Image Blocking Software

April 16, 2015 7:54 AM

Does there exist software that lets me block images on my computer screen by selecting, sizing and moving other, preferred images with my mouse or my finger?

When I visit sites with standard layouts and popups that seem to get past my popup blocker, I want to not see the flashing or video or whatever it is. Is there something that lets me move my choice of image over those images whenever I visit some sites?

posted by CollectiveMind to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

I'm not aware of a drop-in solution for this, but it can be accomplished by having your browser use a specially-configured http proxy. Here's a technical example.
posted by pmbuko at 8:03 AM on April 16, 2015

If you use Chrome, there's an extension called Click to Remove Element that lets you nuke anything getting in the way of your web browsing. I use it to remove massive sticky navigation bars and things a lot. It's not permanent though, they'll come back next time you visit the page.

If you're constantly removing the same stuff over and over, you could use Stylish to create a custom user style for the page that removes elements you don't want to see.

FWIW, I find AdBlock Pro works much better if you delve into the settings and turn off a bunch of things that are allowed by default.
posted by Happy Dave at 8:37 AM on April 16, 2015

The ad blocker uBlock has an element picker mode that lets you create new ad-blocking rules by picking elements off the page. It works by hiding the element entirely though, not by substituting another image.
posted by Nelson at 10:33 AM on April 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

I tend to hit F12 to open up the browser tool, identify the element and the url that it comes from, and add that domain to my /etc/hosts file (or on Windows C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts) like this:

127.0.0.1 localhost connexity.com ad.doubleclick.net ad-l.media6degrees.com cdn.vidible.tv images.taboola.com cdn.taboolasyndication.com

And volia, all gone.
posted by nickggully at 11:14 AM on April 16, 2015

I can't find anything quite like this. Adblock Plus will obliterate annoying ads and (with appropriate filters) other stuff so effectively that I've practically forgotten the internet even has ads. It doesn't look like it to me, but maybe there's a way to tweak it to substitute pictures rather than just getting rid of them. Might even have to delve into the source code, but I bet the community around it could help. Personally, I think when ads and crap are just GONE it makes webpages load and look soooooo much better that I'd take the obliterate option, even I did know how to replace all the ads with kittens.
posted by KinoAndHermes at 11:17 AM on April 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

Another vote for uBlock ("mu block"). I replaced all my AdBlock* and NoScript and RequestPolicy extensions with it, and I've been rather happy so far.
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:44 PM on April 16, 2015