SPAM in Trainz Forum

[pdkoester]

The problem tends to be, when typing in a URL or clicking a link, there is a slight delay, because every domain referenced has to be checked against every entry in the HOSTS file.

Could you elaborate on that? Define the slight delay? Length of time? I dunno, seems alright on my end.

Paul

 

[RRSignal]

Could you elaborate on that? Define the slight delay? Length of time? I dunno, seems alright on my end.

Paul

It adds about a second or so and that's on my Win7 machine; it's worse on my internet machine running XP. Also, it's missing ads it's supposed to block. Just got this one on the Yahoo! homepage:



That's with ADB, Ghostery, and my HOSTS file removed and the MVPS one in its place. I can readily see that the HOSTS file is also completely missing some major ad services like IMRWorldwide and the main adserving portions of atdmt.com. This is what I can tell just from spending a few minutes with it.

 

[Falcus]

Is it just me, or is this becoming "Ph34r my 1337 toys" vs "The internet used to have core values! Like no bloatware!"?

No harm intended, just trying to understand the crux of this apparent(?) Disagreement?

Falcus

 

[NeonTheGriffon]

This entire situation could've been prevented from more cautious downloading and surfing, as well as using AdBlock Plus.
Every single computer that leaves my "office" has ABP in it automatically, clients couldn't be happier.
Unless you are having serious adware issues, I suggest leaving the hosts file alone, as it's pointless to mess with without an issue.

 

[pdkoester]

It adds about a second or so and that's on my Win7 machine; it's worse on my internet machine running XP.

Okay, so in reality, I am not going to worry, keep my long HOSTS file. It does not seem to take a second or so, just goes immediately. If it took five seconds, I could live with that, but thankfully I do not need to worry.

Bravo RRSignal, I am glad this is finally explained. No more to discuss. THANK YOU!

Paul

 

[RRSignal]

Is it just me, or is this becoming "Ph34r my 1337 toys" vs "The internet used to have core values! Like no bloatware!"?

No harm intended, just trying to understand the crux of this apparent(?) Disagreement?

Falcus

Nah, not really. The problem is, incidents like the one that affected Dave (or for anybody else reading) can be prevented or, should worse come to worst and you do get infected with malware or spyware, the effects can be mitigated by methods like HOSTS, ABP, etc. Trollibg by sdiesel aside, Paul and I actually even agree on the basic method; it's just the extent of it that we're discussing. As noted above, I've worked with the MVPS guys; their original HOSTS files were largely aggregated from ones I published, plus a few others...and things still work that way, everywhere. Plus, I've found that there is no one-size fits all approach to security. I've seen it, I've even tried developing and selling such solutions; none really work the way they should.

Ad-blocking is a sound method at malware prevention and mitigation - frankly, I consider it the most important form of computer security, second only to common sense. HOSTS is a good method of achieving; it's just not the ONLY method.