>First, sorry if this is some kind of a FAQ or has been debated here before...
>
>I was looking at Web page yesterday, when Netscape (1.1 mac) suddenly
>started to download a new page by itself. I thougth that I had clicked on a
>link by mistake, but this repeated several times without my intervention.
>Very annoying, because I hadn't time to read the first page before the
>second came.
ARGH!
>Today again, when I looked at interesting web page, Netscape started to
>download an audio file and started talking to me. Cute, but very annoying,
>as it did it over and over again, every time I had resized the Netscape
>window (over the slow Atlantic link USA->Sweden). If I wanted to get to a
>new page I first had to check the dialog "stop dowload" to get there.
>
>I had to take a look at the HTML source to find out what this was, and I
>found a new HTML directive looking something like this:
>
><META HTTP-EQUIV=REFRESH CONTENT="20; URL=http://[file name].au">
>
>I presume this tells Netscape to download the audio file 20 seconds after
>the page has been loaded.
Looks like that.
>This is AWFULL - this means that the time when *you* choose what you want
>so see on the web is gone! TV-style advertising is entering the Web!
>
>Is this nuicance going to be a part of the proposed HTML v 3.0 or is it a
>Netscape specific extension?
The <META...> element is legal HTML 3.0, and the HTTP-EQUIV attribute
also. Its purpose is to add HTTP headers, for example
<META HTTP-EQUIV=Expires CONTENT="Sat, 6 May 1995 12:00:00 GMT">
creates the following HTTP header:
Expires: Sat, 6 May 1995 12:00:00 GMT
However, AFAIK, there is no such thing as a `Refresh' header.
I am pretty sure that this is Netsc[r]ape-spectific. I haven't found it
in the IETF HTTP drafts, and I have to agree with Ulf Kronman that such a
behaviour is evil, rude and nasty.
This means that Netscrape does not only add shitty extensions to their
browser, but also to their *server* which is much, much worse!
>Is there a way to turn it off in Netscape, or is the only way to get rid of
>it to start using a non-advertising browser?
I fear this is the only solution.
>And a more general comment:
>How's the net going to cope with the load and where is the web going to end
>up if clients start to drag down stuff you haven't asked for?
It will collapse. It will die horribly. Netscrape is kiling off the
Net. It is a plague that ought to be avoided.
>Is network TV with built-it shopping facilities what we want?
N N OOO !
NN N O O !
N N N O O !
N NN O O
N N OOO !
The Web will live without Netscrape, or it won't live at all!
~~o~~|--------------------------------------------------|~~o~~
~/V\~| Joerg Rhiemeier, roleplayer and prog.rock maniac |~/V\~
~~H~~| Don't jump bungee -- swim with a trenchcoat ! |~~H~~
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