Hey Crabby, morning to you. I am on comcast and I have none of the problems you have. Maybe you should clear the cache of temp files and clear cookies. Gee I actually sound like I know what I am talking about...

I may be a novice web user, but I encounter relatively few issues. I am as happy as can nearly be. However, I'm this way with almost everything except I get angry about workplace and hiring age discrimination. Address those subjects and I get mad as Hades.

"...her big-name ISP has been selling “turbo” for the past year and Crabby suspects it is slowing connection speeds to customers who don't spring for the additional $10 a month."

I bet you're right about that! We have the same problem, although our computers are old and need a lot of work.

Back in the day...when I was an IT guy, I found that most IT department heads believed that programmers could design pages and they wouldn't have to pay for a 'gasp!' real designer. I think they still do and it shows.

I am pretty sure you use Firefox; have you looked at some of the add-ons that promise to cut back on ads?

Once my passwords all got lost in a Firefox upgrade. Except for that I have no problems with NYTimes logins.
However I do find it annoying when the line I am reading moves up or down as the graphics continue to load. It is more of a problem with a smaller screen.
I am spending less time on the internet deliberately because, well, there are just so many better things to do.

I use the Opera browser. Have no problems with either the NYT or WP (the photos that load on the left of the WP home page are all the same size). Opera loads pages faster than either Firefox or IE. Yeah, there are things on the net that are annoying, but then there are things in all of life that are annoying, too. Oh, well. :-)

Firefox with the noscript and adblocker plugins.... save your sanity...

All valid complaints and your gripes about commercial websites are the same ones I have. You would think that the last thing those sites would want to do is drive away their readers. Anyone designing websites should adopt Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe adage that, "Less is more."

I don't have the NYT or WaPo sign-in problems, either. I have the Times set as my home page, and it always recognizes me when I open my browser (Safari for the Mac). I have to sign in again to both, however, if I want to leave a comment on an OpEd or blog piece.

But I agree with you fully regarding the privacy invasions, and it's not just from ads: annoyingly, of late, when I link from someone's blogroll, the new blog will immediately pop up saying "Minneapolis is here from [referrring blog]", or some such. I will never return to that blog, let alone bookmark it, no matter how good it may be. I know the blogger is proud of having readers all over the world -- we all are -- but there are other ways of determining such things without making some of us feel violated. Harrumph!

Crabby Old Lady is chagrined and feeling slightly maligned that so many readers appear to believe that she is ignorant of Firefox (and every other browser) and the many extensions, plugins and addons that are available.

Certainly, she uses those and other tools to help improve the internet experience and is actually quite knowledgeable about computer housekeeping to keep things running smoothly on her end.

All too true, Crabby. It's getting nightmarish online. And heaven help us all, the young people (by that I mean those under 90) are moving to FACEBOOK and twitter--total insanity in 40 characters or less. TV is a total washout, and my eyesight rebels against reading. I've taken up writing letters and walking them to the post office. At least I get the added exercise. Have a wonderful weekend....

Crabby, by using a multi-pronged defense which includes Firefox add-ons, its internal pop-up blocker, and several other free software programs, I've been able to eliminate most of the problems you've encountered.

You said:
"And, Crabby finds it unnerving to see ads for Maine businesses or Maine politicking on most of the big-name sites she visits. She knows privacy is non-existent, but there has been a large uptick recently in personalized ads and Crabby dislikes being watched so closely – or, at least, knowing about it so blatantly."

First, the localized ads are the result of your IP address being visible to any website that you visit. All Internet Service Providers (ISPs) assign an Internet Protocol (IP) address to each computer for which they provide service. Since they usually assign a specific block of IP addresses to a specific geographical area, a website can determine your general geographical location (which in your case would be Portland Maine and its surrounding towns) but can't determine the specific location of a computer or who is using that computer. The only way to eliminate this is to surf using anonymizer software tied to an anonymous server. I've found that this is expensive and not worth the hassle just to keep websites from determining the general geographical location of my computer. I live in a small town bordering a city, and the closest any website has gotten to determining my location is the city (a different ZIP Code than mine).

As for the recent uptick in personalized ads, the websites you visit are using tracking cookies to follow your movements as you click links on their sites. From this they build a profile of what interests you and tailor their ads to your preferences. They don't know who you are, but the cookies they place on your computer tell them where you've been. The best way to eliminate this is to control your cookies.

Not all cookies are tracking cookies and some are necessary, such as the ones that let your bank know who you are if you bank or pay bills online. So, if you delete all cookies after each browsing session, as some recommend, you may be eliminating these necessary cookies. The next time you try to log on to your bank, your computer may not be recognized and you'll have to go through a security check and have the cookie reset before you can continue. Some people don't mind this. I prefer to selectively delete cookies, when necessary, keeping only those that I know are needed for logging on to particular sites. Usually, though, this is not necessary for me because I use several Firefox add-ons that allow me to control which websites are allowed to set cookies on my browser.

Most people are unaware that there is another type of cookie, one which you can't delete by deleting cookies from your browser. These are known as persistent or LSO cookies. They are actually set in your operating system rather than your browser. So, even if you delete all the cookies from your browser, a website can still know about you. The only way to delete these cookies is to run special software that looks for and deletes them. Fortunately for Firefox users, this capability is available as an add-on. I have it set to inform me of how many LSO cookies it has detected and will delete once I click OK.

By using this multi-pronged defense, I am able to leave very little personal information on the Internet as I move from site to site.

As an added bonus, this process allows web pages I visit to load rapidly without ads and other junk. Occasionally my tactics are thwarted by the crappy design of some web pages, but like you, when I encounter such pages, I just move on. I also surf with my sound off because of web pages that start sound blaring as soon as they load. I turn on the sound only when there's something I want to hear.

I leave my speakers turned off...that jangling is too hard on the nerves..

I feel your pain, Crabby. Coming from a background of Business Intelligence / Business Information, the most infuriating thing to me has always been when there's no date on the info. It makes the info useless. Don't people GET THAT?!?

Another irritation for me, an American living in Sweden, is when I click on something and instead of taking me to the regular, American version, it automatically takes me to a Swedish version. That REALLY ticks me off. Just because I live in Sweden does NOT mean I want to look at that in any Swedish light!

And "City Squirrel"... maybe you could check your attitude at the door... ?

joared, personally I agree with your concern about cookies and your decision to ignore your "guru" and his wife. Their attitude toward cookies indicates that either they are ignorant of the possible dangers inherent in cookies, especially LSO cookies, or they know about them but choose to engage in a game of Russian Roulette. Granted, browser cookies are generally benign, except for being an invasion of privacy, and the risk of any malicious code being attached to them is relatively slight. But the risk of importing malicious code and spyware increases significantly for LSO cookies since they are placed in your computer's operating system.

Allowing Java and JavaScript data to be loaded onto your computer by just about every web site that contains videos, animation, certain types of ads and some other content, can be much riskier than allowing cookies. For instance, most browsers require the free Adobe Flash software to view videos. This software is written in Java/JavaScript and should be installed so that it automatically checks for the latest version and notifies you when a new version is available to be installed. This is important because recently a major security flaw was discovered and the tech community notified that all older versions of Flash should be updated to a new version which fixed the flaw. This is not to fault Adobe in any way because all software is subject to programming oversights being hacked and Adobe does a good job of keeping on top of these things. But I choose not to take the risk. Therefore, I've installed a Firefox addon that prevents any Java/JavaScript routines from running unless I give them permission.

In addition to tailoring Firefox to my preferences using its built-in options, I've also installed the following addons: NoScript, Adblock Plus, BetterPrivacy, CS Lite, and Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-Out (TACO). As a result, not only do web sites I visit load rapidly without ads and other junk, but I've increased my computer's security significantly.

Just because someone knows more about computers than you do, they're not necessarily "gurus." I've been involved with computers on a detailed level for more than 30 years, and there's still much to learn. Things change so rapidly that you're always trying to hit a moving target. So, stick to your guns and use more than one source for information.

My guru has had me pretty well protected all this time and does not discount cookies -- I just went a little overboard on my concern about them when I first acquired a computer only a few years ago.

I haven't been using the Firefox solutions, citysquirrel, because I pretty much depend on my guru to let me know if there's something special that needs to be added. I'm trying to educate myself to all this as I go along so I can assume more and more independent actions and decision-making responsibility.

I sent the info to my guru (he's not a pro IT guy/geek) and he said he was not familiar with the LSO cookies. We've gotten right on it and I couldn't believe how many LSO cookies were removed from my computer. Tonight when I was out on a variety of different search sites and YouTube, seems each time I received a notice of 4 or 5 or so more LSO cookies I deleted. Now I'm concerned about another family members computing -- she uses IE, but we'll check it out.

Thanks for the add'l info you've added, George P., I'll be sending my guru a link to your latest comment.

It's sometimes been suggested by others I've been overly concerned about privacy and I realize it is diminishing -- if it still exists -- but I keep fighting for it.

Thanks, Ronni, for this post.

I am more concerned about my interactions with real people than the internet. If we would look away from the screen more often we would notice that younger people need more quality time with older people.

We need to mentor younger people and tell them our stories. And we need to listen to younger people and appreciate them for what they bring to our lives.

Instead, we are divided up into retirement residences and care centers while youngers are segregated in large school populations without being able to mingle with all ages.

Let's eliminate "senior" housing and open it up to all ages. Let's open up schools and allow interaction with all ages in the community.

Let's desegregate our cities to make the people who live there the first priority and honor the need for age groups to interact.

I have helped to organize a group of Rosie the Riveters in my community. We give programs and will be appearing at schools this year.
Before the WWII veterans and Rosies all die, and they are dying by the thousands each year, they need to meet younger people face to face and tell their wonderful stories.