RANT: Macromedia Flash Player sucks the big one

[tk149]

I hate websites that require Macromedia Flash Player! I wouldn't mind so much if it were confined to popups or banner ads, but noooooo...

They have those ads that cover part of your screen, suck a buttload of bandwidth to finish downloading (because some idiot ad programmer schmuck can't figure out that not all of us have T3 lines), and you can't turn off! You have to wait for them to finish playing!

Or if you can turn them off, please let me know how. Pretty please?

On top of that, my old slow computer has trouble playing the ads.

In case you were wondering: www.tvguide.com and http://atomfilms.shockwave.com (U.S. Wallace & Gromit site)

Grrrrrrrrr

 

[Kadarin]

I'm currently on a 384k DSL line, and I don't seem to have a problem with either site. Perhaps it's because I'm using Mozilla?

 

[klah]

Change your hosts file to re-direct requests to ad servers. Here is a small list of ad servers to get you started: http://slack.net/~ads and more here: http://www.smartin-designs.com/downloads/full_127001.txt

 

[GoingUp]

maybe you should get a faster computer

 

[DanTMWTMP]

yeah i really hate those flash ads.......it doesn't suck bandwidth or slow down my computer...it just scares me sometimes cuz i have my headphones on listenning to mp3's quietly and i go to a website ...expecting it to be quite...then boom flash music and it covers the whole ie window....really irritating

 

[Snapster]

Layer ads suck the most, whether it be animated gif or flash. Most of the flash ads I've seen at least have a little 'x' to close them. My 56k can't take the bandwidth anyway.

 

[Derango]

This is why I don't use Internet Explorer

 

[KeyserSoze]

Does Mozilla prevent those Flash Ads?






KeyserSoze

 

[Snapster]

Originally posted by: Derango
This is why I don't use Internet Explorer

IE has nothing to do with it, layers are not proprietry to IE.

 

[Derango]

Originally posted by: Snapster

Originally posted by: Derango
This is why I don't use Internet Explorer

IE has nothing to do with it, layers are not proprietry to IE.

layers as in the flash ads that come up on the page over the content? Beacuse I never get those in mozilla. Ever. If not, I apoligize for misunderstanding.

 

[Snapster]

Originally posted by: Derango

layers as in the flash ads that come up on the page over the content? Beacuse I never get those in mozilla. Ever. If not, I apoligize for misunderstanding.

Layers are basically content 'areas' that belongs to the page that draws them, you can put anything in them and put them anywhere (in this case flash ads over the top of the page). They aren't new 'windows' as such which is why they fool the anti popup software out there. If mozilla blocks layers I'd be very surprised because layers are used in tons of places (dynamic js menus for one). I'll check when I get home.

 

[Kev]

try this to disable the flash player altogether:

type this into the run box. you will need to change the location of the file if you don't have nt:

regsvr32 /u "C:\WINNT\system32\Macromed\Flash\swflash.ocx"

 

[tk149]

Hmm...I've installed Pop-Up Stopper but it doesn't block Flash ads, as mentioned by Snapster.

The slooooow computer I'm talking about is my old Pentium 200 w/64MB RAM, which I gave to my parents and which is where I'm typing right now. Fortunately, my parts from Newegg arrived today and I'm gonna build a new AthlonXP 1900+ for them! YEAH! (Hey, wait, that's better than MY best computer now!)

Some of the Flash ads have an option to turn them off. Others don't, or I haven't found the option. Even if they do, it still takes a few seconds to find it and shut it down.

They suck lots of 56K modem bandwidth. Just like those animated GIFs.

While I can use the hosts file modification list (thanks Klah), is there a way to figure out what address/IP's to block when Flash doesn't tell you?

 

[rh71]

I'm still trying to determine what it is that you hate. Flash player or the people who exploit its power.

I'm a huge advocate of Flash development because of it's capability to do close to ANYTHING you want programmably, even letting you put a nice front-end on your work all in the same dev tool. There's no doubt it's an innovation that has changed multimedia and websites for the better in terms of appeal. But those who use Flash for forced popup ads that cover 1/3 of the webpage it loads on are the scum of the Earth for giving it a bad name. It's just like U.S. mail solicitations that you never asked for. They use the USPS to deliver their ads. No difference in concept... except you get it faster.

Don't diss flash unless you've used it and still think it sucks @$$ because it can't do what you need it to. Blame the people who exploit things for their own gain... like everything else in this world. I made my own post many months ago about weather.com doing the same forced-flash ad that took up half the screen. It should be weather.com's decision to tell these forced-ad creators to suck it because it's making their site look comical. Anyway, some people here have given good recommendations on how to rid your 'problem'.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: tk149
Hmm...I've installed Pop-Up Stopper but it doesn't block Flash ads, as mentioned by Snapster.

Umm... these flash ads aren't pop-ups really. They're embedded into the plain ad you typically see, except they can include sound and user interaction (including expanding outside the original area onLoad, onMouseOver, or onClick).

 

[dexter333]

They're normally full page flash animations that are transparent.

Go stab the designer of the ad, don't bitch about flash.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: rh71
I'm still trying to determine what it is that you hate. Flash player or the people who exploit its power...

But those who use Flash for forced popup ads that cover 1/3 of the webpage it loads on are the scum of the Earth for giving it a bad name.

BINGO! You're right, I guess I don't hate Flash Player, I hate the way it's used sometimes.

Also, I hate sites that REQUIRE Flash player (like the Wallace & Gromit site I mentioned). If they're trying to sell you something, they should have a non-Flash option. Flash does enhance the web-browsing experience, if used correctly. I think the Blair Witch Project website's initial Flash movie was a great example (Creepy!). But I'd also like the option of not having to sit through a 5 minute ad download to get through a webpage.

Of course, if Macromedia had given me the option of turning Flash on or off with a simple right-click menu, then I would never have started this thread. Or if they hadn't allowed big obnoxious flash ads in the first place. Heck, a volume on/off button would've been nice too.