Effective Ways to Remove Advertisements from Your Life

I can't help you saw down the billboards that harass you on your way to work. Nor can I stop the subliminal messages sent to you by the various poster advertisements you encounter on your way to the store from bombarding your brain. I can, however, help you watch television, listen to the radio, and surf the internet with virtually no advertisements, EVER! I can also help you vanquish those annoying telemarketers, collectors, and mail advertisers that you always find trying to pry their foot into the door of your life. If this article helps you, please refer your friends and family to it. On that note, let's get started!

First an foremost amongst those who would badger you the most with their advertisements are the cronies that plague the television industry. If you are sick and tired of television advertisements, I recommend TIVO. As you know, TIVO lets you fast-forward through advertisements so you can get on with the show. However, TIVO costs money, and furthermore requires you to move your thumb back and forth across a remote (something we in the Western World consider heart-pounding exercise). A better choice is Miro (previously known as Democracy Player). Here is how you can use Miro to get free T.V. without advertisements. Yes, free T.V. Furthermore, you can watch any series that has ever existed - commercial free - any episode, anytime. The only catch: You have to watch it on your computer (not a problem if you have a nice monitor, or an S-Video adapter to turn your TV. into a monitor).

First, download Miro here: http://www.getmiro.com/download/ . Run the setup file and it'll walk you through the install. Run Miro once it's installed.

Second, go to http://tvrss.net/shows/ and look through their HUGE list of T.V. shows to find a show you watch all the time. Click on the link for the show you want. On the new web page, look for the drop down menu under the heading "Distribution Group" and select "EZTV" before pressing the "Search" button. Little on the page will change. Once you've done that, right-click the link that says "Search-Based RSS Feed" and select "copy link location."

Third, go back to Miro and press Control-N (command-N for MAC), or go to Channels -> Add Channel. The address you copied from step two should already be in the text field. If not, just paste it in there. Click "OK" and you should see a new entry in the Channel pane. Miro will automatically start downloading the most recent episode of the series you chose (commercial free). When your downloads complete, they're moved to the New Videos section and you can watch them whenever you want. New videos will expire in 6 days by default, but you can tweak this preference in the settings if you'd like to keep videos longer.

Fourth, repeat steps two and three until you have all the shows you like. Miro will download the newest episodes as they come out, and you'll never see another commercial again. That's that for eliminating TV advertisements!

Now we move on to eliminating radio ads. I'll keep this brief because it ought to be self explanatory by now. Using a combination of a cheap MP3 player, an MP3-to-vehicle-stereo-adapter, and subscribing to free podcasts online, you can not only eliminate all advertisements, but also select EXACTLY what you want to listen to from a much larger selection... all for less than a one time cost of about $45. I'll leave that at that.

How about the internet? Don't you hate seeing advertisements ALL THE TIME? I do. I use free online email accounts and am bombarded with advertisements regularly. Every website I go to seems to spend about a third of it's space posting advertisements. Well, I'm about to show you how to remove virtually ALL ads from your Internet experience. That's right, ALL ads from ALL web pages! First and foremost, you need to switch to Firefox. If you haven't already dumped that old Internet Explorer, now's finally the time to do so. Don't panic, it's really easy, and won't hurt a thing.

First, go to www.mozilla.com and click the DOWNLOAD link to get the newest version of Firefox for free. You'll be very glad you did. Run the setup file and it'll walk you through the install. Run the program when it's finished.

Second, using Firefox (your new favorite web browser which you will use for all things because it's better than Internet Explorer) go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865 and click on the "Install Now" button. Then click "Install". It'll download. When it's finished, DON'T press "Restart Now". Instead, press the 'X' in the top right hand corner of the pop-up window so you can go back to having fun with your Firefox browser.

Third, Point your Browser to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1136 and do the same as you did in step two (click on the "Install Now" button. Then click "Install". It'll download. When it's finished, DON'T press "Restart Now". Instead, press the 'X' in the top right hand corner of the pop-up window so you can go back to having fun with your Firefox browser.)

Sixth, exit out of Firefox. Then re-open Firefox. Click on Tools -> AdBlock Plus. Then click on Filters -> Add Filter Subscription. Under the drop down menu entitled "Subscription Tile:" select "Easy list (USA)". Make sure "update automatically" and "enable filters" are both checked. Then click "OK", then "Apply", then "OK."

Lastly, click on Tools -> Add-ons. Then click on "Find Updates" at the bottom. Then click on "Install updates." Finally, restart Firefox and from now on you'll hardly ever see another advertisement while surfing the internet again! (Note: if you are outside of the United States, you'll need to select a different filter in step six).

Well, we've vanquished the biggies. All that's left is to clean up the rest of the scum of the advertising world: telemarketers, collectors, and mailbox-stuffers. Lets get rid of the telemarketers first.

If you are in the United States, consider yourself lucky. You have the law on your side. You have the legal right not to be contacted by telemarketers! Pick up whatever phone you don't want telemarketers to call (if you have one house phone and one cell phone, you'll need to do this twice - once from each phone). Call 1-888-382-1222. It is a toll-free number run by your government. Follow the simple directions you hear on the phone. After one to two weeks, you should stop getting calls from telemarketers. If you do receive another call from a telemarketer after two weeks, get as much information as you can from the telemarketer about who they are, then call 1-888-382-1222 again... this time to report the telemarketer. They will be subject to several thousands of dollars in fines, and some of that money can find its way back to you!

Sometimes, however, telemarketers will stop at nothing, and getting information from them can be hard. Do you sometimes hear your phone ring during strange hours of the day, and when you answer it, there is no one on the other end of the line? This is usually because a telemarketing firm sets up auto-dialers to call people's phones and a machine determines whether or not a live person picked up the phone. This is done to determine when a live person is most likely to be reached at that phone number, so a live operator will know when to call and try to sell you stuff.

If you run into one of these persistent operators, the three magic words are "Hold on a second please." Just say the magic words and set the phone down on the counter and walk away. After several minutes, you'll hear the BEEP BEEP BEEPing of a disconnected line, prompting you to hang up your phone. Do this EVERY time a telemarketer calls, and they WILL stop calling.

Next, onto collectors. This will be brief as, once again, the law is in your favor. Bill collectors are not allowed to contact you after you send them a letter asking them to stop (accept for one further letter in which they tell you that they will stop contacting you). So send them a letter asking them to stop. This will affect your credit report, but will also stop the harassment. If they continue, report them to your state Attorney General's Office and to the Federal Trade Commission. If you are unsure how to do this, or feel you need help, call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or visit www.ftc.gov.

According to FTC.gov, "You have the right to sue a collector in a state or federal court within one year from the date the law was violated. If you win, you may recover money for the damages you suffered plus an additional amount up to $1,000. Court costs and attorney's fees also can be recovered."

Last but not least, we need to eliminate as much of that junk mail as possible. This is a longer process than all the preceding because your information is bought and sold by many, many, MANY people. The best guide for learning how to deal with this problem can be found here: http://www.obviously.com/junkmail/ . If all else fails, stuff all of your junk mail into one of the prepaid-postage-return envelopes they always send along with those offers and send them back their own junk AT THEIR COST!

Well, that's that! I hope you've learned how to eliminate much unwanted advertising from your life. And remember, if you've found this helpful, please refer your friends and family to this article. Happy living!