Getting harder to follow threads because of ads

Use a widely available browser that prevents ads from showing up. Several have been mentioned above. If that’s not good enough for you then there isn’t much, if anything, we can do for you.

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Yeah, that would probably work. But it seems easier to just live w/the problem, hoping it will be solved on Car Talk’s end.Otherwise move on to something else. I do delete the cookies and history frequently, and have the web browsers (Chrome/Edge) set up to delete ads . Not wanting to become an It pro. Just chit-chat about cars is all.

Does the vender offer any guarantees their software isn’t doing something sneaky? Like I say, “free” can be pretty expensive.

If there were any problems they would have been reported by now. They’re used by MILLIONS of people worldwide.

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If a computer user’s privacy is violated, and even if they somehow figured that out, how would they know which software component did it?

You seem to think your privacy is currently protected. Based on your description of how you use the internet, it is not. Every site you visit is being monitored by the browser you use.

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That’s done all the time. There are security groups/companies that do exactly that.

B/c I have no written guarantees I don’t presume that. But I’m willing to take on a certain amount of risk in return for the bene3fits the internet offers. My strategy is to use common-sense measures, like using widely used browsers by well-known vendors, Microsoft and Chrome. At least they have their many-years reputations to protect, which represent a big asset they own , so protecting it is to their benefit.

Sort of like why I prefer manual roll-up windows in my cars. I understand the benefits of the electrics, but unwilling to take on a risk for which there is no corresponding benefit to me. If the only cars available were all electric windows, I’d have to choose from among those. So I’d chose the one that’s the most reliable, probably an electric moto driven criss-cross regulater; ie Not a cable type. .

give me a break, @George_San_Jose1

I’ve worked on plenty of vehicles where the MANUAL window regulator mechanism was garbage and needed to be replaced

And there are some vehicles where pretty much everyone but YOU chooses power windows, and after a few years, it’s actually hard to even locate the manual window regulator assembly, whereas the power window regulators are common and easy to obtain

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If you’re afraid of an ad-blocker then you should be afraid of ever getting on the internet.

George:
You’ve said you’re using Microsoft Edge. That, with Chrome and Safari, are rated among the worst for privacy.

In addition to what Edge, Chrome, and Safari do privately with your information, lookup “header bidding”. Everytime you visit a site, your information is sold to the highest ad bidder where the winner gets to show you their ads, all in a fraction of a second.

Being afraid of widely used ad-blockers or afraid of switching to a safer browser doesn’t make sense.

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All this blah blah blah about ad blockers (which I am using which means I’m not having problems) dismisses the fact that this forum’s platform is a stand-out for dysfunctionality.

I’ll say it again. I visit a lot of internet forums. NONE of them are even close to as screwed up as this one is. If CarTalk’s “Community” forum is to survive it cannot be on this host. It is singularly dysfunctional.

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I’ll agree with that if you use the default settings. But there are plenty of settings in Edge that make it extremely private.

If you are on Chrome internet browser and are ad frustrated, download DuckDuckGo’s Privacy Essentials browser extension and maybe AdGuard. Privacy Essentials works well on this site and it does NOT sell your data to third parties.

If you have an Apple or Android mobile device you can use the DUCKDUCKGO browser and never have to worry about ads again.

Sir, I think the horse is dead.

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I have no experience w DDG and no ax to grind. Whoever wants to use it is fine by me. I’m just curious though, Isn’t DDG a free download? If so, how can the business who developed it afford to give it away for free?

If you’re curious:

Interesting , but confusing. . @dhallis suggests above there’s no ads displayed at all w/DDG. Or is it the case ads are still displayed w/DDG, but they aren’t as intrusive?

No ads are displayed.

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Duck Duck Go makes money on paid search results labeled as such in the results. Their two main products are a browser and search… There are “ads” in the search results, they are labeled as paid ads. The browser itself is adfree except for when you are doing searches (using DDG).

This is a simple case of, if you are still having adds and pop ups on Car Talk, then it is your own damn fault… Use the tools provided and/or get over it… :man_facepalming:

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