1 Junkbuster Frequently Asked Questions
3 By: Junkbuster Developers
5 $Id: faq.sgml,v 1.18 2002/03/18 16:40:31 hal9 Exp $
7 The FAQ document gives users and developers alike answers to frequently asked
8 questions about the Internet Junkbuster. Internet Junkbuster is a web proxy
9 with advanced filtering capabilities for protecting privacy, filtering web page
10 content, managing cookies, controlling access, and removing ads, banners,
11 pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet Junk. Junkbuster has a very flexible
12 configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and tastes.
13 Internet Junkbuster has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
16 You can find the latest version of the document at http://
17 ijbswa.sourceforge.net/faq/. Please see the Contact section in the user-manual
18 if you want to contact the developers.
20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23 1. Frequently Asked Questions
25 1.1. General Information
27 1.1.1. What is this new version of Junkbuster?
28 1.1.2. How does it differ from the old Junkbuster?
29 1.1.3. What are some of the new features?
30 1.1.4. What is a "proxy"? How does Junkbuster work?
31 1.1.5. My browser does the same things as Junkbuster. Why should I use
33 1.1.6. Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty?
38 1.2.1. Can I install the new Junkbuster over the old one?
39 1.2.2. I just installed Junkbuster. Is there anything special I have to
41 1.2.3. What is the proxy address of Junkbuster?
42 1.2.4. I just installed Junkbuster, and nothing is happening. All the
43 ads are there. What's wrong?
47 1.3.1. Can I use my old config files?
48 1.3.2. What is an "actions" file?
49 1.3.3. The "actions"concept confuses me. Please list some of these
51 1.3.4. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do
53 1.3.5. What are the differences between ijb-intermediate.action,
54 ijb-basic.action, etc.?
55 1.3.6. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not
56 raise security issues?
57 1.3.7. How can I set up Junkbuster to act as a proxy for my LAN?
58 1.3.8. Instead of ads, now I get a Junkbuster logo [or checkerboard]. I
59 don't want to see anything.
60 1.3.9. Why would anybody want to see the logo or checkerboard?
61 1.3.10. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". How
66 1.4.1. How much does Junkbuster slow my browsing down? This has to add
67 extra time to browsing.
68 1.4.2. I noticed considerable delays in page requests compared to the
69 old IJB. What's wrong?
70 1.4.3. What is the "http://i.j.b/"?
71 1.4.4. I would like to help you, what do I do?
72 1.4.5. Do you still maintain the blocklists?
73 1.4.6. How can I submit new ads?
74 1.4.7. How can I hide my IP address?
75 1.4.8. Can Junkbuster guarantee I am anonymous?
76 1.4.9. Might some things break because header information is being
78 1.4.10. Can Junkbuster act as a "caching" proxy to speed up web
80 1.4.11. What about as a firewall? Can Junkbuster protect me?
81 1.4.12. The Junkbuster logo that replaces ads is very blocky and ugly
82 looking. Can't a better font be used?
83 1.4.13. I have large empty spaces now where ads used to be. Why does
84 Junkbuster leave these large gaps?
85 1.4.14. How can Junkbuster filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?
86 1.4.15. Junkbuster runs as a "server". How secure is it? Do I need to
87 take any special precautions?
88 1.4.16. What is a "re_filterfile"?
92 1.5.1. I just upgraded and am getting "connection refused" with every
94 1.5.2. I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is still getting
96 1.5.3. One of my favorite sites does not work with Junkbuster. What can
98 1.5.4. What time is it?
100 2. Contact the developers
101 3. Copyright and History
104 1. Frequently Asked Questions
106 1.1. General Information
108 1.1.1. What is this new version of Junkbuster?
110 The original Internet Junkbuster (tm) is a coyrighted product of Junkbusters
111 Corporation. Development of this effort stopped some time ago as of version
112 2.0.2. Stefan Walherr started the ijbswa project on Sourceforge to rekindle
113 development. Other developers subsequently joined with Stefan, and have since
114 added many new features, refinements and enhancements.
116 The new Junkbuster started with the same code base, but has changed
117 significantly at this point.
119 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
121 1.1.2. How does it differ from the old Junkbuster?
123 All the old features remain. The new Junkbuster still blocks ads and banners,
124 still manages cookies, and still helps protect your privacy. But, these are all
125 enhanced, and many new features have been added, all in the same vein.
127 The configuration has changed significantly as well. This is something that
128 users will notice right off the bat. The "blocklist" file does not exist any
129 more. This is replaced by "actions" files, such as ijb.actions. This is where
130 most of the per site configuration is now.
132 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
134 1.1.3. What are some of the new features?
136 * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility (http://i.j.b).
137 Browser-based tracing of rule and filter effects.
139 * Blocking of annoying pop-up browser windows.
141 * HTTP/1.1 compliant (most, but not all 1.1 features are supported).
143 * Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files,
144 and generally a more sophisticated and flexible configuration syntax over
149 * Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size, invisible
150 "web-bugs", JavaScript, pop-ups, status bar abuse, etc.)
152 * Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
154 * Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads).
156 * Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.
158 * User-customizable HTML templates (e.g. 404 error page).
160 * Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies).
162 * Builds from source on most UNIX-like systems. Packages available for: Linux
163 (RedHat, SuSE, or Debian), Windows, Sun Solaris, Mac OSX, OS/2, HP-UX 11
166 * In addition, the configuration is much more powerful and versatile
169 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
171 1.1.4. What is a "proxy"? How does Junkbuster work?
173 When you connect to a web site with Junkbuster, you are really connecting to
174 your locally running version of Junkbuster. Junkbuster intercepts your requests
175 for the web page, and relays that to the "real" web site. The web site sends
176 the HTTP data stream back to Junkbuster, where Junkbuster can work its magic
177 before it relays this data back to your web browser.
179 Since Junkbuster sits between you and the WWW, it is in a position to intercept
180 and completely manage all web traffic and HTTP content before it gets to your
181 browser. Junkbuster uses various programming methods to do this, all of which
182 is under your control via the various configuration files and options.
184 There are many kinds of proxies. Junkbuster best fits the "filtering proxy"
187 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
189 1.1.5. My browser does the same things as Junkbuster. Why should I use
192 Modern browsers do indeed have some of the same functionality as Junkbuster.
193 Maybe this is adequate for you. But Junkbuster is much more verstatile and
194 powerful, and can do a number of things that browsers just can't.
196 In addition, a proxy is good choice if you use multiple browsers, or have a LAN
197 with multiple computers. This way all the configuration is in one place, and
198 you don't have to maintain a similar configuration for possibly many browsers.
200 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
202 1.1.6. Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty? Registration?
204 Junkbuster is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). It is free
205 to use, copy, modify or distribute as you wish under the terms of this license.
206 See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html for specifics.
208 There is no warranty of any kind, expressed, implied or otherwise. That is
209 something that would cost real money ;-) There is no registration either.
210 Junkbuster really is free in every respect!
212 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
216 1.2.1. Can I install the new Junkbuster over the old one?
218 We recommend you uninstall the old Junkbuster first to minimize conflicts and
219 confusion. You may want to save your old configuration files for future
220 reference. The configuration is substantially changed.
222 See the user-manual for platform specific installation instructions. [FIXME:
223 This is meant for after the name change for 3.0!]
225 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
227 1.2.2. I just installed Junkbuster. Is there anything special I have to do now?
229 All browsers must be told to use Junkbuster as a proxy by specifying the
230 correct proxy address and port number in the appropriate configuration area for
231 the browser. See below.
233 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
235 1.2.3. What is the proxy address of Junkbuster?
237 If you set up the Junkbuster to run on the computer you browse from (rather
238 than your ISP's server or some networked computer on a LAN), the proxy will be
239 on "localhost" (which is the special name used by every computer on the
240 Internet to refer to itself) and the port will be 8118 (unless you have told
241 the Internet Junkbuster to run on a different port with the listen-address
244 When configuring your browser's proxy settings you typically enter the word
245 "localhost" in the boxes next to "HTTP" and "Secure" (HTTPS) and then the
246 number "8118" for "port". This tells your browser to send all web requests to
247 "Junkbuster" instead of directly to the Interenet.
249 Junkbuster can also be used to proxy for a Local Area Network. In this case,
250 your would enter either the IP address of the LAN host where Junkbuster is
251 running, or the equivalent hostname. Port assignment would be same as above.
253 Junkbuster does not currently handle protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ,
254 or other Internet protocols.
256 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
258 1.2.4. I just installed Junkbuster, and nothing is happening. All the ads are
261 Did you configure your browser to use Junkbuster as a proxy? It does not sound
262 like it. See above. You might also try flushing the browser's caches to force a
263 full re-reading of pages. You can verify that Junkbuster is running, and your
264 browser is correctly configured by entering the special URL: http://i.j.b/.
265 This should give you a banner that says "This is the Internet JUNKBUSTER" and
266 access to Junkbuster's internal configuration. If you see this, then you are
267 good to go. If not, the browser or Junkbuster are not set up correctly.
269 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
273 1.3.1. Can I use my old config files?
275 There are major changes to Junkbuster configuration from version 2.0.x to 2.9.x
276 and later. The older files will not work at all. If this is the case, you will
277 need to re-enter your old data into the new configuration structure. This is
278 probably also a good recommendation even if upgrading from 2.9.x to 3.x since
279 there were many minor changes along the way.
281 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
283 1.3.2. What is an "actions" file?
285 "actions" files are where various actions that Junkbuster might take, are
286 configured. Typically, you would define a set of default actions that apply to
287 all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults.
289 Actions can be defined on a per site basis, or for groups of sites. Actions can
290 also be grouped together and then applied to one or more sites. There are many
291 possible actions that might apply to any given site. As an example, if we are
292 blocking cookies as one of our default actions, but need to accept cookies from
293 a given site, we would define this in our "actions" file.
295 Junkbuster comes with several default actions files, with varying degrees of
296 filtering and blocking, as starting points for your own configuration (see
299 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
301 1.3.3. The "actions"concept confuses me. Please list some of these "actions".
303 These are all explained in the user-manual. Please refer to that.
305 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
307 1.3.4. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do this?
309 The easiest way to do this, is to access Junkbuster with your web browser at
310 http://i.j.b/, and then select "Edit the actions list" from the selection list.
311 You can also do this by editing the appropriate file with a text editor.
313 Please see the user-manual for a detailed explanation of these and other
314 configuration files, and their various options and syntax.
316 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
318 1.3.5. What are the differences between ijb-intermediate.action,
319 ijb-basic.action, etc.?
321 Configuring the Internet Junkbuster is not easy. To help you get started, we
322 provide you with three different default configurations. The following table
323 shows you, which features are enabled in each configuration.
325 Table 1. Default Configurations
327 +------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
328 |Feature |ijb.action |ijb-basic.action|ijb-intermediate.action|ijb-advanced.action|
329 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
330 |ad-filtering |? |x |x |x |
331 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
332 |blank image |? |x |x |x |
333 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
334 |de-animate GIFs |? |x |x |x |
335 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
336 |referer forging |? |x |x |x |
337 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
339 |+no-cookies-keep | | | | |
340 |(i.e. session | | | | |
341 |cookies only) | | | | |
342 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
343 |no-popup windows |? | |x |x |
344 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
345 |fast redirects |? | |x |x |
346 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
347 |hide-referrer |? | |x |x |
348 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
349 |hide-useragent |? | |x |x |
350 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
351 |content-modification|? | | |x |
352 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
353 |feature-x |? | | | |
354 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
355 |feature-y |? | | | |
356 |--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
357 |feature-z |? | | | |
358 +------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
360 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
362 1.3.6. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise
365 What I don't understand, is how I can browser edit the config file as a regular
366 user, while the whole /etc/junkbuster hierarchy belongs to the user
367 "junkbuster", with only 644 perms.
369 When you use the browser-based editor, JunkBuster itself is writing to the
370 config files. Because JunkBuster is running as the user "junkbuster", it can
371 update the config files.
373 If you don't like this, setting "enable-edit-actions 0" in the config file will
374 disable the browser-based editor. If you're that paranoid, you should also
375 consider setting "enable-remote-toggle 0" to prevent browser-based enabling/
376 disabling of JunkBuster.
378 Note that normally only local users can connect to JunkBuster, so this is not
379 (normally) a security problem.
381 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
383 1.3.7. How can I set up Junkbuster to act as a proxy for my LAN?
385 By default, Junkbuster only responds to requests from localhost. To have it act
386 as a server for a network, this needs to be changed in the main config file
387 where the Junkbuster configuration is located. In that file is a
388 "listen-address" option. It may be commented out with a "#" symbol. Make sure
389 it is uncommented, and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface, and
392 listen-address 192.168.1.1:8118
395 Save the file, and restart Junkbuster. Configure all browsers on the network
396 then to use this address and port number.
398 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
400 1.3.8. Instead of ads, now I get a Junkbuster logo [or checkerboard]. I don't
401 want to see anything.
403 This is a configuration option for images that Junkbuster is stopping. You have
404 the choice of the Junkbuster logo, a checkerboard pattern (this scales better),
405 a transparent 1x1 GIF image, or a custom URL or your choice.
407 If you want to see nothing, then change the "+image-blocker" action to
408 "+image-blocker{blank}". This can be done from the "Edit Actions List"
409 selection at http://i.j.b/. Or by hand editing the appropriate actions file.
410 This will only effect what is defined as "images" though.
412 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
414 1.3.9. Why would anybody want to see the logo or checkerboard?
416 This can be helpful for troubleshooting problems. It might also be good for
417 anyone new to Junkbuster so that they can see if their favorite pages are
418 displaying correctly, and Junkbuster is not inadvertantly removing something
421 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
423 1.3.10. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". How do I get
426 These are URLs that match something in one of Junkbuster's block actions
427 (+block). It is meant to be a warning so that you know something has been
428 blocked and an easy way for you to see why. These are handled differently than
429 what has been defined as "images" (e.g. ad banners). If you want them to be
430 treated as if they were images, so that they can be invisible, then move the
431 offending URL from the "+block" section to the "+imageblock" section of your
432 actions file. Alternately, you could modify the "block" HTML template that is
433 used by Junkbuster to display this, and make it something more to your liking.
435 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
439 1.4.1. How much does Junkbuster slow my browsing down? This has to add extra
442 It should not slow you down any in real terms, and may actually help speed
443 things up since ads, banners and other junk are not being displayed. The actual
444 processing time required by Junkbuster itself for each page, is relatively
445 small in the overall scheme of things, and happens very quickly. This is
446 typically more than offset by time saved not downloading and rendering ad
449 "Filtering" via the re_filterfile mechanism may cause a perceived slowdown,
450 since the entire page is buffered before displaying. See below.
452 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
454 1.4.2. I noticed considerable delays in page requests compared to the old IJB.
457 Using the default filtering configuration, I noticed considerable delays in
458 page requests compared to the old IJB. Loading pages with large contents seemed
459 to take forever, then suddenly delivering all the content at once.
461 The whole content must be loaded in order to filter, and nothing is is sent to
462 the browser during this time. The loading time does not really change in real
463 numbers, but the feeling is different, because most browsers are able to start
464 rendering incomplete content, giving the user a feeling of "it works".
466 To modify the content of a page (i.e. make frames resizeable again, etc.) and
467 not just replace ads, the Internet Junkbuster needs to download the entire page
468 first, do its content magic and then send the page to the browser.
470 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
472 1.4.3. What is the "http://i.j.b/"?
474 Since JunkBuster sits between your web browser and the Internet, it can be
475 programmed to handle certain pages specially.
477 With recent versions of JunkBuster (version 2.9.x), you can get some
478 information about JunkBuster and change some settings by going to http://i.j.b/
479 or, equivalently, http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/ (Note that i.j.b is far
480 easier to type but may not work in some configurations).
482 These pages are *not* forwarded to a server on the internet - instead they are
483 handled by a special web server which is built in to JunkBuster.
485 If you are not running JunkBuster, then http://i.j.b/ will fail, and http://
486 ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/ will return a web page telling you you're not
489 If you have version 2.0.2, then the equivalent is http://example.com/
490 show-proxy-args (but you get far less information, and you should really
491 consider upgrading to 2.9.x).
493 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
495 1.4.4. I would like to help you, what do I do?
497 Well, helping the team is always a good idea. We welcome new developers, RPM
498 gurus or documentation makers. Simply get an account on sourceforge.net and
499 mail your id to the developer mailing list. Once we have added you to the team,
500 you'll have write access to the CVS repository, and together we'll find a
501 suitable task for you.
503 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
505 1.4.5. Do you still maintain the blocklists?
507 No. The format of the blocklists has changed significantly in the versions
508 2.9.x. Once we have released the new version, there will again be blocklists
509 that you can update automatically.
511 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
513 1.4.6. How can I submit new ads?
515 As of now, please discontinue to submit new ad blocking infos. Once we have
516 released the new version, there will again be a form on the website, which you
517 can use to contribute new ads.
519 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
521 1.4.7. How can I hide my IP address?
523 You cannot hide your IP address with Junkbuster or any other software, since
524 the server needs to know your IP address to send the answer to you.
526 Fortunately there are many publicly usable anonymous proxies out there, which
527 solve the problem by providing a further level of indirection between you and
528 the web server, shared by many people and thus letting your requests "drown" in
529 white noise of unrelated requests as far as user tracking is concerned.
531 Most of them will, however, log your IP address and make it available to the
532 authorities in case you abuse that anonymity for criminal purposes. In fact you
533 can't even rule out that some of them only exist to *collect* information on
534 (those suspicious) people with a more than average preference for privacy.
536 You can find a list of anonymous public proxies at multiproxy.org and many more
539 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
541 1.4.8. Can Junkbuster guarantee I am anonymous?
543 No. Your chances of remaining anonymous are greatly improved, but unless you
544 are an expert on Internet security it would be safest to assume that everything
545 you do on the Web can be traced back to you.
547 Junkbuster can remove various information about you, and allows you more
548 freedom to decide which sites you can trust. But it's still possible that web
549 sites can find out who you are. Here's one way this can happen.
551 A few browsers disclose the user's email address in certain situations, such as
552 when transferring a file by FTP. Junkbuster does not filter FTP. If you need
553 this feature, or are concerned about the mail handler of your browser
554 disclosing your email address, you might consider products such as NSClean.
556 Browsers available only as binaries could use non-standard headers to give out
557 any information they can have access to: see the manufacturer's license
558 agreement. It's impossible to anticipate and prevent every breach of privacy
559 that might occur. The professionally paranoid prefer browsers available as
560 source code, because anticipating their behavior is easier. Trust the source,
563 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
565 1.4.9. Might some things break because header information is being altered?
567 Definitely. More and more sites use HTTP header content to decide what to
568 display and how to display it. There is many ways that this can be handled, so
569 having hard and fast rules, is tricky.
571 "USER AGENT" in particular is often used in this way to identify the browser,
572 and adjust content accordingly. Changing this now is not recommended, since so
573 many sites do look for this. You may get undesirable results by changing this.
575 For instance, different browsers use different encodings of Russian and Czech
576 characters, certain web servers convert pages on-the-fly according to the User
577 Agent header. Giving a "User Agent" with the wrong operating system or browser
578 manufacturer causes some sites in these languages to be garbled; Surfers to
579 Eastern European sites should change it to something closer. And then some page
580 access counters work by looking at the "REFERER" header; they may fail or break
581 if unavailable. The weather maps of Intellicast have been blocked by their
582 server when no "REFERER" or cookie is provided, is another example. There are
583 many, many other ways things can go wrong when trying to fool a web server.
585 If you have problems with a site, you will have to adjust your configuration
586 accordingly. Cookies are probably the most likely adjustment that may be
587 required, but by no means the only one.
589 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
591 1.4.10. Can Junkbuster act as a "caching" proxy to speed up web browsing?
593 No, it does not have this ability at all. You want something like Squid for
594 this. And, yes, before you ask, Junkbuster can co-exist with other kinds of
595 proxies like "Squid".
597 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
599 1.4.11. What about as a firewall? Can Junkbuster protect me?
601 Not in the way you mean, or in the way a true firewall can, or a proxy that has
602 this specific capability. Junkbuster can help protect your privacy, but not
603 really protect you from intrusion attempts.
605 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
607 1.4.12. The Junkbuster logo that replaces ads is very blocky and ugly looking.
608 Can't a better font be used?
610 This is not a font problem. The logo is an image that is created by Junkbuster
611 on the fly. So as to not waste memory, the image is rather small. The
612 blockiness comes when the image is scaled to fill a largish area. There is not
613 much to be done about this, other than to use one of the other "imageblock"
614 directives: pattern, blank, or a URL of your chosing.
616 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
618 1.4.13. I have large empty spaces now where ads used to be. Why does Junkbuster
619 leave these large gaps?
621 It would be easy enough to just eliminate this space altogether, rather than
622 fill it with blank space. But, this would create problems with many pages that
623 use the overall size of the ad to help organize the page layout and position
624 the various components of the page where they were intended to be. It is best
627 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
629 1.4.14. How can Junkbuster filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?
631 This is a limitation since HTTPS transactions are encrypted SSL sessions
632 between your browser and the secure site, and are meant to be reliably secure
633 and private. This means that all cookies and HTTP header information are also
634 encrypted from the time they leave your browser, to the site, and vice versa.
635 Junkbuster does not try to unencrypt this information, so it just passes
636 through as is. Junkbuster can still catch images and ads that are embedded in
637 the SSL stream though.
639 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
641 1.4.15. Junkbuster runs as a "server". How secure is it? Do I need to take any
644 There are no known exploits that might effect Junkbuster. On Unix-like systems,
645 Junkbuster can run as a non-privileged user, which is how we recommend it be
646 run. Also, by default Junkbuster only listens to requests from "localhost". It
647 is not itself directly exposed to the Internet in this configuration. If you
648 want to have Junkbuster serve as a LAN proxy, this will have to be opened up to
649 allow for LAN requests. In this case, we'd recommend you specify only the LAN
650 gateway address, e.g. 192.168.1.1 in the main Junkbuster config file. All LAN
651 hosts can then use this as their proxy address in the browser proxy
652 configuration. In this way, Junkbuster will not listen on any external ports.
653 Of course, a firewall is always good too. Better safe than sorry.
655 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
657 1.4.16. What is a "re_filterfile"?
659 The "re_filterfile" is used to "filter" any page content. By "filtering" we
660 mean it can modify, remove, or change anything on the page, including HTML
661 tags, and JavaScript. Regular expressions are used to accomplish this. This is
662 potentially a very powerful feature, but requires some expertise.
664 If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look at the
665 provided re_filterfile with a text editor and see some of things it can be used
668 Presently, there is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration.
670 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
674 1.5.1. I just upgraded and am getting "connection refused" with every web page?
676 Either Junkbuster is not running, or your browser is configured for a different
677 port than what Junkbuster is using.
679 The old Junkbuster used port 8000 by default. This has been changed to port
680 8118 now, due to a conflict with NAS (Network Audio Service), which uses port
681 8000. If you haven't, you need to change your browser to the new port number,
682 or alternately change Junkbuster's "listen-address" setting in the config file
683 used to start Junkbuster.
685 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
687 1.5.2. I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is still getting through.
690 If the ad had been displayed before you added its URL, it will probably be held
691 in the browser's cache for some time, so it will be displayed without the need
692 for any request to the server, and Junkbuster will not be in the picture. The
693 best thing to do is try flusing the browser's caches. And then try again.
695 If this doesn't help, you probably have an error in the rule you applied. Try
696 pasting the full URL of the offending ad into http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/
697 config/show-url-info and see if any actions match your new rule.
699 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
701 1.5.3. One of my favorite sites does not work with Junkbuster. What can I do?
703 First verify that it is indeed a Junkbuster problem, by disabling Junkbuster
704 filtering and blocking. Go to http://i.j.b/ and click on "Toggle Junkbuster On
705 or Off", then disable it. Now try that page again.
707 If still a problem, go to "Show which actions apply to a URL and why" from
708 http://i.j.b/ and paste the full URL of the page in question into the prompt.
709 See which actions are being applied to the URL. Now, armed with this
710 information, go to "Edit the actions list". Here you should see various
711 sections that have various "Junkbuster" features disabled for specific sites.
712 Disabled "actions" will have a "-" (minus sign) in front of them. Add your
713 problem page URL to one of these sections that looks like it is disabling the
714 feature that is causing the problem. Re-try the page. There might be some trial
715 and error involved. This is discussed in a little more detail in the
716 user-manual appendix.
718 Alternately, if you are comfortable with a text editor, you can accomplish the
719 same thing by editing the appropriate "actions" file.
721 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
723 1.5.4. What time is it?
727 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
729 2. Contact the developers
731 Please see the user manual for information on how to contact the developers.
733 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
735 3. Copyright and History
737 Please see the user manual for information on Copyright and History.
739 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
743 Please see the user manual for information on references.