I had to switch to Firefox so I could install Flashblock.
https://addons.mozilla.org/...
I realize the ad industry and marketers in general have a role to play in the economy and particularly on websites, but enough is enough.
My browser hangs even on a fast DSL connection loading idiotic moving images trying to distract me from the content I visit this site and many others for. Much of the html here at DK and even some entire web sites are built to include or use flash in non intrusive ways, but that seems to be changing.
I can't get to my favorite weather page without waiting while a huge animation banner loads. My hometown newspaper has a flash banner that expands to cover the entire page. Several sites have "comment" boxes which load automatically while pegging my CPU at 100 % for minutes at a time.
Like TV, both broadcast and cable, advertisers are going to keep pushing until they filter out users with enough sense to avoid their intrusive trash.
I feel this is a form of voting with my feet. I never complained about static ads and I actually use some clever flash applications willingly.
But the ads which draw the eye using the same flickering leaves technique Al Gore speaks of in his book, are no longer going to use my inner primate to sell their goods and services.
If blocking flash means I can no longer view the content then so be it. I don't block static ads. Even the annoying amazon ad an the right.
"I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs."
-- Frederick Douglass, Autobiography