Don't shut the software off, just the ad blocking.

Why would a firewall block a photo? The firewall's purpose is to stealth your computer's ports and prevent malicious software from accessing your computer. My firewall (ZoneAlarm) does not have an ad blocking option.

New England Exotics uses JAVA and/or Active X controlls to swap pics and some of their other graphical magic. Those are the same technologies that web developers use to create pop-ups, pop-unders and other annoying ads. I have used both Norton Security and Zone Alarm, the free version of Zone Alarm does not have ad-blocking, but the paid version does. I remember reading a review of firewalls that said that the ad-blocking on the full featured Zone Alarm did a better job distinguishing between ads and legit applets. Had the same experience with my Norton firewall trying to view NEEX site.