AOL To Offer Software To Prevent `Pop-Up' Ads

WSJ ^ | Wednesday March 12, 9:41 AM ???

[Hank Rearden]

AOL is simply welded-on training wheels. Why anybody wastes their time and money there, when they could be on the real Internet, is just beyond me.

[AgentEcho]

I'll admit that for me AOL is an annoyance for some. But for the Baby Boomer producing era AOL can be a good tool. My father (64 when he bought his fist computer) is the perfect example of the person AOL should target. Granted this is a perishing demographic (Lord bless my father). This may be the end of AOL but it does currently have a purpose. How many out there (including myself) had AOL before they knew what the internet was? Geez I was a Commodore Q-Link user at first. When I called to un-subscribe they asked if I wanted to join AOL. That was a LONG time ago in computer time. It was even before AOL had internet connectivity.

I guess I just want to put out there that AOL has a purpose and people that are so closed minded to see that are just fooling themselves. We all started on the internet somewhere. Some of us graduated to the big leagues and some of us are happy to have a career in the minors.

Æ
(BTW my DSL was just connected today and I've been a computer tech since 1989 -USAF and private sector)

[Conservative4Ever]

And one would do this how?

Red

[Siamese Princess]

I'm embarassed to admit that I use AOL (have since 1998). What would you recommend?

I'm also noticing more pop-up ads then ever. It's driving me crazy.

[KneelBeforeZod]

earthlink's pop up stopper is a scam. You can no longer use it stand alone, you need the goofy earthlink browser add on package with it.

and AOL is one of the worst pop up ad offenders themselves.

[Obi-Wandreas]

AOL Provides a portal to the internet; with AOL running, you can still use any other browser through that internet connection. Then you can use a real browser:

Windows:
Mozilla
Opera

Mac OS X:
Safari (small, very speedy, beautiful, and getting better)
OmniWeb
Mozilla (bloated, but feature filled)

Don't bother with the Mac version of Opera. Their version was always far behind the Windows version, and they've threatened to stop work because Apple made a far better browser.

You could also use iCab, but it has significant problems and its development is slow.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

And one would do this how?

You would go into tools, internet options, then hit the security tab. There are four zones on the IE, make sure you click on the internet zone, scroll down to the bottom where you'll see under Scripting- Active scripting, disable that. If you need javascript on with certain sites, like with e-mail you can add their web address into another zone with Active scripting and cookies enabled.

[Conservative4Ever]

Thanks for the help. I never knew that was possible.

Red