YouTube AdsFree For Opera Removes Advertisement On YouTube

Google in recent years has started to add advertisement to the popular video hosting platform YouTube. Ads on YouTube nowadays come in a variety of ways, from sponsored channels to banner ads or in-video advertisement. The video hosting site currently supports two different kinds of in-video ads. First a video ad before the actual video requested by the user, and then ad overlays when the requested video is playing on the screen.

These ads either benefit YouTube and Google completely, or if revenue sharing is enabled, the original uploader of the video as well.

A percentage of the site’s user base may prefer to bypass ads to fully enjoy the contents without overlay images being displayed to them while the video is playing.

YouTube AdsFree is an Opera extension that removes the majority of ads on YouTube. The latest version of the extension blocks the ad servers so that the ads cannot be displayed anymore on the screen. The description lists popup ads as the main ad form that gets blocked. These are the overlay ads when you start watching the videos.

The extension furthermore blocks full window ads and promoted ads on YouTube and on websites who have embedded the videos. There is also an option available to remove branded banners, for instance on the VEVO channel, from being displayed on YouTube.

It is not really clear if the ad blocker covers 100% of ads, or if some ad forms remain on the site. While I personally have not seen any video ads before the actual video, it could be that these ads are still shown on YouTube.

Opera users who would like to try out YouTube AdsFree can install the latest version of the extension on the Opera Extensions website.

If you are not using Opera as your main browser, you may be interested in this guide that explains how to skip ads on YouTube.

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Preview Youtube Videos With Youtube Thumbs About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Sunday March 11, 2012 -
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Kaspersky WindowsUnlocker Removes System Blocking Malware

You may have heard about so called ransom ware before. This is a type of malware that tries to extort money from computer users by making the system or data inaccessible until the money has been paid. This can be a serious issue, especially if you need access to the data immediately.

Kaspersky WindowsUnlocker is a free program by Russian security company Kaspersky that you can use to remove the effects of malware that is blocking you from accessing parts or all of the system.

The program ships as an ISO image that you need to burn on CD or copy to an USB device before you can make use of it. The program itself runs independently from the Windows operating system so that the malware has lesser options to block it from doing its deeds.

You can use Kaspersky’s USB Rescue Disk Maker to copy the contents on a USB device, or a CD burner like ImgBurn if you prefer to burn the program to CD.

Once copied or burned, you need to configure the target computer to boot first from CD or USB. You will see the Kaspersky Rescue Disk boot screen if that operation was successful.

You are then asked to select one of the available interface languages. Available are roughly 20 different languages from English and German to Swedish and Dutch.

Select graphic mode on the next screen. You can alternatively boot the program in text mode, display hardware information, reboot or boot from the hard disk instead.

Click on the start button and select Kaspersky WindowsUnlocker from the available selection. The program runs automatically now and starts disinfecting the Registry. Results are displayed directly in the program window so that you can keep an eye on what’s happening on your computer.

A log file is generated in the /var/kl or /var/tmp/ folder for each program run. Once you have finished the operation, reboot your computer, change the startup device to hard drive and boot into the Windows operating system.

If everything worked out, you should have access to your system again. And while this does not resolve all situations you may run into, it certainly can help you if ransom ware locked you out of your own computer (thanks Raymond)

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About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Friday January 27, 2012 -
Tags:kaspersky, rescue disk

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Close’n Forget Removes Active Sites From Firefox’s History

You sometimes may want to erase traces of web pages that you have visited in the past. This is especially useful on multi-user systems where every user is sharing the same account and profile, but also for privacy conscious users who want to protect their privacy from third parties (for instance during US border controls or theft).

While it is possible to use programs like CCleaner for that, its all or nothing approach may suite everyone’s needs. Another possibility would be the private browsing mode, but that too has disadvantages like having to switch between normal and private browsing mode whenever necessary.

The free Firefox add-on Close’n forget adds a third possibility to the browser. The extension by default removes all cookies of the active tab. This alone may be useful in some situations, but it is not removing all traces of the website from the browser.

Users should pay a visit to the extension’s options where they can improve the functionality. Here they can enable the removal of the current site and the removal of all pages viewed in a tab from the web browser’s history. It is in addition possible to remove cookies from all subdomains of the root domain as well.

When you run the command then, the add-on will not only remove cookies but also the browsing history from the browser.

Firefox users have three options to run the cleanup. They can right-click on the page and select the close and erase cookies for the current site option from the context menu, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-w to do the same.

It is alternatively possible to add one or two add-on buttons to a Firefox toolbar. This is done by clicking on Firefox > Options > Toolbar Layout, and dragging and dropping the buttons to a browser toolbar. The first button clears the cookies and browsing history of the active tab, the second does that for all tabs open in the current window.

The tab will be closed automatically, and all traces will be removed from the cookies storage and browser history.

The developer notes that the extension sometimes cannot clear the browsing history completely. This is the reason why the feature is disabled by default. You can verify that everything has been cleared by visiting the history page of the browser.

Firefox users who are interested in the extension can download and install it from the Mozilla Firefox Add-ons repository.

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About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Friday January 27, 2012 -
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Megaupload Fallout Continues, Filesonic Removes File Sharing

Megaupload, one of the world’s top file sharing and storage sites, has been taken down on request of US authorities on Thursday. Arrests have been made in various countries and assets as well as the service’s websites and servers have been seized.

No files were accessible anymore on the servers after the takedown, which had serious consequences for users who used the file hosting site for just that: to host their own files.

Users looking for a Megaupload alternative can check out our quick overview of file hosting services.

The Megaupload fallout has not ended yet though, as some file sharing sites have begun to change their business model, likely to avoid the fate of the service.

When you visit Filesonic’s website today you will notice an announcement on the frontpage that states:

All sharing functionality on Filesonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally

Users who try to download files see the following message instead on the Filesonic website:

All sharing functionality on FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally.

If this file belongs to you, please login to download it directly from your file manager.

But FileSonic is not the only file sharing site that made changes to their business model after the Megaupload bust. Uploaded, another popular file sharing service, started to block visitors from the United States. Visitors from the United States see a blue landing page that tells them that the service is no longer available in their country.

Both file sharing companies are registered outside the United States. FileSonic operates from the Netherlands while Uploaded from Hong Kong.

Neither FileSonic nor Uploaded have released statements about the changes yet. There is no certainty that Megaupload’s takedown had anything to do with the decision but the proximity of events would suggest it did.

What’s going to happen next? It is likely that FileSonic will lose a good chunk of their traffic in the coming weeks. Users will move on and use other file sharing services to share files. It needs to be point out that this does not necessarily mean illegal activities. File sharing sites are ideal to share small to medium sized files with friends and family as well.

Users who have personal files on file sharing sites should consider making a backup of those files just in case. Services like Dropbox allow you to store files in the cloud, along with synchronization options and sharing.

Update: It appears that Fileserve has started to make changes as well. The file hosts affiliate program page is no longer accessible on the site, and according to Neowin, users are reporting that their accounts have been terminated. The message they receive when they log in states the following:

Unsuccessful login
Your account has been disabled due to violations of our Terms and Conditions

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Improve Firefox Private Browsing With Private Browsing Window Add-on About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Monday January 23, 2012 -
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NoCrap Removes Annoyances From Google Search

Google in recent years has started to make many modifications to Google Search, from auto suggestions over live previews to Google Instant. Not every user likes all or even any of those changes which makes those features highly annoying in the eyes of those users. I even know a few who switched to another search engine such as Bing because they did not like how Google changed their search engine.

The biggest issue for many is the fact that the majority of features cannot be disabled if you do not want to use them. It is either an all or nothing deal, unless you happen to run across programs that make the necessary modifications for you.

NoCrap Google Search Bar injects itself on Google Search pages. You will see two search forms on the Google homepage, and only the NoCrap search form on results pages.

You will notice two things right from the start:

The Google header bar has been removed. A click on the x icon hides the custom search form so that the standard header is again displayed on the screen.Menus to customize the search are displayed right beneath the search form. Here you can select the number of results per page, safe or unsafe search, whether you would like to only see specific result types (e.g. images or video), the time span, language and format.

You can configure default parameters in the userscript settings.

You may also notice that searches are always enclosed in double quotes automatically which ensures that those terms need to be on all result pages.

NoCrap Google Search on top of that does away with many of the annoyances that one encounters on Google Search:

Autocomplete disabledGoogle Instant disabledLive Preview disabledPersonalized web search disabledCache links show up again in the search resultsLinks can now be copied directly, Google link manipulations on copy or mouse over are removed.

The search parameters do still work even if you clear all Google cookies. Users who have used custom parameters in the past know that clearing the Google cookies will reset the preferences to their default values.

NoCrap Google Search Bar is a useful userscript for Google users who want more control over their search result pages.

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About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.Author: Martin Brinkmann, Tuesday January 17, 2012 -
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