MVPS HOSTS File Update January-18-2012

[~BD~]

FromTheRafters wrote:
[....]
>>
> Thank you, and you're right - he won't believe you nor understand why
> that is.
>

OT - any snow there yet FTR?

[Dustin]

Virus Guy <Virus@Guy.com> wrote in news:4F18BC76.EB07BB63@Guy.com:

> Dustin wrote:
>
>> > I believe I've read in the past that win-9x is much better able to
>> > handle large hosts files compared to XP.
>>
>> You should re-read what you thought you read then, as you're wrong
>> on this one. Surprise surprise...
>
> Did you not read the follow-ups to that post before replying?

While it might surprise you, I tend to read all of your posts. They're
usually funny from a certified technician/malware research expert point
of view. You try to be witty and come off as having superior
intelligence to that of many of us here, but you fall right on your face
trying.

> Win-XP and higher has well known problems with hosts files larger
> than 100 - 135 kb when the DNS Client service is running. The DNS
> Client is an automatic-startup service by default.

Windows XP doesn't have the problem, a specific service! does. You do
realize it's one of MANY services XP can run? The hosts file was
*never* intended for the purposes you and many others use it for now.
It's a bandaid approach, imo.

> Windows 98 has no such service.

Re-read what I wrote. I didn't say windows98 had a service for dns
specifically without making use of 3rd party software.

> Now take your foot out of your mouth.

It wasn't in my mouth in the first place.




--
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too
many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by,
and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. - J.C. Watts

[Dustin]

Virus Guy <Virus@Guy.com> wrote in news:4F18BE8B.D023384C@Guy.com:

> I would really appreciate it if someone here can tell me the purpose
> of ajax.googleapis.com. As in - what is it designed to serve up -
> and how does my web-experience change if I block it.

It's a data analysis tool. For web developers. It allows them to track
more specific details about who visits the site and where they go, how
long they stayed on each page etc. It collects anonymous data, Site admins
can't identify you specifically from it.

if you block it, you deny the web developers statistical data.


--
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too
many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by,
and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. - J.C. Watts

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Dustin" <bughunter.dustin@gmail.com>

| Virus Guy <Virus@Guy.com> wrote in news:4F18BE8B.D023384C@Guy.com:
|
>> I would really appreciate it if someone here can tell me the purpose
>> of ajax.googleapis.com. As in - what is it designed to serve up -
>> and how does my web-experience change if I block it.
|
| It's a data analysis tool. For web developers. It allows them to track
| more specific details about who visits the site and where they go, how
| long they stayed on each page etc. It collects anonymous data, Site admins
| can't identify you specifically from it.
|
| if you block it, you deny the web developers statistical data.
|

LOL - GOOD !
Block it ! :-)



--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

[Dustin]

"David H. Lipman" <DLipman~nospam~@Verizon.Net> wrote in
news:wPGdnVyzS_0OrIfSnZ2dnUVZ_vmdnZ2d@giganews.com :

> From: "Dustin" <bughunter.dustin@gmail.com>
>
>| Virus Guy <Virus@Guy.com> wrote in news:4F18BE8B.D023384C@Guy.com:
>|
>>> I would really appreciate it if someone here can tell me the
>>> purpose of ajax.googleapis.com. As in - what is it designed to
>>> serve up - and how does my web-experience change if I block it.
>|
>| It's a data analysis tool. For web developers. It allows them to
>| track more specific details about who visits the site and where they
>| go, how long they stayed on each page etc. It collects anonymous
>| data, Site admins can't identify you specifically from it.
>|
>| if you block it, you deny the web developers statistical data.
>|
>
> LOL - GOOD !
> Block it ! :-)
>
>
>

The graph looks cool tho. LOL! From the web development screens.. It's a
cool flowchart.


--
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too
many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and
the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. - J.C. Watts

[Etal]

Virus Guy wrote:

> I wrote:
>
>> I've added every google host-name I can find to my (arguably dated)
>> copy of the MVPS hosts file - while still allowing the basic
>> google search page and google-maps to operate that is. I've also
>> added every twitter and feacesbook host I can find to completely
>> rid by browser of those web-cancers.
>>
>> So I guess it's conceivable that my "enhancements" could be why I'm
>> seeing increasing bogging while browsing.
>
> See also:
>
> http://blog.patrickmeenan.com/
>
> ============
> Browsing the broken web
>
> For the purposes of this example I'll be "breaking" the twitter,
> Facebook and Google buttons as well as the Google API server (jquery,
> etc) and Google Analytics.
>
> Now that we have a blackhole server, breaking the web is just a
> matter of populating some entries in your hosts file
> (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts on windows). Go ahead and add
> these entries and save the updated hosts file:
>
>
> 72.66.115.13 ajax.googleapis.com
> 72.66.115.13 apis.google.com
> 72.66.115.13 www.google-analytics.com
> 72.66.115.13 connect.facebook.net
> 72.66.115.13 platform.twitter.com
>
> ...and go browse the web. It shouldn't take you long to find a site
> that is infuriatingly painful to browse. Congratulations, you just
> experienced a Frontend SPOF - now go fix it so your users don't have
> to feel the same pain (assuming it is a site you control, otherwise
> just yell at the owner). ==============
>
> The IP 72.66.115.13 is blackhole.webpagetest.org, a "server" set up
> by the author such that it can be routed to, but drops all
> connections. I don't know why that was necessary (or what the
> difference is) in using local host (127.0.0.1) which I would think
> would give the same behavior.
>
> I do have all the above host-names in my HOSTS file, BTW.
>

While visiting neither googleapis.com, google.com,
google-analytics.com, facebook.net nor twitter.com my web-browser has
made /surprising/ URL requests to the above five servers (as well as to
many other servers).
When such uncalled for (by me) 3rd party requests happen and the
requests are for something i don't see any benefit from; Perhaps
something tiny like a 1*1 pixel tracking picture or a large obfuscated
JavaScript, that for all i know (to paraphrase from a recent post by
FromTheRafters) might lead to shellcode and exploits for Java, Flash,
and Adobe Reader .. then they get an honorable mention in my "hosts"
file. So, that is what has happened with the five domains PatrickMeenan
gives as example as 3rd-party web-page widgets. (In there they're
re-pointed to 127.0.0.1)
Can't say i can see many sites taking longer to load or outright
stalling, but my broadband isn't that wide in the first place so maybe i
don't notice any difference caused by this.


> I would really appreciate it if someone here can tell me the purpose
> of ajax.googleapis.com. As in - what is it designed to serve up -
> and how does my web-experience change if I block it.

As i understand Dustin's response, that server doesn't give us as a
web-client users any benefits. IMO - If a web-site designer/writer wants
to look at how his web-pages works he shouldn't send each random visitor
off to 3rd party servers without asking, but be using tools and look at
logs on the server that the web-site is located on.


--
Nah-ah. I'm staying out of this. ... Now, here's my opinion.