Consumer idiot

The consumer idiot blog is a great laugh. This blogger works for an internet marketing company and he blogs some of the more amusing emails he receives at work. Reading it, you can see how people are getting really disturbed by the advertising that's constantly thrown at them. The blog also offers some insight into what happens when you get involved with these internet marketeers.

If you're bothered by pop-up ads (the ones that magically appear in a new window when you're surfing), here are some simple (and free) solutions for you to try.

For PC users, Mozilla is a browser similar to Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Mozilla offers increased user-friendliness compared to IE, as well as a better range of options, including a very effective pop-up blocker. Mozilla also offers more secure browsing than IE, which continues to be riddled with holes.

You can download Mozilla here.

In case you want to know what else is wrong with Microsoft, take a look at this detailed report from Corporate Watch.

Unlike Bill Gates and Microsoft, Mozilla is part of the open source movement. Some of the best software in the world has been created using the open source method, which means anybody can contribute to the project and (usually) anybody can use it free of charge.

Dan Gillmor has the latest on Bill Gates, and the truth about open source.

If you're a Mac OS X user, you're probably already using Safari, and you'll know that it's the quickest, most efficient, sexy-looking and user-friendly web browser on the planet. It also prevents all pop-ups from popping up.