*Correction* - Aspen Breaks his own Rule (Banners and Buttons on dooyoo in general)

Member Name: Aspen

Product:	Banners and Buttons on dooyoo in general
Date:	16/12/01 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Obviously generates revenue

Disadvantages: Watch it, dooyoo. There is a thin line.

(Correction at the end)
***

Cynic that he is.

I mean, you just don’t write another opinion until the last one has gained a few reads, now dooyoo?

Or at least you wait until it has been dumped off the latest opinions cross-site.

What could possibly prompt the calculating, cynical Aspen to shoot himself in the foot like this, reducing his potential reads?


ANGER.

‘Tis an irrational emotion.

It is an emotion which positively encourages shooting-in-foot and regretting-it-afterwards.


Thank (my) god (small G), that dooyoo can still attract advertisers. And as a consequence, can still offer a pittance to its contributors. Unlike some others.

Long may this continue, and I wholly understand the requirement of a site like dooyoo, to sell advertising space and earn its crust from sponsorship.

I wholeheartedly support dooyoo’s marketing campaign, it’s sponsorship deals, and all of it’s commercial links.

I fully understand the need for banner advertising, and the essential income it generates.



But if I am thwarted by another pop-up, my monitor’s oot the rented, double-glazed windae.

I resent the fact that every click within the dooyoo site is interrupted by a “security warning”. For a technophobe like me, this is very misleading, and could, in fact, make an interesting Trading Standards case.

The pop-up headed “Security Warning” is in fact an offer to install Macromedia Flash 5.0. Well, not so much an offer, more a demand. Because I cannot progress from one dooyoo screen to another without first taking an action (ie cancelling) the pop-up.

Now, sure, my technophile friends will tell me that I can disable pop-ups. But why should I? I do not ask for these to interrupt my surfing. They are uninvited and unwelcome.

If I ask nicely, the Post Office (sorry, Con
signia), will not deliver unsolicited mail. BT will bar unsolicited Fax advertising.

I want my server to bar pop-ups.

It should not be down to a technophobic Aspen to work out how to disable pop-ups, because they are an infringement of my privacy.

Even more importantly, a responsible website (as undoubtedly dooyoo is), should not inflict this curse on its members.

If for no other reason than sheer commercialism.

How many people will you p*ss off before you realise it’s a bad idea, and maybe the sums won’t add up?


Funny – and as I say I am a technophobe – and I am sure this is pure coincidence - but since the Flash 5.0 pop-ups started to appear, not only was every action within dooyoo infinitely slower, but during the course of this evening logged in to dooyoo, I have had to re-boot five times. Immediately after the pop-up appearing, I have had the “you have performed an illegal operation, etc, etc, . . shut down”.

Coincidence?

The cynical, technophobic Aspen does not think so.


And talking of pop-ups,

After I have logged into dooyoo –

Geniepopup1 will not let me proceed until I have closed it.

And, though they don’t stop me, Daryl and Natalie, and their pop-up friends, have the fact that they irritate Aspen as the least of their worries.

Daryl and Natalie better save their pennies for their defence in court vs. Post-It Notes.


Advertising is necessary and essential. No-one recognises that more than me.

But there is acceptable advertising, and there is unacceptable advertising.



Tread the line carefully, dooyoo.


***(Correction - Thanks for the many comments on this opinion, some of which have been an education. I was not aware that the item I have described was a software dialogue box, and not a "pop-up", and hence that this op was
not relevant to topic.

Neither was I aware that the item was from Microsoft, given that it doesn't say it's from Microsoft. If Macromedia.Inc is a Microsoft alter-ego, I'd be grateful if someone would tell me.

The whole point of this is simply that not everyone who uses the internet understands the technology, in much the same way, I suggest, that many of us who drive cars have no inkling of what goes on under the bonnet.

The one thing I do know, is not to download something I know nothing about. So I cannot agree that the best way to get rid of this item is to download it. Now that I know what it is, I will. But I cannot agree with downloading an irritant as the best way of getting rid of it.

And I would ask you all to remember, that there are many users of the net who have no inkling of what goes on under the bonnet.)***



© Mike Clark 2001

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