Enable Punycode Long URL In Firefox To Protect From Domain Phishing

A recent phishing technique is to register domain names with international Unicode characters that look like English characters. The URL will visually look correct, but it will be a different website which often contains malicious content. Puny code is a representation of Unicode with the limited ASCII character subset used for Internet host names.

The Firefox web browser does not provide an indication that a domain name is using look-alike Unicode characters.

These instructions will enable showing long names when the domain names have Unicode characters.

Open a new tab in Firefox and enter this in the address bar, then press the button to proceed:
about:config

Search for punycode:

Right-click on the IDN_show_punycode:

Toggle the setting to true:

Create PDF With Embedded Fonts

Some websites require uploaded PDF files to self-contain their fonts. You may see an error similar to:
"The attached PDF file references a non-embedded font: *Helvetica-2509-Identity-H. Please remove file, embed the font and reattach."

This post describes how to create PDF files with non-embedded fonts using Microsoft Word.

In Microsoft Word press File, Export. This will show the "Info" screen.

Press "Create PDF/XPS"

Choose output directory and file name, then press "Options".

In the dialog box, choose "PDF/A compliant". Press OK.

Press "Publish". The PDF file will be created with all fonts embedded in the PDF document.

Blocks Ads With Windows 10 Hosts File

Some web pages, such as Microsoft's Hotmail, often bring in ads from other domains which slow down use of the online email service. To speed up web browsing, either block the domains with your router, with a custom DNS, or on your PC. If using Microsoft Windows 10, add the domains to the hosts file.

Press Start button and type "notepad":

Right-click to run Notepad as administrator:

In the Notepad application, open the file C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts (or %WINDIR%\System32\drivers\etc)
At the bottom of the hosts file, enter lines to avoid the problem domains. Note the typical convention of the first identation is a "tab", and the spaces between the number and the domain name are spaces. The hash "#" indicates a comment.
#    127.0.0.1       localhost
    127.0.0.1       cdn-ssl.vidible.tv
    127.0.0.1       acds.prod.vidible.tv
    127.0.0.1       trk.vidible.tv
    127.0.0.1       dtm.advertising.com
    127.0.0.1       ad.lkqd.net
    127.0.0.1       t.lkqd.net
    127.0.0.1       p.vj-vid.com
    127.0.0.1       to.vj-vid.com
    127.0.0.1       px.moatads.com
    127.0.0.1       z.moatads.com
    127.0.0.1       vpaid.springserve.com
    127.0.0.1       tracker.departapp.com
    127.0.0.1       a.imprvdosrv.com
    127.0.0.1       s59.imprvdosrv.com
    127.0.0.1       cdn.altitude-arena.com
    127.0.0.1       static.shoofle.tv
In the Notepad application, click File -> Save

Unfortunately, the Microsoft Windows hosts file does not support wildcards. You are required to add entries for subdomains. Alternatively, you can run your own DNS service and use dnsmasq, or use a subscription DNS service which provides wildcards.