# Internet gripes - list yours **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 24, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222 "2004-08-24T04:05:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/41 "2004-08-26T21:40:47Z")
There are Internet annoyances, and then there are Internet _evils_. One of the vilest is the nefarious Pop-up Ad With a Fake Close-Window Button. You don’t realize it’s just a graphic within the ad, so when you click it to close the window, it’s just like clicking the ad, which is exactly what you \*didn’t \* want to do, and obviously these fiends KNOW that, otherwise they wouldn’t design it as such. So why do they do it, if it’s only going to make people mad? Because they are evil. It’s the only explanation. (And yes, this trick \*shouldn’t \* work more than once on anyone with an IQ higher than rice. But it does.) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/42 "2004-08-26T21:57:28Z")
I’m with those who hate unnecessary use of Flash and other similar tools when HTML would do the job just as well. Yes, Flash is excellent when used properly, and you can also make some really fun games with it. But it can also be fucking annoying. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/43 "2004-08-26T21:58:19Z")
Definitely dead links and pop-ups. Another thing I absolutely hate that is associated with the Internet and e-mail/IM-ing in general: those stupid cutesy spellings. R U ok? Kewlies. Bah! ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/44 "2004-08-27T00:56:28Z")
**overlyverbose** Sometimes I have gone to message boards (certainly NOT this one) whereby it seems everyone is talking in that abbreviated “instant messenger” language. Why do I visit particluar message boards? Just to see who is linking to my site and why. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Stilettos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Red\_Stilettos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Stilettos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/45 "2004-08-27T01:33:11Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > Another thing I absolutely hate that is associated with the Internet and e-mail/IM-ing in general: those stupid cutesy spellings. R U ok? Kewlies. Bah! Absolutely! The whole time I was reading this thread, I was thinking, “is no one going to mention the dreaded chat-speak?” I pray that chat-speak will die a quick death like most teen-driven fads. However, much to my dismay, it’s creeping its way into the lexicon. :eek: Be afraid. Be very, very afraid. ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/46 "2004-08-27T02:00:05Z")
> [@Baraqiyal](#): > > Even the page you’re looking at right now doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to. The search link at the top of the page is supposed to pop up a “quick search” window, but it only works in IE. _blinks_ _clicks on search link above_ _sees window crop up_ Errrr… works for me, and I’m using Firefox 0.9.2. And on-topic: Websites that don’t take into account that not only are there different browsers out there, but different screen resolutions, different fonts installed, people with color blindness, etc. I don’t ask that websites design a whole bunch of different layouts to accout for this: just that they don’t assume anything about who’s viewing their website, and with what. * * * \<\< The truth is out there. It’s just not indexed very well. \>\> ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/47 "2004-08-27T02:39:34Z")
> [@Nightsong](#): > > _blinks_ > > _clicks on search link above_ > > _sees window crop up_ > > Errrr… works for me, and I’m using Firefox 0.9.2. It does pop up but it disappears before I can actually use it. ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/48 "2004-08-27T02:50:28Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I thought the “hits returned” consisted not of files that were formatted to be viewed only by a “gopher browser” but were rather text files and binary files and whatnot that were on servers’ hard disks and which you could subsequently download to your own if it were what you were looking for. So you’d do a Veronica search for “SFVol” and from the hits returned would pick one and download it and thereby have for yourself a copy of “SFVol.hqx” on your own hard drive, and after decoding it you’d have the SFVol INIT for your own use. Or you’d do a Veronica search for “Good Times” and from the hits returned would pick the “Good Times FAQ.txt” and download it to read or print or forward to other people the story behind the Good Times virus hoax. > > I could be wrong, it’s been eons and I didn’t use it much even then. You could end up with a plain text or binary file, just as the web, but there were also pages you could go to with hyperlinks to other pages. In fact, Mozilla STILL has an option for a gopher proxy in the manual proxy configuration screen, but I haven’t tried to find an actual gopher server in quite some time. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/49 "2004-08-27T03:01:38Z")
> [@Baraqiyal](#): > > It does pop up but it disappears before I can actually use it. I’m using Firefox, and it works fine. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/50 "2004-08-27T03:33:22Z")
The hamsters couldn’t possibly survive if I truly compiled a list, so I’m limiting myself to two. Spammers and the Windows OS. 'nuff said ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/51 "2004-08-27T03:48:07Z")
> [@Baraqiyal](#): > > It does pop up but it disappears before I can actually use it. Huh. How odd… is there any chance a stray click is happening, so the browser thinks you double clocked on the search link? Because that will cause the window to pop up, then dissapear again. ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/52 "2004-08-27T04:12:23Z")
> [@Nightsong](#): > > Huh. How odd… is there any chance a stray click is happening, so the browser thinks you double clocked on the search link? Because that will cause the window to pop up, then dissapear again. Trying it again, I see the window disappears because the whole page switches to the advanced search page. When the board is busy, the popup stays longer because the server takes longer to send the next page. I noticed that the triangle to the right works correctly, just the text link doesn’t work right. ---
**Author:** ![teleute12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@teleute12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teleute12)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222/53 "2004-08-27T06:33:14Z")
Oh, definately all the idiots. The internet could be a lovely place if it weren’t for all the idiots out there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-gripes-list-yours/261222.md?page=2)