Much confusion about blocked item choices

[AbalyII]

When I open a page that has blocked items, the choices of what to allow are very confusing to me. I simply do not understand the difference between temporarily allowing fonts, vs. temporarily allowing *, and what the difference is if I allow the site, or a specific site like gstatic. Does anyone have the patience to explain this to me? I've searched NoScript and forums about this for many months, and I just don't understand which are more secure, which are too permissive, and what is going on.

I tried to paste a screenshot here, but it's not working. I can cut and paste text from notepad, but copying from paint into here, just does nothing

I select Img at the type, and tried to put the img or the file inside, but it won't work. I also can not use ctrl-v to paste, except regular text.
I'd like to attach it, but I don't see an attach file option. Perhaps I need to use something like photobucket! Well that didn't work because I got an ABE blocking Photobucket. I've tried to read and understand ABE scripts, but I'm just not getting it. I can not select the text of the ABE message either to copy and paste it here!

I will have to disable ABE for a few minutes. This is getting more and more frustrating!

OK, here it is: the block object example. What is the difference between these? which are more/less secure?




(and while I'm at it, here's the screenshot of that ABE message. I have no idea how to work with this. I've tried to read and understand, but I have a complete mental block.)



The ABE question probably belongs in the ABE thread!

I had to do a lot of turning ABE on and off to get these screenshots here!!

[barbaz]

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=19674 ?

and while I'm add it, here's the screenshot of that ABE message. I have no idea how to work with this. I've tried to read and understand, but I have a complete mental block.

please post here the message you see from the browser console (ctrl-shift-j) when abe blocks it and we'll help you figure out what to do
(if you can't post, send it to one of us via PM)

[AbalyII]

Thank you for your response.
As you can see, we crossed paths while I was editing the screenshot of the ABE message from the console.

Do you want the entire ctrl shift J? It's kind of long.

[barbaz]

The ABE question probably belongs in the ABE thread!

You've already posted it in one thread so don't worry about it.

I have to say I don't like the looks of that message. It can be unblocked by going to noscript options > advanced > abe > system, and adding at the very top

Code: Select all

Site http://127.0.0.1:2372/*
Accept from .photobucket.com

but I'm not sure that's a good idea - that URL trying to requesting stuff from your local machine looks like it has a LOT of information about you in it...

Thank you for your response.
As you can see, we crossed paths while I was editing the screenshot of the ABE message from the console.

Do you want the entire ctrl shift J? It's kind of long.

Having the whole browser console message might help determine if adding an exception is smart or if you should thank ABE and run away fast, so yes please.
ETA It's just the one(s) beginning with [ABE], not everything you see.

[AbalyII]

Hello, Barbaz, and thank you for helping me understand.

I just wrote an entire post, and when I clicked preview, a message came up that I had triggered a spam filter... and my whole post was lost! OK, here I go all over again:

You speak of that ABE message as worrisome. Photobucket is a well known, accepted site for photo sharing, and the only way I could figure out to put a screenshot in my post! How could it be so dangerous. Regarding the ABE message, is it possible that the information is being "collected" with my permission from a web filter I use called K-9 Web Protection, by "BlueCoat". Every page I go to gets checked by that filter before I can read it. The reason I am thinking that K-9 has something to do with what you are seeing, is the fact that the numbers 127.0.0.1:2372 are exactly what shows up in the address bar when I access K-9 in order to adjust the settings. I also remember that on the very rare occasion that I got an ABE message, on a site that I was familiar with, and knew I wanted to access, I had no choice but to disable ABE temporarily while I accessed the site. There were a couple of times, that after I disabled ABE, K-9 stepped up and blocked a site, with a simple English explanation of the unacceptable category of that website, based on my filtering settings. When that happened, I ran for the hills!

I started using Noscript in May, when I realized that my PC, running XP, is not upgradeable, and I did not have the resources for a new system. I will soon be switching to a PC running Windows 7. I read as many security tips as I could, knowing that I'm still quite vulnerable. My Firefox program was out of commission since the beginning of November, and I just finally re-installed it today. I used chrome in the interim, which was a major nuisance, and a drain on my PC. All these months, I've been trying to understand Noscript better, but all searches led me back to the Noscript homepage, which was simply unhelpful. It is written for people with a far better understanding of scripting/code/development than I have. I found this forum today, and I feel like I discovered the hidden treasure. Finally, I can learn if I spend enough time here.

Regarding the link you gave me, that explains the differences of the allowances for blocked objects, thank you. Is the list in an order that would imply stricter to more liberal allowances? I always just pick one of the choices randomly... usually one that includes the specific website that I am on. Forgive the added question: I've been searching for answers unsuccessfully since May!

(For some reason this forum is repeatedly rejecting my posts because of some kind of spam filter. Perhaps it is the way in which the console message is pasted?? I'm going to try to post this, and then post the messages from the console in a separate post. I can't afford to write everything all over a fourth time! Everything is backed up in notepad now)

[AbalyII]

I can't copy and paste the console information. Something I'm doing is triggering a SPAM warning, and not letting me post it. (Good think I backed everything up). I don't know what part of the console message is triggering this, but it's persistent. I'm going to try it with leaving out the line

Trackers.CompoundRealms.test is not a function DNTContentPolicy.js:20
Before each message?

[AbalyII]

It just interrupted as spam again.

[ABE] <LOCAL> Deny on {GET http://127.0.0.1:2372/images/blocked.gif <<< http://p.univide.com/t.gif?pid=14&puid=BayPress, http://s1379.photobucket.com/user/BayPr ... sort=3&o=0 - 3}
SYSTEM rule:
Site LOCAL
Accept from LOCAL
Deny

OK, that went through. Now I need to try the rest...

Actually, it didn't. it cropped the message!

[AbalyII]

Spam rejection again. I'm going to try piece by piece:
It's rejecting the next section as SPAM. Hmmm. I'll try to break it up a bit.
That didn't work either. I'm going to try line by line!


I just tried 20 times, 20 edits, broke up the text in 15 different ways, but the forum will not accept this. It keeps triggering a spam alert. There's something in here that won't get past the spam detector on your forum?!

I'm going back to screenshots!



There, now I could have done that literally 2 1/2 hours ago. That was just crazy.
I hope you find something in there that made this worth it.

(There are four posts here - they were meant to be one, but as you see, I couldn't post the console message. So Please go back and Read them all. Sorry, and GOOD NIGHT - it's actually the morning)

[barbaz]

Oh. Since it's something you installed, and not photobucket trying to access your local machine - it's probably fine to add exception, but according to the console messages you'll likely need this one instead

Code: Select all

Site http://127.0.0.1:2372/*
Accept from ^https?://

Regarding the spam filter, see viewtopic.php?f=14&t=20214 for why I suspect your message was "cropped".
You are clearly not a spammer so if it's really giving you trouble you can PM the post to either me, Giorgio Maone, therube, Thrawn, or GµårÐïåñ saying you're caught by spam filter and we'll try to post it for you.

Regarding the link you gave me, that explains the differences of the allowances for blocked objects, thank you. Is the list in an order that would imply stricter to more liberal allowances? I always just pick one of the choices randomly... usually one that includes the specific website that I am on. Forgive the added question: I've been searching for answers unsuccessfully since May!

I wouldn't say that.. For items below the separator, from strictest to most liberal (left to right): 3 < 4 < 2 < 1
The strictest choices would be any of the items above the first separator (individual objects, not whole origins).

[Thrawn]

I started using Noscript in May, when I realized that my PC, running XP, is not upgradeable

Actually, you might be surprised. Have you ever tried Ubuntu?

For items below the separator, from strictest to most liberal (left to right): 3 < 4 < 2 < 1

Well, that depends on your security focus...if you're more concerned about *where* you allow things than *what* you allow, then you could instead say 3 < 2 < 4 < 1. But yes, allowing individual objects (above the line) is strictest.

[barbaz]

Actually, you might be surprised. Have you ever tried Ubuntu?

...
Ubuntu is now so bloated I can't even run it decently on a VM on my relatively new MacBook Pro (12.04 is fine - 14.04 is unusable).
However, if you would like to try Linux, you might look into Lubuntu, which is designed to be lightweight. If you need help getting Lubuntu going feel free to PM me.

[AbalyII]

Actually, you might be surprised. Have you ever tried Ubuntu?

...
Ubuntu is now so bloated I can't even run it decently on a VM on my relatively new MacBook Pro (12.04 is fine - 14.04 is unusable).
However, if you would like to try Linux, you might look into Lubuntu, which is designed to be lightweight. If you need help getting Lubuntu going feel free to PM me.

Actually... I did! Do you have time for another long post???

I tried to try it out. First I spent more than a week trying to create a workable rescue disk. with an image, etc. The programs I was referred to wouldn't do it. They probably needed something I don't have, like enough ram maybe? My PC wouldn't run the recovery disks I made for more than 7 seconds before freezing. I used a pile of them trying. I now have a complete image of my PC somewhere from sometime in May or June, with no software programs that can actually recover it! My current "backup" consists of my files on a flashdrive. (I ought to update it) Better than nothing.

I spent 1/2 month trying to install a VM on my PC to try Linux MintMate. I only have 2 gb RAM!! The crashing was heard 'round the world!. But I got a "taste" of mint, and I wasn't giving up yet. After all that, I spent another 1/2 month trying to get anyone's validation that such a setup actually protects my PC that's running XP in the background. The people who seemed to really know, laughed at the idea that I could be connected to the web right through XP, and not consider XP a risk! Even if I was "staying" inside my VM whenever I accessed the web. And one of the "plusses" was supposed to be that I could actually cross in and out of my VM, and access my old and even current windows documents, etc. Well adding the "tools" that make it possible to cross from inside the VM into XP, means that a virus can do it too

Then I spent many more weeks trying to get Linux to run off a flashdrive. My PC did not recognize a flashdrive usb that's formatted, I forget, with either Fat32 or NT... whatever, you know what I'm talking about, probably. Well the one I needed to make "Linux on a stick", was the one that my PC did not recognize. I also tried running it off a DVD. I used quite a few of them before accepting that it isn't going to work with my PC, my DVD +- drive, doesn't approve. I got some version (named for a color... like wine, maybe?) onto a DVD at someone else's PC, and tried to run it on mine...the DVD drive just whirred and whirred, but couldn't load the OS. No dice. Of course, I can try to just wipe the drive, and install Linux. After all this, it's a bit much for me to just "trust" that that will work.

I don't have a windows xp installation disk. I have a Dell windows xp sp1 Re-Installation disk... and it's not the same thing. It's not a simple matter to put windows back on my PC, if I've truly wiped my hard drive on a dell system. Dell has control issues like that. Besides, how was I going to get help doing all this if I couldn't use my PC to communicate with people like you who were trying (valiantly) to help me out, while I tried to set up a trial of Ubuntu. I don't have a smart phone - figures, huh? I have a disability and I'm on a VERY limited income at this time. At the end of the day, I still have to interact with a world that really only recognizes that windows exists, and all applications have to produce stuff that is compatible...(I know... Linux apps can read and write documents that interact with Windows apps. Sometimes. Maybe. when it works.)

I finally gave up, and hardened my browser as much as I can, run scans neurotically, and Windows 7 will happen sooner or later, G-d willing.

I happened to have recently tried to install some programs, including Libre Office for windows....in an attempt to have software on my PC that can make or edit PDFs. My dinosaur office 97 doesn't yet know about PDFs! I got some sort of malware in the process that shut down my Anti-virus software. (perhaps only coincidentally), plus Libre was barely able to open - with my limited ram I guess. The windows restore I did, to get back a few days before my attempted installations basically broke my firefox. While waiting for PC virus cleaning help, I was stuck with a very slow chrome...

It's been quite a ride! Thanks for listening!

[AbalyII]

Oh. Since it's something you installed, and not photobucket trying to access your local machine - it's probably fine to add exception, but according to the console messages you'll likely need this one instead

Code: Select all

Site http://127.0.0.1:2372/*
Accept from ^https?://

Regarding the spam filter, see viewtopic.php?f=14&t=20214 for why I suspect your message was "cropped".
You are clearly not a spammer so if it's really giving you trouble you can PM the post to either me, Giorgio Maone, therube, Thrawn, or GµårÐïåñ saying you're caught by spam filter and we'll try to post it for you.

1. of course I should know where to put that exception, right?! I don't have time now to see if it's obvious to me. If not, well, I guess I'll be back!

2. I don't know why you gave me the link. I guess you were just pointing out that with http, going back would probably have recovered my post. Once I realized I have to save my txts, I copied every post into wordpad (it saves the formatting), before I hit either preview or submit. I tried some pretty wild looking versions of the console message... but the spam thingy was out to get me! Are you suggesting that a PM would NOT have hit me with an anti-spam protector? They're OK with me sending spam in a PM, just not onto the board??

Thanks. Again, I replied with more than one reply to the last few messages. Enjoy the long read!

[barbaz]

Do you have time for another long post???

Time, sure.. ability not to get lost in one... well, that's another matter
(Heh, looks like _this_ post is going to be long too. Oh well, it happens.)

I spent 1/2 month trying to install a VM on my PC to try Linux MintMate. I only have 2 gb RAM!!

Yeah, that's not enough for virtualization. You need to give the VMs at least 1 GB of RAM and one CPU core to themselves, and that's likely gonna be too much of a load on your system.

I don't have a windows xp installation disk. I have a Dell windows xp sp1 Re-Installation disk... and it's not the same thing. It's not a simple matter to put windows back on my PC, if I've truly wiped my hard drive on a dell system. Dell has control issues like that.

We had to re-install Windows from the disc on a Dell computer after an Ubuntu install failed, and it's working fine. (this took 1/2 hour)
We've also re-installed Windows XP from disc on a Dell computer before, and that install is still running.
So I'm not sure why you say that...

I don't have a smart phone - figures, huh?

Good for you. I don't have a smartphone either. Don't want to.
(Don't get me started.)

I have a disability and I'm on a VERY limited income at this time. At the end of the day, I still have to interact with a world that really only recognizes that windows exists, and all applications have to produce stuff that is compatible...(I know... Linux apps can read and write documents that interact with Windows apps. Sometimes. Maybe. when it works.)

Sorry to hear that. I've made the transition from Windows XP to Unix and I can tell you there is surprisingly little that you "need" to do that requires Windows - and even at that, I think for the most part of what I'm missing I'm just not finding the right software.
If you don't have any specialized hardware, and you don't have any apps that don't have a decent Linux equivalent, you can probably make the transition.

I happened to have recently tried to install some programs, including Libre Office for windows....in an attempt to have software on my PC that can make or edit PDFs.

Since you're on Windows, I'd suggest Foxit PDF Reader (the free version is good enough for me).

1. of course I should know where to put that exception, right?! I don't have time now to see if it's obvious to me. If not, well, I guess I'll be back!

Same instructions as the last one
noscript options > advanced > abe > system, add it at the very top

2. I don't know why you gave me the link. I guess you were just pointing out that with http, going back would probably have recovered my post. Once I realized I have to save my txts, I copied every post into wordpad (it saves the formatting), before I hit either preview or submit. I tried some pretty wild looking versions of the console message... but the spam thingy was out to get me! Are you suggesting that a PM would NOT have hit me with an anti-spam protector? They're OK with me sending spam in a PM, just not onto the board??

PMs to forum staff are not spam-filtered. Not sure about PMs from normal users to normal users.
In any case, PM spamming someone on forum staff is a total waste of everything because
1) it's useless for SEO
2) we KNOW it's spam/garbage so we'll just permanently ban the user on the spot.

[Thrawn]

Ubuntu is now so bloated I can't even run it decently on a VM on my relatively new MacBook Pro (12.04 is fine - 14.04 is unusable)...you might look into Lubuntu

I use Lubuntu at home myself. I suggested Ubuntu because it's a (relatively) well-known brand.

@AbalyII: Sorry to hear you had so much trouble. It's normally a pretty painless procedure to download an ISO file from the Ubuntu website, burn it to a CD (or DVD with latest versions), then just restart with that disc in the drive and it should take care of itself. It might not work too well in a virtual machine (I haven't tried it with 14.04, and if I did it would be on a high-end machine), but 2GB should be plenty to run Ubuntu as your main operating system. Mint is a little bigger and heavier, but still I would expect it to work. There are lots of other options, too; Linux comes in all shapes and sizes.

Regarding not recognising the flash drive - both FAT32 and NTFS are Windows native formats. So it would definitely recognise them. Did you mean that it wouldn't boot from them? That might be a matter of your BIOS settings...