OT - Internet and on-line booking questions for the group

Jay Honeck asks:
Does anyone know what the average speed modem is being used by the 70% of
people still using dial-up?

I'd imagine that 56K and 2800 would be the most common speeds, but
there are people who are on much slower connections, either due to
their location (availability of connections) or equipment (old
laptop). Some access by PDA, especially while travelling.

2. I hear people say that Java is "evil" all the time -- yet it seems that
every cool effect on a webpage requires Java. What is bad about Java
scripting? How about "Flashmedia"?

Java is executable code. Executable code can be harmful so many
people turn it off. It also is the source for many annoying popups,
animations, and "exciting messages" most people would just as soon not
be bombarded with. Java can be useful in specific contexts, but the
main pages and the navigation struture should not require it, and
should function fine without it.

Flash is worse. It is the way advertisers force themselves upon users
with distracting animations. I want to see the content, not have my
attention stolen (and theft is the appropriate word, just like theft
of service) by unwanted animations. Flash has no off switch. It
cannot be deactivated internally (I have disabled flash on my system
by renaming the flash.ocx and swflash.ocx files everywhere on my
system, and clicking NO! to all the resulting "Would you like to
download and install Flash?" popup boxes.) Flash also takes up a lot
of bandwidth (read "makes the page load slower and requires the user
to have more horespower")

There are occasional uses for flash - they should be relegated to
their own pages, with a suitable warning on the link.

Some web sites are entirely flash, or have home pages that force the
user to set through a thirty second flash animation of their logo and
a sales pitch before letting the user in. The business owner and web
designer think they are cool. Nobody else does. I skip them totally.

Flash seethes with evil.

3. I have pared our opening page back to practically nothing, yet it STILL
seems to be taking too long to open.

It takes me ten seconds on a DSL line. I'm not sure why, but you
still do have scripts running on the site. And what use is the hit
counter (except to you?)

4. I tried to look at the page from Mary's computer (which has the screen
resolution set to "Mr. Magoo" settings) -- and it locked up her computer.

I'd guess the scripts have something to do with it, but Mr Magoo has a
point. Your picture takes up way too much space. Not everyone has a
21 inch monitor, and of those that do, not everyone wants to =have to=
devote it all to your picture. They may well be running another
browser window, a calendar program, and notepad at the same time.
Your picture is pretty, but to make people scroll back and forth just
because it's there is not good design from the users perspective.

How many of you guys actually make real-time, on-line hotel reservations?

I do sometimes, but I prefer to call and speak to a person. People
listen; computers don't. Online booking does not require a high speed
connection (unless the company you are contracting with has a terrible
interface, which is all too common).

Keep it simple. Keep it personal. Keep it up.

Jose
--
Freedom. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

On Wed, 8 Dec 2004 13:51:02 -0600, "Gig Giacona"
wrote:

1. I'd be 56k has been the standard for quite a while now and unless the
telecom tarriffs change that ain't going to increase any time soon.

We've been told for years that our phone lines simply will not handle
any modem speed greater than 28.8. We've tried and found that at 56K,
the modem kept dropping us off line, causing us to have to reconnect
frequently. Not just annoying, it destroyed any ability to search on
the net.

My wife and I are too cheap to order a dish for computer connections
and cable may not make it out to our neck of the woods before I die,
and that's expensive too.

All other phoneline high speed options just aren't here yet because of
the demagraphics... few customers out in the woods.

Corky (dialup sucks) Scott

On Wed, 8 Dec 2004 15:36:03 -0500, "Trent Moorehead"
wrote:

Yesterday NPR announced that only a third of internet users are connected
at
high speed, using either DSL or cable. This truly surprised me, and I'm
absolutely amazed that so few people have made the jump to high-speed
internet -- I could never, ever go back to dial-up, and have been on cable
modem for years.

The cost Jay, the cost.

Corky Scott

"Jay Honeck" wrote

2. I hear people say that Java is "evil" all the time -- yet it seems that
every cool effect on a webpage requires Java. What is bad about Java
scripting? How about "Flashmedia"?



NOT FLASHMEDIA ! ! !

I know I just shouted, but I wanted to get your attention. I WILL NOT allow
flash media to reside on my computers. It is a waste of bandwidth, to have
a stupid ad come up, animated and all, then have *to wait* for it to be
done, or try to find the X to shut it off. It does have to have its own
software loaded, but you already knew that, I suppose.
--
Jim in NC

NOT FLASHMEDIA ! ! !

I know I just shouted, but I wanted to get your attention. I WILL
NOT allow flash media to reside on my computers. It is a waste of
bandwidth, to have a stupid ad come up, animated and all, then have
*to wait* for it to be done, or try to find the X to shut it off.

I'm pretty sure you are describing javascript ads.

"John Harlow" wrote in message
...
NOT FLASHMEDIA ! ! !

I know I just shouted, but I wanted to get your attention. I WILL
NOT allow flash media to reside on my computers. It is a waste of
bandwidth, to have a stupid ad come up, animated and all, then have
*to wait* for it to be done, or try to find the X to shut it off.

I'm pretty sure you are describing javascript ads.

I doubt it. When I went through and deleted any file that said anything
with flash on it, they stopped.

I had only loaded it on one computer, against my better judgment, to see one
specific site that would not work without flash. It didn't take me long to
remember why I hated it, and delete it again.
--
Jim in NC

Jay Honeck wrote:

1. Does anyone know what the average speed modem is being used by the 70% of
people still using dial-up?

56K is generally the modem speed. Line speed is usually slower.

2. I hear people say that Java is "evil" all the time -- yet it seems that
every cool effect on a webpage requires Java. What is bad about Java
scripting? How about "Flashmedia"?

Java is an interpreter (as opposed to a compiled language like C), so execution
is relatively slow. Applets run faster than scripts, but each applet also has to
be downloaded, as is any file or other resource the applet needs. From *your*
viewpoint, you should be using Java applets for anything that requires input
from the customer or display of items that you do not want automated snoopers to
be able to see. You should be using *well written* HTML for anything that you
want web crawlers to pick up and store for search engines. You also should use
HTML for the links to other pages you want web crawlers to read (and you have
this on your home page). A good crawler will also pick stuff out of Java script,
but not all do.

Photos are another thing that slows a page down, and they also hide information
from automated snoopers. Java is preferable to Flash, since many people either
can't or won't put Flash on their computers.

3. I have pared our opening page back to practically nothing, yet it STILL
seems to be taking too long to open. I added a new "hit" counter
yesterday -- could that be slowing it down so much? (It's
www.AlexisParkInn.com if you want to take a gander at it.) How long is it
taking to open on your computer?

I have a DSL line, but it takes 10 seconds or so with IE. Surprisingly, it loads
in about 4 seconds with a obsolete version of Netscape but doesn't display
perfectly. The difference *does* seem to be the counter. Looking at the page
source, you're accessing another web site to get that counter. That's going to
slow things down a lot, and the amount of the delay is not going to be
predictable.

4. I tried to look at the page from Mary's computer (which has the screen
resolution set to "Mr. Magoo" settings) -- and it locked up her computer. I
re-booted and checked on the Microsoft website, which showed that she had,
like, ten "critical updates" to Win XP that she had not installed -- so I
installed them for her.

Now the page runs normally, but I'm worried about having a website that
might actually freeze someone's computer. Can anyone see anything on the
page that could have caused that? Or was it just a glitch in Mary's PC?

I don't see anything offhand.

How many of you guys actually make real-time, on-line hotel reservations?
My gut feel has always been that we would eventually have to jump on this
band-wagon, because more and more people are booking on-line. However, this
newly released figure, showing such low high-speed internet usage, really
makes me wonder if people are actually using on-line bookings much, or if
this is a tiny minority using it only occasionally.

I never do. My wife did so one time about 4 years ago through one of those web
sites that claims to (and in our case, did) get you sizeable discounts at
hotels. We stay in hotels perhaps five nights a year. Sometimes we don't get
reservations at all -- just stop when we get tired.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

That said, I'm not convinced using the phone is any more reliable; we've
had plenty of hotel screw-ups, from losing our reservation altogether to
minor snafus related to type and location of the room, even booking by
phone.

This is my main fear with setting up real-time on-line booking. I have
this horrible fear that we're going to end up double-booking suites (someone
booking it on-line at the same moment that we are booking it on the
phone) -- and what will we do then?

For most hotels this wouldn't matter -- one room is as good as the next.
But we have people SPECIFICALLY booking the Blackbird Suite (for example) --
and they are NOT going to be satisfied with the Red Baron Suite -- even
though they are comparable suites from an amenities standpoint.

*sigh* I'm taking a huge risk with this on-line booking contract, but I
think it's necessary in order to take us to the next level. Hope we don't
end up screwed (up)...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Was that for the US or for the internet as a whole?

Just the US.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Without going into the other issues, one thing about searching for a hotel
on line that bugs the living s**t out of me is getting these "broker"
sites that don't allow you to contact the hotel direct, and I never seem
able to find the hotel's own webpage. And when I do, there's never a
friggin' phone number on it! I hate going through middlemen when it comes
to the internet, so if there's anything you can do to make yourself
directly contactable, and make it easy for someone to phone you directly,
that would make a difference to whether I booked with you or not.

You and me both, Shawn. I have tried EVERYTHING to avoid using those
God-da*ned middle-men, but they have literally taken over the on-line hotel
market.

My one success? If you go to Yahoo and type in "Iowa City Hotel" we will
pop up at the top of the list.

But is it my website that pops up? Hell, no! It's some sort of Yahoo hotel
site. And do they link to my website? Hell, no!

You'll have to scroll down a couple of pages to get to my webpage, simply
because the Hotels.com-types have flooded the market with bogus "Iowa City
Hotels" webpages. And they've done this in every, single market.

I've spent the last two years raging against the machine, but now I'm about
to give in and sell my soul to the devil. (I'm about to sign a contract
with an on-line booking company that will get us listed -- as a
side-effect -- on Expedia and all the other crappy hotel websites...)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"