The first pesterware was advertising on TV. I understand the purpose of advertising and to some extent I even embrace it. It pays for some or all of the desired programming or at least makes it less expensive--which enables production of more. Once in a rare while, I even see something in an ad that I want to buy.
TV advertising has crossed the line in several ways. When they run the same ad over and over and over and over and over, I initially get bored, but before long I get irritated. A little repetition is understandable: people miss the beginning of the show, go to the toilet during ads, etc. I skip as many as I can with a Digital Video Recorder (or its predecessor a VCR). But at some point it becomes so annoying that I no longer watch the channel. SciFi and FX are both in this category for me. These guys break up the show into such short slots that I am constantly cursing them--a 90 minute movie extended to 3 hours, in 5 minute spurts, often with substantial parts of the movie cut out. No thanks.
Another way they irritate me is by putting a bug, splash or crawl over the screen. A typical example: a news program will show some video with a banner over it: KWTF BREAKING NEWS!!! and the critical thing will be hidden by the banner. Sometimes they get the banner out of the way, but rarely. A bug or bottom of screen crawl would have been better. (why do they put it away from the bottom, ever? Back in the days of rounded screens, the bottom was a moving target, so I understand why they moved it up then. But since the '70s, screens have been relatively rectangular and technology has eliminated sync and size issues completely. But they're still doing this.) Recently a few channels have been putting a moving bug in the corner, occasionally with an accompanying noise, often loud enough to obscure the programming. Sheesh.
Once upon a time, the government put a limit to advertising on the airwaves: 16 minutes per hour. This is no longer the case but many channels still stick to it.
Computer pesterware has never had such a limitation. Virtually all browsers have a popup blocker and virtually all users have it enabled. So websites have implemented their own popups. The best of them do things in a way that don't interfere and have a little X in the upper right to dismiss them. But many of them can't be dismissed without giving the offender some of your personal data. I boycott such sites. I also run an ad blocker. Many advertisers have figured out how to detect that the blocker is running and a few badger you about it.
In my view, unintrusive advertising is acceptable. If it prevents the content I wanted from being accessed, it is intrusive. If it keeps badgering me, even after I have attempted to dismiss it, it is intrusive. If it makes spurious noises or flashes, it is intrusive. If it takes more than two seconds to figure out how to dismiss it, it is intrusive. If it consumes consequential amounts of network bandwidth, or any other resource on my computer, it is worse than intrusive.
Advertising doesn't have to be pesterware. But when it is, we need to stop it.
04 July 2016
Stevens and the West
For some reason, surprisingly many of the early explorers of the American west were named Stevens or Stephens. It's probably just a coincidence. Here's a partial list
Elisha Stephens (1804-1877) was one of the leaders of the Stephens/Murphy/Townsend party. He seems to have been the one to have discovered Donner pass in 1844 and led the group of 50 to what is now the western part of Santa Clara county without any deaths--in fact two babies were born in route. John C Fremont would put it on a map the following year, claiming to have discovered it, resulting in the incompetent Donner party attempting it in Nov 1846, losing 39 of 87 in the process. Stephens would settle on the Arroyo de San Jose de Copertino, so named by the De Anza party, which had camped there in March of 1776. Other settlers would rename the creek in Stephens honor (but misspelling it) and today, the biggest two streets in Cupertino are Stevens Creek Blvd and De Anza Blvd, which cross at Cupertino Corner. Frustrated with how crowded Cupertino was becoming, he sold his land and moved to the area that would become Bakersfield in 1861.
John Frank Stevens (1853-1943) was a surveyor and engineer hired by James J Hill to plan and develop the route for the Great Northern Railroad, which he did with extraordinary skill. Stevens Pass, which he discovered, is named for him. He later would plan the route of the Panama canal and for a little while headed the whole project.
Isaac Stevens (1818-1862) (no relation) was the first governor of Washinton Territory from 1853-1857. He was the one who chose Olympia as the Territorial Capital. He forced the local native tribes all over the territory to sign restrictive treaties, leading to quite a bit of conflict but earning him good support from the White settlers at the time. He was killed in action fighting for the Union in the Battle of Chanitilly in 1862. Stevens County, WA, Lake Stevens, WA, and Fort Stevens, OR, were all named for him, along with numerous schools and streets, a county in Minnesota, and more.
John Lloyd Stephens (1805-1852) was an explorer of Central America. He and his friend Frederick Catherwood rediscovered the ruins of the Mayan civilization in the 1840s and were the first to realize this was a great civilization that had disappeared for hundreds of years. He was also the chief engineer of the Panama railroad, which was instrumental in building the Canal 60 years later.
John H Stevens (1820-1900) the first resident of Minneapolis west of the river.
James B Stephens (1806-1889) one of the earliest settlers of Portland, OR.
Elisha Stephens (1804-1877) was one of the leaders of the Stephens/Murphy/Townsend party. He seems to have been the one to have discovered Donner pass in 1844 and led the group of 50 to what is now the western part of Santa Clara county without any deaths--in fact two babies were born in route. John C Fremont would put it on a map the following year, claiming to have discovered it, resulting in the incompetent Donner party attempting it in Nov 1846, losing 39 of 87 in the process. Stephens would settle on the Arroyo de San Jose de Copertino, so named by the De Anza party, which had camped there in March of 1776. Other settlers would rename the creek in Stephens honor (but misspelling it) and today, the biggest two streets in Cupertino are Stevens Creek Blvd and De Anza Blvd, which cross at Cupertino Corner. Frustrated with how crowded Cupertino was becoming, he sold his land and moved to the area that would become Bakersfield in 1861.
John Frank Stevens (1853-1943) was a surveyor and engineer hired by James J Hill to plan and develop the route for the Great Northern Railroad, which he did with extraordinary skill. Stevens Pass, which he discovered, is named for him. He later would plan the route of the Panama canal and for a little while headed the whole project.
Isaac Stevens (1818-1862) (no relation) was the first governor of Washinton Territory from 1853-1857. He was the one who chose Olympia as the Territorial Capital. He forced the local native tribes all over the territory to sign restrictive treaties, leading to quite a bit of conflict but earning him good support from the White settlers at the time. He was killed in action fighting for the Union in the Battle of Chanitilly in 1862. Stevens County, WA, Lake Stevens, WA, and Fort Stevens, OR, were all named for him, along with numerous schools and streets, a county in Minnesota, and more.
John Lloyd Stephens (1805-1852) was an explorer of Central America. He and his friend Frederick Catherwood rediscovered the ruins of the Mayan civilization in the 1840s and were the first to realize this was a great civilization that had disappeared for hundreds of years. He was also the chief engineer of the Panama railroad, which was instrumental in building the Canal 60 years later.
John H Stevens (1820-1900) the first resident of Minneapolis west of the river.
James B Stephens (1806-1889) one of the earliest settlers of Portland, OR.
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