Computing desk
< December 24	<< Nov \| December \| Jan >>	Current desk >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

December 25

2-in-1 Software

An opensource software that allows you to use two PC mouses together, one for the left hand's purpose and one for the right hand's purpose. Can you help me please? 123.108.246.98 (talk) 18:52, 25 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

There is no easy solution. See here. Ruslik_Zero 19:33, 25 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Clogged websites

I've noticed recently that many websites are overloaded by advertisement to a degree that they get frozen when you attempt to change a page. Just try Amazon.com[1]. The first thing that strikes your eyes is a huge banner "Steelers vs. Texans." I understand ads bring money but I think Jeff Bezos, the richest man alive, could provide some living space for the website users. Amazon.com is no exception. Try Cnn.com, msn.com, the websites I visit to get information about what is happening in the world. The same thing. My computer has not become slower and I run antispyware applications regularly. When is it going to end? Internet is becoming unusable. AboutFace 22 (talk) 20:58, 25 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I have the same problem with a slow computer and a slow internet connection. Perhaps, before long, we will be expected to pay for advertising-free content. Fortunately, Wikipedia doesn't do advertising. It really annoys me when a webpage goes off to lots of advertising sites before displaying the content that I want to see. I assume that the coding is done deliberately to display adverts first. Dbfirs 21:09, 25 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried installing an ad blocker? Rojomoke (talk) 22:20, 25 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

NoScript (or similar) goes a step beyond and blocks the useless bells and whistles that don't want to sell you stuff, too. InedibleHulk (talk) 22:36, 25 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

"Fortunately, Wikipedia doesn't do advertising" ... From my experience, Wikipedia has a permanent nearly full-page ad at the top of every page begging everyone to send in money. I click hide, but it doesn't hide. It comes back as soon as I go to another page. 71.85.51.150 (talk) 23:13, 26 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

You can get rid of that if you create an account. Dbfirs 00:15, 27 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Any personal experiences? Do the ad blockers work well? AboutFace 22 (talk) 02:51, 26 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I can vouch for Adblock_Plus, without which many sites are unusable. They also have a policy of whitelisting some advertising that is less obtrusive, so the site can still pay its bills. As to whether the ads load first deliberately, I'm not sure if that's by design, or if it's that ads are often served by third-party sites, and browsers start to load that type of content before loading the rest of the site itself. OldTimeNESter (talk) 04:13, 26 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Some sites do try to force the browser to load ads first, however the combination of Adblock Plus, NoScript and Stylish for the occasional webpage trying to use CSS to deter ad blocking should make nearly any site usable. 93.142.65.4 (talk) 18:39, 26 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you much. Will try your advice. AboutFace 22 (talk) 20:05, 26 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]