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It doesn't help that 'the Windows trick', for the UI that is, became popups. Popups after popups that were almost all useless things or worse annoying ads that

by mjevans 10y ago

It doesn't help that 'the Windows trick', for the UI that is, became popups. Popups after popups that were almost all useless things or worse annoying ads that got popped up on some page you were on. There is a LOT of noise to that signal. Contrasted to more traditional (teletype inspired) interfaces that only reported actual warnings (if asked for) and failures unless you were extremely specific.

Bartweiss 10y ago
This UI hostility also burns people who aren't experienced with hotkeys. An awful lot of malware-serving webpages pop up duplicate header bars as part of an image, in hopes of catching people who click on the wrong X (much like ads that consist of fake download links). That's a non-event for a an experienced user, who (if ad block didn't disable the page) probably resorts to the close-tab hotkey by sheer habit. But it's an appreciable threat to someone who's trying to rely on predictable screen UI for their browsing.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  Weirdest thing i have seen was some ad delivered malware that would pop up a full screen image of an XP desktop, complete with some popup claiming to be some error or other. The whole thing was clickable and it fooled me the first time (i really should have picked up on the pointer being a hand rather than an arrow), never mind my less knowledgeable relatives.
  - Bartweiss 10y ago
    That's a new one on me, too. I'm not sure I would have caught it. One useful trick is right-clicking first, which shouldn't trigger the link and will be very different on an outbound link than a blank webpage or desktop. Of course, mobile is where I get the most trouble from this - I don't have any hotkeys, and real page-loading is so bouncy and unpredictable that it's particularly easy to get caught by a fake top bar. It's made even worse by things that scroll away the top bar as you move down page, and then bring back a fake one.

by mjevans 10y ago

Bartweiss 10y ago

This UI hostility also burns people who aren't experienced with hotkeys. An awful lot of malware-serving webpages pop up duplicate header bars as part of an image, in hopes of catching people who click on the wrong X (much like ads that consist of fake download links). That's a non-event for a an experienced user, who (if ad block didn't disable the page) probably resorts to the close-tab hotkey by sheer habit. But it's an appreciable threat to someone who's trying to rely on predictable screen UI for their browsing.

digi_owl 10y ago
Weirdest thing i have seen was some ad delivered malware that would pop up a full screen image of an XP desktop, complete with some popup claiming to be some error or other. The whole thing was clickable and it fooled me the first time (i really should have picked up on the pointer being a hand rather than an arrow), never mind my less knowledgeable relatives.
- Bartweiss 10y ago
  That's a new one on me, too. I'm not sure I would have caught it. One useful trick is right-clicking first, which shouldn't trigger the link and will be very different on an outbound link than a blank webpage or desktop. Of course, mobile is where I get the most trouble from this - I don't have any hotkeys, and real page-loading is so bouncy and unpredictable that it's particularly easy to get caught by a fake top bar. It's made even worse by things that scroll away the top bar as you move down page, and then bring back a fake one.