View and vote on the article here: My favourite tools: The Proxomitron
My favourite tools: The Proxomitron| Category | | | Summary | | This tool which is a 'web filter', if well configured, can give you a lot of benefits. All regarding to web surfing. From removing pop-up ads, banners and making more confortable your navigation to even trespassing some secured sites. Read along, donwload |
| | Body | Creator: Scott R. Lemmon
Version Tested: Nacko-4 (Beta Two)
Compatible with: Microsoft Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000 and XP
Tested on: Pentium II and Pentium III with Windows 2000 SP1 and SP2
License: Freeware
Web Site: http://proxomitron.org/, but it has many related websites
Installation:
I didn't also give attention to the most important and simple part of PROXOMITRON at the beginning, so I couldn't get it's benefits untill I didn't realize how it was really working. PROXOMITRON, as it's name indicates, works as a proxy which filters everything that gets inside/outside your machine using HTTP.
What's this? By running PROXOMITRON, you are running a proxy server in your own computer which listens at port 8080 as many others. But don't be fooled about this, while using it, your IP won't change.
So, if using PROXOMITRON is using a proxy server, you should configure your Internet Explorer or Navigator to connect to it. Just add a new proxy server for HTTP pointing to 'localhost' (your machine!) and port '8080'. Without this, you will surf directly, without using PROXOMITRON.
Please note that port 8080 is set by default on PROXOMITRON, but you can change it.
You must also pay attention to which ISP connection you are making the configuration from above. This was my seccond error. Well, nobody is perfect.
Running it:
A good test just to see if everything is working could be to point your web browser to a website (I recommend you http://www.zZine.org, you can find a lot of useful information and meet many intersting people with great knowledge in computer security and other computer related topics ;D). The first thing you will experience by using the 'netstat' command in your DOS will be the double number of connections, specially to port 8080 (incoming and outgoing), this is because the requests go out of your machine, make a loop, get inside port 8080 (PROXOMITRON, you guessed it) and finally go out to the server your asked for.
But... Why this loop? PROXOMITRON is filtering the incoming and outgoing requests and doing it's duty when theese requests match certain expecifications included in the filters.
Filters? Well, this word talks "by itself". Maybe you don't want to waste your connection time just for waiting for a stupid flash animation or even you don't want to let a server know which browser you are running, so filters are here to help you.
- MAIN SCREEN:
<IMG SRC="http://thewebfairy.com/prox/mainscrn.gif]
"Active Filters" checkboxes allow you to use just a the kind of filters you want. Basically, there are 2 types of filters (Web Page and Header), and other 2 types inside Header (Incomming and outgoing). By the way, from this screen, you can Freeze GIF animation form webpages and use a Remote Proxy, which is important to mask your real IP.
The "Edit Filters" box function is clear. Push the button to edit the configuration of Web Page and Header filters, as well of the 'touch and feel' and other options of your PROXOMITRON ("Config") and the remote proxy server(s) you want to use ("Proxy") and must be configured with PROXOMITRON, that is the 'man in the middle' in your HTTP connections.
The "Bypass" button is very useful in case you want to surf without filters. PROXOMITRON will pass all requests without filtering and acting on them.
"Abort" just resets the server and makes it to start listening again.
In the "File" menu you can load or save the actual settings of your PROXOMITRON, and so on with the config files which are the ones containing the filters. "Merge config filters" is a nice feature which let's you mix different filters you maybe found on the net. A very interesting feature inside the "Config" is "Access". Here you can prevent other users to use your machine as a regular proxy server.
<IMG SRC="http://thewebfairy.com/prox/logwindow.gif]
"Log Window" is one of the most interesting features. It allows you to monitorize whatever happens in the requests. You'll see what information is getting out your machine and which one is getting in. PROXOMITRON will remark which filters were used then. Green letters are for your request for a webpage, yellow for the information retrieved and pink for the name of the filter used.
- FILTERS:
In "Header" and "Web Page" from the Main Screen you will find the entire list of filters which are in the category selected (and loaded from the config file). By ticking on the checkbox you can able or disable the filter.
<CENTER><IMG SRC="http://thewebfairy.com/prox/httpfilter.gif]</CENTER>
For headers is more or less the same, but you must specify if outgoing or/and incomming headers are abled/disabled.
Here you can Create a brand new filter, edit and existing one, and even duplicate the filter and change some of its values.
<CENTER><IMG SRC="http://thewebfairy.com/prox/webfilter.gif]</CENTER>
Creating a new filter can be tricky at the beginning, but don't loose your faith. Open an existing one and try to understand how it works and what it really does. Many people have in their websites their 'homemade' filters for things like removing geocities banners for example, filters which are used in the regular navigation of theese users.
You can modify the "No Flash" filter for displaying a little image instead of the red letters "[Flash]" when this Macromedia product is found on a webpage. PROXOMITRON just replaces strings with other strings, that's all, and the result is given to your browser or the remote server (depending the filter and the request flow).
Bugs:
None known inside the program. Maybe some filters don't work. This is because times change and so webpages. You should try to see if you can edit them and study the target for capturing the new Matching Expression so you can make the filter work again. Other way is to visit regularly PROXOMITRON support websites for downloading new filters.
My Veredict:
A 'must use' in your daily navigation. It saves you much load time and prevents your browser to give information about your machine to strangers.
The best is the universality and easymade of filters. What are you waiting for?
Tutorial by Maj. dante00 [Cyberarmy] 3/3 |
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This article was imported from zZine. (original author: dante00)
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