Danger. (Slow) loading zone

When it comes to the web, I believe in paying for what I get, or, at least, allowing the creators of what I read to get paid.  So I don’t run programs like Adblock, nor do I have my hosts file configured to block every ad server under the sun.  I look at it as a bargain:  If some company is willing to place ads with a blogger I like, the least I can do is give them a glance.

However...

The majority of my web access is by dialup. (Don’t ask. Just say, “thank you, AT&T, for your lovely, barely-maintained, 1930s-vintage infrastructure.”)  Page loading is slow enough under the best conditions; it can become interminable when some ad server or script server is m.i.a.  I get especially irritated when staring at a blank screen, with a progress bar stalled at 98%, while the browser waits on some widget to load, or for some javascript layout routine to execute.  Or when I try to open a link in another window, get a “can’t find the site” message, and then (after checking netstat) find out the reason the site can’t be found is because the browser can’t get to the DNS:  All of my connections are tied up by ad servers that should have released by now, but haven’t.

When this happens- or when there’s some annoying javascript distraction- I open up the “view source” window and search out likely suspects.  If I’m feeling charitable I may just note the problem.  But if it’s happened more than once, or I’m having a bad day, it’s “into the hosts file with ‘ya, and trouble me no more!”

So if you’ve got any of these folks hanging around your webpages, be warned.  They just might be chasing your traffic away.  And just minutes ago I added some more culprits to the list.  Thought you might want to know.

My list (so far) is below the break...

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Posted by: Old Grouch in Rants at 16:23:57 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 500 words, total size 5 kb.

FreeDB: Broken and irritating

Being the good citizen, and believer in co-operative action that I am, on the (infrequent) occasion when I rip a CD, if FreeDB can't find it I always try to submit its information.  Problem is, the last few times I've sent one in, I’ve gotten this error message back:

Subject: Rejected freedb submission

Your freedb submission was rejected for the following reason:
Discid collision in category ····

Please fix the problem before you resubmit it.

The problem with this error is that the submitter has nothing to do with it:  Its cause is a limitation in the FreeDB protocol.  The result is a broken, user-unfriendly experience that discourages further submissions.

A look at the bloody details below the jump.

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Posted by: Old Grouch in Rants at 23:58:45 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 1161 words, total size 10 kb.