this is not a ...
post to congratulate myself on how cool I am to be running Firefox. Really. It's not. Firefox isn't perfect. In fact, read through the forums and the bug database and you'll find quite a few unresolved problems swept under the carpet (or marked as WONTFIX), desperate cries to let people know more about the development process and in general, all the stock experiences of a widely used, hugely popular piece of software. You can't please everyone. In fact, sometimes, you can't please anyone. And this is not for want of trying. And if I am to let a bit of narkiness creep in, it's not always like the Mofo tries pleasing anyone, anyway.
But just once in a while, you use something else (no, I'm not referring to the whipping boy of the savvy browsing public, but yet anther browser. Yes, amazing, isn't it ?. There are browsers besides the big three) and you begin to understand the extent to which your browsing expectations, even your browsing patterns, have changed. Just about to shut down and go home for the day, I realized my ajax library of choice was out of date. Fired up the nearest browser available (Konqui) and typed in the url. Dropped one crucial letter in the URL and ended up in a parked domain. Oh, well. *sigh*. No biggie. Leave the site to Google the correct address. See an assload of flickering, a sure fire that some ugly Javascript events are being fired in the background. Lo and behold, popups.
I can't remember when I last got a popup that I didn't explicitly request. Not in ... I dunno ... six months ? Maybe longer. Closing the windows was trivial compared to the feeling that yes, even other browsers are vulnerable. I don't get to see the fruits of idiot web designers who like to throw popups or popunders, I don't see the creativity of people who try to hijack the status bar for their own special message... I dont see lots of things that various hosts want me to see. And I haven't been missing out. Not one bit.
Sometimes, it takes an occasional typo to realize how things have changed. 4 popups from a page as late as 2001 would have been trivial. Not even worth blogging about. In fact, a day of browsing that produced a mere 4 popups would have been a good day. Or a day with only about 2 minutes worth of internet browsing. Not anymore. And the problem is, not just with popups but with anything, once you've tasted freedom, you simply cannot countenance going back.
But just once in a while, you use something else (no, I'm not referring to the whipping boy of the savvy browsing public, but yet anther browser. Yes, amazing, isn't it ?. There are browsers besides the big three) and you begin to understand the extent to which your browsing expectations, even your browsing patterns, have changed. Just about to shut down and go home for the day, I realized my ajax library of choice was out of date. Fired up the nearest browser available (Konqui) and typed in the url. Dropped one crucial letter in the URL and ended up in a parked domain. Oh, well. *sigh*. No biggie. Leave the site to Google the correct address. See an assload of flickering, a sure fire that some ugly Javascript events are being fired in the background. Lo and behold, popups.
I can't remember when I last got a popup that I didn't explicitly request. Not in ... I dunno ... six months ? Maybe longer. Closing the windows was trivial compared to the feeling that yes, even other browsers are vulnerable. I don't get to see the fruits of idiot web designers who like to throw popups or popunders, I don't see the creativity of people who try to hijack the status bar for their own special message... I dont see lots of things that various hosts want me to see. And I haven't been missing out. Not one bit.
Sometimes, it takes an occasional typo to realize how things have changed. 4 popups from a page as late as 2001 would have been trivial. Not even worth blogging about. In fact, a day of browsing that produced a mere 4 popups would have been a good day. Or a day with only about 2 minutes worth of internet browsing. Not anymore. And the problem is, not just with popups but with anything, once you've tasted freedom, you simply cannot countenance going back.
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