JavaScript Still a Mistake

In my research, I read an awful lot of sites I really don’t recommend. Most of them for the content, but a few have infuriating use of JavaScript (AKA JScript or ECMAScript). Some sites are run by technicians who clearly hate most of humanity. One page in particular I can detect something scripted chugging away in the background, hammering my Athlon X2 at 20% steadily. The script does nothing at all, and as soon as I turn off scripting on that page, the chugging stops and it makes not a whit of difference in how the page displays. But I read that site because the author has a peculiar viewpoint which serves as a reference point on many issues I follow. He is usually partly correct, while reliably wrong in the same consistent fashion every time.

Because I don’t tolerate peripheral animation of any kind on any webpage, it requires learning to use several different tools. I’ve contacted that peculiar author about his page, and he refuses to respond. For example, his server blocks the Lynx browser, which is a common error among webmasters who wrongly associate such tools with cracking. It’s the same class of webmaster I accuse of intellectual laziness, paying no heed whatsoever to user complaints about how a page works. If they like it themselves, public be damned. That so many writers are not also webmasters means the pairing of interesting output with hateful service all too often.

A few times, my close friends have played with JScript features which hammered my system. At such a high cost, I would sometimes avoid their sites, until I began learning how to “fight back” as it were. Sites which rely on heavy scripting are simply wrong-headed when the scripting requires continuous or frequent response by the browser. With inhumane webmasters and the culture of “that’s so cool,” gee-whiz crap on their pages, you can’t let them drive you away. It takes a little work, but the tools are available.

As noted previously, when a server blocks Lynx, try Elinks (or on Windows, WebbIE). If you really do need a partially graphical output because the page is incomprehensible in a text browser, I highly recommend you check out the latest release of Opera browser. It’s different, and frankly deficient in many ways, but it has one big advantage: built in customizing of the interface toolbars.

Here’s what I do. Right-click on the bottom toolbar in a blank space; your one option is “Customize”. Click that and select from the submenu “Appearance.” You’ll get a menu window with all sorts of options. Click the tab which says “Buttons” and in the right-hand window pane, select “Preferences”. Full drag-n-drop here. Drag from that display the buttons you want to see on your bottom toolbar; I prefer to push them all to the far right against the built-in controls for zooming. I keep the following, which ends up looking like check boxes with text to the right:

• Enable Animated Images
• Enable JavaScript
• Enable Plug-Ins
• Enable Cookies

On the fly, you can simply disable any of those features by removing the checkmark in the box. Most of the time I leave cookies turned off, and turn them on for sites I trust. If I notice on any particular page some heavy CPU use in my GKrellM monitor, I click off JScipt and that usually stops the CPU churning immediately. If I need to see a video, I can turn on the plug-ins for that page only.

Once you feel sure you’ll be visiting a particular site often, you can always right-click on any blank spot in the page and select “Edit Site Preferences” which allows you toggle a large number of options for that site only. If a page includes elements you never want to see, that same right-click menu allows you to select “Block content”. All the typical media elements are highlighted and the rest of the page goes dim. Pick the one which annoys you and tell Opera to block the source everywhere you go. That’s how I prevent seeing racy pictures and such. Some sites I end up having no graphics at all, just color and layout, because they just can’t behave themselves.

Sometimes I really need to see the textual content, and I’m willing to take a second or two to manipulate how that page runs in my browser. There are similar controls available for Firefox, but I find them far less simple to use. Google’s Chrome browser has precious few controls, even in the add-ons. For example, there is absolutely nothing you can do about animated graphics. I can assure you this is the Orwellian advertiser/marketing side of Google showing through; that is Google’s main source of income, after all. Like Microsoft, users are the product delivered to advertisers — that’s the nature of their business. So if you really need to see something on a site which seems intent on demanding too much from you, take advantage of some of the better features in web browsers.

My number one complaint remains oppressively heavy JScript pounding on my system resources. There simply is no excuse for that. Yes, advertising is necessary to pay for some sites, but I reserve the right to block unacceptable material and scripting as the steward of my Lord’s computer, and thus the eyes and mind He gave me. His concerns outweight yours every time.