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