That's it, I'm out. The ADS ARE RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ticklishchap]

I have noticed that logging into FL on my iPhone or my desktop takes longer now - and there are loads more adverts. It really does look downmarket.

 

[Edward]

Is it just the browser, then? I use Firefox for Mac and I am not having any of these troubles with ads. I have no floating ads, none appearing over the posts here... nothing obtrusive at all.

Same with me. I'm using Chrome mostly at present, and the only change from before (ads down the side) is that I get the occasional add between (but not over or in) posts. One every few posts, usually for watches or something else I've been looking at on Google recently. It did go haywire for a bit, but sorted now.

The browser, even OS, can cause a difference afaik - so many different possibilities now that it's not always possible, let alone easy, to predict. Part of the challenge for TFL is of course that we don't code the forum software, so there's an initially potentially unknown that comes from the interaction there.

 

[jonesy86]

Same with me. I'm using Chrome mostly at present, and the only change from before (ads down the side) is that I get the occasional add between (but not over or in) posts. One every few posts, usually for watches or something else I've been looking at on Google recently. It did go haywire for a bit, but sorted now.

The browser, even OS, can cause a difference afaik - so many different possibilities now that it's not always possible, let alone easy, to predict. Part of the challenge for TFL is of course that we don't code the forum software, so there's an initially potentially unknown that comes from the interaction there.

Edward I appreciate the work that you and the other moderators put into this forum, and I am an avid participant. However, the latest issues with the adds are driving me crazy. I use new MacBook with latest OS, and the Safari browser. I have cleared the cache and other possible remedies, but the site is loading so very slow that I am quite frustrated.
Any remedy would be greatly appreciated,
David

 

[galopede]

Edward I appreciate the work that you and the other moderators put into this forum, and I am an avid participant. However, the latest issues with the adds are driving me crazy. I use new MacBook with latest OS, and the Safari browser. I have cleared the cache and other possible remedies, but the site is loading so very slow that I am quite frustrated.
Any remedy would be greatly appreciated,
David

Like you I am using a new MacBook Air with the latest OS and Safari and have found it has settled down now, apart from some cute kittens every so often between posts!

I like kittens...

Gareth

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I access TFL exclusively via my iPhone. The ads were killing me until I downloaded an ad blocker. No more ads. However, pages on the site still take longer to load than anywhere else I visit on the internet. It’s not uncommon for a page to take over a 30 seconds to load! That’s with 5G or via my high speed WiFi. Crazy! Sometimes it’s like being back on dial up. The slow speed is there at 0200 or 1400 hours. It’s pretty much a constant. With the ads out of the way, the speed doesn’t keep me away, but there are times I don’t open a thread because I know how long it will take to load. It would be nicer if it was faster, but my wife thinks it would be nicer if I was a Fortune 500 CEO. We take life as it is and enjoy what we have.

 

[Zombie_61]

Is anyone else experiencing a "problem" with the text box (at the bottom of the screen) that we all use to post and reply? I'll type my response, click on "Post Reply", and after the reply is posted the text of whatever I typed remains in the box; I have to highlight it and delete it manually. Before the "Pop-Up Ad" kerfuffle I didn't have this problem. BTW, Firefox Browser version 87.0 on a Lenovo laptop running Windows 10.

 

[belfastboy]

I access TFL exclusively via my iPhone. The ads were killing me until I downloaded an ad blocker. No more ads. However, pages on the site still take longer to load than anywhere else I visit on the internet. It’s not uncommon for a page to take over a 30 seconds to load! That’s with 5G or via my high speed WiFi. Crazy! Sometimes it’s like being back on dial up. The slow speed is there at 0200 or 1400 hours. It’s pretty much a constant. With the ads out of the way, the speed doesn’t keep me away, but there are times I don’t open a thread because I know how long it will take to load. It would be nicer if it was faster, but my wife thinks it would be nicer if I was a Fortune 500 CEO. We take life as it is and enjoy what we have.

My wife wishes I was more tidy.....but she realizes it is a hopeless dream. I am so impressed with Adblocker that I gave them a donation. I am actually glad to hear others are having a problem with slow speeds.....I thought it was just my computer. I try to remember the old dial up days when I would hit a link and go for a coffee while it loaded.....there are probably whipper snappers out there that never experienced those medieval times.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I applied Adblocker many pages ago and have no problem with any ads or slow speed. It cleared everything up immediately for me.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I applied Adblocker many pages ago and have no problem with any ads or slow speed. It cleared everything up immediately for me.

Interesting. I now have zero ads, but the slow speeds persist. My grandfather would probably say I wasn’t holding my mouth right.

 

[jonesy86]

I tried ad blocker but it seemed to make things load more slowly, no ads though. I turned it off, and things seemed to load better for a while, now it seems worse than ever.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

My wife wishes I was more tidy.....but she realizes it is a hopeless dream. I am so impressed with Adblocker that I gave them a donation. I am actually glad to hear others are having a problem with slow speeds.....I thought it was just my computer. I try to remember the old dial up days when I would hit a link and go for a coffee while it loaded.....there are probably whipper snappers out there that never experienced those medieval times.

I also remember that brief window when we thought music was free and downloaded copyrighted material without permission and without a care. I wasn’t a Napster guy, but I’d select 20 or so songs on Morpheus and let them download overnight. Often in the morning they still weren’t all downloaded but we’d need the phone line to make calls. How quickly we forget and how much we take for granted.

 

[belfastboy]

I access TFL exclusively via my iPhone. The ads were killing me until I downloaded an ad blocker. No more ads. However, pages on the site still take longer to load than anywhere else I visit on the internet. It’s not uncommon for a page to take over a 30 seconds to load! That’s with 5G or via my high speed WiFi. Crazy! Sometimes it’s like being back on dial up. The slow speed is there at 0200 or 1400 hours. It’s pretty much a constant. With the ads out of the way, the speed doesn’t keep me away, but there are times I don’t open a thread because I know how long it will take to load. It would be nicer if it was faster, but my wife thinks it would be nicer if I was a Fortune 500 CEO. We take life as it is and enjoy what we have.

My wife wishes I was more tidy.....but she realizes it is a hopeless dream. I am so impressed with Adblocker that I gave them a donation. I am actually glad to hear others are having a problem with slow speeds.....I thought it was just my computer. I try to remember the old dial up days when I would hit a link and go for a coffee while it loaded.....there are probably whipper snappers out there that never experienced those medieval times.

I also remember that brief window when we thought music was free and downloaded copyrighted material without permission and without a care. I wasn’t a Napster guy, but I’d select 20 or so songs on Morpheus and let them download overnight. Often in the morning they still weren’t all downloaded but we’d need the phone line to make calls. How quickly we forget and how much we take for granted.

and I am the worst.....if it doesn't load almost immediately I start to fret & fidget.

 

[Rmccamey]

I wonder if the powers that be have looked at the activity since the change and how many are now using ad blocker or something similar and how many have not checked in since just after the change. From an outsider's view, they may have less ad viewership now than before, just the opposite of what the new ad partners probably wanted.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Is anyone else experiencing a "problem" with the text box (at the bottom of the screen) that we all use to post and reply? I'll type my response, click on "Post Reply", and after the reply is posted the text of whatever I typed remains in the box; I have to highlight it and delete it manually. Before the "Pop-Up Ad" kerfuffle I didn't have this problem. BTW, Firefox Browser version 87.0 on a Lenovo laptop running Windows 10.

I am experiencing the same as you report. It does not happen when I view on the forum on my phone. The current refresh speed and load speed of the site is the same for me.

BTW: (MacBook Pro, Netscape, AdBlock Plus, new version iPhone and safari)

Thanks forum admins and management for your recent efforts.

Cheers, Eric -

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Is anyone else experiencing a "problem" with the text box (at the bottom of the screen) that we all use to post and reply? I'll type my response, click on "Post Reply", and after the reply is posted the text of whatever I typed remains in the box; I have to highlight it and delete it manually. Before the "Pop-Up Ad" kerfuffle I didn't have this problem. BTW, Firefox Browser version 87.0 on a Lenovo laptop running Windows 10.

I am experiencing the same as you report. It does not happen when I view on the forum on my phone. The current refresh speed and load speed of the site is the same for me.

BTW: (MacBook Pro, Netscape, AdBlock Plus & new version iPhone and safari)

Thanks forum admins and management for your recent efforts.

Cheers, Eric -

 

[Frunobulax]

Is anyone else experiencing a "problem" with the text box (at the bottom of the screen) that we all use to post and reply? I'll type my response, click on "Post Reply", and after the reply is posted the text of whatever I typed remains in the box; I have to highlight it and delete it manually. Before the "Pop-Up Ad" kerfuffle I didn't have this problem. BTW, Firefox Browser version 87.0 on a Lenovo laptop running Windows 10.

Yup. Multiple devices using Chrome wIth AdBlock plus.

I also remember that brief window when we thought music was free and downloaded copyrighted material without permission and without a care. I wasn’t a Napster guy, but I’d select 20 or so songs on Morpheus and let them download overnight. Often in the morning they still weren’t all downloaded but we’d need the phone line to make calls. How quickly we forget and how much we take for granted.

I was "ethical," LOL. Only used Napster to grab things that were out of print and a bunch of bootleg Zappa.

 

[itsallgood]

The movement, flashing, jumping around really intrudes on the calmness. I came here for the calm. Maybe the ad server could be limited to static displays? The jumping around video displays, movement in the text, screen wipes, etc. quite frankly, make me want to puke. It's the opposite of calm.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

To all those complaining about the flashy ads. Just sit back, chill out & enjoy the Time Square experience.

 

[Edward]

Edward I appreciate the work that you and the other moderators put into this forum, and I am an avid participant. However, the latest issues with the adds are driving me crazy. I use new MacBook with latest OS, and the Safari browser. I have cleared the cache and other possible remedies, but the site is loading so very slow that I am quite frustrated.
Any remedy would be greatly appreciated,
David

Have you the option of trying another browser? I haven't used a Mac since 1990, so I can't honestly claim to know what might be the issue there. I'm not experiencing speed problems with Chrome / Opera / Opera Lite / Firefox and Windows 10, but that's a whole different ballgame.

I access TFL exclusively via my iPhone. The ads were killing me until I downloaded an ad blocker. No more ads. However, pages on the site still take longer to load than anywhere else I visit on the internet. It’s not uncommon for a page to take over a 30 seconds to load! That’s with 5G or via my high speed WiFi. Crazy! Sometimes it’s like being back on dial up. The slow speed is there at 0200 or 1400 hours. It’s pretty much a constant. With the ads out of the way, the speed doesn’t keep me away, but there are times I don’t open a thread because I know how long it will take to load. It would be nicer if it was faster, but my wife thinks it would be nicer if I was a Fortune 500 CEO. We take life as it is and enjoy what we have.

Not sure what that could be - have you tried a check on your broadband speed? It shouldn't be the ads... My understanding is that an ad blocker just doesn't download them, so the site should be accessible faster... ?

Is anyone else experiencing a "problem" with the text box (at the bottom of the screen) that we all use to post and reply? I'll type my response, click on "Post Reply", and after the reply is posted the text of whatever I typed remains in the box; I have to highlight it and delete it manually. Before the "Pop-Up Ad" kerfuffle I didn't have this problem. BTW, Firefox Browser version 87.0 on a Lenovo laptop running Windows 10.

I had that happen once or twice last week, but not since.

I also remember that brief window when we thought music was free and downloaded copyrighted material without permission and without a care. I wasn’t a Napster guy, but I’d select 20 or so songs on Morpheus and let them download overnight. Often in the morning they still weren’t all downloaded but we’d need the phone line to make calls. How quickly we forget and how much we take for granted.

Download speeds now compared to what they were twenty years ago is night and day. I remember Hollywood weren't worried about p2p when the music industry first was, as it took so long on dial-up to download a movie that the phone bill would cost more than buying the DVD...

I was "ethical," LOL. Only used Napster to grab things that were out of print and a bunch of bootleg Zappa.

I remember a lot of folks using it that way. I got a lot of flack for saying it in a social group recently, but honestly I don't believe you can both love music and settle for downloading mp3s as a sole or dominant format. I could never get away from wanting to own the physical artefact, then there's sound quality.... Back in the early days (before they started going after end users and thus I nixed my account - would have been professionally embarrassing at best...), I used Napster and then Morpheus to listen to stuff I already owned (technically infringing copies, yes, though at the time I figured as I'd already bought the CD what was the practical difference), and to download stuff that I simply couldn't buy anywhere else (or I already would have). I also used it to try new stuff - and perhaps ironically I bought far more CDs far more regularly than for several years afterwards. (Perhaps works in that I don't listen to commercial radio or any radio music stations, so I don't have that 'window' on the new nowadays.)

Interesting how the industry eventually started to 'get' digital. I gather the Hendrix Estate now sell downloads of just about every show of his that was ever recorded. Great for fans, though I'd still rather a nice quality, vinyl LP every time.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Is anyone else experiencing a "problem" with the text box (at the bottom of the screen) that we all use to post and reply? I'll type my response, click on "Post Reply", and after the reply is posted the text of whatever I typed remains in the box; I have to highlight it and delete it manually. Before the "Pop-Up Ad" kerfuffle I didn't have this problem. BTW, Firefox Browser version 87.0 on a Lenovo laptop running Windows 10.

I noticed this myself yesterday -- it seems not to be browser/computer dependent for me. I use a 20-year-old Mac G4 running TenFourFox at home, and a 10-year-old Dell running WIndows 7 at work, and both have been doing the same thing.

I've been kind of amused at the ads I've been getting, though. Yesterday it was "This Property Protected By Smith & Wesson" novelty signs sold by a gun-wielding young woman in an unflattering bathing suit. I guess that's what I get for reading a movie commentary from the "National Review."