I gotta agree with most people here, that the lists are completely whacked. Even some of the less obvious "avoids" are whacked. PDF download, for instance, I consider ESSENTIAL. Yes, there are a few sites that it doesn't catch PDF files on, but I don't care. The majority of sites, it stops PDFs dead, and lets me open them externally. Sorry, I don't want PDF opening in my browser - it usually results in a crash in my experience, or if you're VERY patient, it slows down the browser drastically. Also, it prevents many inadvertent "I didn't know that was a fscking PDF" moments, usually followed by waiting on the browser as it bogs down (and I'm on a very fast dual core system).

Seems like the list is just one guy's rant about how anything that POWER USERS use is no good, and the only good stuff is toolbars/ads. I suspect the guy's home system is full of spyware and ads.

Zubaz: Stealing, maybe. But I was DRIVEN to blocking ads by too many popup, popout, drive-by installers, blinking, noisemaking pieces of trash. I have been an advocate of blocking ads since 2000 or so when I got a drive-by 1-900 dialer from an ad on a Yahoo network site! Intellitxt made me an even bigger convert. A lot of sites use Intellitxt, and honestly, it ranks up there with some of the MOST annoying trash on the internet.

Sorry, but I'm going to continue aggressively blocking ads, and so is much of the world, because of the annoyance factor. If mosts sites had stuck to static banners, or google-style ads, then perhaps that wouldn't be the case, but too many sites have chosen to get nasty with ads, and I'm not going to deal with it. If they go out of business, I'll move on somewhere with a better profit model, TYVFM.

As far as Wincustomize - Am I stealing by blocking ads when I'm both an ODNT customer AND a Wincustomize subscriber?

  As a WC subscriber, I see only two ads on a page.  They are for Stardock products and are not intrusive.

I thought the list was skewed also.  It didn't seem like a researched piece, more like one editors feelings.

I have to agree that the list seems biased towards power users & also disagree about ad stealing. Lotherius states my reasons perfectly. I travel far & wide on the net & too many great sites overwhelm with their ads.


Prior to logging in to Wincustomize I see the Mycolors & Galatatic Civilization ads with Adblock Plus enabled. I could remove them with but as Zubaz says they are not intrusive. Many sites are able to find ways around the adblocking and if they are static I leave them.


It's My Secret



Bebi, Thanks for the link to auto copy, another must have