Ad Muncher Discussion Thread

I wrote this in the other AM thread, but supplement it for now with ABP and a simple list like Easylist, perhaps Fanboy (although Fanboy as an individual list is coming to an end) if you want the benefit of having the Annoyances, tracking or anti-social lists.

 

You'd have to install an SSL proxy which would terminate your https connection attempt and then re-initiate it outbound to your desired destination. Technically very difficult and potentially a security nightmare. A firewall driver won't help.

I doubt admuncher would attempt to go this route - perhaps they'll try some sort of browser extension/helper instead, which can handle the filtering on https sites after it has been decrypted.

 

that's basically what a FW driver is, either way a TCP/IP level driver to facilitate the operation of it. I think Adguard installs a driver to do this, very similar to how a firewall works from the looks of it. But still, it can be problematic.

But the other, and likely better option is to simply make an extension that calls to the AM program during HTTPS work. But that might potentially be more difficult as it would require constant updating of API's for various browsers and would defeat one of the major selling points of AM - it works at the port level.

I keep FW's off on my computer as they raise the DLC too much. Bullguard(Agnitum) I was forced to turn off because of the DLC ridiculousness of it. But all of these driver level products seem to do the same thing - slow down stuff.

 

No, it's fundamentally more than that. You have the SSL certificates to deal with. Example:
- You go to connect to https://mybank.com
- Admuncher has to intercept the traffic stream and participate in the SSL handshake with your browser, whilst simultaneously performing an outbound SSL handshake to mybank.com.
- But there's a problem, because your browser will reject the ssl handshake and alert to a problem. You tried to connect to mybank.com, but a certificate signed by "admuncher" has been received.
- So you have to load up the admuncher certificate and then ignore all the https certificate warnings.
- etc etc etc

It's a total mess and a real security risk, probably breaking all the terms and conditions that you have with your bank with regard to the online banking service.

I hope this isn't the approach they've taken......

 

All browser extensions get "https" support for free.

The browser handles it.

we have to code it from scratch to work with everything.

it's the single most complex things we will ever add to Ad Muncher and if it isn't done right it could cause problems so we will take as long as it takes to get it right.

v5.x is also a rewrite of everything else, filtering engine, routing engine and a new GUI so that's why v5.x isn't out yet.

All we do is work on it 12+ hours a day. ;p

It's coming along nicely and is definitely worth the wait.

 

Yes it will be using a MITM approach similar to an SSL proxy.

you will of course have complete control over which domains are filtered.

You can filter https://www.pizzahut.com/ without filtering https://www.paypal.com/

 

it will not be a driver.

it should be nice and fast.

 

I read an interview with Murray Hurps. AM started as an experiment more than anything. Incredibly in 2010 AM had already gone through 25,000 versions since it was developed. That's remarkable, and it does function like a very refined product.

In the interview, Murray indicated he wanted to leave small banners, text ads, and other stuff alone, and to focus on large ads and popups.. Seems to me that changed since then, as AM handles everything quite nicely. What changed his mind? (good change though, I want ALL ads gone, I hate them)

http://rouse-hill-times.whereilive.com.au/news/story/local-develops-ad-muncher/

Ironically, AM leaves a banner up on that page.

 

Nothings changed, we remove what users report is all.

removed for the next filter list update. ;p

 

Same here. If I'm going to block stuff, I want to block what I find annoying, not what Murray does. I get it though, he would be taking the same stance as ABP in that killing everything might/will be detrimental to the web. Of course on the flip side of that, if we did leave say, text ads alone, we'd inevitably end up with a web that was chock full of text ads splattered across every page we go to. Advertisers find ways to get to you whether you like it or not. The words choice and no don't appear in their dictionary.

 

I just took it the wrong way. I was very tired when I posted that and I very much regret doing so. Sometimes you can get the wrong end of the stick. Of course you're right that people are going to have issues and it is great that Jeff helps out so much. I'd just like to apologise for my post and any offense it may have caused to you and other forum members.

 

No offense caused to me Believe me, I've wrote things in the dead of night that sounded bad too. But yeah, issues or no issues, Jeff should be commended for the amount of work he puts into this stuff and the patience he has.

 

Funny thing is, it was me that turned Jeff on to this forum. The product has benefited from it, no question, as it didn't even have a serious custom list like it does now in the custom .dat thread. Which I really like.

 

Thank you Mman for being really cool about this .

Bodhitree, bringing Jeff here has benefited everyone and having this thread is great.

To get back onto AM, I had a weird result while using my IronKey. When using You Tube on a separate browser, Opera, I had adverts for a short time. Once I disconnected my IronKey the adverts seemed to disappear. I did have to use ABP in my IK because AM won't work there but it's curious the effect it had on a separate browser.

 

I'm guessing IronKey is interfering with some control AM needs, but I don't know since I've never used IronKey personally.

 

I just realized something.. I might be going back to fulltime VPN use, AM won't work on a VPN will it? <sigh>

Also, lately I have been going unencrypted, usually I am 'mostly' encrypted, but I stopped so AM would work. But I really feel I should be encrypting once again, and of course, AM won't work so the product is virtually useless if I do go back to mostly encrypted. This is why I think version 5.0 needs to arrive more quickly, as I am feeling a bit less secure using AM as a result of turning off encryption to use it.

 

If it won't filter encrypted traffic, no, AM won't likely work through a VPN. At least I don't see how it could. I've said it a few times, but I don't feel giving up security software that either will possibly or is known to conflict with AM is a good move. I don't use a VPN myself, but I can't deny the benefits of using one the way online life is now and is heading towards in the near future. I'd at least like some sort of an idea of the year v 5.0 might be expected. I think your security is okay unless you have to deal with some very sensitive data online or are worried about your ISP. You've got Bullguard and more importantly you are always reloading snapshots. I have no idea of your personal situation though so, yeah, if you feel you need a VPN, it looks like you may have to choose between it and AM

 

a VPN shouldn't stop Ad Muncher.

a VPN is system wide, the connection is decrypted by the time it gets to your browser.

I've used a VPN and Ad Muncher at the same time before.

 

I think it will.

http://www.admuncher.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17655

From info of that thread, the guy managed to get them working with Chrome.

Edit: JeffreyCole answered above in the same minute. Incredibly fast support as usual.

 

I think a simplified way of looking at it is this, The browser is not doing the encryption, the VPN is... The VPN basically grabs all traffic as it is leaving or entering your machine and either encrypts/redirects or decrypts before your system sees it. As far as your system is concerned, the redirection and encryption/decryption is totally transparent. The VPN handles this either as the last thing as traffic exits your system of first thing when traffic enters your system. So as far as your system itself is concerned, it only sees the non-encrypted data thus as in the case of AM is able to continue working the same with or without a VPN involved. HTH.....

P.S. - I am using AM along with a VPN now with absolutely no problems...

 

Jeffrey, I hadn't seen mention of this around here so I'll ask myself, are there any plans to support Linux in the near or distant future?

 

That was one of the main reasons for the v5.x rewrite.

Ad Muncher is written in win32 assembly so porting it to other operating systems just wasn't possible.

With the rewrite in C nearly complete, porting to other OS's will be a much simpler affair.

Linux and MacOS are at the top of the list for ports.

 

Very nice! I have a few folks who would like to know that. They're Chrome users exclusively and as is often the case, ABP is causing Chrome to misbehave again (I've confirmed that myself on another machine, it tends to do this a lot). I've mentioned AM to them and they like the idea of how AM works. Considering I'm likely to become friends with Tux myself again in the near future, it's good news for me as well.

 

Supporting Linux would be amazing, and open the door to legions of new customers. I myself often run Linux, it's my preferred OS, but now I am so hooked on AM, and other things, it's tough to go back to Linux. When I used ABP I did find it breaking pages, I could never figure out why some pages were broken, until I turned it off and reloaded them just fine. AM was a great solution (albeit no SSL) in the short term, which solved most of the issues.

I'd like to see a 'friends and family' licensing option, like BillP does with WinPatrol. Basically for 50 bucks you can install it on your friends and family PC's within the constraints of the license. I know he sells copies just because of that. For AM, a $99.99 pack that would cover friends/family for life, I know I could be buying packs, and telling other folks to buy packs. If AM's lifetime was just a bit cheaper I would be installing it on client machines left and right, and would be giving away licenses to friends/family on my dime. Maybe consider offering such things.

 

How good is Ad Muncher compared to free ad blockers like Adblock Plus and Simple Adblock?