The original intent of HTML was to give some hints to the browser about logical structure of a document. You know, headers, paragraphs and so on. Then let the browser render it in a suitable way for the screen the users has.
Of course, it turns out that web page designers don't want that. They don't care about logical document structure. No they want "pixel perfect" layout of a page as if they were pasting it up on a sheet of paper in front of them for publication is a paper magazine or such. Or using a good old desktop publishing software. They only care what in looks like.
So, over the years comes CSS, in ever increasingly complex versions, to allow web designers to do that.
It's still horribly complicated to make a pleasing web page layout. Still most web sites are horribly ugly as a result. Try zooming them in and out or printing them and it all falls apart.
I'm mean, look at this forum page in front of you now.
And the ONE THING I want is text reflow, as originally envisioned, doesn't exist, unless designers, developers provide for it explicitly. What I get is a closer, and incomplete look at the page. Nice for a map. Not so nice to read and interact.
Used to, but once CSS entered the scene, game over. Actually, tables and little pixels started the mess.
I use mobile a lot. Viewing old sites, pre CSS, works at any zoom, any screen resolution, unless they have done table, one pixel tricks.
Today, zoom is often denied, and text is often fixed.
All for "dynamic pictures" like high gloss copy, but with out the high gloss, quality of copy, etc.
Failure, if you ask me.
So... select all, paste, read with ease, or run a sort of hack extension / browser, or deal with the carnage left over when CSS is turned off. And my mobile browser does not offer me that choice as far as I can tell.
We keep this up and just making a page will be as ugly and risk laden as making a CPU apparently is!
My friend's fairly new laptop just became useless after the update, it was so painfully slow that he backed up his files and gave the laptop to a guy to go and install Windows 7 on it instead. That's how bad it was.
Btw @Cluso99 - who are you with that they charge $10/MB? Or do you mean GB? Anyway I might replace my cable connection with mobile broadband since the upload rate on 4G is super fast, and even though the data plan is only 140GB it works out cheaper and faster than my current 30Mbit cable connection. NBN is a total joke here in Oz and even the local state government is looking at creating its own broadband network for the people using existing fiber infrastructure.
Yes $10/GB with Optus.
I have just updated my plan from 36GB/month to 170GB/month on 4Gplus.
But it slows to a snail pace around 6pm to 1-3Mbps. I presume the same applies to landline adsl/nbn too. The Gosford area has been held hostage to upgrading the network because the cable ran over a private rural property, and it has taken time to get a court order for access
BTW I will be on ubuntu mid-week when my new old laptop arrives already setup by a friend
Unfortunately I still need to run Windows
I am going insane. I would happily accept a 30% penalty at the moment.
I am seeing a big hit while it downloads the update. Then I loose my laptop for something like 30 minutes (haven't timed it) while it installs and rolls back, and then it repeats! And that's on top of using my expensive mobile internet data too - if I run over my limit, it's $10/MB !!!
Have you updated you BIOS or UEFI for the change? Windows is likely looking for system facilities that don't yet exist. Which make and model laptop?
It is an Acer Aspire E1-570. I haven't searched or tried a BIOS or UEFI update.
I haven't been able to get to the latest W10. I am on v1607 os14393.2007 and I think it needs to get to build 16299 before it can get the meltdown and spectre security fixes.
Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich told investors Thursday afternoon that the company plans to release silicon with built-in mitigations to the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabiities later this year, a statement that raises more questions than it answers.
For Intel, it really has been a Tale of Two Cities scenario: Intel reported the best quarter in its history, as fourth-quarter 2017 revenue grew 4 percent year-over-year to $17.1 billion. But Intel has also been the face of Spectre and Meltdown, two critical vulnerabilities built into basically every processor it ships into the PC and server markets.
Why this matters: Intel has been busy working with PC makers and OS vendors like Microsoft to release microcode that includes so-called mitigations, microcode updates that patch the vulnerabilities. But even that hasn’t gone so well: Intel advised end users to stop applying patches after systems unexpectedly rebooted. Now, Intel has revealed it’s working on a more permanent fix, but the impact on users remains unknown
Might be coincidence with MS Update Tuesday, but since then the computer reboots.
Since I am teleworking over 2 decades now, all my work related stuff, except Skype is not on my own computer, just a remote desk away, I simply went to Wallmart and got me a new computer to access the company server.
@Cluso99, AMD and ARM have the same problem like Intel, switching to AMD makes no difference.
AMD and some ARM CPUs apparently do not have all the problems Intels CPUs have because they don't do the same out of order execution over different protection processes. This is the major flaw that is causing the big slowdowns
Btw my W10 update is now honouring the metered connection, but it is still stuck in an download/update/rollback loop when I let it be on an unmetered site. A 5GB download each time too!!!
IIRC it's a 1607 to 1709 update.
Meanwhile I have a Ubuntu Laptop working now
Still to learn about Linux, but Firefox works the same. I have yet to try OpenOffice but I have been using WPS Office on my W10 laptop recently anyway since MS crashed my licensed Office 2014. I haven't transferred my email yet, but I have been using Mozilla since MS crashed my Outlook.
Starting week 2 of my switchover from W10 to Linux Mint and it's been smooth sailing so far. Libre Office, Thunderbird, and Firefox work pretty much the same as before so no issues there. Same for Audacity. No problems or glitches so far. My only regret is not making the switch earlier.
I have no idea if this is related to the recent botched miro-code/OS updates but a strange thing has happened...
'er in doors watches local TV channels a lot over the net on her new ASUS Win 10 laptop. We have not had an actual TV in the house for over a decade.
Anyway, recently the video playback in Chrome has started to suffer from a lot of little dropouts. Every few seconds the is a "tick" in the audio. Really annoying.
I always seem to be swimming against the tide. Having used only Linux since 1998, a year ago I started using Win 10 on a Surface Pro. The switchover was smooth sailing. All the software I know and love from Linux works pretty much the same as before so no issues there. Only issue is getting a lot of Windows Smile to not run but that is doable.
After a year of neglect by beloved old Linux PC refuses to boot. Shamefully I have been too lazy to fix it....
I'm not sure what having a TV or not has got to do with Windows.
Streaming in browsers has for a long time relied on Flash player. Still does in many cases. One of the most open attack vectors in history. Still is judging by the updates I see coming to my Win 10 machine about FLASH security every week.
That tiny bit of of Javascript that you need for video streaming in a browser to day is Fort Knox by comparison. If it's really required at all in HTML5.
I used to use an Amiga. I bought the TV after that.
I've not used any flash player either, well nothing in the browser at least. It's been a very long time since I've seen a flash file for download. And, of course, the script loaded ones don't show up for me. It's just a blank space on the page ... like the ads.
heater,
Interesting. Just started using Netflix. Noticed similar stops (no noise Iirc) while it downloads. I am only using SD so not bandwidth intensive, but it is over mobile 4G. This is on a cheap $100 atom box with W10 (and I noticed an old W10 release with updates blocked over a metered connection).
Time will tell if this remains a problem, and what is causing it. I will be trying my ubuntu laptop to see if that's any better as I could put some Linux on the little box if necessary, or android.
In Europe consumer goods have a two year guarantee. By law.
So, what happens if we take that ASUS laptop back to the store and explain in no longer works as it did when it was bought?
What happens when millions of people the world over do that?
As you happen to mention mobile 4G. Around here the bandwidth of 3G has always been enough for such video streams. So I don't believe network bandwidth is the issue here.
'er in doors has now dug out a 10 year old Fujitsu Life Book. Slow, ten years old machine with a non-functional keyboard and track pad. But running Win 10 and a rather nice big screen.
I've pretty much ignored this thread, along with the message it sends. But here's my take, FWIW: I do not do system updates -- ever. "'Works fine, don't screw with it," is my mantra, and it's stood the test of time. So, no, my computers will not suffer a performance hit from any patches others might be applying. Yay! To avoid problems, I will continue my practice of safe browsing and not opening suspect emails, along with maintaining a stringent Linux firewall between my LAN and the Internet. Vigilance beats a security patch any day!
Comments
The original intent of HTML was to give some hints to the browser about logical structure of a document. You know, headers, paragraphs and so on. Then let the browser render it in a suitable way for the screen the users has.
Of course, it turns out that web page designers don't want that. They don't care about logical document structure. No they want "pixel perfect" layout of a page as if they were pasting it up on a sheet of paper in front of them for publication is a paper magazine or such. Or using a good old desktop publishing software. They only care what in looks like.
So, over the years comes CSS, in ever increasingly complex versions, to allow web designers to do that.
It's still horribly complicated to make a pleasing web page layout. Still most web sites are horribly ugly as a result. Try zooming them in and out or printing them and it all falls apart.
I'm mean, look at this forum page in front of you now.
Used to, but once CSS entered the scene, game over. Actually, tables and little pixels started the mess.
I use mobile a lot. Viewing old sites, pre CSS, works at any zoom, any screen resolution, unless they have done table, one pixel tricks.
Today, zoom is often denied, and text is often fixed.
All for "dynamic pictures" like high gloss copy, but with out the high gloss, quality of copy, etc.
Failure, if you ask me.
So... select all, paste, read with ease, or run a sort of hack extension / browser, or deal with the carnage left over when CSS is turned off. And my mobile browser does not offer me that choice as far as I can tell.
We keep this up and just making a page will be as ugly and risk laden as making a CPU apparently is!
I have just updated my plan from 36GB/month to 170GB/month on 4Gplus.
But it slows to a snail pace around 6pm to 1-3Mbps. I presume the same applies to landline adsl/nbn too. The Gosford area has been held hostage to upgrading the network because the cable ran over a private rural property, and it has taken time to get a court order for access
BTW I will be on ubuntu mid-week when my new old laptop arrives already setup by a friend
Unfortunately I still need to run Windows
It is an Acer Aspire E1-570. I haven't searched or tried a BIOS or UEFI update.
I haven't been able to get to the latest W10. I am on v1607 os14393.2007 and I think it needs to get to build 16299 before it can get the meltdown and spectre security fixes.
This morning, after a failed attempt last night, windoze is not trying to download over my metered connection. Bonus
Maybe the windows update server had an update too?
Meltdown!
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3251171/components-processors/intels-plan-to-fix-meltdown-in-silicon-raises-more-questions-than-answers.html
.
Not sure what to do there.
Mike
Did you flash the BIOS and that caused the reboot problem or did the problem happen after the Windows updates?
If flashing the BIOS is responsible maybe you could revert to an earlier BIOS version.
But for the cloud servers, what do they do? They require something like 30% new hardware immediately to just stay even.
It looks like AMDs new chips may just be the answer, but as I understand it, the cloud users don't trust AMD currently.
Whatever the answer, I am glad I don't own shares in those companies.
I did not run any updates by myself, Windows did.
Might be coincidence with MS Update Tuesday, but since then the computer reboots.
Since I am teleworking over 2 decades now, all my work related stuff, except Skype is not on my own computer, just a remote desk away, I simply went to Wallmart and got me a new computer to access the company server.
@Cluso99, AMD and ARM have the same problem like Intel, switching to AMD makes no difference.
But what to do with the old one?
Mike
IIRC it's a 1607 to 1709 update.
Meanwhile I have a Ubuntu Laptop working now
Still to learn about Linux, but Firefox works the same. I have yet to try OpenOffice but I have been using WPS Office on my W10 laptop recently anyway since MS crashed my licensed Office 2014. I haven't transferred my email yet, but I have been using Mozilla since MS crashed my Outlook.
'er in doors watches local TV channels a lot over the net on her new ASUS Win 10 laptop. We have not had an actual TV in the house for over a decade.
Anyway, recently the video playback in Chrome has started to suffer from a lot of little dropouts. Every few seconds the is a "tick" in the audio. Really annoying.
I always seem to be swimming against the tide. Having used only Linux since 1998, a year ago I started using Win 10 on a Surface Pro. The switchover was smooth sailing. All the software I know and love from Linux works pretty much the same as before so no issues there. Only issue is getting a lot of Windows Smile to not run but that is doable.
After a year of neglect by beloved old Linux PC refuses to boot. Shamefully I have been too lazy to fix it....
Since then, Javascript has ensured I not go back. Streaming shouldn't require any scripting.
Streaming in browsers has for a long time relied on Flash player. Still does in many cases. One of the most open attack vectors in history. Still is judging by the updates I see coming to my Win 10 machine about FLASH security every week.
That tiny bit of of Javascript that you need for video streaming in a browser to day is Fort Knox by comparison. If it's really required at all in HTML5.
'er indoors is now complaining that her Win 10 laptop is blue screening and rebooting frequently.
Grrr.... I'm supposed to fix this stuff...
I've not used any flash player either, well nothing in the browser at least. It's been a very long time since I've seen a flash file for download. And, of course, the script loaded ones don't show up for me. It's just a blank space on the page ... like the ads.
Interesting. Just started using Netflix. Noticed similar stops (no noise Iirc) while it downloads. I am only using SD so not bandwidth intensive, but it is over mobile 4G. This is on a cheap $100 atom box with W10 (and I noticed an old W10 release with updates blocked over a metered connection).
Time will tell if this remains a problem, and what is causing it. I will be trying my ubuntu laptop to see if that's any better as I could put some Linux on the little box if necessary, or android.
In Europe consumer goods have a two year guarantee. By law.
So, what happens if we take that ASUS laptop back to the store and explain in no longer works as it did when it was bought?
What happens when millions of people the world over do that?
As you happen to mention mobile 4G. Around here the bandwidth of 3G has always been enough for such video streams. So I don't believe network bandwidth is the issue here.
Guess, what?
It plays those same video channels just fine.
-Phil
If it works don't mess with it unless you really have to.
If you really have to, then check the changes work well and don't break anything on a test system first.
And yes "Vigilance beats a security patch any day".
But what about the other 99.999% of computer users around the world who have no idea about such things or any ability to do anything about it?
They have computers that phone home to their makers and update themselves whenever their makers choose. No matter the consequences.
Such computer users have no control over what happens.
By the way, what did you mean by "the message it sends" ?
As far as I can tell you are in tune with the message of this thread.
I am very sure that NoScript does not stop a Windows computer from updating when it feels like it.