, 2007, 12:39:22 PM »

No, I didn't delete for the same reason, besides, deleting internet enema can cause problems with windows.

What I did, was go into 'internet options' and set my privacy and security settings to the strictest values, so that when I do have to visit a site that DOESN'T follow internet standards, I can do so safely. Unfortunately, it causes a lot of pop-ups asking if I want to allow this or that scrip/active-X, etc, etc, to run, but it keeps me safe.

I also don't have Flash installed on my systems, as Flash can be used to make backups, (so to speak), of cookies which then allows them to be automatically replaced after you delete them. ( There supposedly is a way around this, but I haven't had the time to look into it yet - It's on my list though.)

Wabbit
Morals & Manners Officer
Whitey's Buccaneers
5th Army Air Corps

Getback · « **Reply #7 on:** October 03, 2007, 01:16:50 PM »

Thanks Wabbit,

Those words will not go unheeded. Do you use firefox as your default browser?

Skuzzy · « **Reply #8 on:** October 03, 2007, 03:11:51 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by wabbit
No, I didn't delete for the same reason, besides, deleting internet enema can cause problems with windows.

What I did, was go into 'internet options' and set my privacy and security settings to the strictest values, so that when I do have to visit a site that DOESN'T follow internet standards, I can do so safely. Unfortunately, it causes a lot of pop-ups asking if I want to allow this or that scrip/active-X, etc, etc, to run, but it keeps me safe.

I also don't have Flash installed on my systems, as Flash can be used to make backups, (so to speak), of cookies which then allows them to be automatically replaced after you delete them. ( There supposedly is a way around this, but I haven't had the time to look into it yet - It's on my list though.)

You can tweak the settings in the security panel to stop the popups. I just flat disable anything script related and/or ActiveX related.

The Flash thing is a registry tweak to stop that action. There are also other registry tweaks for Flash that will stop it from phoning home and sending in your WEB browsing history.

I have always considered Flash an overglorified piece of spyware.

wabbit · « **Reply #9 on:** October 03, 2007, 09:49:40 PM »

Yeah, Firefox has been my default browser for years.

skyzzy,

Any chance you could point me to those registry tweaks for flash? Or, sites that talk about them?

thanks,
Wabbit

Skuzzy · « **Reply #10 on:** October 04, 2007, 06:01:06 AM »

It has been a while as I have not had flash installed for some time, but I'll see if I can find my notes on it. No sites I am aware of. I dug this up on my own, but I am sure there are some sites about that talk about it.

It's not like they try to hide it.

wabbit · « **Reply #11 on:** October 04, 2007, 03:05:33 PM »

don't waste time, if it isn't handy then. I'll do some searching when I get a chance anyways. It's no rush, as I'm not planning on loading/using flash anytime soon.

Wabbit