Proxo Crashes on SSL connections

[Oddysey]

For the record....

I also noticed that Proxo has steadily been getting more and more "cranky" about SSL connections, and occasionally needs a Exit/Restart in order to maintain communications. To answer JJoe's questions - I have added no header filters in quite some time (like maybe 18 months, probably longer), and only one Web filter, for a single site (to eliminate a newly re-coded ad that I had previously killed). Ditto for the run-length of any filter, none of them are even close to the limit.

That said, I have long disallowed secure connections for the purpose of displaying any images, simply because they were taking too much time, and let's face it, who cares that an image is "secure" or not. (Discussion below on steganography.) Which brings me to fpout's problem - it's certainly possible that a given site is doing at least one of two things:

a) Loading many legitimate images from a secure server, such as MySpace used to do (and maybe still does - does anyone even use MySpace anymore?);

or

b) Loading images in secret for tracking purposes.


That last item used to occur from only one, or maybe two, third-party site(s) per page. Nowadays, watching your log will reveal that anyone using "common" javascripts coming from an ad network will attempt to load up to 35 "webbugs" (my best count, but it's usually less than half that)... for just one page. Add to that the frustration of clicking anywhere on a page, and a CSS style that has an attached URL will launch yet another script which, you guessed it, loads even more of this nonsense. No wonder fpout sees so many Error Dialog Boxes!


In the first instance, I'm starting to believe that I'm gonna have to take ProxRock's advice, and patch my Proxo to prevent this behavior. But in the long run, the web is in a tug-of-war between forces trying to either protect privacy, or to invade and nullify it. Meaning, we don't know, nor can we predict, what protocol is gonna come along next, and how long it's gonna last before succumbing to yet another "latest and greatest" form of sending information (of any kind). These are stormy seas we're awash in, and I predict it's gonna get worse before it gets better.


But when all is said and done, my personal take is this: until "they" fully deprecate HTTP, I'll continue to use Proxo, no doubt about it. I may miss out on some page content, due to my filter set being overly agressive at times, but that's nothing new! As of this moment, Mr. Lemmon has prevented me from contracting any diseases of the browser for more than 15-1/2 years. Another couple of years, and it'll be old enough to smoke!



Oddysey

------------

On steganography:

Yes, information can be hidden within an image, even programming instructions. Fortunately, most image rendering programs (ncluding browsers) of the last decade or so are aware of this possibility, and actively prevent execution of such instructions. Of course, as soon as I say that, some higher-level black hat will devise a way to prove me wrong, so take this paragraph with a grain of salt.