A useful browser extension

This one is for people who use Mozilla Firefox. (If you still use IE you’re missing out – Firefox is a better browser. Click on the link to get it)

One of the most annoying websites I visit is the Memphis Commercial Appeal. It has two very irritating Flash ads – one banner ad at the top of the page, and a Chevy Truck (or maybe it’s Ford – who cares) video ad over to the right. These stupid things consume resources on my computer, make the page take longer to load, and really screw things up when I view the CA’s website via Remote Desktop Connection (which I’ll sometimes do from work – I’ll connect to my home PC and use it to surf).

Well, today I found a Firefox extension called AdBlock. I installed it and restarted Firefox. I then went to the CA’s website and went to Firefox’s Tools menu. It now had an additional option: Adblock > Overlay Flash (for left click). I chose that option and it covered both ads with a FLASHBLOCK! graphic. I then left-clicked the ads and AdBlock presented code that allowed me to get rid of the ads for good. Bye-bye!

It also lets you right-click any banner ad (GIF, JPG, or PNG image) and choose to block it. I can’t tell you how this has improved my web surfing experience in the past hour since I discovered it. I’ve been visiting websites and zapping their ads just for fun.

Definitely worth downloading. If you’re an IE user, this tool alone makes Firefox worth the switch.