Stupid Web Tricks

(April 14, 2000)

Java

Most Java applets are useless, in fact most special effects are useless on the web. Java is my favorite programming language, but it is good for building applications only, not the web.

Background music

Face it, MIDI sucks, period. I turn off background music in my browser all the time.

Dynamic HTML

Quite useful, but it could decrease accessibility if not done right.

<blink>

Netscape's shame.

<layer>

Netscape's done it again!

JavaScript

It is great, but Netscape gave it a deceiving name on purpose. It has absolutely nothing to do with Java.

Cascading Style Sheets

I love it. It is so great, that Netscape 4.x can't even handle it well.

<marquee>

Microsoft's crime, but everyone abuses it. It is annoying, but at least it replaced a lot of useless applets.

Background pictures

Please teach me how to read the text on top of the mess?

Page transitions

There is enough transitional "effects" while waiting the page to load with my 33.6k modem already.

Frames

Could be useful, but often being abused. Frames are supposed to organize pages and provide different views, but most frame sites I encountered are messy and confusing.