Berate me no more!

Sometimes you have to stick to your guns independent of what others are saying.  Sometimes you have to wait a long time before those people come around to your opinion. To be honest sometimes it never happens or when it does those folks are not big enough to admit they were wrong. It should be said though, when they do admit it, I respect those people greatly. So what am I going on and on about?

Blocking pieces and parts of websites with browser plug-ins to prevent malicious attacks and protect ones privacy. I had people in person telling me I was stealing if I ran certain plug-ins. I had people online telling me the same thing. I stuck to my guns though because some of the loudest and most vocal people where in fact the once’s running websites. Heck a local acquaintance once told me in person, “If you run AdBlock or NoScript you are no better then an street criminal who shoplifts.”  To be honest I never actually took the guy serious because I thought it was an emotional response that lacked very little logic.Well guess who I bumped into the other day? Yup, the same guy.

So we get talking and of course the subject of kids come up and out comes the laptop so he can show me some pictures. (to answer the question before you ask, his phone needed charging) His kids were like ever young child in the world. Smiling, full of life and beaming with joy.  Then he does the one thing I didn’t think would happen. “hey, let me show you my FB page because the pictures are newer.” That’s when the browser popped up, and there for everyone to see, three little letters; ABP. And right next to it, a nice blue “S”. That’s right, Mr. Your Stealing, was now running the same plug-ins he berated me for. So I asked him about it and to a man he fessed up, “Yeah, I’ve come around on that, now that I have a wife and kids and all. It’s kinda scary some of the things these websites are doing.  Now that my little girl is online I’m constantly checking fixtracking.com to make sure I block as much stuff as possible. ”

I never said another word on the subject and we both went back to talking about how wonderful it was to be a family man. And when I say man, I mean Man.  For in the end, a logical examination of the facts led this father to the correct conclusion. Surfing the web without a good set of browser plugs-ins is taking a massive chance with your family’s privacy and with your computers. Oh, and by the way, it wasn’t me who first suggested such measures. While working in the PC industry I spoke with many security people and their voice was overwhelming; protect yourself or else.

So where does that leave us? Well it leaves us exactly where I have been for years, running many different browser plug-ins in an effort to limit my exposure. If nothing else, I can at least say, “I’m not contributing to the FB nightmare.”

Thank you PrivacyFix.