Friday, February 11, 2011

Search and ye shall find

The solution to those tricky annoying popups and pop unders:

I remember the days when browsers did not have popup blockers built in. Popups were getting so out of control that third party developers decided to cash in on this by offering softwares that promised to block these popups. They would tout their abilities by number of popups blocked. Us early adopters of the internet considered them our saviors. Slowly browsers started coming with pop up blocking built in. Oh Joy! Now browsers were boasting about their pop up blocking capabilities. The third party softwares had their fifteen seconds of fame.
I might be wrong here, but I like to believe there was a time when the problem went away with 'good/nice' web developers agreeing that popups were an annoyance. We could go about our major online activities without being bombarded with popups. Popup blocker wasn't talked about anymore. And the term 'popup blocker' was put on a shelf or in some internet museum. Ask the kids today and they might not know about it at all. Or they might assume it was something that was just there; like cellphones or high speed internet. But those who relied on the home phone line and a dial up modem know how it came to be.
But like those once in a while reception issues(or persistent reception issues for those on At&t), there are some websites that still manage to throw popups at you. They have successfully outsmarted the ignored and outdated popup blockers in these browsers. By the use of javascript, clicking anywhere on the page, even if it is not apparent as a link, can trigger multiple popups.
To see what I am talking about, and to get a (safari)solution to this, go here. (be prepared for google bing and some other website popping up in different windows when you click on the test area)
Basically your problem should be solved. But much thanks if you are still reading along.
On one distracted friday afternoon, I decided I didn't want to 'suffer' through another popup again. I googled "advanced popup blocker chrome safari". The solution was in the top two links.(your mileage may vary.) But go here to download the google chrome extension. I also found the link to the same extension for safari 5 and my next task is to install it on there. Happy popup-ad free browsing!

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