Ya, Flashblock doesn't load the flash by default, instead displaying a little icon you click to allow that particular flash that particular time. You have to do it every time you load the site, but you can whitelist give permission for the entire site, if its one you actually use a bunch. I gave Hulu a pass, for example, so I didnt have to click the button for every commercial during a show.
Adblock seems to have the same sort of whitelist/blacklist functionality, but it defaults to load everything, and you can rightclick on a particular graphic to disable it.
On the Browsers: IE is buggy, unsecured, crap and I refuse to use it whenever possible. I use Firefox now, but have been considering switching to Chrome. Firefox used to be the fast, lean, stable choice, without all the security holes on IE. But its gotten so feature-rich, and seems to focus more and more on add-ons and plug-ins and such that its now getting rather slow and bloated. I hear good things about Chrome as the fast new hotness, but I fear change, sooo...
