Now this is a great web site and all... but, Inoticed in the upper corner an ad for "Endless Pools" and also anincreasing number of nonflight sim related popups...Has Avsim lowered the drawbridge and let the hordes in??Ha Ha...John WNewburgh

If you have popup ads appearing, they are not coming from AVSIM! As for Endless Pools, well, yeah, we look for all sources of revenue to keep the site free, and they are helping us to maintain that goal. Check 'em out. It's pretty cool. :)

Well thank heavens for popup blockers if thats the case, havent seen pop one myself lol :D

You have spyware on your computer. I would recommend trying a free removal utility like AdAware. http://download.com.com/3000-2144-10214379.html?tag=lst-0-1

Pick up a copy (free, search google) of spy bot and ad aware - they'll shock you at how many tracking cookies and redirectors you've probably got on your hard drive just from surfing "safe" sites - you don't visit any of those "unsafe" sites do you? ;)Best,sgEDIT--> As an aside, for PC users, google and yahoo both have free popup blockers integrated into their tool bar addons for MSIE - I love the google tool bar, and it's blocker - works like a charm.sg

Try this browser, its light years ahead of IE ,you will not get popups, it does not support VB scripting active X and all the other IE security holes ,it has great cookie control and has a great feature called tabbed browsing, once you use Firebird theres no going back to IE. Its a very small download(6MB) its very fast and lean. http://www.mozilla.org/products/firebird/

You know, guys, I kinda figured that's what's going on.Although I run Spybot, Adaware and Hijack This everyday, I guess it's dang near impossible to stop this endless barrage of spybots.I cleaned everythign off a computer I had downstairs, but my XP machine still shows signs of problems.I guess Ill just have to keep at it.Thanks.JohnNewburgh

Also, grab yourself a good firewall program. That will prevent a lot of that junk from infesting your machine in the first place. One good freeware one is Zonealarm:http://www.zonelabs.com/

>You know, guys, I kinda figured that's what's going on.>Although I run Spybot, Adaware and Hijack This everyday, I>guess it's dang near impossible to stop this endless barrage>of spybots.>>I cleaned everythign off a computer I had downstairs, but my>XP machine still shows signs of problems.>I guess Ill just have to keep at it.>>Thanks.>John>NewburghIf you run mozilla firebird you will not have to worry about spyware, it can not install while using firebird. With all the virus's out on the net and the spyware ,IE is just not secure enough without running all kinds of addons to combat the bad guys.

Or try Opera (currently version 7.21). Its very similar to what Mozilla does I guess. Tabbed browsing, pop-up blocker (or you can select if they open in-front or behind) intergrated email. I love it. Larger download if you get it with JAVA (I think about 17-19MB), Can be used as freewhere, but you get a banner in the top right.Also forgot to mention, integrated downloader, which I find increases download speeds as well, and is resumable :-)

Be aware of a couple of things though if you decide to switch away from either IE or Navigator...Firstly, a lot of the reason that the freeware browsers appear to 'block' certain spyware, ads, etc, is that they simply don't support many of the advanced website features that are used to generate those things - that's fine, unless you're visiting a site that uses something like an ActiveX control for a legitimate purpose, as more and more do, in which case you just won't get that content. They also tend to be behind the curve in things like running .ASP etc, which is becoming the standard for interactive pages.Secondly, the other major reason that there aren't the exploits out there for Firebird or Opera that there are for IE or Navigator is that their users are such a tiny minority that it's not worth a hackers time and effort to seek out and code for their weaknesses. Say what you will about their competence, MS has a huge security department looking for and blocking weaknesses in IE - the authors of freeware browsers simply can't match those resources, so I guarantee the weaknesses are there, the small user base has just made it not worth while for a hacker to look for them. That means that if some geek in his Moms basement somewhere DOES decide to show off by writing "The first Firebird exploit!" it could well be a real doozy.(Same deal as 'There's no viruses for Mac's' - it's because with so few of them out there a virus can't spread as it can if written for PC, so the scum don't bother writing viruses for the Mac)Richard

Hi John,I have been using Mozilla's FREEWARE Firebird for quite a while.It is 100% FREEWARE OPEN SOURCE, not some allegedly freeware program that shows ads, like opera. ;-)Just try it out by clicking on the link above, block the first pop-up, and wala, no more pop-ups, pop unders, etc... EVER.It is FASTER than IE, and as pointed out above, it does not share the same security FLAW-RIDDEN code that IE does.And if you enjoy having multiple windows open at once, their Tabbed feature is great. You can also download different skins to use as well to customize your version.DUMP that IE you are using and start using Firebird. You will thank us.http://mozilla.org/products/firebird/I also recommend the Firebird Extensions of which there are currently 144 listed here:http://texturizer.net/firebird/extensions/And don't forget to download this little plug-in called Tabbrowser Extensions, and you will be in heaven. Get it here:http://texturizer.net/firebird/extensions/#tbeAs for the rest of the crap that servers push down our browsers, you will want to add this to the browser. It is called Adblock, and is more intense than the integrated image blocker.http://texturizer.net/firebird/extensions/#adblockI have some other suggestions that I have used over time, and have listed them here in my forums:http://pub162.ezboard.com/faboutpoliticsfr...topicID=1.topicGood Luck, and if you heed our advice you will be pop-up free. If however, you keep IE, you deserve all the pop-ups, pop-unders it allows. :-)Best of Luck,Joehttp://aboutpolitics.net/images/bannerav.gif.About Politics.net - FORUMShttp://pub162.ezboard.com/baboutpolitics.Contribute to the Richard Harvey Scholarship Fund.http://www.avsim.com/pages/scholarship.shtml

Oh Richard Please,You said:"MS has a huge security department looking for and blocking weaknesses in IE "Yeah, sure they do, only it is almost always after some virus or security hole has already infected THOUSANDS, if not MILLIONS.You also said:"unless you're visiting a site that uses something like an ActiveX control for a legitimate purpose,"Please list a legitimate purpose and a website that I would require. I have not found one site that I PERSONALLY Use, that required mt to use IE except for Windows Update. That is the only time I use IE. EVER.You also said:"the authors of freeware browsers simply can't match those resources, so I guarantee the weaknesses are there, the small user base has just made it not worth while for a hacker to look for them."Ok, you guarantee, ok, let's have it. PROVE THAT STATEMENT.Small user base. Do you have statistics that prove that?They don't attack Firebird because it is OPEN SOURCE, and because it is not some flawed bug ridden code pusher like IE is.As for users being a tiny minority, yeppers, maybe, and we like it that way.So keep all your pop-ups, pop-unders, security holes, and the like that exist in IE, and I'll keep being virus free, ad-free, and pop up free using my firebird.As for the first Firebird exploit, hmmm, now I wonder why that hasn't popped up yet. Funny Stuff...I always like when someone attempts to rip up a Freeware Open Source project, as it always exposes the faults of such a half thought through Argument.Folks listen carefully......*****************************DON'T LISTEN TO ANYTHING I SAY OR BELIEVE ANYTHING I WRITE.*****************************Go out and verify it yourself. Install it, and if you don't like it, delete it, simple as that.But almost everyone knows the problems that IE causes, and has caused, and continues to cause, so if you like being treated that way. Great, fine with me, enjoy your misery, and since the alleged Majority continue to use IE, there is plenty of misery to go around.Want to end that misery, follow the links below That I listed, and you will be off to a much more pleasant browsing experience.Regards,Joe http://aboutpolitics.net/images/bannerav.gif.About Politics.net - FORUMShttp://pub162.ezboard.com/baboutpolitics.Contribute to the Richard Harvey Scholarship Fund.http://www.avsim.com/pages/scholarship.shtml

here-here! as a constant coder of ASP, VB, and XML I can attest that of all the browsers, naturally (since ASP and VB are MS cousins :)IE is the best, fastest and mainstream browser around IMO.I run a few other browsers just to be sure every page looks the same and works in all browsers and let me say- I.E. again wins here on coding side. There are so many neat tricks and powerful things you can do with asp it blows me away every day.Netscape looks good and acts ok (AOL), but Mozilla? I must be running a rouge version of Mozilla because my version has big blocky looking logos, and most of the menus and feel of the thing is like it was ripped off from Netscape and IE. Looks like a 10 year old worte it ?

I can't agree with you richard, actually firebird supports greater than 128 bit encryption ,IE does not, Open source promotes a greater diversity of ideas, and thinking to discover security holes .Mozilla is not integrated into windows ,so if it is compromised its not likely to cause as many problems. You can install extensions and plug-ins that enhance the browser such as flash ,java ect... Did I mention its free.Theres also mozilla 1.6 if you want a more polished suite of software.Im not saying microsoft is incompetent, Im trying to say there are alternatives that may be a better option in todays environment.