Noscript, ad blockers, and ball sweat

A note appeared in the comments section the other day, apparently dissatisfied that I had a NOSCRIPT message asking people to turn on Javascript in their browser.  He started spouting all the rhetoric about how “the Internet is free” and “I deserve my privacy” and all that other hippie bullshit.  Then he proceeded to tell me how much smarter he is than me because he found a way around it… simple methods which can be found all over the Internet. Yeah, you’re a big hax0r because you can use Google.

For one, call it like it is: you’re not a privacy advocate, you’re just a nutjob who’s fed up with ads.  You think you are entitled to everything on the Internet without paying for it.  I understand your point of view, however skewed it is.

I don’t enforce scripts on the site because of ads.  If I really wanted to, I would render all ads in-line at the server level, so there would be no way to block them without blocking the entire page.  I recommend scripts so that certain features of the site works, like AJAX-enabled content, menu navigation, and form processing.

I’m used to seeing whackjob comments like this, and you will never win an argument about this topic.  It’s like trying to get Rush Limbaugh to shake hands with President Obama.  Or an academic discussion about Evolution with the Pope.  It will never happen, so you only look foolish by keeping the conversation going.

As I was doing some research, I found that Google was indexing news articles on OCModShop with the copy of the NOSCRIPT text.  This is very bad for SEO.

So, I temporarially disabled the whole NOSCRIPT thing on the site.  This delighted my British antagonist so much that he wrote me asking how much I liked his ball sweat… which is really freakin’ funny.

AdBlock advocates should in no way view this that another site has been “conquered”.  I didn’t bow down to you; I did it for SEO.  When I decide to engage in a holy war against AdBlock, you will know it.