Comments on: The New Zealand homepage Hall of Shame http://www.projectx.co.nz/2008/05/the-new-zealand-homepage-hall-of-shame/ Specialist Technology Consulting Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:58:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: john http://www.projectx.co.nz/2008/05/the-new-zealand-homepage-hall-of-shame/comment-page-1/#comment-338 john Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:37:16 +0000 http://blog.projectxtech.com/?p=549#comment-338 May look into doing an update during the new year break. May look into doing an update during the new year break.

]]> By: hellonearthis http://www.projectx.co.nz/2008/05/the-new-zealand-homepage-hall-of-shame/comment-page-1/#comment-336 hellonearthis Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:04:29 +0000 http://blog.projectxtech.com/?p=549#comment-336 Any chance for double checking the sites today to see who has upgraded and who's still are lame ducks? Any chance for double checking the sites today to see who has upgraded and who’s still are lame ducks?

]]> By: ProjectX Blog » Blog Archive » Homepage hall of shame - 1 year on…. http://www.projectx.co.nz/2008/05/the-new-zealand-homepage-hall-of-shame/comment-page-1/#comment-222 ProjectX Blog » Blog Archive » Homepage hall of shame - 1 year on…. Tue, 19 May 2009 03:41:34 +0000 http://blog.projectxtech.com/?p=549#comment-222 [...] , 1 year on. ( Part of the speeding up NZ Internet series, I’ve just finished retesting the web performance of top 75 NZ homepages and added another 25 websites to cover the departure of a few sites) [...] [...] , 1 year on. ( Part of the speeding up NZ Internet series, I’ve just finished retesting the web performance of top 75 NZ homepages and added another 25 websites to cover the departure of a few sites) [...]

]]> By: Kiwi Homepage http://www.projectx.co.nz/2008/05/the-new-zealand-homepage-hall-of-shame/comment-page-1/#comment-221 Kiwi Homepage Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:21:20 +0000 http://blog.projectxtech.com/?p=549#comment-221 Damn, and I've been paranoid about my loading time for a while, got nothing to worry about now, sure wish I could have made that top 75 list but... one day... Damn, and I’ve been paranoid about my loading time for a while, got nothing to worry about now, sure wish I could have made that top 75 list but… one day…

]]> By: Christopher http://www.projectx.co.nz/2008/05/the-new-zealand-homepage-hall-of-shame/comment-page-1/#comment-220 Christopher Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:00:55 +0000 http://blog.projectxtech.com/?p=549#comment-220 Thanks for making this a hot topic. Having used many NZ websites from overseas can I point out another problem... the slow references to off site cookies and counters, and junk soft porn ads. These slow some computers to a point where surfing the net becomes painfully slow for the resources of the users computer are overburdened! Faster Internet connections do not help this. The NZ Herald was on of the worst with some half dozen off site references and web analysis links, slowing the web pages for so many reasons. Sitting in the Philippines above my dive site, with a slow connection, this was very noticeable, so after sending the propeller heads a wake up email, I just blocked all these silly web people and the flash for fast page loads, typically one quarter to one tenth the time. Stop the bloated advertising-laden news websites! In New Zealand we have several excellent news websites, but these all suffer from the same problems - each page is loaded with advertising. So that tabbed browser, like IE7 or Firefox, with a few tabs open soon sucks up all the memory and CPU and your PC grinds to a near-halt (not all users have a modern computer) I've got sick enough of this as well as adverts being pushed in my face to set up Firefox with extensions that: Block all images unless I choose to load them myself Block all Flash movies unless I choose to play them myself Block all background audio clips unless I choose to play them myself Block all advertising IE7 users can get an extension that also offers similar options. So it was no surprise when I installed and configured these extensions that I found I could comfortably open 20 tabs of the New Zealand Herald or Stuff websites on an old Pentium III/1000 with 256MB running XP Pro, without it grinding to a halt. Removing the advertising and images also removes a major concern about the increasing use of sexually explicit imagery in advertising. We are not talking here about soft porn, we are talking about content that, while considered quite legal, is the equivalent of junk food for the eyes - "junk sex". Yay, I don't have to see this stuff if I don't want to. Hurrah for the browser enthusiast community for producing these capabilities for these browsers that gives us a choice about what content we want to download, as well as saving bandwidth on restricted (e.g. dialup or traffic limited) connections. Thanks for making this a hot topic. Having used many NZ websites from overseas can I point out another problem… the slow references to off site cookies and counters, and junk soft porn ads. These slow some computers to a point where surfing the net becomes painfully slow for the resources of the users computer are overburdened! Faster Internet connections do not help this.

The NZ Herald was on of the worst with some half dozen off site references and web analysis links, slowing the web pages for so many reasons.

Sitting in the Philippines above my dive site, with a slow connection, this was very noticeable, so after sending the propeller heads a wake up email, I just blocked all these silly web people and the flash for fast page loads, typically one quarter to one tenth the time.

Stop the bloated advertising-laden news websites!

In New Zealand we have several excellent news websites, but these all suffer from the same problems – each page is loaded with advertising. So that tabbed browser, like IE7 or Firefox, with a few tabs open soon sucks up all the memory and CPU and your PC grinds to a near-halt (not all users have a modern computer)

I’ve got sick enough of this as well as adverts being pushed in my face to set up Firefox with extensions that:

Block all images unless I choose to load them myself
Block all Flash movies unless I choose to play them myself
Block all background audio clips unless I choose to play them myself
Block all advertising
IE7 users can get an extension that also offers similar options.

So it was no surprise when I installed and configured these extensions that I found I could comfortably open 20 tabs of the New Zealand Herald or Stuff websites on an old Pentium III/1000 with 256MB running XP Pro, without it grinding to a halt.

Removing the advertising and images also removes a major concern about the increasing use of sexually explicit imagery in advertising. We are not talking here about soft porn, we are talking about content that, while considered quite legal, is the equivalent of junk food for the eyes – “junk sex”. Yay, I don’t have to see this stuff if I don’t want to.

Hurrah for the browser enthusiast community for producing these capabilities for these browsers that gives us a choice about what content we want to download, as well as saving bandwidth on restricted (e.g. dialup or traffic limited) connections.

]]> By: john http://www.projectx.co.nz/2008/05/the-new-zealand-homepage-hall-of-shame/comment-page-1/#comment-219 john Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:34:24 +0000 http://blog.projectxtech.com/?p=549#comment-219 Tim, at the time of the survey Vodafone was not gzipped. Tim, at the time of the survey Vodafone was not gzipped.

]]> By: Tim http://www.projectx.co.nz/2008/05/the-new-zealand-homepage-hall-of-shame/comment-page-1/#comment-218 Tim Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:58:52 +0000 http://blog.projectxtech.com/?p=549#comment-218 Interesting, the vodafone website was listed here as being not GZipped but according to my (8) browsers between both my OS they are!! Incorrect results give an incorrect impression Interesting, the vodafone website was listed here as being not GZipped but according to my (8) browsers between both my OS they are!!

Incorrect results give an incorrect impression

]]> By: john http://www.projectx.co.nz/2008/05/the-new-zealand-homepage-hall-of-shame/comment-page-1/#comment-217 john Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:34:32 +0000 http://blog.projectxtech.com/?p=549#comment-217 I think that you're missing the point. The fact is that NZ webpages have been poorly optimisation. My point is that there's no excuse for poorly optimised sites, which would make a big difference in user experience. The information and tools have been around for a long time. Yes, getting better broadband will help enormously and its important to get that fixed asap. I think that you’re missing the point. The fact is that NZ webpages have been poorly optimisation. My point is that there’s no excuse for poorly optimised sites, which would make a big difference in user experience. The information and tools have been around for a long time.

Yes, getting better broadband will help enormously and its important to get that fixed asap.

]]> By: Roscoe Changleen http://www.projectx.co.nz/2008/05/the-new-zealand-homepage-hall-of-shame/comment-page-1/#comment-216 Roscoe Changleen Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:09:55 +0000 http://blog.projectxtech.com/?p=549#comment-216 Whilst all this good code design and optimisation is all well and good, I think that bending over backwards to make up for Telecom's (and others) basic failure to move NZ broadband forward is not a particularly good reason to do this. All you are doing is helping make their inaction OK. As you state yourself, the NZ average homepage size is already lower than the international (basically US) average. If general consumers don't feel the need to demand change how is it ever going to happen? Whilst all this good code design and optimisation is all well and good, I think that bending over backwards to make up for Telecom’s (and others) basic failure to move NZ broadband forward is not a particularly good reason to do this. All you are doing is helping make their inaction OK.

As you state yourself, the NZ average homepage size is already lower than the international (basically US) average. If general consumers don’t feel the need to demand change how is it ever going to happen?

]]> By: ProjectX Blog » Blog Archive » Runtime Page Optimiser http://www.projectx.co.nz/2008/05/the-new-zealand-homepage-hall-of-shame/comment-page-1/#comment-215 ProjectX Blog » Blog Archive » Runtime Page Optimiser Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:15:45 +0000 http://blog.projectxtech.com/?p=549#comment-215 [...] The team from Action This have created a new product called Runtime Page Optimiser that will dynamically optimise your webpages at runtime. It looks like a fantastic product to solve a lot of the problems highlight by the NZ Homepage hall of shame. [...] [...] The team from Action This have created a new product called Runtime Page Optimiser that will dynamically optimise your webpages at runtime. It looks like a fantastic product to solve a lot of the problems highlight by the NZ Homepage hall of shame. [...]

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