Friday, September 12, 2008

Just stop it!

I've heard plenty of bloggers gripe about people who put audio on their sites that plays automatically.

I'll go ahead and add my complaint to the, err, complaint pile. Why? Because the problem seems to be getting worse.

I tend to have music running through Winamp whenever I've got my computer running and I'm sitting in front of it. I'm listening to music, old time radio, actual news radio or etc. It's just downright annoying to have what I want to hear interfered with by something that just annoys me.

Now, hearing some song is just obnoxious. On the other hand, I ran across a video with audio the other day that just made me mad as hell. It featured this greasy guy with a pony tail who looks like a Ron Jeremy disciple. He was howling about how he'd make me rich on the Internet.

I don't like people yelling at me when I access a blog and really don't appreciate people who look like low-rent pimps telling me they can make me rich. Fortunately, I was able to find the pause button, but there's no need to inflict even that on the unsuspecting public.

Hey, if you must share that wonderful new song you just heard or put a sleazy guy on your site that promises to make you rich, just find a way to make it so people have to actively click a link in order to check out that digital treasure you are convinced the world must know about? For example, if you head over to YouTube, you can find a dandy "embed" feature next to that video you like which allows you to put some code on your site that shows that wonderful video but allows people the option of playing it or not.

See, look at this great YouTube video from the hysterical Bobby Conn:


I happen to think that one is a hoot and contains a few swipes at The Man. You know which The Man I'm talking about, right? He's the same man that, say, employs you and makes you edit something on your blog that makes his organization look bad.

That's all hypothetical, of course.

Anyway, how many people actually think Bobby Conn is a hoot and is actually worth watching? One percent of the general population? Less? Why inflict the great Bobby Conn on people who hate his guts?

Yes, giving those blog visitors the option of having to actively choose to listen to something like Bobby Conn is the way to go. Everything about my blog from the ads I select to the bells and whistles that amuse me are largely passive -- I appreciate it when people do visit and would rather not annoy them.

Oh, and do go and look at that Bobby Conn video. You'll laugh so hard you'll break all your furniture. Be sure to stick around for his out-of-breath interview at the end.

Meanwhile...

Jon over at OTRCat.com sent me a little "thank you" today -- two CDs full of MP3s of Duffy's Tavern and My Favorite Husband. Yes, those are both wonderful old time radio comedies and My Favorite Husband stars none other than a young Lucille Ball.

Why would Jon do such a wonderful thing? Because I mentioned his site in an earlier blog post and Jon appreciated it. He's a classy guy and the programs he sent me are of the highest quality. Thanks, Jon!

Once again, I encourage anyone wanting to pick up some great old time radio shows for a great price to visit OTRCat.com. If you like old time radio, you'll be glad you paid Jon a visit.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I absolutely agree with you. I wonder if there is a way to penalized those sites that have auto audio and/or video playing...

Unknown said...

Methinks that you may not be recovered from your duties at the real estate convention if you think Bobby Conn is a hoot.

GumbyTheCat said...

I can't STAND opening a blog page and having music blare at me. That page gets closed IMMEDIATELY. To me it's rude.

JD at I Do Things said...

I'm with Gumby. If a sound -- ANY sound -- begins when I open a page, it gets closed immediately. I don't care if it's a great song or a great site. Good-bye. Save that stuff for MySpace, please.

JD at I Do Things

Anonymous said...

I usually don't even have my sound on for that reason. well, that and the fact that I find Windows system sounds annoying.

Goddess said...

Amen on the autoplay music! I close the page immediately if it comes up - too often they even hide the player somewhere down at the bottom, and I got sick of always having to hit the mute button.

Anonymous said...

Oh.
My.
God.

I made it through the first 20 seconds of the Bobby Conn video and couldn't take the horrifying, rhythmless dancing by the clodhopping idiots behind him. What the sweet, holy hell was THAT??

And I totally agree about automatic blog music. It's so invasive and startling.

Sara said...

Truer words have never been uttered! I definitely remember blogs that make me listen to their music and try not to revisit them.

HawgWyld said...

Shaxx -- We can punish them by not visiting them. That ought to do it!

FishHawk -- But, FishHawk! Just remember -- "You're never gonna get ahead, saying 'yes' to the man!"

Heh, heh!

GumbyTheCat -- I'm starting to adopt that same habit.

JD -- MySpace. That wretched little site has led to all kinds of bad behavior.

I do, by the way, hope you stuck around long enough for the great Bobby Conn. He's a Chicago boy!

LaLa -- Even without the sound, that stuff just hogs bandwidth. Yes, there's another reason to gripe about that practice.

Christy -- Hey! The clods in the background are great! They just add to the ridiculous nature of the entire production.

Sara -- I'm starting to pick out those "music blaring" sites, too, and I've been avoiding them lately.

Unknown said...

Amen, amen, amen!

HawgWyld said...

Sherry:

"Amen," indeed!