httproute relays user requests to a web proxy that depends on the URL prefix. If the URL prefix matches a configured list of known advertising servers, httproute answers the request itself with a 1x1 gif image of a black pixel, thus blanking banner ads and speeding page loading (especially on a slow line).
httproute can be configured to route its requests to encrypted TCP tunnels established with ssh, making it possible to compress and encrypt some or all of your web traffic at least as far as the proxy server.
httproute can strip and/or lie about information from your browser's requests that can potentially compromise your privacy, including the Referer: and User-Agent: options. It strips incoming cookies, except from sites explicitly listed in the configuration file.
I've been using this program heavily for at least a year, and the ad blanking feature works remarkably well. See the README file and the man pages included in the tarball for more information and installation directions.
This is alpha software; in fact, it was my first program in Perl. Enhancements to the code and/or documention are welcome.
last updated: 18 February 1999