Flash crash

[wedivebc]

I have been getting a lot of crashes on my computer, especially on this site in the last while. The problem seems to be Adobe Flash and when I went to their trouble page http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb408620&sliceId=1 this was their solution to the problem

End User's General Troubleshooting:​

• Confirm that you have reproduced the crash with the latest Flash Player. Download the latest Flash Player here: Adobe - Adobe Flash Player.
• Reduce the number of browser tabs and multiple windows used for everyday browsing.
  
  It is common for web pages to serve multiple instances of Flash content. A single page might contain main Flash content as well as several ads delivered via Flash Player. Opening many Internet Explorer tabs or multiple browser windows can dramatically increase the overall memory required to run the browser, and can contribute to crashing and freezing Flash Player. In some cases, reducing the number of tabs open at any one time to two or three can eliminate the crash.
  
• Attempt to reproduce the crash with repeatable steps. It is very difficult for developers of Flash Content to troubleshoot their Flash content when a crash is not consistently repeatable.
• Try to determine if a particular site is causing the crash.
  
  It is possible for a developer to release Flash content that does not release memory correctly, causing a crash. For example, if a particular page on Adobe.com causes a crash in Flash Player, but no other pages do, then it is likely that some piece of Flash content on that page is misbehaving.
  
• Contact the site owner.
  
  When possible it is best to advise the site owner that their content or some ad content they are delivering has crashed your machine. Ideally you will also be able to provide reproducible steps they can use to determine which piece of Flash content is causing the issue. They can then work with Adobe to resolve the issue.

So basically their recommendation is for me to contact the Scubaboard developers and tell them that Adobe's buggy software is causing my computer to crash and I should reduce the browser tabs open to prevent crashes.
My computer has 4 gigs of ram, how much of a memory hog is it?

 

[bleeb]

My sympathies. I've had similar problems in the past, but have found the following workaround seems to help somewhat. It's not perfect, but it also has the collateral benefit of decreasing (again, not perfectly) your vulnerability to getting infected by malware.

If you're running IE, loading the following list will add the domains of known advertisers and malware distributors to the Restricted Zone. You then set the security settings for your Restricted Zone to maximum, so that no scripting or ActiveX can run.
Resources: Ad Blocking Resources

Why this helps is that a lot of the more problematic Flash seems to come from advertisers, who probably don't have as much motivation to keep their code well debugged. IIRC, El O has said in this forum that SB itself doesn't use any Flash. The chat may be the exception, but that only applies while you're using it. Similarly, loading this block list helps close out one of the avenues by which spyware and virus distributors get to your computer.

Alternatively, if you're running Firefox, you can install the Ad Block Plus ad-on, which also helps keep a lot of ad crapware from being displayed and run in your browser.

 

[El Orans]

IIRC, El O has said in this forum that SB itself doesn't use any Flash. The chat may be the exception, but that only applies while you're using it.

Correct, only the chat uses Flash.

 

[wedivebc]

Correct, only the chat uses Flash.

OK thanks. I figured since I usually leave a SB browser tab open this was a likely cause. Other web sites I can just avoid, but SB????

 

[bleeb]

Correct, only the chat uses Flash.

Just to confirm (or maybe this is an FYI), a noticeable percentage of the Google ads at the bottom of the page have included Flash, lately, at least for me.

 

[El Orans]

Just to confirm (or maybe this is an FYI), a noticeable percentage of the Google ads at the bottom of the page have included Flash, lately, at least for me.

Ads may or may not use Flash.

We do recommend that they keep them small and well designed as nobody likes slow ads but we do need the income to keep the site running.

BTW, we're always grateful for new Supporting Members.

 

[bleeb]

we do need the income to keep the site running.

Agreed.

I hesitated a bit posting about AdBlock Plus because of that, but finally decided it was already widely known. However, I would suggest to anyone thinking about installing it that you at least consider the fact that this might be reducing the revenue that supplies you with this site.

Blocking only the Flash but not the non-Flash ads is one possible compromise between providing revenue and having your browser crash frequently, 'frequently' of course being a subjective term.

 

[wedivebc]

BTW, we're always grateful for new Supporting Members.

OK, OK I can take a hint. Money sent, now make the ADS go away

 

[El Orans]

OK, OK I can take a hint. Money sent, now make the ADS go away

Enjoy your new real estate...

 

[wedivebc]

Enjoy your new real estate...

Oh the quiet is lovely. oooooooommmm....