Firefox

[Bikewer]

Finally bit the bullet and installed the browser. Must say, it's very nice. Easily imported all my IE bookmarks (and alphabetized them), incorporates the Google search on the front page, and has a huge variety of plug-ins and such.

The "tabbed browsing" for my various bookmarks is handy, and the quick links to various reference sources like Wikipedia are nice too.

[Orangutan]

If you use Firefox I suggest this plugin.

AdBlock
Here's the website:
http://adblock.mozdev.org/dev.html

I think this is a link straight to the plugin installation.
You will have to click it twice, once to get the popup telling you the content is blocked as it's trying to install something. Click on the bar and allow the site to download. Second time you will get a more obvious window asking if you want to install the plugin.

http://downloads.mozdev.org/adblock/adblock-0.5-dev.xpi

Basically you can use it to block adverts and othe rpage spam like flash banners. Takes a little getting used to as you have to think about what your blocking, you get to use wild cards etc, not for the computer noobie. But I love it. My hotmail page is soo clean without any adverts!

You can get rid of individual avatars on forums that drive you crazy too. ;)

O.

Edit:

Once installed look for Adblock under the tools menu for options editing etc.

[Rat]

Someone has to point out that a lot of sites are funded by advertising. If everyone blocks the adverts (and the numbers doing so are growing) then they will either fade or become subscription-only.

With this in mind, the latest adblock plugin allows you to download the adverts, but not display them, thus allowing the site to get their revenue. This is not enabled by default.

Still, of course, if there is no click-through, there is no revenue, and the end result is the same. But it's better than nothing. For now.

Cheers,
Rat.

[Alkatran]

Adblock is amazing. But websites are starting to actually incorporate the ads in the site via text. It's going to get to the point where the only way to block ads is checking the HTML for certain patterns.... yikes.

On the other hand, I rarely ever see any ads anymore. Most websites look much cleaner (disable every picture for hotmail and it looks better IMO) etc...

My filters:


*&AdID*
*/CatalogCover*
*/DSU.jpg
*/GetREALSkills*
*/ad.*
*/ad/*
*/ad?*
*/ad_*
*/adcouncil/*
*/add-to*
*/addto*
*/adimages/*
*/ads*
*/adv/*
*/aol*
*/assets*
*/ban.*
*/bbar/*
*/buybox*
*/computergear*
*/counter
*/dollar
*/footer/*
*/footers/*
*/free_*
*/gutter*
*/header*
*/homegain_com/*
*/hostingpartners*
*/includes*
*/inprint/*
*/make*homepage*
*/marketing/*
*/networkbar/*
*/pagead*
*/paypal.*
*/prizes*
*/promo*
*/recips/*
*/rental*
*/showiframe*
*/sideads*
*/slice*
*/spacer*
*/stickers.gif
*/store*
*/subscribe*
*/survey*
*/teasers/*
*/ticker*
*/top*
*/tracker*
*/vertad*
*/view_friend*
*/win*
*GetAd?*
*Topimg*
*_ad.*
*_header*
*adgfx*
*adinfo*
*adjuggler*
*adsdk.com*
*adserv*
*adtags*
*adultstore*
*adventory*
*advert*
*advertis*
*ai.yimg*
*ak.maxserving*
*akamai.net*
*alexa.com*
*aol.*
*atdmt.com*
*banner*
*bannr*
*bargain*
*billpay*
*blogads*
*bravenet.com*
*burstnet*
*buy_*
*c.msn.com*
*contextualLink*
*crest.*
*dal.ca/IMAGES/people/*
*dal.ca/learningconn/images/*
*donate*
*doubleclick*
*ebay.*
*ecards.*
*eshop*
*falkag*
*fastclick*
*frameheader*
*geocities.com/js_source*
*google/box?*
*havealook.*
*hbads.*
*hder*
*hder4.*
*header.*
*htmlad/*
*hypermart.net*
*inetinteractive*
*jobs.*
*join.*
*logo*
*maxserving*
*media.mnginteractive.com/*
*money.*
*msimg.com*
*msn.com/editorial/*
*paycounter*
*phpAds*
*promo.*
*qksrv.net*
*rcm.amazon.com*
*realmedia*
*rightmedia.net*
*send*friend*
*sexlist*
*sextracker*
*shopping*
*sponsor*
*statcounter.com*
*stripe.*
*subscription*
*sweepstake*
*target.untd.com*
*tellfriend*
*themis.geocities*
*topbar*
*tribalfusion*
*us.*yimg*
*valueclick*
*vbwire.com*
*visit.geocities*
*voteforus*
*webads*
*yahoo*
*yandex.ru*
http://64.4.55.109/*
http://a.as-eu.falkag.net/dat/bgf/*
http://bofh.ntk.net/images/bofh*-cover-small.*
http://collector.deepmetrix.com/*
http://h.msn.com/c.gif?RF=http%3a%2f%2fby16fd%2ebay16%2ehotmail%2em sn%2ecom%2fcgi%2dbin%2fHoTMaiL%3fa%3de9ae037461c24 ef0026fd44cb194d4d6%26curmbox%3dF180354617&PI=44318&DI=1034&PS=74565
http://i.somethingawful.com/gc2k4x5/frontpage.gif
http://i.somethingawful.com/images/megadvdban.png
http://i.somethingawful.com/inserts/newgraphics/zipa.gif
http://www.auspcmarket.com*
http://www.dal.ca/inspire/*
http://www.physicsforums.com/images/misc/physicsforums.swf
http://www.somethingawful.com/gc2k4x5/frontpage.gif
http://www.somethingawful.com/inserts/newinserts/right/rotate.php

[cesium]

I also like the various mouse gesture plugins which allow you to preform simple tasks using click-mousemove combinations. Just make sure you customize the settings so it dosent do stuff when you are selecting text or grabbing a scrollbar.