Space Cowboy ([info]spacecowb0y) wrote,
@ 2007-10-26 13:06:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend  Next Entry
Entry tags:hax, internets

Get Rid of Snap Shots PERMANENTLY on LiveJournal

The updates to this post are getting numerous thanks to the kind contribution of other disgruntled LJ users, so I'm moving them to the end of the post. Keep spreading the word; they may be able to stop me if they wanted, but they can't stop us all!

So Six Apart just introduced Snap.com's Snap Shots into LJ, and my god are we all the worse for it. It's bad enough people use it on Blogger, but now it's somehow permeated LJ-land like a nasty fart in an elevator.

In case you didn't know, Snap Shots is a little app that bloggers use to put little preview windows on the external links and media in their posts, and personally, it's the most annoying fucktard thing you can install on your site. Sure, Adblock Plus can prevent the preview windows from showing up, but the icons are still there and my browser still tries to load something when you mouseover them, which, by the way, I NEVER CONDONED IT TO DO. So this stupid program I have absolutely no use for is making my computer do things I'm not asking it to do. Big mistake. So let's get rid of it. Special thanks to everyone in the xkcd thread for all the input.

Two simple steps:

1. Toggle off Graphic previews in your Viewing Options. This disables Snap Shots for your own LJ.

2. Add .snap.com/$script, i.ixnp.com, and shots.snap.com/snap_shots to your Adblock Plus filters. This will disable Snap Shots for the rest of LJ (and the rest of the Internet, hopefully):



Deep breath, sigh of relief. Spread the word, contain the plague.


Update: Opera users, have no fear! See this article to learn how to create your own filters, and just add the two terms as *.snap.com* and *.inxp.com*. [info]ice_dragon00 has also pointed out that you can find Opera's content filters via its menus so you don't have to hunt and mess with the urlfilter.ini file. Working instructions with pictures are here. [info]akamaru also has instructions on how to disable scripting on LiveJournal as well.

Update 2: Special request from IE users! This seems to be the best (if only) plugin for IE7 out there that can accept URLs to block, so if I'm reading the docs correctly you should enter in the terms like so:

*.snap.com/$script*
*.ixnp.com*

Working instructions with handy-dandy pictures are here, with updated instructions if those didn't work here.

Update 3: Safari users, no, I haven't forgotten about you - try the freeware adblocking plugins here and just enter in the terms above as normal.

Update 4: For people on public computers (like students at school or people at a library), do they allow the use of USB drives? If so, Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition with Adblock Plus installed may save your butt.

Update 5: Camino users, look here for ad blocking instructions (thanks to [info]therck who found this), and enter the terms as follows (I think):

host script 2 snap.com
host script 2 ixnp.com

[info]dafydd points out that the terms above should be tab-separated, and also work for the full SeaMonkey/Mozilla Application Suite on the Mac.

Update 6: If you'd rather not mess with ad blocking software and would prefer a blindingly simple browser-agnostic solution, [info]the_mcp and [info]filefish offer HOSTS file manipulation instead for both Windows and Mac at this thread.

Update 7: OmniWeb users on the Mac can join in on the blocking fun with instructions from [info]wmilliken here.

Update 8: Astute user [info]zwol has found a glaring mistake in one of the terms I listed - update your filters to use .snap.com/$script instead of just plain .snap.com/$cript. Not much of a biggie since it was working with the previous one, but it's better to be precise all the same.

Update 9: Seems that Snap is escalating the battle and trying to get around the blocks we're using. [info]zoniduck has discovered that the term shots.snap.com/snap_shots is able to circumvent the above filters; just add it to your current filters and it should do the trick...for now.

Page 1 of 7
<<[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] >>

(260 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]twilight_79
2007-10-26 05:51 am UTC (link)
Hi, I came here via your link in the xkcd thread. I'm wondering if you can tell me where I would find Adblock plus? I know I have some kind of adblocking because I already right-clicked on the icon and blocked i.ixnp.com but I don't know how to get to the list you have displayed.

Thanks! :)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]spacecowb0y
2007-10-26 06:02 am UTC (link)
Hi! Well you can check if you have it by going to Firefox's Tools > Add-ons menu, and Adblock Plus will also show up on the Tools menu as its own item:



If you don't have it, you can easily download and install it from here.

To get to the list I have in the screen shot, I selected it from the Tools menu (Ctrl+Shift+A also works) as shown above. Hope all that helps!

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2007-10-26 09:41 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]twilight_79, 2007-10-26 09:41 pm UTC

[info]kiss_of_rage
2007-10-26 08:07 am UTC (link)
Thank you very much! :)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]spacecowb0y
2007-10-26 08:10 am UTC (link)
Just glad to help. :)

(Reply to this) (Parent)
(no subject) - [info]spacecowb0y, 2007-10-26 08:11 am UTC

[info]crazy_deep
2007-10-26 08:19 am UTC (link)
ahh, jeezas. thanks, man.

(Reply to this)


[info]matgb
2007-10-26 09:41 am UTC (link)
I thank you sir—I personally don't currently have adblock, I've not got around to creating a separate 'developer' profile and I need to see ads when I'm placing them on sites, but I know a lot of friends do so have put the link into my post.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]spacecowb0y
2007-10-26 09:43 am UTC (link)
Glad to be of assistance. Just glad to have them gone, yeesh!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]diapadme
2007-10-26 12:11 pm UTC (link)
Thanks alot. It nearly drove me mad.

(Reply to this)


[info]estelle
2007-10-26 02:52 pm UTC (link)
hmm, I'm using opera. Is there a way to get adblock plus to work? Or do I have to swith browsers now?

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]spacecowb0y
2007-10-26 03:14 pm UTC (link)
I did a quick search, and this might help.

It should accept the two terms I listed in the post (.snap.com/$cript / i.ixnp.com). Additionally, I found optimized lists to go with the technique; should be more than enough for other pesky ads.

I'm an old Opera user myself; don't give up on it, it's a great browser if you find it does everything you want/need. :)

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
(no subject) - [info]spacecowb0y, 2007-10-26 03:15 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]summerodaku, 2008-07-15 02:52 am UTC

[info]rihani
2007-10-26 03:46 pm UTC (link)
I think I love you for this. :-)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]spacecowb0y
2007-10-26 03:47 pm UTC (link)
Just happy to help, seems everyone is pissed at the whole thing. :)

*goes back to digging for a fix for IE to complete the triumvirate*

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]mourning
2007-10-26 05:27 pm UTC (link)
thank you. i don't see why anyone would really want to preview a site by hovering over a link. JUST CLICK ON IT!

(Reply to this)


[info]marilla_pm67
2007-10-26 06:10 pm UTC (link)
Thanks you so much for the tip.

Sam.

(Reply to this)


[info]teresadivicenzo
2007-10-26 06:48 pm UTC (link)
Someone on my flist has spread this love in your post. Thank you so much - these have been driving me utterly nuts.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]spacecowb0y
2007-10-26 06:50 pm UTC (link)
Just glad to help, being useful is a huge ego boost, haha. :)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]sushidragon
2007-10-26 07:24 pm UTC (link)
Found your link on the [info]news post - just dropping by to say THANK YOU! Go happy to get rid of that crap forevers.

(Reply to this)


[info]namegirl
2007-10-26 07:59 pm UTC (link)
thank you very much ^_^

(Reply to this)


[info]mummimamma
2007-10-26 07:59 pm UTC (link)
Hi, and thanks for the post!

I use Opera, so I followed your link about blocking content.

After fiddling a bit I found that I didn't actually have an urlfilter.ini file, I had to make one, ie right mouse click, - block content - details - put in the terms you provided, and hey presto. Gone! (At least it seems so by some random clicking, but I'm not spending my Friday night at home checking it out.)

(Reply to this)


[info]tenners
2007-10-26 08:00 pm UTC (link)
oh my gosh THANK YOU!!!
you're much more helpful than LJ is.

(Reply to this)


[info]cortanah
2007-10-26 08:49 pm UTC (link)
This is a great post and I will be sure to spread it around when I can. Added to my memories as well. Thank you so much!

(Reply to this)


[info]newnumber6
2007-10-26 08:49 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for the attempt at help, unfortunately none of the advice really could apply to me, but I thought I'd point out that when the popup appears, it appears you can click on settings, and there's a checkbox for "disable this on all sites". Make sure to click save. After that, they don't seem to appear for me anymore (crossing fingers that it sticks).

Sadly this suggests that snap is actually more concerned about annoying users than LJ.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]beyond_the_six
2007-10-27 05:37 am UTC (link)
That option will work until you clear out your cookies. At home, that's not really a big deal but at school where I might bounce from computer to computer throughout the day, having to "disable" it each and every time? Veddy annoying.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
(no subject) - [info]spacecowb0y, 2007-10-27 05:44 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]beyond_the_six, 2007-10-27 06:09 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]squaringkarma, 2007-10-27 03:42 pm UTC

[info]foxhack
2007-10-26 10:35 pm UTC (link)
Thank you.

(Reply to this)


[info]marginaliana
2007-10-26 11:20 pm UTC (link)
Found you through the news post. It works! Ahhh, firefox, how I adore you.

Thanks very much - I'm so not savvy enough to have figured out those details myself and I haaaaate those snap things.

(Reply to this)


[info]cicer
2007-10-27 12:31 am UTC (link)
Thank you very much for this easy solution. I just installed Firefox and Ad-Block Plus today, and was able to figure out how to do this! Very appreciative!

(Reply to this)


[info]amythyst
2007-10-27 12:49 am UTC (link)
Thank you! Linked from my journal.

(Reply to this)


[info]biscayne
2007-10-27 03:52 am UTC (link)
Oh, awesome!

(Reply to this)


[info]nora_charles
2007-10-27 11:05 am UTC (link)
Thank you very much!

(Reply to this)

Noscipt
[info]shamenaught
2007-10-27 11:17 am UTC (link)
I use the Noscript plugin for firefox (http://noscript.net/) which I find blocks them, many other adverts, and virtually any other malicious scripts that are found on the web.

Sometimes it blocks friendly ones, but they can be enabled again pretty easily.

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: Noscipt
[info]spacecowb0y
2007-10-27 11:47 am UTC (link)
Actually NoScript (and whitelisting in general) is pretty much the best form of security practice there is - block everything, allow what you trust. The main enemy of course is convenience, and for a lot of people NoScript just breaks too many sites which use scripting just to function normally (it's certainly true for me).

However, a valid point! Anyone reading this and wants a higher level of security awareness should look into it.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: Noscipt - [info]kellzilla, 2007-10-28 11:20 pm UTC

[info]alighiera
2007-10-27 12:52 pm UTC (link)
Thank you so much!

(Reply to this)


[info]therck
2007-10-27 02:32 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for the information. I'm now seriously considering switching browsers again (I'm using Camino because that's what my husband dug up when I asked him for Firefox. He said then that it was the same thing. I note that *he* has Firefox on the machines he uses...).

I'm fairly sure that I can block the dratted things in Camino. It's just going to take some nerve wracking fiddling that I'd rather not do-- The directions aren't very clear for someone at my level of expertise, and I can only make the changes with Camino off, so I'd need to use another browser in order to search for clarification when I'm confused.

I use Seamonkey for webpage composition and editing because it's very, very simple and doesn't make my computer respond like a dead slug. Maybe I should just do everything on that and ditch Camino. (I gave up on Netscape and Safari after hitting some nasty bugs in the former and finding that the latter wasn't compatible with several websites that I visit often.)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]spacecowb0y
2007-10-27 02:41 pm UTC (link)
I can't really speak for any Mac browsers since I have next to no experience with the platform, but I can speak for Firefox and Opera - both of them are excellent choices if you're ready to switch from Camino (I went with FF myself for the great add-ons).

Good luck with the decision, though!

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
(no subject) - [info]therck, 2007-10-27 02:53 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]spacecowb0y, 2007-10-27 03:12 pm UTC

(260 comments) - (Post a new comment)

Page 1 of 7
<<[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] >>

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…