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Reading articles, Javascript and one's "browsing experience"

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Steve Hayes

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Nov 10, 2014, 2:55:31 AM11/10/14
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Someone posted a link to what looked like a rather interesting article on
bogus online family trees.

Roots & Branches: Beware haphazard ‘carpenter trees’ found online -
AltoonaMirror.com - Altoona, PA

The link was:
http://t.co/VdyXkdLq9n

Unfortunately when I followed the link I could not read the article, so if
anyone can read the article that tweet links to, please would you post the
article here.

<RANT>
The reason I could not read the article was that whenever I tried to read it
it was immediately covered up by a page that reads:

"Please enable JavaScript to view altoonamirror.com
altoonamirror.com

JavaScript is used in a variety of ways to improve your browsing experience,
such as validating and executing form submissions and allowing interactive
content. Below, we have provided simple instructions for enabling JavaScript
in the most popular web browsers. To determine your browser version, click on
Help in the menu bar of your browser and then select About.

Once you have enabled Javascript on your browser, click here to return to
altoonamirror.com."

Seeing the article I want to read covered up by such notices most definitely
does NOT enhance my "browsing experience". In fact it DETRACTS FROM my
browsing experience, and utterly pisses me off.

I use a Firefox add-on called "No script" as a protection against malware, and
sites that start playing video and audio (and thus chewing up bandwidth that I
have to pay for). I can turn Javascript on temporarily for such sites if I
want to see those things. But even after turning Javascript on for the Altona
Mirror, it continued to show me that notice whenever I tried to read that
page.

And when I turned Javascript on and clicked on the "Click Here" thingy in the
notice it showed, it took me to a completely different page that did not show
me the article I wanted to read. That makes me think that they are using
Javascript for some malicious purpose, and are wanting it turned on for their
purposes rather than for anyone's "browsing experience".

Phrases like "browsing experience" and "user experience" have become my pet
hates, and I could cheerfuly murder web developers who use them.

In my experience, whenever they announce that they have made some changes to
enhance my "user exerience", I know that they have reduced the functionality
to make the damnn thing useless.

Google introduced a new editor on Blogger, which they said would give an
"enhanced user expererience". What it means, in effect, is that if you upload
a graphic, and want to position it on the page, instead of doing it with a
couple of mouse clicks, you now have to fiddle about with the raw HTML, which
takes four times as long.
</rant>



--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

john

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Nov 10, 2014, 4:22:07 AM11/10/14
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So you want someone else to risk their machine?

Just turn JavaScript on and restart Firefox or, if you really want to be
ultra-cautious, install Sandboxie http://www.sandboxie.com/ and run
Firefox/JavaScript or Chrome in a sand-boxed environment.

Open a private window and paste the link in rather than clicking on the
link or open
http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/597714/Roots---Branches--Beware-haphazard--carpenter-trees--found-online.html?nav=738

Actually there are no problems and the article opens. And then you'll
possibly wonder whether you really wanted to see the article in the
first place.

Message has been deleted

john

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Nov 10, 2014, 9:26:42 AM11/10/14
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On 10/11/2014 14:57, Dennis Lee Bieber wrote:
> On Mon, 10 Nov 2014 10:22:04 +0100, john <jo...@s145802280.onlinehome.fr>
> declaimed the following:
>
>
>> Open a private window and paste the link in rather than clicking on the
>> link or open
>> http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/597714/Roots---Branches--Beware-haphazard--carpenter-trees--found-online.html?nav=738
>>
>> Actually there are no problems and the article opens. And then you'll
>> possibly wonder whether you really wanted to see the article in the
>> first place.
>
> Heh... Not when one has to register with the site to get past the first
> sentence.
> --
>

The full link must have worked for me because the page was already cached?

The link http://t.co/VdyXkdLq9n worked without problems in a Chrome and
Opera private page, as did opening the Google cached version in a
private page.


Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted

Denis Beauregard

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Nov 10, 2014, 10:40:24 AM11/10/14
to
On Mon, 10 Nov 2014 09:59:16 +0200, Steve Hayes
<haye...@telkomsa.net> wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:

>Someone posted a link to what looked like a rather interesting article on
>bogus online family trees.
>
>Roots & Branches: Beware haphazard ‘carpenter trees’ found online -
>AltoonaMirror.com - Altoona, PA
>
>The link was:
>http://t.co/VdyXkdLq9n
>
>Unfortunately when I followed the link I could not read the article, so if
>anyone can read the article that tweet links to, please would you post the
>article here.

The article merely says there are bogus sites and a professional
will a better job. I like the expression "carpenter trees" !


Denis

--
Denis Beauregard - généalogiste émérite (FQSG)
Les Français d'Amérique du Nord - www.francogene.com/genealogie--quebec/
French in North America before 1722 - www.francogene.com/quebec--genealogy/
Sur cédérom à 1785 - On CD-ROM to 1785

Steve Hayes

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Nov 10, 2014, 11:19:56 AM11/10/14
to
On Mon, 10 Nov 2014 10:40:25 -0500, Denis Beauregard
<denis.b-at-f...@fr.invalid> wrote:

>On Mon, 10 Nov 2014 09:59:16 +0200, Steve Hayes
><haye...@telkomsa.net> wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:
>
>>Someone posted a link to what looked like a rather interesting article on
>>bogus online family trees.
>>
>>Roots & Branches: Beware haphazard ‘carpenter trees’ found online -
>>AltoonaMirror.com - Altoona, PA
>>
>>The link was:
>>http://t.co/VdyXkdLq9n
>>
>>Unfortunately when I followed the link I could not read the article, so if
>>anyone can read the article that tweet links to, please would you post the
>>article here.
>
>The article merely says there are bogus sites and a professional
>will a better job. I like the expression "carpenter trees" !

So not worth reading, then?

Denis Beauregard

unread,
Nov 10, 2014, 11:42:39 AM11/10/14
to
On Mon, 10 Nov 2014 18:23:42 +0200, Steve Hayes
<haye...@telkomsa.net> wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:

>On Mon, 10 Nov 2014 10:40:25 -0500, Denis Beauregard
><denis.b-at-f...@fr.invalid> wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 10 Nov 2014 09:59:16 +0200, Steve Hayes
>><haye...@telkomsa.net> wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:
>>
>>>Someone posted a link to what looked like a rather interesting article on
>>>bogus online family trees.
>>>
>>>Roots & Branches: Beware haphazard ‘carpenter trees’ found online -
>>>AltoonaMirror.com - Altoona, PA
>>>
>>>The link was:
>>>http://t.co/VdyXkdLq9n
>>>
>>>Unfortunately when I followed the link I could not read the article, so if
>>>anyone can read the article that tweet links to, please would you post the
>>>article here.
>>
>>The article merely says there are bogus sites and a professional
>>will a better job. I like the expression "carpenter trees" !
>
>So not worth reading, then?

I see nothing you don't already know !
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