Why do I continue to get meld.js downloads?

Ghostery is blocking among other things admeld and these are the scripts that appear with NoScript in Firefox. This is the WoT scorecard for admeld

http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/admeld.com

Appreciate your help, and I have re-enabled the AdBlock and Ghostery as you suggested.

I think that's wise, but I'd also want to find out what site is hosting the ads that are causing this problem. As WZZZ has pointed out, these particular ad sites have very bad reputations. So, you'll want to either let the owner of the site hosting ads from those sites know about the issue, or you'll want to stop visiting that site. Note that if the owner is knowingly hosting ads from questionable sites, you don't want to go anywhere near that site in general.

This gets kind of complicated, but even though there is some overlap, Ghostery is blocking different types of trackers and NoScript is blocking scripts. I will refer you here for some basic stuff.

http://lifehacker.com/5887140/everyones-trying-to-track-what-you-do-on-the-web-h eres-how-to-stop-them

I stopped using Safari some years ago because there is nothing comparable to NoScript available in Safari. Firefox also has an enormous flexibility because of the number of Add-ons that are possible. I never see an ad and I only allow those scripts which are essential to the functioning of a web page.

I use NoScript, AdBlock Plus, and Ghostery in Firefox, which is my primary browser. I like to know who's knocking at my door before I open it.

Here's some basic information on using NoScript.

http://forums.informaction.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=268

http://noscript.net/features

Btw, since this thread started where you thought the latest Java update was causing the problem, be EXTREMELY careful where you allow Java to run. It is constantly being exploited for malware, even though it constantly gets patched; that patching is useless. I have it completely disabled in the browser. You do that in Preferences>Plug-ins. I don't allow it anywhere.

Message was edited by: WZZZ

I wasn't saying a switch to Firefox is absolutely necessary--that said, I wouldn't use anything else--but it does offer more security, flexibiity and privacy, using those Add-ons and others, like WoT. Besides that, Firefox is regularly patched against security threats, where Safari for Snow Leopard (even for higher OS versions) if it continues to get any patches, is patched very infrequently. If you continue with Safari, you should also install WoT, which will give you a guide to the safety of many sites--not always completely accurate, but much better than nothing.

Keep an eye on AdBlock. I have it installed in Safari, but since I don't use Safari very much I'm not certain just how effective it is.

I understand that switching from a browser you are used to is like giving up an old pair of comfortable shoes; we get used to them.

You have the right combination. Java should be disabled unless a specific site requires it (then disable again immediately after you've finished with it) ... and Javascript should always be enabled.

Well, actually JavaScript is not always needed or safe (many web pages will function well, or well enough, without JS), but there's no easy way to toggle it on and off in browsers, except to clumsily go into Preferences each time. That's where NoScript is valuable. It allows you to turn JS off and on selectively for the site itself, and for any secondary scripts. Besides that, it provides many important under-the-hood security features.

On Safari at least, I find ghostery a bit too blocking of useful (comments, reviews etc) content - sure, it's easy to pause/refresh, but the missing things aren't always obvious.

Glimmerblocker deals well with much of this js & ad stuff, assuming that the ad-networks filter is chosen, and should work with any browser. It also lines up a list of 'suspects' for sites you visit, making it quite simple to add these to the filters.

Yeah, lately Ghostery in Firefox has been over the top too; just blocking too much. Still, for the time being, I'll live with the occasional inconvenience. NoScript, AdBlock Plus, Ghostery, Referesh Blocker, Redirect Cleaner, Little Snitch, all have their downsides and, admittedly, sometimes it's just too much trouble to find out where the blocking is coming from and a PITA. So sometimes if it's not a site/page I absolutely have to visit, I just give up. On balance though, I still think it's worth it. But I'm pretty hard-core.

I just noticed meld.js show up in my download folder and I had wunderground open in my safari browser.