Falling Off the Soapbox
February 24th, 2007JavaScript, UI
The other day at the office I was skimming through an article by one of our staff tech writers about Soapbox, Microsoft’s social video site, so I decided to check it out. Turns out it’s a fairly modest affair with an extreme air of “me too” about it. Okay, no big deal. Time to close that browser tab and get back to work. But…
You’re joking, right?
Any attempt to hit refresh, type in a new URL, or use the browser’s back button in Safari summons forth this little nugget of pure JavaScript evil. (You won’t see this at all in Mac Firefox because, well, the site simply doesn’t load in that joint.)
Let me say this loud and clear: Never, ever do this. Ever.
I seriously had to go back to the article and check that this was indeed a “new” site, because for a second there you could have easily fooled me into thinking we were partying like it’s 1999.
Scan down the site a little farther and you’ll find this other precious bit of “Was it good for you?” neediness.
Sorry Soapbox, but I’ve had better.
David Sleight is a web designer living and working in New York City, and the Deputy Creative Director of BusinessWeek.com
Recent Posts
- InterludeTransients, of a kind.
- Soul TrainEverywhere you want to be.
- A Style of LookingEverything new is not.
- BusinessLinkedLess one degree of separation.
- Wounded LandsNear hits, near misses.
- Some Shall PassContent car-tellin' it.
Comments
ron February 25th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Ah, the unload handler…. I kind of feel sorry for it. It’s been practically unemployed since the advent of popup blocking.
Pete March 9th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
“By reading these words, you have agreed to never, ever leave this site.”
Ethan March 15th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Leave it to Microsoft to bring 1999 back to the web. As if making an operating system that was already out of date wasn’t enough.
E-mail address will not be displayed. You can use <a href>, <blockquote>, <code>, <em> and <strong> tags in your comment. Line breaks are automatically converted.