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23 February 2012

Publicke Notice: the annoying little lines and unwanted ads in my blog

Publicke Notice

VleeptronZ has recently been plagued by annoying little underlines under words in the text. (You'll probably see a few of them in this post.)

If you put the cursor over the lines, little advertisements pop up.

This is NOT an intentional feature of VleeptronZ. 

It is a kind of malware / adware which some fucking creeps called text-enhance slipped into my computer.

VleeptronZ is endeavoring to purge this annoying crap as soon as possible.

If you know the solution to this crap, please let me know. If you know anyone associated with text-enhance, please run them over with your car.

 

12 comments:

Mike Stone said...

Actually, we don't see them. It's just local to your computer, so you're the only one who gets the joy of extra advertising.

To solve your problem, use Linux.

Mike Stone said...

If Linux isn't an option, then this might fix things for you: http://wafflesatnoon.com/2011/10/05/seeing-unwanted-text-enhance-ads/. Let me know if that doesn't work.

Vleeptron Dude said...

Aha! Gee, it's great to know smart people!

when i googled i got dozens of sites claiming to have fixes. wafflesatnoon "smelled" kosher and smart. I'll go back there and follow its advice.

I'd do what many have urged me to do and buy an Apple product, but they're manufactured in China by slave labor at Foxconn. I won't be buying any Apple product forever. (Foxconn solved the worker suicide problem by putting up window barriers on the higher floors.)

Hmmmm Linux hmmmmm -- now explain exactly how Linux prevents malware like this.

But I'm smart too ... one way or another I'll get this nasty text-enhance crap off my machine. But I would love to run these jerks over with my car.

Mike Stone said...

Naw, no Apples. Linux prevents malware like your seeing the exact same way any Apple product would, and then some. Apple "protects" you from malware by just not being Windows. Apple has it's own malware issues, though they are quite a bit less serious than their Windows counterparts. Linux is also not Windows, but costs a grand total of $0 to get (compared to having to buy a new computer if you were going fruity). Windows based malware just flat out won't run on Linux, and Linux also has other security measures such as requiring the end user to verify that any file downloaded from the Intertubes should have permission to run on your computer. Also, it's a multi-user system, so even if you were to get infected (there's no known Linux malware at present), cleaning your settings in your home directory would crush any kind of infection you may have gotten. It's just flat out more secure than Windows or Mac. On top of that, easy to use and free of charge. Hard to beat.

PatfromCH said...

Apple ? Oh no, oh dear ! What the hell was I thinking when I bought a MacBook ??
Now if you buy a Mac you will be forced to use a closed system which is not very transparent and depending on what you want to do you either have to buy products from Apple or go on an extendes search for third-party software. Plus the new version of the Apple OS includes too many elements from their iOS (on those bloody iPads) which basically look and feel like a toy to me. Not to talk of the Foxcom scandal ! Apple ? Meh, no longer ! That was my first and last Apple notebook !

With Linux distributions like Ubuntu you will have the advantage that practically no malware and spyware is written for Linux. These distros are FREE and while they may not be perfect and might be difficult to use at first they can be quite useful. Power Users will have problems to adapt at first but when you have taken the time to dive into this new world it will derfinetly be worth it.

These text-enhanced ads are new to me and I can’t see ‘em either so this is a local issue. One learns something new everyday.

James J. Olson said...

Bob: Darrick knows from Linux. You could ask him.

PatFromCH said...

We should also mention that you can run Linux distros such as Ubuntu alongside Windows. When you start your computer a boot loader will ask you which operating system you want to work with.

Dead simple. Download one, say, Ubuntu, burn it on a CD or copy it to a USB stick. You will then have the option to use this thing as a Live CD which emulates the OS. And if you like what you see you can install the distro. This will take less than an hour, the fastest installation I ever saw took 15 minutes on a bare bone notebook.
You can also run Ubuntu in a virtual machine in Windows but that is quite hardcore nerdism.

Wether it is music software, painting, photography, animation or plain office work , distros like Ubuntu have the right tools. Around 10 million people now work with Ubuntu, all of 'em more or less happy. this also includes many server administrators, animation companies and game designers.

Ubuntu is far from perfect and there were times when I swore very loudly in several languages brvsudr in the beginning some stuff will require your attention and patcience. Mostly your paticnce.

Not all people feel comfortable in the Linux environment but the benefit is that the system is open to change and in ubuntu yo wil get general updates twice a year. Next OS overhaul should be due in April methinks.

Yep, let the Reverend spread the gospel and the good word of the virtues of Linux to the unbelieving masses ! Hell, I'd go to that sermon allright....

James J. Olson said...

Oh, PatfromCH, I'm not advocating for Linux. I switched to Apple years ago, but clearly this is not the place to extol its virtues. I want a computer that sits on my desk and works, and mine does. I have no interest in fiddling around with the internal workings of the infernal machines. Darrick is the one with bits of dead, useless computer all over his office. I have had just three computers in 12 years; I've lost count of the number of windows/linux machines he's had. He just knows about it, thats all I was saying.

PatfromCH said...

Well, I didn’t like Lion so I switched back to Snow Leopard. And when Vista messed up one of my notebooks I switched to Ubuntu. I even built a desktop by myself (video on req) because it was a cheap alternative and these experiences taught me a lot.

I also want my machines to work. Yet things get interesting when they do not and that is one of the many reasons why I got into IT.

Do not get me wrong here, people like you and Bob make sure that there is money on the bank at the end of the month.

Another interesting observation: The current american presidential administration is working on a bill that would prevent Internet trackback which could shut down peronalized ads, viral marketing and the sort of shite Bob has warned us about:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/02/white-house-announces-new-privacy-bill-of-rights-do-not-track-agreement.ars

Do follow these developments. Stuff like SOPA, PIPA, ACTA etc. will not only effect citizens in the U.S. The implactios of this stuff will be felt around the world and your Right to Privacy and Freedom Of Speech might become endangered species.

James J. Olson said...

Make no mistake, Pat...we have very, very little privacy or freedom of speech here in the US any more.

Mike Stone said...

In case you're remotely curious, I put a screen capture of my current Desktop up on my blog. This is just one of an infinite number of ways Linux can look for you.

http://linuxrants.com/?p=6669

PatfromCH said...

Mike, nice one ! Looks sexier than aboring Windows 7 screen. If people only knew that Beryl can do in terms of eye candy....

I am sad to hear that Freedom Of Speech and the right to privacy are becoming rare in the U.S. This is exactly why one should pay attentions when it comes to things like ACTA.
Take Switzerland for example, which is supposed to sign the ACTA treaty round about now. Our government told us that this would have no effect on our daily lives and that the constitution would not have to be changed. Yet under ACTA local Internet providers would be forced to control local web traffic and report activities such as copyright violations and it is widely feared that we would have to adpot U.S. laws which might include the newly extended copyright laws (lifetime + 90). U.S Federal Law enforcement has recently taken down sites within the U.S. at a whim on the mere suspicion that they might contain illegal material just to show that they can.
Parts of this treaty are still not open to the public. I for one am not paranoid or a conspiracy loony but I can see trouble ahead. And I thought Brazil was a dystopic satire....