I've started using a clever and attractive little service called Snap Preview Anywhere. When you hover your pointer over an external link, up pops a little balloon showing a thumbnail of the web page it links to. I'm not sure how useful it is, but it's certainly pretty, n'est-ce pas?
If you find it irritating you can disable it - click on the 'options' link in the top right corner of the balloon. Or add a petition to the No. 10 website and ask that nice Mr Blair to outlaw it - I'm sure he'll listen.
Incidentally, try the Snap Image Search!
How do I delete the second reply? When i typed in those "captcha" letters and numbers all I got was an hourglass with nothing else happening, so I went back to the message and posted again. Please delete my second reply, Andrew!
Posted by: Martin Clark | Tuesday, 20 February 2007 at 12:07 PM
If people can easily disable the thing, then I don't see a problem. Such "previews" can be useful, although I don't think that Snap is - it's too small to see anything much.
Firefox users can add the Cooliris extension, (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2207/) which gives preview pop-ups big enough to be able to read the text properly and even click on links. It takes a bit of getting used to but I find it useful. But, it is just on my computer - I do not impose it on my website users! However, I am not saying that you should not use Snap on yours.
Hey - what's with the rant about what you scathingly call "ping-pong text" (i.e. the proper way to reply)? Please don't spoil a well-reasoned reply by going off on a hobby-horse! :)
Posted by: Martin Clark | Tuesday, 20 February 2007 at 12:02 PM
Richard, I see your point, it's likely to be hugely irritating. Just like blinking or scrolling text in early websites.
Or come to think of it, like ping-pong text in usenet or email, where people return your email with their replies embedded within paragraphs.
I see your point exactly, and while I'll leave it for a few days and give it a chance, I'll probably remove it within a week.
Where I think Snap scores is in picture-heavy web sites, in particular my main 'picture of the day' post. Trouble is, it's not possible to single those out for special treatment, so it's probably easier to squelch the whole thing.
But also remember that it's possible to squelch the damn thing from the outset, either for Granny Buttons, or for your computer as a whole, by clicking on the 'options' button on the top right.
Which is more than my email system or usenet allows me to do with those ping-pong replies :-)
Posted by: Andrew Denny | Monday, 19 February 2007 at 10:47 PM
Yes - Thanks for finding that one Andrew - I saw this on your site and used it myself.
Posted by: Jonathan | Monday, 19 February 2007 at 05:21 PM
Clever - put an annoying, widely-reviled (http://tinyurl.com/2jdoug ) service on your blog when viewed through a standard web browser, thereby evangelising RSS takeup. I like your style.
Posted by: Richard Fairhurst | Monday, 19 February 2007 at 11:29 AM